Mating Call (17 page)

Ana started to rinse off the plates and stack them in the dishwasher when she felt Adriana come into the kitchen.

“Want some help, sweetie?”

“Sure. Where’s my beautiful baby Maya this evening?”

“She’s in a meeting with her father. I told him to let me know if she disrupted things.”

Ana grinned. “He can just like start talking in your mind, right?”

“He can, although I’d rather have him buzz my cell, to be honest.”

Ana laughed. “I’ll bet. That is some freaky shit.”

“Indeed. Especially when you’re knee deep in the library and a voice out of nowhere pops into your head and wants to know what size diapers to get.”

They leaned on one another and laughed.

Ana picked up another plate. “You know, I’ve been meaning to ask you something.”

“Sure. Although I have to warn you; you’re dealing with some serious sleep deprivation over here.”

“Well, I have this theory. Ever since we found out that Victrixa’s not the
aj k’o’ol
, I’ve been trying to find out who it might be. Anyway, I’ve been doing a lot of reading about Maya mythology and the name Bane cropped up. Does that mean anything to you?”

Adriana whirled around and stopped Ana from taking another plate from the pile. “Did you say Bane?”

“Well, yeah. He’s some kind of obscure god or something. There’s hardly any information on him.”

“Ana, Bane is a god. Just as Akina is our Goddess.”

“So, that just means he would definitely be powerful enough to be the
aj k’o’ol
, right?”

“He’s the Lord of
Xibalba
.”

Ana froze and looked into Adriana’s eyes. “The Maya Underworld?”

“Yes, and from what I know of him, he’s very, very dangerous. I’m not sure it’s a good idea to be looking into this.”

Ana nodded. “Alright. I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to upset you. I just figured you read even more than I do, so I thought you might know something. I’ll drop it if you want.”

“I wouldn’t normally say this, Ana, but I really think you should.”

“Done.” She looked around her. The kitchen was practically sparkling.

“Thanks, Ana. I think it’s for the best.”

Okay, so she let Adriana think she was talking about the research instead of the dishes.
BFD.

Troy helped Evy out of the passenger side of the ‘Vette and closed the door. Jesus. Now that was fun. He was going to have to let X have his choice of kills for the next ten years to thank the brother.

He bent down. “Hop up.”

Evy gleamed out and materialized on his back. She locked her ankles at his waist and giggled. “I think I’m starting to get the hang of this.”

“Thank fuck.”

She laughed. “I think we missed dinner.”

He walked her into the gym and down the hall to the elevator. “Nah. We can have Mexican leftovers or order up waffles.”

“Umm…”

He barked a laugh. “Lemme guess. Waffles?”

“How’d ya know?”

“Gee, I wonder. But I do wanna say, just so you make an informed decision, SE and Ana make wicked good Mexican.”

He let her down at the foot of the main staircase, took her hand, and they started up. Just as they got to the top, Viktor bumped into Evy on his way down.

“Jesus, Vik! Watch where the hell you’re…Evy?”

His mate’s eyes were closed, she stood stalk still, and she hadn’t let go of his hand. After a moment, she opened her eyes. “Troy, I need to find Dimitri right away.”

“Vision?”

She nodded. “Do you think maybe his room?”

“Probably.”

“Okay. I’ll meet you in a bit.”

She walked down to the end of the hall and stopped. She swallowed hard and knocked on the door. The whole Seer gig seemed to be getting easier, but she was stunned by how personal some of her visions were. She was just about to leave when the door opened.

“Evy?”

“Hi. Did I wake you? I’m sorry. I can come back.”

“No, it’s fine. I had my ear buds in while I paid some bills. Got about forty grand you could lend me?”

She followed him in. “I wish. Listen, I just ran into Viktor on his way out the door.”

“Yeah, he had a change of heart about joining the Order.” He sat down on the bed. “It seems he has more important things to do.”

Evy picked up on the acid tone in his voice immediately. “When I say we ran into each other, I mean we made actual physical contact and I had a vision. I know why he had to leave. It has to do with the attack on him and his mate. Elena, right?”

There wasn’t a lot of color to the fare male’s face, but what there was of it drained out. “What are you talking about?”

“You don’t know?”

He shook his head. “I haven’t the faintest idea.”

“On the night his mate was killed in the car accident, the car had no brakes. The line had been cut on purpose.”

“My God. Are you sure?” He dropped his gaze. “Forgive me. It’s not my place to question.”

She sat down next to him. “No, Dimitri. I just assumed you knew. I’m sorry. The first thing I saw in my vision was the accident. And then I saw Viktor inspecting the car and finding the cut brake line. I’m not sure why, but he didn’t tell anyone. Instead he left.”

Dimitri rubbed his eyes for a moment. He didn’t need to ask why Viktor had left. That much was obvious. “Damn it. He was trying to keep us safe.”

The Seer nodded. “I would make sense. The only problem is he didn’t factor himself into the equation.”

“What do you mean?”

“This won’t be easy to hear.”

“That’s okay. Please. I need to know.”

“He’s been running, Dimitri. Ever since. From the same people who cut that brake line.”

He could hardly get enough air into his lungs.
Years.
He’d been running for years. He’d stayed away, suffering the harsh judgment of both Elena’s family and his own.

“The more visions I have the more I’m starting to realize there’s a reason behind them. I think you were meant to be reunited with Viktor. I think he belongs here.”

He looked into Evy’s big, brown eyes and the certainty he saw there tore through his chest.
My God.
What had he done?

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Evy trotted down the hall and went into her room. Her male was crouched over her copy of
A Clash of Kings
.

He looked up from the book. “What’s wrong?”

“Are you reading my emotions again?”

“I don’t have to. You should see the look on your face.”

“I think Dimitri might need…someone to talk to. I just told him that Viktor is innocent of everything their family has been holding against him all these years.”

“Damn.”

“Yeah. Do you think you could talk to him? I mean maybe you could just talk about Patrick or something.”

He shrugged. “If you think it’ll help. Where is he?”

“In his room.”

She walked over and laid her hand on his cheek. He sucked in his breath as the vision she’d had on the stairs entered his mind in fifth gear.

This was new. When they faded, he shook his head and exhaled.

“I’m sure someday I’ll get used to that.” He stood up and kissed her forehead. “I’ll be right back. Don’t lose my page, female, or there’ll be hell to pay.”

His eyes glowed faintly and she did her best to look coy. “That’s not much incentive, my male.”

He put his Sox cap on backwards and gave her a cocky smile. “Wasn’t meant to be. I’ll see ya in a bit.”

Troy stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked down the hall. He could feel Dimitri’s emotions before the male even opened the door.

“Oh, hey, my brother.”

“Hey. You mind if I come in for a sec, D?”

“Sure.”

Whoa.
As Troy followed him in, he was hit by a big old wall of negativity—a whole smorgasbord of guilt, anger, sadness, worry.
The struggle.
Jesus.
It was all way too familiar.

“Listen, Evy shared with me what happened with Viktor. I hope that’s okay.”

Dimitri sat down on the arm of a wing chair and looked out the window. “Yeah, it’s fine.”

“The thing is I lost my younger brother a while ago.”

Dimitri turned and looked at him. “I’m so sorry.”

“It’s okay. It was a couple years back. The thing is, even though we were placed in different foster homes, I still feel like I shoulda done more, ya know?”

“Jesus. You’ve really been there, bro.”

“Been there, got the t-shirt, the bumper sticker, the mug–the works.”

Dimitri smiled a little.

Troy could feel him relax a bit. “I gather from what I know of the sitch, you’re gonna wanna find him and bring him back.”

The brother nodded. “Yeah. I was going to ask for leave, but we can’t spare it. I’ll have to look for him on my off days. Not like I’ve got a fucking clue where to start.”

Troy stood and put his hand on his shoulder. “I’ll help you all I can, and so will Evy. We’ll find him, D.”

Dimitri’s eyes welled up and Troy took that as a signal to head out.

“Hey, Troy?”

He turned for a moment. “Yeah?”

“Thank you both.”

“You got it.”

Seth watched as Pete, or Paul, or whatever the fuck the guy’s name was, stuffed the envelope full of cash into his coat pocket. Now came the fun part. He had to go into the warehouse and make sure the merch was in working order. Only the shit was hardly a ton of John Deere crap. The place was full of rogues just like him. If it was anything like the first time, they would be barely able to stand long enough so he could check them out and a few would probably still be yacking their brains out.
Good times.

Seth couldn’t do a thing about his situation until he had enough cash saved up. And he needed to be sure how far Batiste’s reach went. No use deserting just to be hunted down. Sure he was stronger and faster than humans and shifters, but he was hardly bulletproof. Besides, the boss had a shitload of rogues at his disposal. Nah, the best he could figure, he’d be ready to go in about a year. Which was nothing in rogue time. So for now, it was on with the putrid show.

“I don’t suppose you’d like to come in, er, Pete?”

“It’s Paul.”

“Right.”

He got out of the SUV and walked to the warehouse door. He nodded to the rogues on either side and went in. An acrid smell hit his senses hard. He flipped the light switch.
Jesus.
There were rogues littered all over the place. All he needed was some fake blood and a few missing body parts, and he could have his own HBO series.

He gritted his teeth. “Alright, everybody up! Unless you want me to leave you here. And trust me, you don’t want me to.”

The rogue mutants managed to get to their feet and he walked up and down the rows. He stopped short in front of a female.
WTF?
There weren’t supposed to be any females sent to Batiste. Well, back she went. Until he looked into her big, pleading blue eyes. He shook his head.
Damn it.
 

“How the hell did you get in here?”

“I don’t know. I just woke up here.” She coughed. “Please don’t send me back there.”

Aw, Christ.
“Look. I can’t take you. They’ll kill you on the spot.”

“Maybe not. If you leave me here I’m dead for sure.”

He checked her over. Now there was a good idea. She had beautiful blond hair and about five foot eight worth of legs. He turned away from her and shook his head.

“What’s your name?”

He whirled around. “What?”

Derrr…

She smiled and his entire body practically turned to melted wax on the spot.

“Your name?”

“Seth.”

She coughed again. “I’m Grace.”

Nice to meet you, Grace. How would you prefer to die? By Toltec or a drug lord?
Man, his life was like some kinda soap opera. He walked to the door and gave Toltec’s boys the all clear before he went back to the female. He couldn’t believe what he was about to say. “Look,” he said under his breath, “after we let everyone off the van, you and I are staying on it.”

“What?”

“If you wanna live, just do what the hell I tell you, alright?”

She nodded.

And before he went outside to wait for the van and have a smoke, he already knew what he was going to do.

Reyn walked into his room and immediately knew something was off. The hair on the back of his neck prickled. Something wasn’t right. The smell of fear hit his nostrils.

The Goddess Akina appeared by the bed. She was shaking and her white gown was torn. Reyn gleamed to her instantly. He gently took her arm as she corporealized under his touch.

“My God, what happened? Are you alright?”

She placed her hand on his cheek. “I am so sorry, Reyn. Forgive me. I knew another day was too long, but I dared not cross until now.”

“Don’t worry, I’m fine.”

“You are in pain. I can feel it as if we were of the same body.”

“Shhh. It’ll ease now that you’re here.” He guided her to the bed. “Tell me what happened.”

“I was waiting to cross the Otherworld, but the gods were too close. I dared not try until now.”

He touched the ripped part of her dress. A low growl worked its way up from his chest. “Did they hurt you?”

She was near tears. “No, I did that myself in my hurry. I do not think they saw me.”

Reyn pulled her to him and slowly he felt her body relax as he stroked her long, raven hair. “You shouldn’t have tried at all. It’s too dangerous.”

“But I must. You need me to be here.”

Whatever.
His fucking brain could implode for all he cared. Nothing was more important than her safety. His second soul could kiss his ass. “I’ve told you before, I’ll be okay.”

“
I
need to be here.” She took his face in her hands and kissed him.

How many times had he promised himself she wasn’t going to win any more arguments this way? Ten? Twenty? Yeah, ah, right now he couldn’t count any higher. His whole body shuddered when she opened her mouth to him and deepened the kiss. As he laid her down on the bed, he tried to forget that although she was a thousand years old in god time; she’d been a spirit for all but eighteen of them. That basically made her a teenager.
Details.