The Sigma Menace Collection

by Marie Johnston

  Before X’s brain winked out for good, she heard Madame G’s instructions to the Agents. “Teach her a lesson and let her think about it for a while.”

  Relief, cool and soothing, rushed through her even as she suffocated. The piñata treatment.

  Oooh, even better. One of the Agents was a female. They’d delight in beating the sass out of X, but were less likely to try to teach her a sexual lesson and lord their dominance over the preferred Agent X. Most experienced Agents didn’t try to mess with X’s body. They knew there’d be a reckoning as soon as X was recovered and field ready. It also put them close to her and in a vulnerable position. And that had ended poorly for the last few who tried to use her body as their new toy.

  Madame G released her hold on X’s air supply, and as X swallowed in giant mouthfuls of stale indoor air, her sides were pummeled by heavily-booted feet. Locking the pain into a corner of her mind, she withstood the beating, pulling in lungfuls between kicks. It was standard to beat down an Agent so they had no fight left when hauled down for a “lesson.” X would allow it to happen, knowing that even with the beating, she could overcome these two Agents and be back in her rooms in ten minutes.

  Make it twenty. She would have to crawl back, but she’d get there.

  Be a good girl, she reminded herself, spitting up mouthfuls of blood and wiping them off onto her shirt as they dragged her to the elevator to get to the lower levels. The less blood exposed to Madame G, the better. Her head pounded, her vision was hazy, and it felt like, well, like she’d been repeatedly kicked in the ribs. X was actually looking forward to the afterglow from the thrashing she was getting dragged to. While she was hanging out between beatings, maybe she could piece together all the new information dangled in front of her today. Persevere. She’d persevere the shit out of this punishment and make sure Madame G met her demise.

  Epilogue

  Commander Fitzsimmons was pacing. E couldn’t help but think that was a bad thing. The male was always alarmingly still, quiet, observing his surroundings and the interactions between those around him. During the times E fought with the formidable Guardian leader, the male never wasted his movements. Once the commander uncoiled to strike, his hits were planned, precise.

  Now, the grim commander was wearing a damn hole in the hardwood of his office with those black combat boots of his.

  E’s gut wrenched as he thought of how much the commander’s actions reminded him of his partner. Old partner. Fuck. Friend? What was X to him? He’d never had a sister, no siblings, but X would be like if he had a brother and a sister all in one. They’d talk shit to each other, patch up the other’s bullet holes, and then she’d ask if her hair was messed up, or if Sigma’s leathers made her butt look big. Course she didn’t care, but it wouldn’t stop her from asking.

  Back to the pacing commander. His restless energy was much like X’s. She was always fiddling with something—her weapons, her hair, her nails. She never quit moving, whether it was walking a hole in the carpet, or moving her body to the beat of music only she could hear.

  “You wanted to talk?” E finally broached the question because he’d been standing there almost ten minutes after the male had called him and told him to come to his office. He had arrived, nodded to the intense male, and then waited. And waited. The commander had ping-ponged off his office walls the entire time.

  “We need to get her out.” The pacing never slowed.

  “Ooookay.” E watched the commander, his concern no longer for what worked up the male, but for X. Because something was going on with her that was making the male distracted, distraught. “She stayed behind to finish the job we set out to do. I don’t doubt she was punished for helping me and my family escape, but we’ve been through all of Madame’s G’s, I’ma-teach-you-a-lesson specials. X’ll be okay.”

  A muscle flexed in the commander’s jaw as he made a beeline to one wall, spun, and headed to the opposite wall; repeat. “Something’s different. Something’s not right.”

  E’s concern started to smolder. He already felt cut off from the female who had been his only friend and family for the past ten years, having never been away from her that long. He felt like a guilty loser, too. Forming alliances and new friendships with the Guardians, going to sleep every night next to his mate after giving his son a hug good night and telling him to shut off the electronics, all this while X paid for his transgressions.

  “Tell me what you know. I’ll do anything to free her from Sigma and destroy Madame G. As long as Ana and Julio are safe, I’m in, man. I’m in.”

  The commander nodded absently, as if E wanting to help destroy Sigma was old news. It was, just not news a lot of people knew, and it humbled E to know the Guardians had embraced him and his family. Not only that, but kept him protected from their Lycan Council that wanted E’s head on a stake. Commander Fitzsimmons had them mollified for now. Solemnly informing them that they were gathering all the information they could from the former Agent, and that it was imperative to have him close by when things with Sigma came to a boiling point.

  The commander neglected to inform the council that E’s mate was now enhanced like an Agent, and so was his son. The council didn’t even know that Agents could mate. Instead, the clever bastard broached the topic as a hypothetical by saying, “We need to plan what we’re going to do with subjects who were tested on and may no longer be completely human.” And he did it in a way that gave the impression that killing innocent subjects would not be tolerated by the Guardians, no matter what the council’s orders were.

  The shifters had their hands full with the council, finding out if they were laced with corruption, possibly aiding Sigma or destroying their own to prevent them being used by Sigma. E did not envy the commander his position, but he would devoutly follow the male’s authority, even though he would never be allowed to become a Guardian. As always, he would protect and serve.

  “She’s not there anymore.” Commander Fitzsimmons’ brows were drawn, he studied the floor. Even though E had a ton of questions about where the hell X would be, he kept his mouth shut, waiting. He didn’t have to wait long. “I have an odd ability. I dream walk.”

  E’s brows shot up. How handy would that be? What was the enemy planning? I don’t know, let me peek in on him in his sleep, get him to gloat about his nefarious dealings.

  “I don’t use it much anymore. I can’t get shit on Madame G and Agent’s minds aren’t normal.” The commander looked at E and tapped his forehead. “Something’s different up here, like you don’t have normal dreams anymore and I can’t get in. But once I found X, I started…” the male drifted off, his pacing speed increased until it took only a few strides before he had to turn again. “visiting her. Just, ya know, to check her out, see why I got paired with an Agent for a mate after all these years.”

  Just, ya know, to check her out. Riiiight. E suspected the male was as enraptured by X as his partner had been by him. And he didn’t doubt the commander hid it as well as X had, until E finally confronted her about why she got all weird and girly after a confrontation with him. Or talked incessantly about when they’d face off again.

  “She never mentioned anything.” E didn’t think they kept secrets from each other, but this one X never mentioned.

  Commander Fitzsimmons shook his head. Pace and turn. Pace and turn. “I didn’t even know if she knew it was me for years. We never talked, she never saw me. Just once and that was recently. I protected her sleep, so she could actually rest. The nightmares I walked into those first few times…” Again he drifted off. From his profile, the memories still distressed him.

  “So she’s not sleeping?” If she was dead, the commander would know. E would know. Right?

  “She’s not dead; I would know.”

  E blew a sigh of relief. Hearing the words meant more than he could imagine.

  “But she’s not sleeping. I can’t mind-speak with her. So the only other reason would be she’s injured so badly she can’t function.”

/>   “It’s been two weeks. It’s not unheard of for punishment to last that long.” E’s mind raced. Did Madame G decide X wasn’t worth keeping on the payroll?

  “If she’s been gone this long without her Agent X, it won’t be much longer before Madame G elects to do without her permanently.” The commander stopped dead center in front of E. The pain and angst in the male’s eyes for his mate made E’s emotions only a faint echo in comparison.

  “The seer says X is destined to destroy Madame G.” E offered, repeating what the commander had informed him earlier. “There’s nothing to say that she has to be an Agent to do it. We need to get her out of there.”

  Sure, it would make getting back into the compound difficult, and getting close to Madame G impossible, but at least X would still be alive to try.

  “Fuck Madame G and fuck X’s destiny,” the commander spit out. “She’s my mate.” Spoken like a shifter’s mate and a vampire’s true mate, since the male was a little of both. E knew exactly how the guy felt. The whole world could destroy itself, as long as he and Ana and Julio had a nice little corner to be left the hell alone.

  But life didn’t work out that way. The world threatened their loved ones, and once their mates were safe, then they could work on their quiet little corner. E’s family was safe—for now. The commander’s mate wasn’t.

  “I’ll tell you everything I know about where she could be in the compound, what kind of torture she could be going through.”

  The commander cut his head to the left to glare at the wall, as if hearing his suspicions confirmed would be too much right now. E fell silent. “I can get that information. I have an inside source and I might even be able to trust him.” The male’s lip curled with the last statement, suggesting he despised the source and wanted a reason to distrust him.

  E didn’t bother asking who. If the commander wanted him to know, he would’ve said the name. “When do we go?”

  __________

  Find out whether the commander succeeds in rescuing X. Get Pure Claim today.

  Thank you for reading. I’d love to know what you thought. Please consider leaving a review for Lawful Claim at the retailer the book was purchased from.

  Marie

  Pure Claim

  The Sigma Menace Book 5

  Pure Claim

  Copyright © 2015 by Lisa Elijah

  Copyediting by EbookEditingServices.com

  Second Edition Editing: The Killion Group

  Cover by Mayhem Cover Creation

  The characters, places, and events in this story are fictional. Any similarities to real people, places, or events are coincidental and unintentional.

  Created with Vellum

  Alexandria King’s life was ripped away, destroyed by the evil organization Sigma, and one of its most vile leaders, Madame G. Alexandria was imprisoned, tortured, conditioned, and trained to become one of Sigma’s finest assassins - Agent X. Except, despite what Sigma ordered, Agent X’s only mission became keeping the secret of her bloodline, and using it to destroy Madame G. She’s willing to sacrifice everything to carry it out, even her own chance at happiness with her destined mate.

  Guardian Commander Rhys Fitzsimmons isn’t willing to let the vivacious, frustrating female, who is supposed to be his mate, throw her life away, even for such a noble cause. When her single-minded mission almost destroys her before she can carry out her destiny, he breaks all the rules to save her. But her destiny was not as they were led to believe, and the real threat to their relationship is bigger than either of them could have known.

  Thank you Sahara Kelly. Not only do I look forward to the beautiful covers you make, but also your entertaining emails, words of encouragement, and advice.

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  mariejohnstonwriter.com

  Chapter 1

  Madame G must really be pissed.

  Agent X swung gently, listening to the incessant drip, drip, drip of her own blood hitting the dank cement floor. A narrow slice into her jugular kept the blood draining slowly out of her upturned body.

  X didn’t bother to gaze up at her battered form anymore, knowing full well what she’d see—naked, bruised flesh, feet hooked into chains attached to the ceiling with a pulley system. Her arms hung down, fingers touching the cool floor where her blood pooled and congealed, until the next set of Agents came in to teach her a lesson.

  X affectionately called this form of punishment the piñata treatment. Beat to hell, stripped down, and strung upside down to bleed out slowly, keeping the subject weak and confused, as they continued generating enough blood to remain alive. She might be weaker, but as Agent… Dude, which Agent was that? K? H? Ummm… Didn’t matter. He got the shit pounded out of him for trying to take advantage of her tortured state. X would tolerate the abuse until Madame G got her panties out of a wad and decided to put X back on duty. She wouldn’t tolerate anyone getting off on her demise.

  Unfortunately, X was starting to think her dark mistress kept a real grudge. One where Madame G might decide having indomitable Agent X around wasn’t worth wondering if she was playing for Team Sigma or Team Kill Madame G.

  How long had she been strung up? Roughly one beating a day, let’s see…X counted seventeen beatings, so nearly three weeks of punishment. Three weeks of hanging upside down, waiting for the next beating, enjoying getting hosed off with frigid water so the process could be repeated. Either Madame G forgot about her (doubtful), or she was waiting for a moment that was not in X’s best interest.

  Normally, subjects were lowered to get a proper kick-and-break-all-your-ribs, take a boot-to-the-face treatment, before getting fed, but X was too risky to lower any longer than to eat a handful of raw hamburger. As Agent S found out—Yes! I knew I’d remember!—even hanging by her ankles, bleeding out, she was a force to be reckoned with.

  Not for much longer. Being held prisoner for weeks, she hadn’t had time to feed, and, oh yeah, there was no one safe to feed from around these parts anymore. Her partner, Agent E, had made his escape to freedom with his wife and kid. He’d been her primary blood source for over ten years since they’d first met.

  That day was the end of Alexandria King.

  After her life got ripped away by the sadistic bitch who ran this chapter of Sigma, she survived everything the female had put her through. Madame G had wanted her broken, begging to live, begging for it all to stop. X never begged. When E had been thrown into her cell to defile her, doped up on the powerful aphrodisiac that Madame G preferred, something about X had reminded him of his humanity, and he couldn’t carry out his task. X had been ravenous and she had ripped out his neck vein and half his shoulder to feed.

  When he healed and regained consciousness and discovered her dual species secret, they had formed a solid alliance. X’s resistance had earned grudging respect from Madame G, so when X and E offered to partner up and serve Sigma, the dark mistress listened. She decided it would be fun to have a shifter on the payroll, a minion who would be trained to seek her own kind and destroy them.

  With E’s help, they constantly undermined Madame G’s authority. It was like a game, setting their own limits of what the evil bitch could push them to and researching every possible way to get close enough to take her out. E offered his blood to X’s vampire half and kept her secret, she covered for him so he could monitor the family he’d been forced to leave behind.

  Then Madame G had gotten greedy and put E’s family at risk. In order to save them, he had to abandon the plan he and X had staunchly carried out for the last decade. As a nice “in your face” to Madame G, his new chemistry, à la Sigma’s Agent enhancements, allowed him to mate his human wife and save his son. Maybe he could’ve done all that without X’s help, but she couldn’t have handled failure. Not when it came to E and his family.

  God, X missed her partner. She would say he was like a brother to her, but once upon a time, she had a brother, whom she loved very much
. Her relationship with E was so much deeper. Not sexual, not like a BFF, but hell, like her other half, a twin.

  E was gone, his family needed him more. X had to remain, to continue on with the plan. Her plan was never about revenge. Like E, she had a family, too. A family who could never live freely while Madame G was alive. The madwoman was after a vampire-shifter hybrid, a female, who was reputed to be the Achilles’ heel to Madame G’s power.

  X was that hybrid. Madame G didn’t know it. Suck it, G.

  Swinging gently, her fingers trailing through her own pool of blood, she didn’t feel like much of weapon of Madame destruction. Circling her fingers through the blood, she lifted them up to her mouth, wincing at the pain shooting through her stiff joints, to suckle her own nutrition back into her body.

  Gross? Hell yeah. But necessary.

  Repeating the process until she wiped up all the blood her wooden fingers could reach, X went back to rocking gently and wondering what all the downtime meant for her future.

  Which might be terribly short because she felt a malevolent presence headed her way.

  The door drifted open revealing a blood-red kimono-clad tall female with pitch-black hair pulled into a high and tight ponytail. Eyes that could swallow souls landed on X.

  X bit back To what do I owe the honor? She was treading pretty deep water as it was. Instead, she remained silent, being as respectful as a naked shifter, hanging upside down, covered in blood, could be.

  “You’ve disappointed me, Agent X.” The female’s ominous tone made X’s stomach fill with dread.

  Her one goal in life, her only goal, had been to wipe this evil female off the face of the earth. Bonus points to destroying everything she had built. X was prepared to die for her mission, had sacrificed nearly everything. It’d be a damn shame if she were killed before she could carry that out.