Fever Claim (The Sigma Menace)

by Marie Johnston

  Chapter Ten

  They wandered up to Cassie’s door, holding hands, fingers entwined. Cassie didn’t want the night to end; she enjoyed dating Jace. He was warm, funny, intelligent, and gorgeous—gawd, he was hot.

  When they reached their door, he turned to her and cupped her face. “This is where I kiss you goodnight,” he murmured.

  Giddy with anticipation, wishing he’d ask to bypass the dating deal and carry her into her bedroom where they could remain all night, she tilted her chin up to him as he leaned in.

  He tasted divine. Still sweet from their shared dessert, fresh from their ride home, this one kiss made her feel more alive than zipping through the city streets on his steel monster.

  She heard a subtle popping noise and Jace grunted. His perplexed brow creased and he slumped against her, sinking to his knees.

  A small dart stuck out of his shoulder. Cassie struggled to keep him from face-planting on her concrete steps. “Jace, what is that? What’s happening?”

  Jace had his phone out, hitting a speed dial number before it clattered to the ground. “Get the Guardians,” was all he mumbled before he lost consciousness.

  She squatted next Jace, her vision blurred and her thigh throbbed. A dart similar to Jace’s was lodged into her muscle. Someone called out for Jace on the other end of his phone.

  Cassie dropped back on her butt, sagging against Jace’s still form. “We need help.” She prayed the man on the phone heard and could help them.

  A dark shadow fell across Cassie, the familiar form highlighted by the light above her door. Cassie’s fuzzy mind registered a sort of déjà vu where she’d been on the ground, looking up at a powerful figure before her. Alex?

  “Sorry, Runner Girl. Boss said it was time to take you in. She’s got plans for you and your boo, there.” It was the last thing she heard before she joined Jace in oblivion.

  ***

  Jace’s head fucking pounded. His mind tried to process why. Sensing Cassie nearby, he wondered if they crashed his bike. No, he remembered dropping her off. Did he have the strength to leave her place with nothing but a goodnight kiss? Wait, they were kissing, and then trepidation replaced confusion. He kept his eyes closed, listening to his surroundings. Clean air carried on a light breeze that can only be found far away from the city surrounded him. The tangy scent of bark and budding trees meant they were in a wooded area.

  Did his call to Christian go through? Fucking Sigma bastards. He knew they were in the area, a few recent cases of shifters suddenly going off the grid had the Guardians concerned Sigma’s tendrils had sunk into West Creek. They would be the perfect group for Sigma to harvest from – they laid low, often with little family, even fewer friends. No one to miss them if they happened to disappear one day.

  Why they targeted Jace and Cassie, he could only guess, and none of it good. They didn’t throw surprise mating showers for lucky couples about to tie their lives together.

  He opened his senses to listen for Cassie’s breathing. Slow and steady suggesting she was still out cold. They must’ve hit her with a tranq, too. Bastards! His rage rose and he forced his breathing to remain even. His arms were tied in front of him, his legs bound at the ankles; hers must be, too.

  “The male’s aware,” he heard a deep human voice say.

  “Why don’t you open those stunning eyes of yours and join us?” said a female shifter. Her tone was airy, like this was quite the rave he was missing out on. “Your honey’s not up yet and we can’t get started without her. And by the way, don’t try the freaky eye thing on us. You can’t capture more than one of us in your radar and we’re not taking the bait.”

  He slowly opened his eyes, very little moonlight filtered through the newly-budding trees, it was well after sunset. He had no idea how long they’d been passed out, but from overhearing the Guardians talk training and weapons, he thought they said the tranqs could last a couple of hours. That was for a grown shifter male, what would they do to Cassie?

  As if sensing his line of thought, the female continued, “Runner Girl should be coming around soon, we tapered her dose—weak human, and all.”

  “Fuck you, X,” the male human swore.

  “Please, Double D, don’t be so sensitive,” she replied. “I know it’s not your fault you’re human.”

  The male continued cursing under his breath.

  The use of letters as names told him a lot, along with their knowledge of what he could do. A sick feeling sunk into the pit of his belly. That sadistic bitch, Madame G, liked to keep her Agents’ names shortened to a letter. She took recruits, or anyone she took a fancy to, snatched them up and broke them down, rebuilding them to her liking through pain and terror, and whatever sadistic act she happened to think would “develop character.” Then she named them with a letter in case it wasn’t already obvious she owned them.

  He assessed the area, only his eyes moved. They were deep in the woods, probably on the east side of the river, since he didn’t recognize the general scent of the land. He’d run in the woods surrounding West Creek, but rarely crossed over to Freemont. The larger city made it harder to get lost in nature. More people were building out of town and it took longer to get lost in the wilderness on all fours. He could head out for a run from his apartment above Pale Moonlight, strip down at the edge of town, and shift to finish his run in the woods. It was commonplace for Christian’s pack to run. No humans thought much beyond the initial thrill when they saw a lone wolf in the trees, if they ever saw them. Great care was taken by them all to remain undetected. It was better that way.

  Cassie had begun to squirm and groan, stiff from being bound, her head pounding.

  “Hey, look who’s joining us!” X said brightly. Her tone dropped to a grave timber. “Call Madame G. It’s time,” she ordered Agent D.

  “Alex? Jace?” Cassie groggily inquired. Alex? Did she know this Sigma drone?

  “Boo-bear is next to you, awaiting the special ceremony we have in store. Oh, and call me X. I use Alex when I’m trying to blend. It was great running with you Cass-bass. You gotta great set of legs, for a human.”

  Cassie’s look of betrayal toward the female made the animal inside Jace howl. She met Jace’s gaze, fear quickly replacing betrayal, he could feel his wolf pacing, growing increasingly agitated, but a shift now wouldn’t help either of them. The reality of the situation was sinking into both of them. X had been watching them, studying her, even made contact and chatted her up to screen for information.

  Cassie took a deep breath and gathered her wits, making Jace proud. His mate had been drugged, woke up bound in the woods, in the middle of the night, and hadn’t crumbled yet.

  “I’m at a disadvantage, obviously,” Cassie said evenly, meeting X’s bright green eyes. “I’m human, and you are?”

  “Like your boyfriend,” she replied simply. “But worry not, Little Boo, you’re not alone. Double D, here, is human, too. Just a bit more enhanced.”

  Cassie and Jace both searched for “Double D.” He had dark hair, dark eyes, and dark stubble covered a face that had anger clouding it. Jace didn’t know why X taunted her partner, but it was obvious he didn’t like it and he didn’t like her. Jace inhaled deep, scenting two more human males in the surrounding woods. Their scents were more subtle than Double D’s, but more “enhanced” than your run-of-the-mill Homo sapiens.

  “So you’re a shifter and you hunt your own kind?” Cassie asked innocuously.

  Jace monitored X’s face carefully. No emotions flickered across, her expression carefully impassive. “Madame G can be very persuasive,” she said flatly. “Much like your boyfriend can be, you should ask your ex. Grant, right? Sudden lack of interest in sex before marriage? Hmmm… suddenly dumped? Hmmm…”

  Jace ground his jaw and met Cassie’s wide-eyed accusatory stare. “I would never use my gift on you, but I will use it for you.”

  She continued to hold her stare, but gave her head a shake of incredulous incomprehension.

 
X laughed caustically. “Boo, I’ll give it to you. That’s some manipulative shit. Seriously, though, it’s nice to see there’s a shifter around here that has a handle on his mojo. The Guardians of the W. C.? I tell ya. It shouldn’t have been so easy to settle in the area, but with them and their fucked up powers dealing with all the pack rejects that gravitate here and can’t live under the radar? Easy peasy lemon squeasy.”

  Jace mentally filed away everything X was saying. If—when—they got out of here alive, he’d bring it all in to Commander Fitzsimmons. Rumors abounded of Sigma activity increasing in the area, but did the Guardians know they were digging in their tentacles deep? He knew they were busy with the drama kicked up by the shifters in the area, but Jace had also heard whispers that their heavy-handed techniques were compensating for discrepant powers, ones they couldn’t control or just plain didn’t work.

  A tall Asian beauty appeared out of thin air, covered neck to toe in a black kimono with blood-red serpent designs flowing over the material, her features marred with cruelty and amusement. She greedily looked over Cassie and Jace, like they were the new Keurig coffee maker with eighty different flavors she couldn’t wait to test.

  “Get them to the altar. Let’s begin.”

  Jace prepped to turn, his wolf wanting to take out this woman whom he only sensed malignant evil from, when X stopped him. “I wouldn’t, Boo. There’s one sniper trained on you and one on Runner Girl. We’d only wound her for now, unless you two prove not worth the effort. Either way, if you or she fights back, it’ll get ugly. Now get up, both of you.”

  Jace blew out the breath he didn’t know he was holding, the fight leaving him… temporarily. Cassie was in this because of him, he would only ensure her safety from now on. She was all that was important.

  She looked at him with fear in her eyes as she struggled to her knees, bits of grass and leaves stuck to her clothes and hair. Her pixie-cut, decorated with small twigs and bits of leaves, made her look like a wee woodland fairy. Rising ungracefully to his feet, the task more arduous since his bound hands were connected by a short chain to his bound ankles, he wished fervently that Cassie could fly, while he shifted and took on the wolf bitch, and her human minions. And Madame G, whatever the fuck she was. Vampire, but something else. Something dark that he didn’t recognize. Whiffs coming off her were familiar to him. Like the rare, truly evil prisoners he came across doing time. Like Argen—the ones that could never be rehabilitated because if there was such a thing as a black soul, they had it. They were completely devoid of humanity, viewing those around them as pawns for their own malicious use.

  They hobbled over to the pile of stones that signified the “altar.” An altar for what, Jace dreaded finding out. Madame G stood tall and regal atop the loosely stacked stones. Behind her, a short distance away, Jace’s enhanced night vision could barely make out a small shack sitting among the trees. He wondered what Cassie could make out with her rudimentary human vision. Grays and blacks? Shadowy figures moving around her? She had to be absolutely fucking terrified.

  A breeze rustled through the branches, making it difficult for Jace to determine where the snipers were, or separate their scents and figure just how many were out there in addition to the twisted woman on the rocks and the traitor wolf, X, with pissed off Agent D behind them. The need to keep Cassie safe, both drove the wolf wild and crazy, wanting to kill everyone around him to save her, but calming it down knowing any hint of him shifting would cause her harm.

  Once they were a few feet in front of the altar, Agent D ordered them to stop and kneel. Cassie hesitated slightly and Agent D shoved behind her knees causing her to drop with a cry.

  Jace growled, turning to lunge at the bastard when X fired a shot into the ground in front of Cassie.

  “Jace!” Cassie’s eyes were wide, fear running rampant through her.

  “Kneel, Jace,” X commanded calmly, moonlight reflecting off the gunmetal pointed at Cassie. “Remember my advice? That was your only warning shot. Next time, it’s in her leg.”

  Cassie trembled, breathing shallowly as he kneeled down next to her.

  “Don’t touch her again, Double D, or I will take you down,” Jace threatened.

  Agent D rammed the butt of his revolver into the back of Jace’s head making him grunt in pain. He leaned down close to Jace’s ear, “It’s Agent D, and I’d like to see you try, wolf. I’d skin you alive in front of your pretty little lady and wear your fur like a mantle.”

  Jace sought out Cassie’s terrified, watery gaze to help calm her. He nodded slightly to reassure her he was okay since he couldn’t reach out to comfort her, hoping they were close enough that she would catch the movement. She swallowed hard and gave a small nod back.

  “Mmmm, you’d better watch it. Double D doesn’t like his name being fucked up,” X taunted wryly, giving a Jace a wink since her back was to Madame G. Apparently, there was no love lost between Agent X and Agent D.

  “Enough.” Madame G daintily stepped down from her stone perch, the long kimono barely shifting as it moved over the rocks, holding an intricate blade in her pale, finely-boned hand. The hilt was decorated with an obscene amount of jewels that valued enough to buy the club. Hell, buy the whole block. She was running her red claw-tipped fingers lovingly up and down the blade. Jace longed to snap each delicate finger and thrill in the agony that would replace the cold delight in her expression.

  The wind flowed around Madame G when she covered the short distance between them. The long ponytail atop her head swayed gently with her movements but no wind touched her; her footsteps made no sound—no crunching of dry leaves, no snapping of old twigs, nothing. She stopped, looming tall and dark over them, the moonlight streaming down behind her but illuminating nothing around her.

  “You two are at a very special place in your relationship. You will share it with me.” She nodded to Agent D. “Their hands.”

  X stood with a revolver in each hand, one trained on Jace and one on Cassie, while Agent D released one of each of their hands, the ones closest to each other, from the bindings in front of them. Jace’s feeling of dread, which was bad before, multiplied. Times one hundred.

  “Now hold hands,” Madame G commanded.

  Needing no more encouragement, Cassie desperately grabbed onto Jace’s hand, twining her fingers tightly through his. He let her cool fingers snake through his before clasping onto her just as tightly. She had no idea what was going to happen next, but Jace now knew exactly what Madame was going to do. The most sacred act that could take place between two shifters would be forcibly performed on them. It would be twisted and studied for Madame G’s benefit. It made sense now, why the evil creature herself, the one he’d begun to think of as an urban legend, a nighttime story to scare the young into being good, came to their abduction, instead of letting her revered Agents carry it out.

  “Very good,” cooed Madame G, her dark eyes reflecting a fire that did not exist on this plane. She leaned forward, reaching one claw-tipped hand out to grip their hands and wedge her thumb between their palms. Cassie attempted to break free, Jace tried to let go of her hand but Madame G’s freakishly strong hold kept them tightly together.

  He was leaning his body away, frantically using the extra force to rip apart their hands when Madame G dropped the dagger in where her thumb was and twisted it back out, slicing both of their hands at once.

  Cassie and Jace both hissed in pain, warm blood welled out from between their palms, but even without Madame G’s vice grip, their hands wouldn’t break apart.

  Madame G began chanting, her words unintelligible, the wind ominously picked up, pushing through the trees, making them wheeze and rasp all around them. Her low timbre picked up volume; she flung her head back and held the bloodied blade up to the sky, her voice rising with the strength of the wind. Old leaves kicked up around them still on their knees, swirling high into the air, disappearing into darkness.

  “What’s happening?” Cassie cried to Jace, the wind tearing th
e words from her.

  Jace couldn’t answer her, didn’t know how to tell her, what to tell her.

  X’s eyes never wavered, her guns still trained on each of them. Not that they had any power to move. Ever since Madame G touched their bare skin, it felt like they were cemented into place, every major muscle paralyzed. He couldn’t shield Cassie from the torment of the wind and leaves, couldn’t snatch the dagger from Madame G and plunge it into her black heart, couldn’t rip Agent D apart for shoving Cassie, and couldn’t take on X for tricking and betraying his mate. Jace always took care of his own, those most precious to him, even at great cost to himself. And now he made a solemn vow. We will survive and I will dedicate my life to destroying Madame G and her Sigma network so they can never spread their terror and ruination over my species ever again.

  The vacuum of the mini-cyclone sucked the air from their vicinity making it difficult to breathe. Madame G’s voice rose until she was nearly screaming at the sky. With one final shout, the wind died suddenly when Madame G brought the blade down to her lips. Her eyelids dropped closed when her pointed, strawberry tongue deftly licked both sides, her mouth curling up at the corners. Jace winced; Cassie gagged.

  In the sudden silence that followed, Madame G said, “I pronounce you, husband and wife.”

  ***

  They could move now. Cassie clung to Jace’s bloodied hand. What the fuck was this crazy lady talking about?

  “D, bring my box,” Madame G commanded.

  Agent D appeared in front of them with an ornate, long box. Madame G laid the dagger down into it and shut the lid.

  “Keep this with you and see them settled.” Her vacuous, dark eyes stained Cassie’s soul whenever they settled on her. Cassie watched in astonishment as Madame G disappeared into the wind right before her eyes.

  “What happened?” she breathed to Jace.

  Jace’s face was grim, he gave her hand a squeeze, prepared to say something when X interrupted. “Congrats. You’re mated! Sorry, I didn’t bring any confetti and champagne, but don’t worry. We have a nice room for you two lovebirds all set up so you can get some mating on.” She winked again and spoke quietly into a radio.