Mating Call (22 page)

Dimitri ran through the snowy woods, his leg muscles on fire as he engaged them over and over again. The moon lit up his path as it shone through the barren winter trees. He knew where he was even though he’d never been there before. Branches blocked his way momentarily, until he pushed them aside and they snapped back behind him. A few steps later, he would repeat the process. Everything started to look the same, but Dimitri trudged on until he met an empty field.

He stopped.

Viktor came into view across the meadow to his far right. He tried to call out to him, but he wasn’t sure if his brother could hear him. The male turned his gaze away and looked straight ahead of him, to Dimitri’s right. A female dressed in black leather appeared. At first he thought it was Ana, but he quickly realized she had lighter, chin-length hair. Confused, he looked back at Viktor. His brother turned to look at him and so did the female.

“
Nyeht,
Dimka!” His brother suddenly yelled.

Out of nowhere a bright light appeared and Dimitri was yelling back. He felt strong hands seize his shoulders, pushing him back down.

“Hey! Dimitri! Easy, kid. It was just a dream. It was a dream.”

He felt the softness of the pillow behind his head and looked up into Viktor’s eyes. “I know who’s after you.”

Troy materialized behind an old shed in the Cobb’s back yard. He’d never asked Evy where the kids were being kept. He didn’t need to. And he didn’t need to feel for their emotions either. They were in the basement. That’s the way it was done. The only thing different was that there was more than one. In all the years he’d been with them, he’d been the only child there.

The last thing he wanted to do was take care of this in front of the kids. He was sure they’d have enough nightmares for a lifetime. He needed to draw the cocksucker out of the house. He gleamed to the opposite side of the building, tore the lock off the box, and pulled the electric meter from its socket. He ripped out the two connections covered in rubber and watched as the house went dark. How long would it take Cobb to check the circuit box in the basement and realize he had to come outside to fix the problem? Ten minutes tops. Then he’d come for his tools. He gleamed into the old shed and waited.

Through his shifter senses, Troy could hear Cobb come out the garage door and walk to the fuse box. There was an endless stream of swearing when the human discovered the disconnected meter. Troy clenched and unclenched his fists as the fucker walked toward the shed. The doors opened, he was suddenly face to face with his torturer. The face that still haunted his dreams was there, but on a body that seemed somehow comically small now.

“Who the… Thomsen. What the hell are—”

Stunned silence. His eyes had to be glowin’, because the human stepped back.

“What the hell are you?”

As Troy’s fist made contact with the motherfucker’s face, he could hear the sound of bone crunching. Cobb hollered, then fell over and landed in the snow. He tried to crawl toward the shed while he spit out teeth and Troy caught him with a heavy boot to the ribcage.

“How many kids have there been you piece of shit? He leaned down into the motherfucker’s face. “I asked you a question. How many!”

Cobb was shaking now, but it didn’t stop him from spitting in Troy’s face. The brother didn’t even bother to wipe it off. It was a cowardly move, one he was used to from the streets he grew up on and the war he now fought in. He picked him up with one hand on Cobb’s neck and slammed him against the shed’s wall. The bastard’s head met the metal with a hollow echo.

“One more shot. How. Many. Kids?”

“F-five,” he managed through one half of his broken face.

“Are you lyin’ to me, Cobb?” Troy growled. “I know you have two kids in there right now.”

“There’ve been five. Two before you. I swear it.”

“Where’s the Missus?”

“Dead. She died. In the summer.” He whimpered. “Please don’t kill me.” 

He let him fall to the ground, pulled out his knife, and jammed it through the leg of the fucker’s jeans and into the frozen earth. “Don’t go anywhere.”

Evy paced back and forth in front of their window. She wanted to respect her mate’s wishes, but she knew all too well what he was capable of. She thought back to that day at the apartment when Troy had come for her.
Shit. Shit.
She panicked. Before she could even think about what she was doing, she had gleamed to the compound hallway. She banged on X’s door.

It opened and Xavier’s eyebrows shot straight up. “Evy? What’s wrong?”

“It’s Troy. He’s gonna kill him, X. I know it.”

He took her gently by the shoulders. “Wait, slow down. Where’s my boy at?”

“I had a vision that Cobb has more children. He’s there. He wouldn’t take anyone with him. X, what if a New Breed kills a human? What’s the punishment?”

“You don’t wanna know.” He pulled his leather coat on. “I’ll find him. I promise you.”

Troy walked down the old basement steps. The smell hit his nostrils and he breathed through his mouth. Just two years ago this was his life. His New Breed sight picked up on two kids crouched down in the corner. One looked like he was in high school. Troy picked up on a lot of
k’ul
coming at him. The male was a shifter. He had his arms around a young girl.

He approached them slowly and stopped halfway. “I’m not gonna hurt you. I’m here to help. I won’t take another step toward you without your permission.”

A moment or two later, the male gave a nod.

Troy walked toward them. “What’s your name?”

“Christian.”

“Hey, Christian. I’m Troy. And who’s this?”

“Rory. She’s my sister.”

“I need to get you out of here. I want to take you with me. Is that okay?”

The male nodded.

“You two hold onto each other real tight.”

Troy pulled them to him, took a last look around, and gleamed out.

X materialized in the Cobb’s backyard. Troy was gone. He couldn’t sense him anywhere.
Not good.
The shed was left open and there was a decent amount of blood in the snow. But not enough for a kill. He could sense a human close by, but he sure as hell didn’t see one. At least not until he walked around to the front of the house and looked up.
What the… Oh, for fuck’s sake.
He sighed.

The human was pinned to the front of the house spread eagle by five knives. One through each hand and foot, and a fifth through what may have possibly been his…yeah, he didn’t need to ponder that any further. It was bad enough he’d have to pull the fucking thing out. He had to give the brother points for creativity. He figured he may as well call the cops. He’d have the douche bag down by the time they arrived anyway.

X gleamed to the roof and leaned down next to the punk’s ear. “Don’t think I’m letting you off the hook. You’re going to tell the cops exactly what you’ve done. You’ve seen enough to know that no prison wall can keep us out, dig?”

Cobb was able to nod slightly before passing out cold.

CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN

Evy was sitting on the bed when Troy walked in. As soon as she saw him she dashed across it and leapt at him. He caught her and wrapped his arms around her. “I’m sorry, Ev. I’m so sorry. I never shoulda left like that.”

She wrapped her legs around his waist and took his face in her hands. “You didn’t…”

“Nah. No way would I ever jeopardize our future like that. Besides, he needs to pay for what he’s done. Listen, I need your help with somethin’.”

“The kids?”

“Yeah.”

She nodded and he took her hand and led her out the door.

“Where are they?”

“In the compound with Helen. I figured they’d need to be checked.”

His mate picked up speed and started to walk with a purpose he’d never seen before. She walked down the back stairs and he followed. She poked her head into the exam room and then waited for Helen to come out. Troy buried his hands in his pockets and watched as his mate did somethin’ he’d never actually seen her do before. Her job.

Helen walked into the hallway.

“How are they?” Ev asked.

“Well, as far as I can tell, there hasn’t been any sexual abuse. The male’s name is Christian. He’s a shifter. He has numerous scars.”

“Like mine,” Troy said.

“More or less, but fewer. The girl pretty much checks out. A few bruises. I don’t think they were there long.”

Evy nodded. “Thanks, Helen.”

“Anytime. Give me a holler if you need anything. I’m just down the hall in the lab.”

Troy waited in the doorway while his mate walked into the room.

“Hi, I’m Evy. You must be Christian and Rory.”

 The male cocked his head and focused his amber eyes on her. “You’re with Troy.”

She smiled. “Yes.”

“His scent is on you.”

He retreated back into his silence.

Troy watched as she drew the male back out again.

“How old are you, Christian?”

“Eighteen. I graduate in May. I was trying to… I needed a way to take Em with me. She’s only thirteen. We were leaving that place for good.”

“My male, Troy, was with Cobb for many years. You’ll be the last children that man takes. It’s over. You’re safe here.”

“The male, Troy. He’s not a shifter, is he?”

“No, he’s much more than that.”

She hopped on the table and drew Rory into her lap. “Do you like adventure stories?”

“Yes,” the girl said.

“Well, have I got one for you.”

Troy smiled as he watched the dance between Evy and the kids. Jesus, she was a natural. He started off down the hall and met up with X.

The brother grinned. “Hey, my man. You’ve had a busy day.”

Troy cracked a half smile. “Yeah, I guess I kinda have.”

X put a heavy hand on his shoulder. “Let’s get a drink.”

They walked down to the compound’s small living area and X mixed some god-awful shit that probably cost a hundred bucks a pop. “Jesus, X. What’s in this stuff?”

“No worries. I got your back.” He tossed Troy a cold beer.

He opened the bottle. “Thank fuck.”

“So, I got it on your friend Cobb’s personal authority that he’ll tell the police everything. I’ll check their computer in a couple days and make sure the SOB is in their system.”

“Thanks.”

“No problem. Cleaning up your mess today was a pleasure. I don’t think I’ve ever said this, but I’m sorry for everything that dirt bag put you through. It took a lot of stones to go back there today, New Breed or not.”

He took a pull off his beer. “Yeah, maybe. So, you making any progress with that genius hottie of yours?”

“Nope.”

“You gotta be kiddin’ me. You haven’t even talked to her? It’s been weeks for Chrissake.”

X rubbed his goatee. “I wouldn’t have the slightest idea what to say to her to be honest.”

“What’s there to say? Hey, I love your brain. Let’s get food.”

X laughed. “I don’t know, man. She’s so different from anyone else, dig?”

“Hey. What’d you say to me? Don’t put her on a pedestal, right?” He smiled and took a sip. “O’ course, Ev is still on a pedestal. I’m sure she’ll let me know when she’s done with it. But that’s a whole other story.”

They laughed until they had tears in their eyes.

X poured himself another round. “Let me just be serious for a second. It’s like I went to bed one day and woke up a different male. I look at what you and Evy have, and I want that. I don’t know if it’ll be with Rose or not. But I want that.”

Troy rolled his eyes. “Jesus. If this ain’t a Kodak moment.”

“Thank Christ, the Polaroid twins aren’t here.”

Troy laughed. “You ain’t kiddin’.”

It was another couple of hours before Evy came up to their room. Troy was on his fifth beer and reading the third George R.R. Martin book. “Hey.”

She crawled in next to him and yawned. “Hey.”

“Get the kids settled for the night?”

“Yeah. Mary cleaned the back hallway down by the gym. You know, where all those rooms are?”

He put the book on the night stand. “Oh, yeah. I forget it’s even there.”

“You know, I was thinking.”

He smiled a bit. “Uh-oh.”

She swatted his chest and he threw up his hands. “Kiddin’, kiddin’.”

“Well, a lot of homeless teenage shifters wind up being caught by dog catchers and turned mutant. So, I was thinking that if we started a shelter, we could get a few of them off the streets. It would help them, cut back on Toltec’s supply. Maybe even help the Goddess find more potential New Breeds. What do you think?”

“I think I love you, Evelyn O’Donnell. And I think it’s a great idea.”

She leaned into him and ran her soft lips gently across his mouth, his cheek, his neck. He leaned back on his arms and let her do whatever she wanted, letting each caress take him higher and higher. And then he flipped her over and claimed her, worshipping every part of her inside and out until the long hours of the night.

Xavier materialized in the back of the Social Sciences section of the Boston Public Library. He took a deep breath. Man, he was nervous, but this time as he walked into Bates Hall he didn’t stop. If she was there he knew where she’d be and he headed straight for the next to last table on the right of the main aisle. He felt her presence and looked up, only to find that she was already looking at him. Man, she was beautiful, so delicate, surrounded by piles of books.

He stopped right in front of her. He didn’t want to play any games. He wanted her to know she was the reason he was there. He looked into her exquisite almond eyes and realized with a jolt that he hadn’t thought about what to say. “I, ah, don’t know if you remember me. I knocked some books over a couple of weeks ago.”

I knocked some books over?

“Yes, of course. Xavier, wasn’t it?”

His heart squeezed in his chest. “Yes, and you’re Professor Sato?”

She smiled. “Rose, please.”

She had the most endearing voice. It was almost child-like in its sound, but with a lovely resonance.

“Ah, Rose. The thing is, I signed up for the
Japan in Asia
course and it turns out it just won’t fit my schedule.”