Fallen Protector

by Tl Reeve

  “In our father’s case,” Natalie whispered when she slipped back into the room. “It never fully left him. During the full moon, all of the drug’s effects hits him hard. He’s a ravenous wolf who can’t find satisfaction until the moon begins to wane.”

  “And then he apologizes,” Gabriel said. “To all of us. Including our parents—his mates.”

  He hated the scent of his father’s shame. It’d gotten better over the years, but it was still there, lurking for the chance to rear its ugly head and steal their father’s happy nature away. Blake had been the one to work his magic to help their father. Gabriel never wanted to know the details because it worked, and that was all that mattered. Now, he might have to find out.

  “Shit,” Rafe muttered. “That’s fucked up.”

  “The worst part,” Natalie added. “He doesn’t remember any of it.”

  “He fears he’s hurt Blake, Natalie’s father or worse Loraine, our mother.” Gabriel rolled his shoulders. “He doesn’t, by the way—hurt our father and mother.”

  Rafe scrubbed his face. “This is a lot to come to grips with.”

  “Maybe this explains some of the physical markings on the bodies,” Lux said.

  “Probably,” Gabriel answered. “What kind of markings do they have?”

  “Well, both men’s genitals were raw from use it would seem. There was trauma to Bain’s anal area.” Lux cleared his throat. “Uh, bite marks on both Bain and Aurin’s necks. Also,” Lux became visibly embarrassed, “well, you see, we took samples from both men.”

  “Seems normal,” Natalie said.

  Gabriel leaned in. “Not that kind of sample, sis.”

  She turned to him and frowned. “Well, what kind?”

  “They were drained,” Lux muttered before coughing. “They were forced to have sex so much that they were—”

  “Oh,” Natalie murmured. Her cheeks turned a bright shade of red. “Oh, goodness.”

  “Lux is one of the more modest of us,” Rafe said. “I understand what you’re getting at. I felt the same way when I came to this morning.”

  “On a scale of one to Jase, what would you rate your symptoms?” Gabriel edged.

  Rafe frowned. “Shit. This is fucked up. From one to Jase—Jase.”

  Gabriel cursed under his breath. “They upped the dosage.”

  “No,” Natalie stated. “I think because Rafe isn’t a normal shifter, they gave him a double dose.”

  “Double the dose?” Lux tilted his head. “What happens if the dose is increased?”

  She pursed her lips. “The patch was the second dose. They might’ve dosed his drink then put the patch on once they were in the middle of, you know, everything.” A pink tinge bloomed on her cheeks.

  “Fuck me,” Rafe muttered. “What’s the point of coming at me?”

  Natalie shrugged. “Gabriel and I know you’re different. Your whole team is. They must have, too. So, they wanted to get a base read on what would happen to you. You were, for all intents and purposes, an experiment.”

  “I am no one’s guinea pig,” Rafe snarled.

  “How did you feel when you woke up?” Gabriel snagged his attention.

  “Like shit, kid,” he grumbled. “Thirsty. Dizzy. My body felt too stiff. I was covered in bodily fluids. I smelled like a sewer. My mouth was so dry I couldn’t even make enough saliva to swallow properly. My dick also hurt—raw from too much use, and if I wasn’t an other, I’d be worried about having an STI.”

  “Normal,” Natalie said. “Anything else?”

  “Yeah, I vomited like I was being exorcised.” All that had been missing was the priest and the Lord’s prayer.

  She wrinkled her nose. “Normal, too. Our father has the same manner of sickness after the full moon.”

  “You’re not putting my mind at ease,” Rafe grumbled.

  “I’m—” Halo’s soft sob had Natalie peering into the sling. “Someone is hungry, I’ll be back.”

  Gabriel stared after his sister. “She means well.”

  “Yeah. It’s a bit much to take in,” Rafe replied.

  “When you can do so,” Lix hedged. “I need to do a sperm count, so I can compare it to Aurin and Bain.”

  “The fuck?” Rafe stood. “No. No way. I can’t even touch myself right now. It hurts too fucking much.”

  Lix frowned. “I can help.”

  “What?” Gabriel snapped.

  “With toys,” Lix supplied. “Just enough to stimulate Rafe, so he can give me a small sample.”

  “No.” Rafe growled.

  “Lix,” Gabriel said, drawing the man’s attention. “Don’t. Touching Rafe right now, isn’t a wise decision to make. I agree with him. You’re going to have to forgo this. I can’t fully explain what it means to those who have been dosed to be touched afterwards. Rafe was raped. He didn’t willingly engage in those acts he was a part of. His body wasn’t his own. Give him space.”

  “I don’t need you sticking up for me, kid,” Rafe snarled.

  “You might not, but I’m doing it,” Gabriel said. “I’ve seen the same look in your eyes, in my father’s, way too many times in my life. I won’t let someone hurt you, even if you or they don’t understand that.”

  Lix blew out a breath. “Fine. No sample. However, if Gabriel’s right about their father, the same effects can reoccur. If they do, you have to tell me, Rafe.”

  The man grunted, “I will,” before exiting the room.

  “Is it bad?” Lix peered up at Gabriel from his clipboard.

  “Worse,” Gabriel answered. “If Aurin and Bain had the same amount in them as Rafe, I believe there is more going on than even what Natalie believes.”

  “Shit.” Lix blew out a breath.

  Gabriel squeezed the guy’s shoulder as he headed for the door. “Do you have an ETA for when the bodies can be released to PRA and sent home for burial?”

  “I have everything I need on my end. I can get them sewed up and ready for transport within the next two hours, but I still have to do the autopsies on the children.”

  “Perfect. I’ll make the arrangements.” He pushed through the door and went in search of Rafe.

  As he walked down the short hallway leading to the back parking lot where they’d left the vehicles, Gabriel called his uncle. The thought had crossed his mind to also call home, but bringing up the drug and what happened to Rafe, would also bring harm to his father. What he didn’t tell Rafe was that his father did seek out help from Brie once he mated Blake and their mother, Loraine, however the stain of Jase’s actions during the full moon had been like a scarlet A on his soul. It never went away, and he worried his father would go to his grave worried everyone could see his “deformity.”

  “What is it kid?” Kalkin’s booming voice filled the line. “When I get more than three phone calls in succession, I get anxious, and I fucking hate being anxious.”

  He blew out a breath. “They dosed one of the guys here.”

  “Come again?”

  “You can say that,” Gabriel muttered, glancing over his shoulder. “Rafe, the leader, has been dosed.”

  “On Éviel?”

  “Yep,” Gabriel replied. “He’s pretty shook up. I wish he would have told us sooner, but—”

  “Too much shit going on.” Kalkin blew out a breath.

  “Exactly.”

  “Well, fuck. Do you think he’s compromised?” Kalkin prodded. “Should I call his boss?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “I think it would do more damage than good, going about it that way. He wants to work through it. I say let him. So far, he hasn’t let it affect his work.”

  “If he does, you know what to do.”

  He grunted. “Yep.”

  “Anything else you need to tell me?” The questioning tone of his uncle’s voice made Gabriel pause. Did he know?

  “Nope. We’re good here.” After what he’d learned, he couldn’t push Rafe. He also wouldn’t take advantage of the situation.

  Kalkin’s rough
chuckle set Gabriel on edge. “Okay, boy. We’ll do this your way. If you have any more information, call.”

  Right. He slipped his phone back into his pocket before stepping out into the late-day air. Gabriel inhaled, trying to clear the stench of death from his senses. Talking to his uncle only added to the uneasy knot building in his gut, even if he had to let the man know what was going on. He glanced to his right and found Rafe sitting on metal steps attached to the side of the building while Hauser watched over Natalie as she fed Halo.

  The case had gone from bad to worse with Rafe revealing he’d been a victim as well. Yet, it didn’t set right with Gabriel. What was special about Rafe? PBH had tons of information on shifters, so what made Rafe a target? At least with Aurin and Bain, Gabriel knew the Éviel had been used as a punishment. A way to torture both men to obtain locations where other shifters or psychic children/teens were hiding. Still, without Rafe being completely honest with them and filling in the blanks, like why he smelled like frankincense and myrrh, they couldn’t help him. And, Gabriel had the sneaking suspicion, wouldn’t be able to solve this case.

  “You’re different,” Gabriel said joining the man. “You’re a shifter, but something stronger. I can feel it.”

  Rafe stared at him before putting the cigarette to his lips. He inhaled, turning the cherry at the tip a brilliant shade of orange. “You noticed, huh?”

  “I’ve been trying to put it together.” Gabriel shrugged taking a seat on the empty stair below Rafe. “Whatever you are, Halo is too. It’s why I chose you as her second guardian.”

  Rafe cocked a brow. “Not because of my amazing charm?”

  Gabriel laughed. “Unfortunately, no. Not at all.”

  “Well, shit. I should be happy you chose me to begin with.” Rafe took another drag of his smoke then exhaled. The chain of smoke billowed around the man before drifting skyward.

  “You were the logical choice. I don’t trust the rest of your team.”

  Rafe smirked. “You mean Shax.”

  Gabriel didn’t say anything. He stared off in the direction of his sister and the man they’d called their favorite babysitter when they’d been younger. “She’s innocent. I can tell no one on your team is. She’s also too kindhearted for her own good.”

  “She’d say you’re too jaded.”

  Maybe he was. “Can never be too cautious.”

  “True,” Rafe agreed. “Shax is an asshole. He can also be a dick.”

  “You’re not endearing me to him.”

  Rafe laughed. “He’d also protect your sister with his life.”

  “That’s yet to be determined.” He looked up at Rafe. “I meant what I said. We’ll stick with this case until all the murders are solved.”

  “Then what?”

  “Then, we’ll go home.” The lie left a bitter aftertaste. Still, with everything Rafe dealt with, he didn’t need some wolf calling him mate.

  “So, I’d have to go with you since I’m Halo’s guardian, too?” Rafe prodded.

  Gabriel snorted. “Nah. I’d let you off the hook. Not everyone is cut out to be a parent. I wouldn’t expect you to stick with us. Besides, once we finally do return, I bet you’ll have found your mate, and you’ll be happy. You won’t want to come with us.”

  “You sound like you don’t have one of those, “mate,” things.” Rafe stared at him. “Don’t you want one, too?”

  Gabriel shook his head. “It’s easier being alone. It’s bad enough being considered the child of freaks let alone being gay and having such a fae-like sister. Add in Bay, and well, I’d rather spare myself from the disappointment.”

  “So, it’s a disappointment being a mate?”

  Gabriel growled. “No. Stop twisting my words. I don’t want to disappoint them.”

  “Ah.” Rafe blew out a billow of smoke then stamped out his cigarette. “What if you’ve met your mate, then what?”

  His question caught Gabriel off guard. Had Rafe realized what they were? The wolf whimpered in Gabriel’s head, urging him to explain what he and Rafe were. Instead, he pushed it down. Now wasn’t the time. The guy was coming to terms with being raped and drugged by the PBH. Rafe didn’t need the added stress of having to deal with a mate. No, it was better for both of them this way. Maybe in a few years when they were digging into the next case, Gabriel would explore the whole mating concept. Until then, he’d keep it to himself. “I guess I would’ve had to have met my mate already to know the answer to your question.”

  “Fair enough.” Rafe stood. “We should get back inside.”

  Gabriel nodded. “Yeah, Lix said he was about to begin the autopsy of the kids.”

  “Fuck,” the man grumbled. “I forgot about them for a second.”

  “It’s okay,” Gabriel replied. “You know, you never told me what you are.”

  “I didn’t,” Rafe stated. “Weird.”

  “So, you’re not going to elaborate?”

  Rafe laughed as he pushed through the door and headed down the hall.

  “Well, damn.”

  Chapter Six

  Rafe stepped back into the autopsy room as Lix began to record the marks on the skin of the teen who lay on the cold, sterile slab. Moments later, the door pushed open, and Gabriel joined him. The man’s neutral expression had been reflected in the glass separating them from where Lix worked. Though he might not have shown it, Gabriel’s words stung. He understood the reasoning—not wanting to disappoint. Yet, what did Rafe do with the wolf inside him, who demanded he take charge and claim Gabriel as his?

  Should he even be thinking about it, anyway? Like Gabriel said, he’d been forced to do shit he wouldn’t normally do. Or, well, wouldn’t do without consent, anyway. Also, he didn’t, rather couldn’t, get black-out drunk, so being so for three days, messed Rafe up.

  “I told Natalie to stay out,” Gabriel said. “This is something she doesn’t need to see.”

  Rafe grunted. “She going to comply?”

  “Shax is with her.”

  Rafe chuckled at Gabriel’s disgruntled tone. “Don’t sound so put out by it.”

  Gabriel cut his eyes toward Rafe. “Sure. He likes my sister too much.”

  “Does he? Maybe Shax is her mate?” Rafe winced at his tone. The venomous jealousy had been a new emotion for him. “If you’re not going to claim someone, shouldn’t she be able to do so without you interfering?

  Gabriel scrunched up his face. “The hell.”

  Rafe stared at him. “Are you saying she shouldn’t be happy?”

  “What?”

  “Happy,” Rafe prodded. “From what it sounds like, you both have had hard lives. Wouldn’t it do her good to have some fun?”

  Gabriel frowned. “We need to pay attention. Get as many clues as we can.”

  “You didn’t answer my question.”

  Gabriel snorted. “Not worth answering.”

  Touché. He’d been tempted to tell Gabriel everything, including that he was one of the fallen, but he hesitated. Rafe didn’t understand it. Wasn’t like the guy wouldn’t believe him. They were all others or paranormal. Would it be a leap to believe angels existed? “Right.”

  “If you two are done,” Lix grumbled. “I have something for you.”

  Rafe’s attention snapped to the autopsy room. “What?”

  “Looks like a small subdermal tracker.” Lix glanced at Gabriel. “Do you use these?” He held up the capsule covered in blood with a pair of long nose tweezers.

  Gabriel shook his head. “No. Why would we? Better yet, how would we? If an agent is needed we send them out. The others just follow the trails laid out for them. Where they go is up to them. We’d never traumatize them.”

  “It’s not blinking anymore,” Rafe said, pointing to the clear piece. “Guess they got whatever they needed out of the kid, huh?”

  Gabriel furrowed his brows. “Hypothetically, if we did this, we would never turn it off, either. The tracker would remain functional until the moment the person was found and p
erhaps more so until the person was returned to Window Rock.”

  “Guys, there’s a fingerprint on this. Hang tight for a second.” Lix carried the tracker capsule away from the observation window and across the room.

  “Is there anyone who could do this?” Rafe hedged as they waited.

  Gabriel nodded. “They’re a bunch of so-called “sheep boys,” who are agents for PBH. They’re usually between the ages of sixteen and twenty-one, most look young for their age, and they appear non-threatening. We heard about them years ago when they tried to kidnap Haley Poe. The group we have heading to Florida, is the same group of agents who also head off these so-called “sheep boy,” collectives. Unfortunately, since we only have one team of young agents, we can’t always get them where they need to be.”

  Rafe grunted. “Don’t you think you should have more?”

  Gabriel snorted. “Sure. It’s hard, though. Shifters develop sooner. Their looks change faster. We don’t keep our youthfulness for long. The agents in the field now, have different anatomies. Different genetics. They can keep up appearances more so than others. Grainger’s team is closer to my age than not, however they look almost five to eight years younger than they really are.”

  “And human kids are out of the question.” Rafe sighed. “What about psychic kids?”

  Gabriel laughed. “We’re already easier to spot in a crowd. It would take years for human kids with abilities to hone themselves to perfection. My aunts—hell my whole family—has a rule about training those with abilities. Never use their abilities to turn them into killing machines.”

  It made sense when Rafe thought about it. These kids with abilities had it hard enough, they didn’t need the rigorous daily torture sessions of forcing them to disconnect from their human side. It was also a delicate balance; one he fought every day of his existence when it came to what his wolf wanted and what the angelic edicts taught him. “So, will these agents age out?”

  Gabriel nodded. “In a few more years I suspect, then we’ll be right back to square one. My uncle Kalkin is in the works to find their replacements, but if we don’t get a handle on this bullshit, we’re screwed, royally.”