Reyn clapped X’s shoulder and nodded to Rose. “We’re glad you’re back safely, Rose. We’ll give you two some privacy.”
They all followed him out through the swinging door, into the hallway, and he turned to face them. “From what Akina told me about the gods in the Otherworld, I have no doubt Rose is right. I don’t think they would banish her spirit. I’m not even sure if they can.”
SE nodded. “I agree. I don’t see what they would stand to gain. More revenge after hundreds of years? It doesn’t make sense.”
Richard crossed his arms. “Then they’ve taken her. The question is why.”
Reyn’s eyes began to glow brighter. “I’m not sure yet. But once I figure it out, I’ll decide my next move.”
The male turned and walked off down the hall.
Ana exhaled. “You get a read on him at all?”
“Just that he’s not sure why they’ve taken her.”
SE sighed. “Figures.”
Richard looked straight into his oldest friend’s eyes. “And that he’s planning to go after her.”
CHAPTER TWO
Troy quickly followed his female into their room and closed the door. He could check in on Evy’s emotions, but he had a feelin’ he wouldn’t need to. She looked like she was about to break in half.
She walked to the window. “That was it. That’s what I felt last night. Either the Goddess changing Rose’s fate or the gods taking her afterward.”
He nodded. “Makes sense. If Rose was never meant to die, then the Goddess wasn’t meant to be taken.”
She placed a hand on the glass. “I’m missing something here. Something’s not connecting. I can’t think straight. Oh, God. What if they’re hurting her, my male?”
Troy rubbed her back and she allowed him to gently calm her. “No, I don’t think so. To them she’s just spirit. Maybe they want some kind of information?”
“Maybe.”
There was a knock at the door.
“It’s open,” he called.
Reyn came in and closed the door behind him. “I’m sorry to bother you two. Evy, I’m sure the news is hitting you hard. I just need a quick favor.”
She nodded. “Of course. Anything.”
He walked over and produced a piece of fabric. “When Akina was here last, her robes were torn. This is part of the material. I thought maybe you could get a vision from it.”
Evy immediately took the cloth. She sucked in her breath and Troy gently steadied her as her eyes took on their familiar pearlescent glow. Both males waited in silence, but Troy noticed a fine sheen of sweat appear on the male’s brow.
A few minutes later, Evy’s eyes cleared and she looked up at them. “They have her. She’s in spirit form and safe for the moment. They’re holding her in some huge, round hall made of white stone. The walls are covered with books. The ceiling must be over thirty feet high.”
The oddest look crossed Reyn’s face as he looked down at Evy. Troy couldn’t quite make it out, but it made him wish he could read the male’s thoughts instead of his emotions. She held the cloth out to the male.
Reyn shook his head. “You keep it. It’s all we have to go on. Maybe you can get another vision from it.”
Evy nodded. “I’ll see what I can do.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it. Troy, would you take my duty with James tonight?”
“Sure, boss. No problem.”
“Thanks. I’ll see you both at dinner.”
Troy sat on the edge of the bed and drew his female to him. “You okay, babe?”
She ran her hand through the front of his hair. “Yeah. Just worried and maybe…I dunno. I feel a little helpless, I guess. I can only imagine how Reyn must feel.”
“We’ve all got his back. I mean, it’s Reyn and the Goddess.”
She nodded and bit her lower lip.
He cupped her face with his hands. “Hey. We’re going to get her back, Ev. I promise you.”
She tucked her head against his chest and sighed.
Emanuel Batiste sat in his office on the third floor of his warehouse. He leaned his elbow on the desk and rubbed his eyes in disbelief. Almost thirty rogue guards dead and nothing more to connect it to than Victrixa Mata’s right hand man, Cerberus. Except that made no sense. He picked up his cell and looked at the photo he’d snapped just as the bastard left the scene. He was fortunate to have made it down to the main level in time to take it. He looked at the blurry form in the picture. Even with its poor quality it was obvious the form in the shot was not Cerberus. The difference in height alone was enough to judge that by. The man in the photo was at least six-five. Hmm. Perhaps the file could be worked on. He punched a number on his speed dial.
“Saunders. What can I do for you, boss?”
“I have a cell phone photo of the cocksucker who mowed down our men. It’s not clear enough to make out who he is. I thought you might know someone who could work on the image.”
“I have just the guy. I don’t want to email it, though. I’ll need your phone.”
“Can he be trusted?”
“I believe so, but I’ll move your data to a new phone and wipe the other one clean just in case. He’ll have nothing except the image.”
“Excellent. I will send it down.”
If the image turned out to be useful, they may just get their man. If they found him, he was going to wish he had never been born.
Dinner in the drawing room was the quietest James could remember. The news about the Goddess had traveled fast. Everyone was overjoyed Rose had come back to them, but the loss of Reyn’s mate weighed heavily on them. He glanced at Pax sitting next to him.
The male gave him a wink and rubbed his knee. When Troy stood up to arm for duty, James was so relieved he could have cried. He walked up to his room and into the closet, shrugged into his fighting jeans, slipped into a black t-shirt, pulled on his boots, and then opened his weapons cabinet. He reached out his hand and lightly touched the steel blade of one of his knives with his fingertips. Huh. That was odd. When he was at dinner, he couldn’t wait to get out into the field. Now, he felt strangely unsure. He gave his head a quick shake and lapsed into his usual arming routine. He pulled on his leather jacket and went down to the foyer to meet Troy.
“Where we headed, chief?”
“Blue Hill Ave. This is me we’re talkin’ about here. I always get Blue Hill, man.” Troy snickered.
“Aw, come on. You’ve worked a lot of areas.”
“Yeah, in like 2013. But maybe it’s all about attitude. I’ve been thinkin’ about joinin’ a gang. You know, in my spare time.”
They laughed as they gleamed out and materialized in the foliage of Codman Square. Side by side, they headed toward Talbot Ave.
James nodded toward the two guys across the street. “Well, well, well. What’ve we got here? I have a headache. Think those fine young gentleman would sell me some aspirin, bro? Buncha Batiste dicks.”
Troy kicked a stone with his boot. “Pax’s escape from Batiste’s warehouse is legendary. I still can’t believe he made it outta there without as much as a broken bone.”
“You and me both.”
“That reminds me. I meant to thank you for takin’ care of the douche bag that stabbed my female. That shit couldn’t have been easy, my brother.”
James could feel his legs go to pins and needles. How the hell had they managed to get on the subject of two of the worst days of his life inside ten minutes of conversation? A couple more minutes of this and he was going to start praying for Tolies. “No problem. I owed you for being such a punk in the gym.”
“No worries. Hey, I’m gettin’ warm and fuzzy. You pickin’ up on that?”
James exhaled. Thank fuck. There had to be at least two Toltec shifters up around the corner on Harvard. “You take the corner. I’ll go around back.”
He trotted to the darkest side of a nearby auto lot and quietly hopped the fence. The group was heading right for him with Troy bringing up the rear. He ducked be
hind a car and waited for the Tolies and their hellions to sense them. One of the shifters went for his pistol. James stayed low as he moved to the front of the Chevy. He counted to ten, reached under the bumper, and pulled the Tolie onto his ass by his ankle. Just as he ganked the soldier with his pistol, a mutant picked him up by his coat and threw him onto another car.
James rolled over the hood and landed on the other side. Trading his Glock for one of his knives, he leapt back over the front of the car and threw himself on the enemy. He slammed its head on the pavement and was about to cut off its melon when suddenly the thing’s face changed and he was looking into Seth’s.
What the fuck?
He blinked and shook his head, trying to clear his vision. The mutant took advantage of the moment and wrapped its hands around his throat. Quickly, he cut off the hellion’s head before it could push him out of range. It turned to sand and James wiped his forehead. He stood up and looked around the lot. Troy had to be there somewhere.
The brother finally emerged from behind an old van. He wiped blood from his chin with his hand. “What’d you have a stroke?”
James cleaned his blade off on his jeans and sheathed it. “What?”
“You totally hesitated back there. I wasn’t sure if you were gonna off the bitch or ask it out for Saturday night.”
He rolled his eyes. “I was looking for a date for you.”
“Yeah, well, I’m taken. So do me a favor and quit fuckin’ around.” He spit on the pavement. “That Frankenshifter whet my appetite.”
James wasn’t about to get in an argument. Especially since he may have sorta kinda been slow on the kill. “Then let’s go find a main course.”
CHAPTER THREE
Helen walked around the lab trying to figure out where she’d put the file she needed. She had set it down just a few minutes before and now she couldn’t find it anywhere. Her search was starting to reach the point where she was looking in places that made absolutely no sense. “Where the hell?”
“Looking for this?”
She whirled around. Diesel was standing by her laptop with the folder in his hand. She sighed. “Thank you, my male. You may have just saved me from totally losing my mind.”
She put out her hand to take it from him, but he held it out of her reach. “Hey, what gives?”
“You’re exhausted, Doc. It’s past midnight. Come down to bed. You need some sleep.”
“Give me the file, Dies. I just need another half an hour.”
He shook his head. “I’d be tempted to believe you if you hadn’t said the same thing two hours ago.”
Helen put her hand to her forehead. “I just need to get back on track. I lost a lot of lab time while Rose was sick.”
“I totally get that. But you don’t need to do it all in one night. You’re running on fumes.”
“Just give me the file, my male.” When Diesel stood stock still, Helen felt the heat of rage hit her cheeks. And then, God help her, words just started pouring out. “Give me the damn file.”
Her mate tossed the file onto the table and crossed his arms. “I’m sorry?”
Shit. What the hell was wrong with her? “Oh, God. I’m so sorry, Dies. I didn’t mean it.”
He took her face in his hands. “Look, I know you’re feeling the pressure with Victrixa’s plans for the serum and the Goddess missing. We all are. But you barely slept while Rose was in crisis. You can’t work like this.”
“I know you’re right, it’s just…I don’t know. I feel so overwhelmed.”
“You’re not in this alone, Doc. X and I will help with anything you need.” He brushed his lips lightly on her temple. “After you sleep.”
Helen looked up into her mate’s pale green eyes and nodded. He took her hand and she let him guide her out the door, down the hallway to their suite. They sat down on the bed together.
Goddess, just sitting down made her drowsy.
Diesel motioned to her. “Slide on over and I’ll do your shoulders.”
Helen scooched up in front of her male and pulled off her top. She started to relax the moment she felt him touch her back.
“You know, X and I talked about the research during the reception.”
Helen relaxed even further as her male’s strong hands worked her neck and shoulders.
“I mentioned to him how it’s just been driving you batshit the last couple of weeks. He said he’d noticed, then said something interesting.”
“What’s that?”
“He thinks it’s probably because you’re about to have a breakthrough. Apparently, that’s often the way it works.”
She turned around and looked at her mate. “Really? He did?”
“Yep.”
“Huh.”
“Turn. I’m not done.”
Helen faced forward and those hands started to work their magic once again.
“You know the game Tetris? He said it’s like that. A piece just needs to be moved over, flipped, or turned. You just can’t see it yet. But your brain knows you’re close. That would be where losing your mind comes in.” He grinned and kissed the side of her neck.
Slowly she turned back to him and looked into his eyes. “I love you, my male. I’m sorry.”
“I know. Now let’s get you tucked in, female. You need some serious shut-eye.”
Helen couldn’t argue with that one. She pulled off her jeans, sank under the duvet.
James finished up his sandwich and put his plate in the kitchen. He could definitely use some sleep, but couldn’t deal with facing his room. Especially after the Sethcapade in the car lot. It was totally stressing him out. Just the thought of Troy seeing the whole thing made the kitchen light turn off. In the end, he decided to see if Pax was awake. He made his way to the brother’s room and found the light was off, but the door was unlocked. James quietly went in and closed it behind him.
His New Breed sight kicked in to reveal Pax sleeping peacefully, the rise and fall of his broad chest perfectly even in the darkness. God, he was beautiful like that. He looked like an angel. Okay, maybe a fallen one. All of the brothers of the Order were a sight to behold, but Pax smoldered. Even in his sleep. Fuck. He was such a selfish bastard for wanting to kiss him right now. And that wasn’t the only image in his mind. If he was totally honest with himself, he’d probably thought about giving Pax head more often than the other way around. The idea of making his camzah lose control, especially because he was sucking him off…Jesus.
Okay, standing there in the dark while the male slept was beginning to feel a little stalkerish. His brain was telling him to hit the road, but somehow he found himself moving toward the bed. He knelt down and looked at the male’s face. His eyes dropped from Pax’s long, dark lashes to his impossible cheek bones and finally landed on his perfectly shaped mouth. James licked his lips as a wave of lust shot through him. Yeah, he was a total dick for what he was about to do, but he couldn't have stopped himself if he tried. He leaned down and gently met the male’s lips with his.
Pax moaned softly, still half asleep, but then his eyes fluttered open and began to glow bright amber. His camzah sat up and softly returned his kiss before sliding James’s leather jacket off. They stood up and Pax slowly began to strip him of his weapons piece by piece as they kissed. His pistol was the first to be discarded. Then Pax went for his long knives. James felt the male’s warm lips on his neck as he unbuckled the chest holster and let it fall to the floor. The brother took his time patting him down, one by one slowly removing several smaller knives and daggers. With every deadly weapon that hit the floor, James got hotter and his cock got harder. At last his shuriken hit the pile.
Hallelujah.
“I should shower,” he managed.
Pax inhaled deeply, and James knew he was taking in the scent of his sweat along with every kill he’d made that night. “Don’t even think about it.”
James slipped out of his t-shirt and kicked off his boots before pushing Pax back onto the bed, straddling the male’s
hips with his thighs. Pax unzipped his jeans and reached straight for what was inside, but James grabbed his wrists and thrust his camzah’s arms into the mattress.
“My turn,” he said, his voice deep with arousal.
James leaned down and they both groaned as their mouths met. Pax’s tongue got more than a friendly jolt of electricity from his tongue piercing. The male moaned, urging him in deeper. He let Pax explore his barbell for a moment before giving him another quick jolt. James pressed his lips to the brother’s warm neck and a chill ran down his back as Pax’s tangerine and vanilla scent hit his nostrils. The Garden of Eden. Every time. James kissed his way down the warrior’s incredible pecs and circled first one nipple then the other with his tongue before nibbling them.
With all the experience Pax had, James wasn’t sure how he would measure up. Without warning, the scene in the bathroom at Anarchy flooded back to him. Oh, God. That scumbag had been doing exactly what James was doing now. He was fighting to force the picture from his mind when he looked up at Pax’s face and realized the difference. At the club, his eyes had not just been closed but jammed shut. Now Pax watched every move he made and seemed to revel in their eye contact.
Desire pulsed through him and he wanted his mouth on the male way too much to care. He glanced down at the brother’s boxer briefs and smiled. Thank God for Calvin. They clung to his camzah’s body from just below his six-pack abs to his powerful thighs. And the star of the show was the erection pushing against the soft cotton. James went right for it. He pulled down the top band just enough to free the head, making sure Pax was watching.
“Better get you cleaned up,” he drawled, “and then I want you in my mouth.”
Pax gasped as James’s rough wet tongue hit the head of his cock. He kept up the eye contact as he licked the glistening tip of him dry. He swirled his tongue around the head, popping it in and out of his mouth and cupping his balls through the briefs before sliding them all the way off. In all his life he would never forget the first time he saw Pax hard for him. The male’s shaft was the same gorgeous tan as the rest of his body, the head purple and swollen. James took advantage of his commando status, giving his own erection a couple of long slow strokes as he took in the view and thought about everything he wanted to do to the warrior’s body. He leaned down over Pax’s arousal, then looked up at him. The male’s eyes glowed wildly as he watched him draw his tongue between his balls and all the way up to the head with the end of his piercing dragging along his shaft.
Desperate Call (New Breed Novels Book 5) Page 2
