Lawful Claim

by Marie Johnston

She shot him a cocky smirk. “Never forget how phenomenal I am.”

  E went to open the door, but waited until two Agents rushed by, fleeing an explosion in the north wing. Taking advantage of the extra time, he checked on Ana. Her color had faded even more and her breathing was growing erratic. He almost swore, but remembered Julio’s acute hearing.

  “Go,” X urged. “I’ll watch your ass until you get out of the walls. Then keep anyone from getting a good shot at you.”

  “Come with us, X. It’s too dangerous for you to stay.” And he couldn’t leave her. They’d been inseparable for nearly a decade, and although he gained the two most important people in his life, he didn’t know what he’d do without the indomitable Agent X. She’d become his only friend, his family.

  “No can do, Biggie. My work here is not done.” When he opened his mouth to argue, she gave her head a curt shake. “I can’t roam this earth knowing that vampire hag is terrorizing innocent people. I can still find a way.”

  Explosions rocked the walls, Agents shouted, and his mate’s health was declining. Even the maybe-spirits of the stairwell seemed agitated at his delay.

  E pulled the door open as quietly as possible. Not sensing any immediate danger, X went out first and waved E and Julio to follow. Together, they hugged the wall with Julio in the middle and made their way down a corridor, heading to where the worst damage to the exterior walls had been done.

  “Behind you!” Julio spun around to tug on his shirt, craning his neck to look behind E.

  E twisted, gun raised. Two recruits darted out of an office the trio had just passed, preparing to attack the small group. E quickly took them down, each with a head shot, before they could aim and fire.

  Julio saw everything, and it killed E inside that his son had to witness the violence, that this was his world now.

  “What’s wrong with Mom?” Julio asked as they continued to rush toward where the explosions had been centered moments before. “She doesn’t smell right.”

  Hell. E knew something was wrong with Ana, but now Julio claimed her scent was off and that was bad. Just bad. No matter the species, dying changed a person, altered their biochemistry, especially if it was prolonged at any rate. Not only did Ana look sickly, she smelled sickly and he had no idea why.

  Talking to Julio, knowing X would get the hint, E reassured him. “Maybe by the time we get out of here, Doc will have been notified to be ready to help your mom.”

  X threw him a sardonic look over her shoulder. “Subtle, Biggie, subtle.”

  “What’s that word mean?” Julio asked her.

  “Look it up in the dictionary,” she threw back at him.

  Julio made a sound of frustration. “You sound like Mom. I’ll just Google it.”

  E’s lips quirked, grateful Julio was distracted from Ana’s dire situation.

  “There’s your exit.” X stepped over the shrapnel left behind from a heavy metal door. No other Agents had come to defend the breach of perimeter and that served E’s escape plans just fine. Climbing out of the shattered concrete walls would be the easy part. Getting himself, the precious package he cradled, and his beloved son across the span of lawn to the protection of the trees would be a harrowing experience. He was fast, his son was probably just as fast now, but several Agents and recruits were shooting out of windows into the very tree line he needed to make it to.

  “Nice.” X cleared the room, stepping carefully over debris, making sure to stay away from the already gaping hole in the wall. E helped Julio over the wreckage of the door and into the room before he gingerly stepped inside.

  Once they were in, X fell back into the hallway. He heard movement down the corridor.

  “Get to the garages,” she commanded whomever must’ve been heading their way “we don’t have enough coverage there.”

  E waited, preparing to jump out and help X if need be, but they listened to her, changing course to head to the garages. She wasn’t lying exactly. Leaving in a car would hinder more than help; the trees would be his best chance at rescuing his family. Several Agents and recruits had cars, and they could easily chase them with wheels, but in the trees, many Sigma personnel were out of their comfort zone and couldn’t congregate in groups as easily as they could on the road. So no, the garages weren’t targeted as much by the Guardians.

  He gave one final nod to his partner, the female who had been his savior. She saved him from himself and then from others on countless missions, eventually allowing him to get back to his family.

  “See you later.” It was all he could say, because telling her good-bye was too hard.

  Her vivid green eyes said she didn’t believe that would happen. She committed her entirety to their final goal. “Go get your creep on, Biggie.” Her reply was what she always said when he was leaving to spy on his family.

  Scanning the yawning hole with daylight pouring through, E realized…it was fucking daylight. He’d been knocked out so long, he’d forgotten the time of day. Of course the Guardians would attack early in the day. Send their message to leave their territory the hell alone and limit the vampires’ retaliation. Daylight secured the vampires to the compound, and boy, would they be pissed.

  Feeling more optimistic than he had all night, or day, he pulled Julio over blasted fragments of concrete to the side of the opening so he could peer out.

  The stretch of lawn was clear. Of people anyway. It was covered with dirt chunks and hunks of sod that had been blown out by bombs that didn’t make it to the compound. Glass and cement debris stretched from the exterior of the wall.

  E looked down. He was still wearing his boots, but Julio was only in a T-shirt and jeans, with bare feet poking out the bottom. “I’m going to jump down with you. It’s not far, but there’s glass so I need to carry you past it.” And block you with my body, but E left that part out.

  Julio’s wide, brown eyes held a solid dose of fear along with a dash of excitement. He looked like he wanted to argue that he could do it himself, then he glanced at where Ana was still cradled over E’s shoulder.

  “We need to get her help. She won’t last much longer.”

  E absolutely agreed. “Let’s go.” Holstering his gun, which meant sliding it back into his waistband, he secured Ana better on his shoulder, worried at the amount of her body that would be targeted. But he needed to lift Julio and shield him as much as possible, too, and that left little room for Ana.

  Picking up his boy, Julio wrapped his arms around E’s shoulder and his mother’s legs to hold on. E ducked and leaped through the opening, barely clearing both his feet and head of becoming snagged in the jagged stone jutting out, and landed solidly. He spun out, increasing his speed as much as he could, as quickly as he could.

  Someone shouted from one of the windows, and E could feel the weapons re-sighting onto his back and Ana’s head. They would be shooting to kill.

  A deafening sound thundered at the edge of the trees, like a pack of lions roared and heading his way. Dust and debris kicked up by a wall of wind right in front of E as he ran. He braced himself, ready to spin and protect his son so he could still breathe through the dirt, but to his astonishment, the wall parted around them to clatter and heave its load into any open windows.

  “Dad, put me down. I can run.” Julio let go of his hold on him and squirmed to wiggle down.

  “Stop. I’m gonna drop you.” With the aid of whichever Guardian had the power to harness the wind, they were nearly to the tree line. Stray shots tossed up bits of dirt and grass at his feet, but no one was able to get a good zero in on them with the earth blowing straight into their faces.

  Julio persisted until E was forced to set him down in front of him, otherwise he’d drop Ana, too. E slowed to cover Julio with his body, but he didn’t slow long. Soon his son was a blur and made it to the trees, while E still had a hundred yards to cover with his mate bouncing on his shoulder.

  “Julio! Get behind a tree and wait for me.” E raced after his son. Did Julio know he could d
o that?

  Rushing to the cover of the trees, E let his senses flare out. How many Agents and recruits had made it to the woods to hunt down the shifters?

  Movement to his left had him grabbing for his gun and aiming at the shadow. A flash of familiar braided coppery hair stalled him from shooting. Kaitlyn had come to help. She stepped around the tree she’d been using for cover, holding a metal tube perched on her shoulder and wearing an odd-looking bandolier containing nothing but empty holders. The acrid smell of gunpowder clouding her body and her wicked grin suggested she was the main grenade launcher.

  “Let’s head down to the highway. The commander said we need to get Ana to Doc ASAP. He’s waiting for her and Julio.”

  Thank you, X. E would forever be indebted to the female, to all of the Guardians. “Julio, stay with Kaitlyn, no matter how fast you can run now.”

  “Come on, kid. I’ll set the pace. I can’t have you smacking into any trees with your new horsepower.”

  Julio’s face screwed up. “Horsepower?”

  “Yeah, like a car engine.” At Julio’s blank look, she just shook her head. “Later, kid. You’ll thoroughly learn about cars later.”

  E gently brought Ana down to cradle her in front him, knowing she had already endured a good shaking when he jumped out onto the lawn and ran across it. Her chest barely rose.

  “We need to move.”

  Kaitlyn glanced back at E, hearing the contained panic in his voice, then looked at Ana’s face. Her nostrils flared, like she too could smell his mate was nearing her end. Heading deeper into the trees, dodging branches, she continually picked up her pace until she found a swift speed Julio could keep up with and still watch his footing.

  Random gunshots popped through the trees, growing fainter as they ran. The terrain wasn’t as rugged in this part of the woods, across the river from where the Guardians resided. Hills gently rolled, and while the brush was thicker, it wasn’t impossible to get through. Noisy, but doable.

  E scanned around him as much as possible without knocking himself, or Ana, into any trunks or limbs, worried about the clamor they were making in their haste. With good reason. He sensed two Agents quickly closing in.

  Kaitlyn did, too. “Keep going. They’ll get dealt with.”

  He hugged Ana closer and sped up in accordance with Kaitlyn’s burst of speed.

  From behind him, a shout and gunfire, and a bullet going far to the right of where they ran. Wolf, E sensed. One of Guardians was in their shifter form hunting Agents.

  Three sharp bursts of gunfire were followed by snarling and growling. The second Agent who had been pursuing them was now a non-issue. He’d heal, but E hoped the shifter didn’t get shot for his efforts.

  The highway was coming up quickly. Two dark SUVs parked in the tree line, neatly camouflaged from passing cars. They closed in on them and it wouldn’t be too soon.

  “Kaitlyn, can you take Julio in one vehicle while one of the wolves behind us drives me and Ana?”

  One look at the alarm written on E’s face and she hauled up Julio, opening the backdoor and buckling him in. E beelined for the backseat of the second SUV, not wanting Julio to see what he had to do next. Spreading Ana across the backseat, he wrestled his body in-between the seats. Using those life-saving skills he had learned years ago, but certainly hadn’t used lately, he tilted her head back and leaned down to breathe for her while trying to capture a pulse.

  The door opened and he sensed a Guardian slide into the driver’s seat, the sound of bare skin on vinyl. Mercury. The male had shifted and climbed in without dressing first, aware of the dire situation for Ana. Without a word, the Guardian fired up the engine and pulled onto the road, steadily increasing speed until they were flying down the highway.

  E continued breathing for Ana, her pulse thready, but present. He was her lungs, her life force, to keep her heart trudging along until she was strong enough to stay alive on her own.

  Eternity came and went in the drive to the Guardians’ headquarters. The SUV pulled to a stop and the door opened on E’s side. E finally brought his attention off his wife and looked up to see the tall, lanky doctor with a somber expression.

  “I have everything ready, Agent.” Doc squatted down, tilting Ana’s head back as far as he could on the seat. He gently pried Ana’s mouth open and maneuvered a long, slightly curved tube into her airway. Once it was secured in place, he strapped a mask over Ana’s slack mouth, the clear hosing running to an oxygen tank on the cot he had ready for the unconscious woman.

  E helped lift Ana and hand her out to the doctor. Once he was out of the vehicle, it was a case of anxiously standing around while Doc strapped his mate to various medical sensors anchored to the cot. E was too wound up to even pace. His mate was knocking at death’s door, and he could do nothing about it. He didn’t even know why she was in the condition she was in. Mercury had donned a pair of shorts, waiting patiently alongside E, who was grateful the male wasn’t a chatty fucker, trying to take his mind off his dying mate and the son he’d have to tell.

  “Do you know anything of what they gave her?” the doctor asked, sticking differently colored stickers all over Ana’s bare chest. To each sticker, he hooked a different wire that led to a monitor. Once all the wires were attached, wavy lines appeared on the monitor and E remembered enough from his cop days when he got radioed to assist with medical emergencies, that the lines weren’t nearly spiked enough, nor as rhythmic as they should be.

  “I’ve got no clue,” E said gruffly. He should’ve found someone to torture to get that information before they left. But who and with what extra time? “X said they planned to enhance her, but with what, I don’t know. Then they loaded her with Sigma’s version of a mega-roofie.”

  Doc motioned to Mercury to push the cot as he rushed alongside, checking all of her vitals. “When did she lose consciousness?”

  “I…” guilt poured through him, “I made her pass out because she was in so much pain with the drugs they gave her. I couldn’t rescue her in that condition; she could barely walk.” He said it more to justify it to himself than to the others present.

  To the doctor’s credit, he only bobbed his head in confirmation, but gave E no signs of recrimination for his actions. The group sped to the rooms Doc had setup as his own little treatment center, and Mercury pushed the cot into what resembled a real ER room.

  Once inside, the wiry shifter stood back, facing Ana’s prone form, his hand on his chin propped up by his other arm. E wanted to shout “What the hell, dude?” but forced himself to wait patiently. Mercury even aimed a perplexed look at the doctor but remained silent. E had a feeling he stayed to protect the doctor from any bad news he might have to deliver to E.

  “Agent E,” Doc began, rubbing his chin, “I have a theory, but that’s all. I can find nothing medically wrong, other than she’s fading and we’re keeping her from completing the process of shutting her body down.” He went over to a floor-to-ceiling cupboard in the corner and gathered supplies: a large syringe and needle and…Band-Aids? “From what I know of how Sigma alters their Agents and how mating works, I suspect her body’s at war with itself.”

  “Whaddya mean?”

  The doctor gestured to a chair in the corner. “Have a seat and I’ll tell you. I need to take some blood.”

  E promptly followed directions, flopping down in the chair, mollified that they were doing something that would help his mate, the love of his life.

  “When you mated her, it worked like Dani and Mercury’s mating. Their bond overrode the blood bond Madame G requires of her recruits. It’s more natural, runs deeper.” Doc yanked up E’s sleeve and palpated a vein, needing no tourniquet. “In Ana’s case, the process was reversed. She mated you first and then Madame G tried to bond with her. I suspect it was too soon. Ana’s body hadn’t had time to solidify your bond. Kaitlyn said her natural abilities were developing stronger, sharper…so I could be wrong.”

  “And if you are?” E watched numbly as the
male cleaned off his inner elbow with an alcohol swab, wishing the cool sensation would wash the fear from his body.

  Ripping a thick needle out of its packaging, he twisted it onto the barrel of a syringe and deftly stabbed it into E’s arm. “This shouldn’t hurt her regardless. But she’s been held prisoner, no doubt not fed well. She needs to heal and fight off Madame G’s serum. Your blood should aid that process and maybe, well, I hope also give your bond to her a boost.”

  Deep red blood filled the syringe until the doctor couldn’t pull the plunger back any further. Then he withdrew, pushing a piece of gauze onto the entry point. He folded E’s arm up to hold it in place and tossed the Band-Aid to him. Turning to Ana and lifting her sleeve, he wrapped his large hand around her delicate upper arm as a makeshift tourniquet and inserted the very same needle, slowly depressing the plunger until all of E’s blood was emptied into his mate.

  After withdrawing the needle and slapping a bandage on Ana, he tossed the empty syringe into a large red bucket and got his stethoscope ready to listen to Ana’s chest.

  E shot up from his seat at a strangled sound coming from his mate’s gurney. Ana’s eyes flew open, her mouth open in a silent scream. Her back arched up and the scream broke free, echoing through the room.

  “Ana!” E leapt to her side, shoving Doc out of the way. He held onto her shoulders so she wouldn’t shake herself off the cot. “Ana!” He searched for the doctor, finding him approaching warily, brushing off his white coat after hitting the wall when E shoved him. “What’s happening?”

  Ana flailed from side to side, strangled screams bounced off the walls, her legs scissoring.

  “Agent E,” Doc said cautiously, holding his hand out like it was going to placate the crazed Agent. “I need to monitor her.”

  E snarled at him. In his mind, all he heard was them telling him to get away from his mate. She might be in her death throes; he wasn’t leaving her side. Mercury grabbed his shoulders to move him away so Doc could get in to monitor Ana, but E exploded. Throwing elbows back, kicking behind him, E struggled to shake the burly male. Leave him the hell alone to protect Ana’s beautiful body as she writhed in pain.