Creatus Series Boxed Set

by Carmen DeSousa

  She released a labored breath. “I’ll never leave you, Derrick.” And the world faded to black again, but this time she knew everything would be okay.

  EPILOGUE

  He bolted down the stairs, watching that Derrick didn’t come through the building after him. But he was certain that Derrick had been too preoccupied with Kristina and had completely lost focus on him. Maybe he’d just go to another family. He didn’t need New England to make his plan work. He’d find another family who was tired of living the way they had for centuries. Together they would build an army and take on Derrick’s family. And when they were gone, they’d have control.

  The familiar truck pulled to a stop in front of him. The window lowered and the driver stared out at him, as if he knew. “Hop in.”

  The rogue—as he’d come quite comfortable thinking of himself—hopped in the cab. He turned to the driver. “You knew?”

  “Yep. I’ve always known.”

  He nodded and then smiled. “Where to?”

  “You’re the boss, brother. Just say the word.”

  “What about Mom? Won’t she be upset?”

  “Who do you think told me to call you? We’ll pick her up on the way. After what Dad did, she hates humans more than you and I put together.”

  He dropped his head, not sure how he felt about dragging his mother and brother into his plan. Of course, he had said start a new family. Well, they were family. “Okay, Ry,” Jonas said. “Let’s go get Mom and decide what we need to do next.”

  Ry squealed out of the parking lot and headed north. From there, who knew? He’d have to come back to Boston of course. The one thing he wouldn’t leave behind was Victoria. She’d be his one way or another. He’d make certain of it. As soon as they were settled, he’d come back for her. Hopefully, she’d come willingly, but if not, he’d take her anyway.

  And then, he’d deal with the Ashtons and anyone who stood with them. Creatus were meant to rule this world, and he’d make certain his kind did just that, once and for all.

  Creatus Rogue

  Book Two in the Creatus Series

  Carmen DeSousa

  Ancient myths, superheroes, vampires...

  Forget everything you’ve heard.

  CHAPTER ONE

  “You want me to do what?” Vic threw up her hands, turning her back on the man she’d once loved. If she were being honest, still loved. She peeked over her shoulder, hoping he’d admit that he was joking.

  Derrick said nothing, just waited, as he always did, calm, cool, and collected. Not one strand of his silky black hair was out of place, even though she knew he’d been at the hospital for more than twelve hours already.

  As she stared out his office window that overlooked Boston Harbor, she tried to comprehend how he could ask her to do such a thing. Afternoon clouds had rolled in, seemingly to match her dismal mood, and even though it’d be another hour before sunset, she could tell by the lack of boats on the waterway that the temperature had already started to drop.

  Turning away from the window, she walked back to Derrick’s desk and plopped down in the chair. How dare he suggest such a thing? Just because he didn’t want her didn’t mean he got to choose her destiny. “You’re kidding, right? I said I was sorry. I told you I wouldn’t bother you or Kristina.”

  A burst of air popped out of Derrick’s mouth as if she’d said or done something funny. There was nothing humorous about this situation.

  “Vic…” He sighed. “We don’t have a choice.”

  “What does Mike have to say about this?” she asked. “I bet your brother wouldn’t agree.”

  “Of course he wouldn’t agree, but when has Michael ever agreed with me? He’d be happy to take care of this issue. The last thing he wants is for you to be anywhere near Reece Buckley.”

  “And yet, you want me to fall for him, as if that’s even possible.”

  “It’s possible. You seem to forget that my mother and my wife are human. My mother reciprocated when my father fell, and Kristina fell for me. It’s clear we have more in common with humans than we thought.”

  Vic jumped up from her seat again. Hearing about Derrick falling for a human wasn’t something she liked to think about. All the nights they’d spent in each other’s arms, all the deep discussions they’d had, and they’d never fallen for each other. If it couldn’t happen with Derrick, then it certainly wasn’t going to happen with a human.

  “He’s human. How could I fall for a man who’s weaker than I am, a man who wouldn’t be able to protect me if the need arose?”

  Derrick laughed full and deep this time. “As if you need protecting. You beat the crap out of my brother and then went and took out Reece.”

  “Yeah, well. Michael wasn’t fighting back; he’d only defended himself, and Reece is human, so he doesn’t count.”

  Derrick got up from behind his desk and crossed the room to stand in front of her. Her body heated up about ten degrees as he got closer.

  Even though she knew they were over, that after he’d fallen for another woman he’d never fall for another one again, she still found it hard to move on with her life.

  She didn’t wish any danger to befall Kristina, but she couldn’t help but wonder what would occur if something happened to her. If their histories were wrong about humans being able to fall for creatus, then maybe a creatus could fall more than once in a lifetime.

  Kristina was still in danger. And she was human. It wouldn’t take much for her to die.

  The killing spree had stopped, at least in Boston. Nothing in the last few days resembled the previous murders anyway. But she was sure the rogue hadn’t given up that easily.

  The rogue—she couldn’t bring herself to believe that Jonas was capable of all the things he’d been accused of, so she’d continued to refer to the culprit as the rogue. She’d known Jonas almost her entire life. She’d even thought that maybe he was the One at one point. They certainly had made a good go at it. The night she’d spent with him had been powerful. Of course, she’d been trying to fall, trying to get Derrick out of her head.

  Derrick rested his hand on her shoulder. Even through her clothes, his touch felt as if it would burn her skin. “He saw you, Vic. He saw Michael. And then you threw him across the room, again reinforcing your abilities.” Derrick shook his head. “Why did you do that? We might have been able to talk him out of believing that we’re different.”

  “Why did I—” She huffed out a breath. “You started this, Derrick. The reason Reece even began this investigation was because you felt compelled to save a human. Michael had been trying to clean up your mess. We all were.” She stepped out from under his hand and walked back to the window, wishing she were anywhere but here. A few months ago, she never would have believed that Derrick would demand she fall in love with another man—a human man. “I can’t believe you want me to fall for a mere human.”

  “That mere human put up a fight against Michael. Michael is one of the strongest creatus on the planet. We both are. No one denies that. No one understands why being half-human makes Michael and me stronger than the average creatus, but we are. So how do you explain that a mere human put up a fight?”

  Vic turned to look at Derrick and shrugged. She really didn’t care. No way was she going to get romantic with a human. No matter how good he looked. No matter what he did to her insides every time she stepped within ten feet of him. She hated humans, and she was starting to hate half-humans like Derrick, Michael, and Jonas too. For that matter, she was starting to hate men in general—all species.

  “Mike probably wasn’t trying to hurt him,” she said. “He just wanted the evidence in Reece’s briefcase. Again, evidence you provided the government of our existence. For four thousand years we’ve managed to stay hidden, but you go and do a swan dive off the Tobin Bridge and bring some division of the National Security Council down on us.”

  Derrick casually leaned back against his desk. “My saving Kristina isn’t what made the Feds aware of u
s. They’ve been tracking supernatural events since 1947. You can blame that on our parents and grandparents for trying to be superheroes and save the world.”

  She laughed without humor. “Yeah, well… You’re still at fault more than I am. Why don’t you see if you can get him to fall for you?” She raised an eyebrow at him, challenging him in her juvenile wordplay. She couldn’t help it; that’s how she felt, and it felt good to release some of her pent-up anger. “Or, you kill him. You’re the boss.” She plopped down in the chair again and crossed her arms. No way was she going to come on to Reece Buckley. If Derrick wanted him dead, he could handle it. She didn’t care about a stupid human.

  “Is that what you want, Victoria? You want me to approve the assassination of an innocent human?” Derrick asked.

  Unable to keep up her charade, she sighed and dropped her head into her hands. “No.”

  Derrick sat down beside her. “Vic, Michael would take him out without a second thought. I love my brother, but even though we have a human mother, he treats humans as if they are a subspecies. As though their lives mean nothing. And some of Reece’s comments haven’t helped the matter. I know my brother can be cold hearted, but as you said, he hadn’t hurt him in that alley. Now all of a sudden he’s willing to kill him.”

  Vic whipped her gaze to him. “What do you mean? What comments?”

  “Reece keeps asking about you. Every time Michael or I take a security watch, he asks questions about you.”

  “Me? What types of questions?”

  Derrick sighed again. “Victoria, honestly, are you trying to tell me you don’t see the man is enamored with you?”

  She shook her head, even though she had noticed. Never had a man gazed at her the way Reece had. It didn’t matter. She didn’t want anything to do with him. Him or any man for that matter, human or creatus.

  “I asked him,” Derrick continued, “When I realized we couldn’t change his mind on what he saw, what he believes we are, I asked him why he didn’t fight you.” Derrick smiled. “You know what he said?”

  Vic gulped, shaking her head again, unable to find her voice for some reason. She didn’t want to know what he said.

  “He said you were the most beautiful woman he’d ever seen. He admitted that he threw a chair in your direction, but he knew he wouldn’t hit you. And there was no way he could ever hit a goddess.”

  Vic snorted. “I bet you rolled with laughter at that comment, huh, Derrick?”

  “Victoria, why do you do that to yourself? You know my falling for Kristina had nothing to do with you. You know you are one of the best-looking women on this planet. Reece even made a comment that you look like a modern-day Wonder Woman.”

  “What the hell? Are you guys best friends now?” she asked.

  Derrick shrugged. “He’s a nice guy. What else is there to do when I have to take four hours out of my day to sit with him? We play cards and talk.”

  “I just don’t understand why we can’t leave him handcuffed to the bed,” she said.

  “Because it’s inhumane, and even if we aren’t human, we are not mindless cold-blooded beings, as some would believe.”

  “We have him locked up in the psyche ward. The lock was probably broken when he escaped the first time.”

  “The lock wasn’t broken, and Michael admitted that Reece put up a decent fight. Something he hadn’t been prepared for. If being half-human makes Michael and me twice as strong as most creatus, imagine what having any creatus blood, even hundreds of years ago, would mean to humans.”

  Vic narrowed her eyes. “What are you saying, Derrick?”

  “I think there’s a reason some humans are ridiculously stronger than other humans. Why some can dead lift more weight than other humans, why some are Olympians. I believe there were more interspecies relationships—or, would interracial be a better word—than we knew of in the past. I’m pretty sure Reece Buckley has creatus blood running through his veins.”

  CHAPTER TWO

  Kris glanced up at the gentleman as he thrust through the heavy glass doors and plodded into the lobby. He hadn’t bothered to push the handicap button as most people did, even those who walked fine.

  She’d been in trouble enough times in her life to recognize a cop when she saw one. Only, this cop dressed impeccably. He wasn’t one of The Boys from Boston PD. His crisply pressed designer white dress shirt with similarly impeccably pressed khakis with a sport coat over top, and the slight bulge under his left arm screamed Fed. In his attempt to dress down, he actually stood out. Derrick had warned her that they’d stop by someday.

  Of course, her husband had also warned her that Jonas or one of his misguided clan might approach her. She traced the buttons on the side of her watch; she’d never worn a watch, but this wasn’t an ordinary watch. One of the conditions of her working at the front desk was that she would wear it at all times. If there was an emergency, she could hit the alarm on the side, and Derrick would be here in seconds. Since she didn’t want a guard following her around all day, this was an easy concession to make.

  The gentleman stepped up to the counter and removed his dark sunglasses, his eyes immediately veering toward her nametag. “Good afternoon, Kristina. I wonder if you could help me.” He smiled, flashing a set of perfectly straight and sparkling white teeth.

  This guy must have grown up watching 007 movies. “I’ll do my best,” she said, attempting to keep the smirk off her face. The man reeked arrogance, something she hated more than any other characteristic in a man. He was a cop all right, a spoiled rich kid who watched cops when he was a teenager, and even though his mom and dad probably sent him to an ivy league college, he’d wanted to serve the public.

  “A friend of mine was brought here a few days ago, only I left his room number at my office. Would you tell me which room Reece Buckley is in?”

  Bingo! Kris smiled sweetly, though. “Of course, sir. Let me look up his name. Is that R-e-e-s-e?”

  “No, Miss. R-e-e-c-e.”

  Kris glanced up at the average-sized man and wiggled the fingers on her left hand. “It’s missis.”

  “My apologies.”

  Kris typed Reece’s name into the computer, knowing it wouldn’t be in the system. “I’m sorry, sir. I don’t show a patient by that name.”

  The man leaned over the desk, and even though Kris knew there was nothing to see, she turned her computer monitor away and glared at him. “Excuse me, sir. All patient information is confidential. I suggest you check your information.”

  The man narrowed his eyes. “Reece Buckley’s last known whereabouts was several blocks away from here. Do you have a John Doe listed?”

  “No, sir.”

  The man motioned his hand toward the screen. “Would you check your computer, please?”

  “Sir, we are a small hospital. I would know if we had a John Doe. And if we did, we would’ve already notified Boston PD.”

  The man closed his eyes for a brief second, but then quickly reopened them and smiled. “Do you have a restroom I could use?”

  Kris pointed to a sign over the second door down the corridor. The agent donned his sunglasses and walked off without a word. Kris watched him until he glanced back at her when he turned to enter the bathroom. He’d known she was watching somehow. Maybe he had those glasses that he could see behind him. She giggled to herself. Now she was acting as though she were in a detective movie.

  Soft, warm lips pressed against her neck at the same time her husband’s long strong arms wrapped around her. “Ready to go home, my bride?”

  “Shh…” she said, turning around in her seat. “Go back to the ER. There’s a Fed here.”

  Derrick shrugged. “So. Where is he?”

  “So?” She crossed her arms, staring up at him. “He probably has a three-inch-thick file on you. I’ve been doing a good job dodging him, and now you’re gonna ruin it.”

  Her husband laughed. “Not probably. Definitely. But I bet he has an even larger file on you.” He kissed his fi
nger and touched the tip of her nose.

  “Derrick…” she whined, but then looked up as the door opened. Too late. Stupid, stubborn man of hers. Oh, well, she’d do damage control. “This is the gentleman, Doctor Ashton. He’s looking for a John Doe.”

  Derrick stepped forward and offered his hand to the agent. “How can I help you, sir?”

  The man glanced back and forth between Derrick and her; yeah, he had a file all right. He pulled out a photo from his jacket pocket. “Your receptionist already looked up his name, but I was hoping maybe you’d recognize one of my coworkers, Reece Buckley.”

  Derrick accepted the photo and studied it for a couple of seconds before handing it back. “Sorry. We have no one admitted by that name here and no John Doe.”

  Kris couldn’t help but beam inside at her husband’s cleverness. While she was certain a partial lie was still a lie, he’d told the truth. They didn’t have anyone admitted by either name. Reece wasn’t a patient. He was a prisoner.

  Kris really didn’t like the idea of holding him hostage, but Derrick had assured her that no harm would come to him and that he had a plan. And if there was one thing Kris could cling to more than anything else in life, it was Derrick’s word. He would never lie to her, and she knew as tall and strong as he was, he’d never hurt a fly unless they were hurting someone else. Her superhero husband could bend steel, but he’d never betray or hurt an innocent person.

  And Kris had seen Reece a few times in the last few weeks when Derrick was on watch. The man actually appeared content. She assumed that Reece’s curiosity was greater than his need to escape. Besides, according to Derrick, Reece Buckley had a crush on Victoria. If Victoria fell for Reece, then Kris could finally feel safe around her. Even though the Amazonian woman had been civil to her, she still sensed the hatred beneath her words.