Mating Call (20 page)

“I don’t understand. Why did you send me away, my Goddess? Were the gods very close by?”

“No, Evelyn. I sent you back because it was not safe. Did you not feel the cold darkness?”

Reyn watched as Evy’s face fell. His chest tightened up and his breath came in long drags. His whole body felt like it was in a cold sweat.

“There is another evil I have encountered in the Wasteland. It is not yet powerful, but it is gaining in strength.”

Ana gasped. “It’s the
aj k’o’ol
. It’s using the naguals to become more powerful.”

“Yes, Ana. And as it feeds on their magic, it becomes more and more of a threat. I believe it wants to gain entrance to the Otherworld and punish the gods that sent it away.”

Troy put up his hands. “Hold up. By freeing the
naguals
we’re actually helping the gods that are after you, my Goddess?”

“I am afraid so. “

“But, why? Why would we want to help them when they would hurt you?” Dimitri asked.

“The gods are the only thing that is keeping this evil in check. Without them, it will take over the Otherworld, and your world as well. Its goal is to spread loss and as long as it has sway, it will not stop.”

Akina looked across the circle. “Ana, is that a nagual you have on your shoulder?”

“Yes, my Goddess. For some reason he doesn’t seem to want to move on.”

She cocked her head in thought. “How very curious.”

Reyn took his mate’s hand and rubbed it lightly with his thumb. “Well, I’m exhausted. We’ll see you all in the morning.”

There was a fuss of good-nights that he flat out ignored as he led Akina down the hall to his room. As he closed the door behind them, she reached up and touched his face. “Reyn, you look like death.” 

If they hadn’t left when they did he would’ve more than looked like it. “I’m just tired.”

As he watched Akina get ready for bed, two words came into his head.

Protective instinct.

James walked into the gym. His new black combat boots were marking up the floor, but he really didn’t give a fuck. What he needed right now was to find Troy. He hung a right into the workout room.

Jackpot.
“Troy.”

“Hey, what’s up, bro? You missed a helluva dinner. The Goddess is here. She actually eats. Who knew?”

“You don’t say. Listen, I need to know the addy of the apartment you rescued Evy at.”

The male switched a dumbbell to his other hand. “What the hell for? Wait. Is this about the rogue that stabbed Evy? Look, man. The douche is on everybody’s hit list. He’ll get ganked soon enough.”

He leaned in the doorway. “That’s interesting.”

“What?”

“I would’ve thought you’d wanna ice him yourself.”

“I’d love to, but Ev’s nervous enough about my fighting as it is right now.”

“So, give me the addy and I’ll take care of it for you.”

Troy put down the weight. “I don’t get it. Wasn’t this guy your boy?”

“He’s not anybody’s boy anymore.”

Troy took a second and checked the brother’s grid.
Fuck me.
The male had his emotions completely on hold. How the hell was he doin’ that? “You talk to Pax about this?”

Suddenly, James’s grid went off like fucking fireworks on the fourth. This was so not good.

“Nope. Don’t plan to.”

“Well, let me know when this plan of yours is parent approved and I’ll get it right to ya.”

With a growl, James slammed him into the wall and took him by the jaw.

Troy looked straight into the male’s eyes. “You’re making a mistake. You may be bigger than me, but I’ve been doing this a long time.”

“Just give me the addy, bitch.”

Troy pushed off the wall with his foot, the two of them landing on the floor. In seconds, he had pinned James to the tile. He took the male by the hair. “You stay away from me, you stay away from Evy. You feel me,
brother?
”

“Fine.”

Troy let go of his hair and stood up. He watched the douche walk out. He slammed his water bottle against the wall.
Shit.
Yeah, that was gonna leave a mark. He paced back and forth.
This sucked ass.
Why did the brother have to make it physical? Now what was he supposed to do? Normally, he’d let something like that go. Problem was, it wasn’t just the brother’s actions. The shit he read was bad news. His emotions were way out of whack. Not to mention the pain he’d channeled on their bathroom floor and the vision Evy had. God
damn
that male was robbin’ him of his will to live. He tapped the top of the doorway on his way out. “Word.”

Evy sat down to the second round of breakfast. She thought she was the only one eating late when Ana came into the small dining room carrying a breakfast made for an Olympic athlete.

Evy poured milk into her bowl of muesli. “That looks amazing.”

Ana sat down and took a swig of juice. “Yeah, it’s a New Breed thing. We need to eat a lot. I swear I must log four thousand calories a day.”

“I can believe it.”

“Do you want to split the eggs benedict with me?”

“Hell, yes.”

Ana put the plate between them and they dug in.

Evy savored her first bite. “Mm. This is so good. I’d love to eat like this every day, but I’m so short I’d be obese in like a week.”

“Are you kidding? You may be small, but you’ve got a rockin’ bod. Which reminds me–I wondered if you wanted to go shopping sometime soon. You must be so sick of Helen’s sweats.”

“Oh, my God, I’d love it. Is it okay for us to go?”

“Oh, sure. I mean, we’re a New Breed and a Seer. What could possibly happen at Barneys, for Chrissakes?”

“What’s Barneys?”

She laughed. “Oh, shit. We’re going to give Troy’s Amex Black Card a workout.”

Evy shrugged. “I didn’t even know he had a card that color.”

“Trust me, he does. We all do.”

“Oh, well, I’m kind of a cash girl. I like to know what I’m spending.”

“A few months ago, I would’ve said the same thing. But the card goes with the job. It’s a perk for being an NB. Dimitri takes care of the tab. We can go for lunch. There’s the most amazing spot called the Pour House. Best burgers ever.”

Evy grinned. She hadn’t been out of the mansion in what seemed like forever. “Sounds great.”

“Awesome. Let’s plan for the end of the week.”

Evy grinned. “You’re on.”

Akina watched her consort as he slept peacefully. Gently, she traced a finger along the planes of his face. They were so well defined. Almost regal. But she knew when he opened his lovely blue eyes their softness would transform them. She found herself eager to look into them. She leaned down and whispered. “Reyn.”

“What,” he mumbled.

“It’s ten o’clock.”

He rolled onto his back. “I knew teaching you to read that thing was a mistake. Come here.”

She smiled. “There is something I need to tell you. Something about me. About my past.”

“Okay.”

“I know I have not spoken of my death often, but I think it is time you knew what happened.” She looked into his eyes. “All of it. When I was just a young goddess, I was always up to mischief with my twin brother, Akil and our best friend Maya. Our days were carefree as we wandered about the Otherworld, exploring new finds. Then one day when I was eighteen, I was out on my own and I found a wounded Manticore.”

Reyn sat up.
Interesting.
His own nagual was Lion. “A real one? Part man, part lion? From the mythological war between the Maya gods and the Manticores?”

She nodded. “It was no myth. At that time there was an uneasy treaty between the two sides. The two races were divided by a river and part of the agreement was that neither side should cross it. The Manticore I found was named Rancor. He had been savagely tortured by his own kind when he tried to speak of bringing peace to the Otherworld. I hardly knew what to do. I went in search of Maya, who had the power to heal. She agreed and Rancor was made like new once again. But we had betrayed our kind.”

He touched her cheek lightly. “You have the kindest heart imaginable, Kina. You’re the Goddess of Love. You were incapable of letting him suffer.”

“There is more. After Maya healed him, I swore to her that I would not go to him again. Maya was like our sister. She was afraid for me. But I did not listen. I helped Rancor find shelter along the border where the Otherworld meets the Wasteland. I thought no one would find him there, but they did. They arrested him and I was told I could not leave the city. Shortly after, Rancor and I were both sentenced to death—he for crossing the river and I for treason.”

“My God. You helped him and he turned you in?”

“No. Rancor would never have done anything to hurt me. It was someone else. Another of my kind.”

Reyn kissed her forehead and she leaned back against his chest. She always felt so safe when he held her. But it was only an illusion.

“Who was this god? The one who betrayed you?”

“His name is Bane. He was in love with me. He used to follow me everywhere like a little lost dog. Akil teased him mercilessly and threatened him whenever he came too near me. He had followed us to the river that day, as well as all of my trips to bring Rancor provisions afterward. He became jealous and told the Council of Elders.”

He tucked her in tighter. “Jesus. Please tell me karma somehow bit him in the ass.”

She closed her eyes for a moment, letting the feeling of security and love wash over her. “It did. He committed many crimes and, eventually, the Elders sent him to
Xibalba
. He has been there ever after. Except…”

She turned to him.

He cradled her face gently with his hands. “I’ve never seen you like this. What is it, Kina? Please, tell me what’s wrong.”

She looked down at her lap. “Reyn, there is a reason I am telling you this. When I was in the Wasteland with Evelyn there was a dark, malicious power there with us. That’s why I sent her away. Then for just a moment, I felt a strange of flicker of familiarity. It lasted only an instant, like the flutter of a dove’s wing.”

“Could you identify it?”

“Not until tonight as we spoke by the fire. Then it came to me.” She looked up into those lovely blue eyes. “It is Bane.”

“What?” Reyn got up and walked into the sitting room.

She tried to give him a few minutes to himself, but when she could wait no longer she went in and sat down. She watched him pace back and forth in front of the fire. His eyes glowed and sweat covered his forehead.

“Are you sure it was Bane? Maybe it’s the other gods.”

She shook her head. “No, they feel different. But you are right. I cannot be completely sure that it was Bane.”

Why was he behaving in such a manic manner? He was normally so calm.
The protective instinct.
She should have known this was going to throw him. He was tense enough about the other gods, and now the Lord of
Xibalba?

“But, if it happens to be Bane, then you basically have a stalker? One that got you killed once already? Then, of course there’s the rest of the gods. Let’s not forget about them—”

“Reyn.” He turned and she was standing in front him by the fire. She walked up to him and placed a hand on his cheek. “Maybe we should—what was it you call it? Burn off some steam?”

A low growl came from his chest and she smiled with satisfaction.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

Pax made the sign of the cross and stood up just as someone started pounding on the door. “It’s open.” He walked towards the door as it swung open. “Hey, Troy. Whassup?”

He gave the male a thug hug and Troy took his usual stance against the wall.

Pax sat down on the bed. “You just come from the gym?”

“Yeah. I actually just ran into James down there. Well, more like he ran into me.”

Pax raised his brows. “What the hell happened?”

“Basically, he showed up and demanded I give him the addy for Evy’s kidnappin’.”

“What? Why would he… Seth.”

“I mean, normally I would’ve just done it. I’d like nothing more than to see that cock sucking rogue drawn and quartered. But James is one wicked outta control SOB right now.”

“Yeah, that’s my fault. What else?”

“The whole time we were talkin’ he just shut down. I dunno, man. I tried to get a read on him and I couldn’t pick up on anything. S’like the male went all Franken James.”

Pax rubbed his face with his hand. “Fuck.”

“You ain’t kiddin’. Wait ‘til you hear the rest.”

“There’s more? Fuck me.”

The male nodded. “When I mentioned he had to see you first, his emotions all came back, like, at once. He pinned me against the wall and demanded the addy, so I restrained him and he left.”

Pax sighed. “Thanks for letting me know. I’m still his
camzah.
At least for now.”

“At least for now? I thought that gig was pretty much permanent.”

“It is, unless one or both participants would like to dissolve it and then they can assign the male to another one. But James isn’t looking for a new mentor. He doesn’t want to have one anymore, period.”

“Whoa. That shit’s never gonna fly with Reyn.”

“Nope.”

He walked Troy out and sat down at his desk. He couldn’t say he was surprised to see James go after Seth. It’s the way he was going about it that freaked him out. And to make matters worse, the male’s Induction into the Order was just around the corner. Wait ‘til the Goddess saw him. That was going be just delightful. One thing was for sure. The James Mathan he knew had left the building.

As Akina followed her male to the gym, she checked one more time to be sure the tie on his sweat pants was tight. Although she was six feet tall, Reyn was at least a half foot taller. They were baggy, of course, but that was fine. She cut the bottoms off to make up the difference. She watched as he went over and started to pull the mats down.

“What are those?”

“Safety mats.”

She crossed her arms. “When have we needed those before?”

He looked back and gave her a cocky grin. He walked over and stopped about five feet in front of her. “Point taken. Usual rules?”