Oh, shit. They had to be crawling up the walls back at the mansion. She decided to go there first before checking on Blue Eyes. She gleamed back to the study. Richard and Reyn were doing their best to look busy, but she could tell her male was totally stressed out, right down to the glowing eyes and braided hair.
He was by her side almost as soon as she landed. “Ihkweea. Thank God.”
“What the hell happened?” Richard asked.
“Things got complicated.”
“Where’s Pax?” Reyn asked.
“He’s still in play. He wound up getting sent to a meeting with Batiste. He’s been there about ninety minutes. It blew our exit strategy, but I’m keeping an eye on the sitch. Pax is smart. He’ll find another way out. I’ll keep the demon out of the way until he does.”
Richard’s face tensed. “Did you just say demon?”
She felt a male presence in the doorway and met James’s eyes head on.
Reyn pointed right at him. “You aren’t going anywhere. Got it?”
The male buried his hands in his pockets and nodded.
She didn’t dare look at SE. “Yeah. Turns out Blue Eyes is a demon. It’s a long story. I should get back.”
Reyn nodded. “Be ready for a full debriefing when you get in. And, Ana, be careful.”
She gave him a thumbs up and dematerialized.
Rose woke up when she heard Xavier’s text tone. She sat up, stretched, and looked across the room. Her male was deep in concentration as he read from the screen.
“Was that Helen just now, my male?”
“Oh, Jesus. I didn’t even hear it.” He checked his phone. “Looks like she’s ready for us.”
She climbed out from under the quilt and walked to the bathroom. “I’ll be right out.”
She recognized the pallor in her skin as she held her hair back and threw some water on her face. That was something she never thought she’d see again. Ben had just seemed so sure. And Goddess, the timing. She took a clean hand towel and started to pat her face dry. Without warning, the light colored towel became covered in red. She looked in the mirror. Blood was streaming down her face, hitting her neck and blouse. She cried out for her mate just as the room started to spin.
Xavier rounded the corner and came through the doorway just as she started to fall, his arms catching and lifting her at once. He pulled down a large towel and sat her on the floor with her back to him. Then, so much pressure hit her face she thought her nose would break. She coughed against the blood running down her throat and a wave of nausea hit her stomach. He brought her back against him, supporting her with his chest. She wasn’t sure exactly how long they were there, but it was enough time to soak two New Breed sized bath towels
Man alive. X didn’t know his female had that much blood in her entire body. He checked his watch. It took him almost forty minutes to get it under control. He was sure it was the CML, so he had alerted Helen in case Rose needed it packed. Thank the God it stopped. Nose packs could be brutal. He didn’t want his mate to have to deal with that on top of everything else. He looked down at their bodies. They were both covered in splotches of blood. He was used to it, but he quickly started a warm shower for Rose.
“Do you feel okay to stand?”
She nodded. “I think so.”
He gave her some privacy, but he waited right outside the door. He was worried she might faint in the shower. He heard her shut the water off and brought her a towel.
“Would you text Helen and let her know I’m okay to meet?”
He wrapped her up, then pulled off his own shirt. “Already done. We’ve got about twenty minutes.”
He kicked off his jeans and started the shower.
“I’m so sorry, my male.”
He turned around and looked down at his female. She was staring at the floor and gently tugging at her towel, trying to get it over her shoulder to cover her scar. There was a look on her face that he’d only seen once before, but it just about turned his heart to dust. In Rose’s mind, she connected all of this to the bombing. Her burn, her mark, the illness. And the bombing still somehow made her feel ashamed. “Hey, none of that.”
He sat her on the vanity. Was it him or did she actually feel lighter? “Rosie, this isn’t your fault. You haven’t done anything wrong.”
“I just wanted you so much. I didn’t think about the consequences. I never thought this would happen.”
“I know.” He wrapped his arms around her, lifted her hair, and leaned down to kiss her mark. “Second shower?”
He felt her nod against his chest. As they stepped into the warm spray, X found himself wishing he could somehow wash her pain away.
Pax turned to the last page in Batiste’s list from hell and that’s when he saw it. His hand shimmered very distinctly. Fuck my life. “I think we’re done here. I will see that Victrixa gets your information. It’s more than complete.”
“Before you go there is something I would like to say.”
He glanced down at the demon’s watch for show. “Make it quick, human.”
He looked at his feet. Was that a foot shimmer? He had to get out of there. He was about to get fucked ten different ways and take the Order down with him.
“I am not new to the game, Cerberus. I understand that there could come a time when Victrixa may have no more use for me and may be tempted to, shall we say, tie up loose ends? Tell her that I plan to make my services invaluable to her.”
Pax was already backing up. “I’ll make sure she gets the message.”
He pulled the trench coat he was wearing around himself, turned on his heels, and beat it like he owed the guy money. Then, just as he hit the stairwell, everything went all fun house on him as a wave of dizziness hit. He clamped down on his insides and full on demanded that they hold onto his current form. It was no use. The stairs tilted and he fell against the wall, phasing back to his true form. This was so not good. Gleaming was out until his batteries had time to recharge and his phone was in the same shape, but it was imperative for no one to see him. Or, at least not live to tell about it.
That’s when it hit him. Fighting his way out was his only option and one pistol wasn’t going to do the job. He quietly slipped down the third floor hallway in the opposite direction from meeting central. There had to be something around here. It was a warehouse. A soft whirring came from behind a door at the end of the hall. It was worth a look. The room on the other side was full of discarded crap. Maybe he’d luck out after all. Or maybe he’d just entered garage sale hell. Holy Storage Wars. Navigating around the cleaning supplies and other discarded shit that lined the room, he added Batiste’s research to the pile. Two hundred fifty rogues. Awesome. What he wouldn’t give to have his knives right now. Then, out of the corner of his eye, he noticed some old piping on the floor.
Boom.
Just like that he was back in the game.
Helen guided Rose to one of two chairs near the front of the lab. “Hey, lady. How are you feeling?”
“I’m okay. I think it just startled me.”
“It would have startled anyone.”
Xavier sat down next to his mate. “Honestly, I thought I broke her nose for sure.”
They all laughed a little and the pressure inside X’s chest was relieved a bit. But he knew Helen well and the look on her face said a lot.
“Alright, let’s start with your physical exam. Your spleen is enlarged, which is another sign telling us you’re out of remission. So, the Gleevec has clearly stopped working.”
Rose nodded and X rubbed her back as he waited for Helen to continue.
“Now, your white cells are up. That’s to be expected. But your bloodwork also shows a sharp drop in red blood cells. I’m a little concerned about that. Sometimes that can indicate the disease is in a more active state. I think the logical next step is a bone marrow biopsy. We need to know how far this has progressed.”
Rose sat forward. “How soon can we do it?”
“I’d like
to do it as soon as possible—tomorrow if that works. X, I’d like to bring Diesel in to assist, with your permission. That way you can focus on Rose during the procedure.”
He nodded and tried his best to get his gratitude across to the surgeon. He’d had a lot of respect for her ever since his training, but this went way beyond that. “Thanks, Helen. We appreciate it.”
She smiled and put her hand on his shoulder. “I know you do. We’re going to give this thing one hell of a fight.”
CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
Pax picked up and tested different pieces of the steel piping that lined the floor. As he held up pipes of different weight in his hand, he searched for one that was just right. All at once, he remembered what it felt like when he had taken James’s hand on the stairs the night before. Their hands had fit together so perfectly, as though they’d been made that way—like two pieces of a puzzle.
He had to get home.
This wasn’t just your run of the mill survival instinct working its magic, although he could feel the adrenaline pumping through his veins. He needed to make it home to James. Not making it wasn’t an option. A moment later, Pax found the perfect section of pipe. He closed the door to the room behind him and quietly made his way back down the hall in case Batiste was still on the third floor somewhere. He hit the stairs at a good clip and by the time he hit the second floor landing he was in a dead run. No sneaking around this time. This wasn’t spy shit. It was warrior business. As he hit the last set of stairs, he leapt over the banister and landed two feet from a set of rogue guards deep in conversation.
Without hesitation, he slammed the pipe into the back of one of their heads. “Sorry to interrupt. I have really shitty social skills.”
Pax face-palmed the second rogue before slamming the pipe into his rib cage and bashing him in the skull. Two down, but this was nowhere near over. His senses picked up on upwards of twenty guards headed toward him. Things were about to get interesting.
No fear.
With the pipe in one hand and his Beretta in the other, Pax turned and ran straight at the enemy with a roar that shook the glass in the huge blackened windows.
Helen was staining the samples she had obtained from Rose’s biopsy when Diesel appeared in the lab’s doorway.
Her mate came in and kissed her temple. “I thought maybe you could use some coffee right about now.”
“You thought right, my male. Perfect timing. Thank you.”
He leaned his shoulder against the wall and crossed his arms. “The biopsy went very smoothly.”
“Yes, it did. It wasn’t Rose’s first, but even so. Thanks again for assisting. I know it meant a lot to X.”
“How are they holding up?”
“So far, so good. Rose is resting in the ward for now. I am worried about X, though. To lose a parent is one thing, but to have this happen to his female? And within just days of mating?”
“I know. It’s every mate’s worst nightmare. But he’s strong and so is Rose, evidently.”
She nodded. “You know, I was thinking the same thing today while we were prepping for her procedure. I can’t even imagine everything she’s been through in her life, but then to accomplish all that she has in spite of it all? It just amazes me. And it makes it seem all the more unfair.”
“I’m with you there, Doc.”
She turned to him. “What if he loses her, Dies? I mean, based on what we know so far, Rose isn’t simply out of remission. The CML has become aggressive. The only question is to what degree. I’m still trying to wrap my head around it all. She just had a check-up less than four weeks ago.”
“Son of a bitch.”
She sighed. “Pretty much. Hey, any word on Pax?”
He did a quick sweep for his partner’s energy and shook his head. “Same as it’s been. I can’t sense him anywhere. It’s like he just vanished.”
“He’ll make it back, my male.” But even as she said it, she knew statistically the more time that passed, the less of a chance he had.
“Yeah, I’m sure he will. I was just about to head upstairs now and see if there’s any word. You must be starving, Doc. I’ll bring you something when I come back down.”
“Just something light, my male. It’s going to be a long night.”
Diesel hit the button for the elevator and stepped inside. He leaned against its back wall and rubbed his eyes. Son of a bitch. If Pax made it out of there alive, he was gonna kill him. Straight up. As he came through the hidden entrance in the pool room, he tried once again to pick up on his partner’s energy. Nothing. Damn it.
The scene he walked in on wasn’t a comforting one. Reyn and SE were talking to Ana in front of the fireplace, in hushed voices, and Richard was pacing back and forth. He didn’t even realize James was in the room until the lights flickered on and off a few times. He looked over at the male leaning against the far doorway, with one hand in his pocket while the other was getting chowed on like the young brother was gnawing his way out of a trap. Something was different. The male raised his eyes. Holy fuck. They were glowing yellow enough to guide planes in at Logan. He had a feeling he and his partner had some catching up to do. Pax, where the hell are you?
Dimitri and Viktor arrived to check in and Troy and Evy shortly after. Maybe a little of Troy’s de-stressing action was in order while James still had a hand and the mansion was still in one piece.
Just then, his partner finally materialized at the far end of the room.
“Pax!” James flew across the room and literally threw himself into the brother’s arms.
Pax put his arms around James and pulled him in close. God, he felt good. The male was right on what he suspected was a dislocated shoulder, but he couldn’t give a flying fuck at the moment. This was why he’d made it home. “It’s okay. I’m okay.”
Everyone gathered around him, welcoming him back as though they were totally surprised he was alive.
“Fashionably late again, partner?” Diesel grinned and gave him a bro hug.
Pax smiled. “You know me.”
Ana kissed his cheek. “You look like shit, Valentino.”
“Thanks, sis.”
Reyn nodded. “Ana’s right. Why don’t you head down to the compound and get that shit taken care of. Get some sleep. We’ll debrief in the morning.”
“You got it, boss.”
He took James’s hand and together they walked down to the medical ward where he sat up on the table and surrendered himself into the loving care of Nurse Diesel.
“That shoulder must be biting like a bastard. Let’s take care of that first. James, if you could just brace him from that side. Okay, good. On three now.”
There was a loud crack as Diesel pulled his arm and his shoulder went back into place.
“Ow, you dick. What happened to counting? I want a do-over.”
Diesel picked up the antiseptic. “What are you, six?”
James snickered.
“I’ll deal with you later.”
Evidently, his face was a mess, because James winced whenever his partner touched it.
Diesel shook his head. “Jesus. Look at you. What’d you fight your way out of Batiste’s with your face?”
“More or less. My mojo ran out right before I was about to leave.”
“Son of a bitch. You could’ve been so screwed, dude.” Diesel put a couple of bitch stickers above his right eyebrow. “Well, at least you don’t need any stitches.”
Dies cleaned up his knuckles before disappearing into a supply closet. He came back with a sling.
“Aw, come on. Are you serious?”
“That shoulder’s gonna heal in the next twelve hours or so. You want your joint fucked up?”
Pax rolled his eyes. “Fine.”
He tried to sit patiently while his partner fiddled with the sling, but all he wanted to do was crawl into bed with James and pass the fuck out.
“Okay, you’re good to go. Take it easy on that shoulder for the next few hours.”
&
nbsp; He hopped off the table and clapped the male’s shoulder. “Will do. Thanks, partner.”
He and James walked out of the ward and headed down the main corridor. Jesus, he couldn’t ever remember being so tired. When they were about to pass the elevator, Pax put his good arm around James’s lower back in case there was any confusion as to what he wanted—about ten hours of epic spooning.
After hours of preparing samples of Rose’s bone marrow, Helen finally looked at the first slide under the microscope sometime after midnight. What she saw there chilled her to her souls. Both of them. This can’t be right. There was obviously some kind of mistake. She thought she’d been so careful when she put the samples together. She picked up another slide and looked at it. Oh, Goddess. She had hoped Rose was in the accelerated phase. At least then she had a shot at bringing her back to a more manageable chronic stage. But the female was in blast crisis. And not just blast phase, but its end stages. How could she possibly have gone from remission to end stage in barely four weeks?
She sent a text to X and asked him to come down. She probably waited no more than five minutes, but it felt like an eternity. These conversations were never easy, but she’d had so few of them with shifters. As a race, their health was far superior. She had no idea how a mated male might react, especially newly mated and with Xavier’s history with the disease.
X came through the door. “Hey, Helen. How’s the testing going?”
“It’s pretty much done.”
“Do you want me to get Rose? She’s asleep, but she wanted me to wake her if there was any news.”
Fatal Call (New Breed Novels Book 4) Page 16
