Mating Call (8 page)

She sighed. “This totally sucks. It’s all my fault.”

He moved down next to her and laced his fingers into her long waves. “Hey, I don’t ever wanna hear you say that. I’m the one who couldn’t keep his protective instinct in check and followed you around like an idiot. Fuck, I’m the one who got you kidnapped. I’m so sorry for everything I put you through, Ev.”

She leaned up and kissed him softly. “I don’t care about any of that as long as it got us to where we are right now.”

He grinned. “I shoulda just gone to the damn dance.”

“Hell, yes! What was up with that anyway?”

He lightly stroked her back. “I dunno. I’d loved you a long time by then. It was probably a combo of not wanting to get hurt and not wanting you to get hurt.”

“How would I have gotten hurt?”

“The Cobbs were seriously evil people, Ev. I realize now that you were reaching out to me. I just couldn’t see it.”

She nodded. “I wish I could have helped you.”

“Don’t feel bad about somethin’ you couldn’t do anythin’ about. Besides, you’ve helped so many kids at the center.”

She leaned in and gave him another kiss. This time she lingered, letting her tongue caress his.

“What was that for? Not that I’m complainin’.” He grinned.

“For basically buying the entire tech lab for them.”

“Nah, it was nothin’.”

She gave him a little jab to the ribs. “Bullshit. It was amazing. But I still don’t understand why you did it.”

He shrugged. “It was important to you, so…”

She sucked in her breath. For her. He’d done it for her. She thought her heart was going to leap out of her chest. She climbed on top of him, straddling his sides as she watched his eyes grow wide. “Maybe we can try it this way?”

The rings around his pupils lit up in their bright aqua.

She smiled.
I’ll take that as a yes.

Seth opened his eyes and saw nothing but darkness. He had some kind of hood over his head. His hands and feet were bound with what felt like thick wire cording of some kind. Smart not to use rope. Clearly, these douches weren’t taking any chances.

He felt the hood yanked away and he was forced to squint as the light hit his sensitive eyes. It looked like he was in some giant warehouse. Two big rogues stood on either side of him, as a human male dressed in all black with the longest legs he’d ever seen walked toward him.

“You the leader around here?”

“I ask the questions here, Seth.”

Wait. The guy had an accent from the Caribbean somewhere. Batiste. And he knew his name.
Fuck.

“How do you know my name?”

Batiste nodded to the oaf at his right and without warning the prick slammed his fist into the side of Seth’s face.

Seth shook it off. “Watch it! Jesus.”

“So, where were we? Oh, yes, questions. My name is Batiste. I’m sure you know that. You’ve been asking everyone in Boston who would listen. Not very smart.”

“Can I ask a question yet?”

He nodded at the dickhead to the left and Seth felt a blow to the other side of his face. “Aw, come on!”

Man, he was going to look like shit when this little come to Jesus was over; if he survived at all.

Batiste laughed.

Jesus Christ. The guy had the most insanely white teeth Seth had ever seen.
Just say no to the bleach, dude.

“I know all about you and your pathetic little crew. Losing half your boys in that amount of time? That must be a world record.” He looked at his cronies. “Leave us.”

As he waited for the rogue to leave, Batiste pulled out a box of cigarettes—Dunhill, of course. Blue fucking box. The guy spent eleven bucks a pack and he bought lights?

“Smoker, I see.” He lit two cigs and held one out for Seth.

Did this mean he was about to be iced? Either way, beggars or whatever. The guy lit two cigarettes and held one out. He took a drag. Whoa. They were lights, but they were the real deal.

“As you can see, I’ve obviously found a use for your kind, but I have something special in mind for you. Interested?”

Seth was afraid to hope. Things could go either way here. Bodyguard wasn’t exactly what he’d had in mind, but at least they still needed oxygen. Of course, he wasn’t allowed to ask questions. Fucking A. He looked the guy squarely in the eye. “Yes.”

Batista barked a laugh. “Perfect! You have some nerve. That could have been your last cigarette and still you don’t question me. I must tell you, I hate to be questioned. Now, you have two of your kind left other than yourself, correct?”

“Yeah. Mark and Tommy.”

Batiste offered him another drag. “Excellent. I’ll have them picked up and offered jobs as runners. I assume they can do an errand without somehow pissing off a New Breed?”

He nodded and exhaled.

“Good. Boys!”

The two guards flew back in the room like their goddamn lives depended on it. Probably did.

“Cut his wires. You can smoke your own cigarette while I make you an offer you can’t refuse.”

Troy walked down the back stairs to the compound. He checked his watch. He had duty in a few hours. Evy was gonna love that. He stopped and banged on X’s door.

“Come in.” X was stretched out on the bed with his laptop and a bunch of papers.

“Hey. Where ya been? You weren’t answerin’ your phone.”

“Out. Whassup?”

Troy shrugged his shoulders. “Just wanted to see if you could fight with someone else tonight.”

“I doubt it. We’re stretched thin as it is. Brothers need their nights off right now. Why do you…”

Troy would never forget the look on the brother’s face. It was as freaky as freaky got, at least for X. He was expectin’ like, the apocalypse. Instead the male looked…curious. WTF? If  he thought they were gonna have some kinda heart to heart…

He seemed to snap out of it fast enough. Thank fuck.

“You mated her?”

He nodded.

“Damn. Anyone else know?”

“Hell, no. I’m hopin’ Helen will give the okay tomorrow.”

“Then what?”

“Talk to the big cheese and see if we can stay, but I’m not countin’ on it.”

X nodded. “Yeah, that’s probably wise. If you’re asked to leave, Evy will be well enough to go.”

“That’s the plan. Listen, I gotta jet. I have an errand to run.”

“Aight. I’ll check you later for duty, dig?”

He turned to go.

“Hey, Troy, just so you know. When you talk to Reyn, you won’t be going alone.”

He stopped before going out the door. “Thanks, my brother.”

“You got it.”

Evy rinsed the shampoo out of her hair. She was so glad she could take a shower by herself. She let the hot water run down her back one last time before turning it off. Mated. Mated to Troy. She could hardly believe it. But at the same time, it just felt so…right. She looked in the mirror. She didn’t look any different. The same big brown eyes stared right back. She rolled her eyes.
Grow up, Evy.

Now if she could only figure out who the hell was talking in her head. It was definitely not her own voice or thoughts. Could it be the goddess Troy had mentioned? That just seemed ridiculous. She believed what he had told her, but why would the shifters’ goddess be talking to her? As she combed out her hair, she wondered if she should tell Troy what she’d heard. Somehow she had a feeling that hearing voices was probably not the best thing to admit to shifters either. Crap. Well, for now she would keep it to herself.

She started to brush her teeth and stopped. What was the date? She thought back to the Friday she’d been kidnapped and counted forward. “Oh, my God.”

Tomorrow was her twentieth birthday.

She had almost forgotten. She and Troy would be the same age. Well, for a little while, at least. For a moment she thought of her family. How would they feel when she was still missing on her birthday? An unwelcome nausea hit her stomach. In the moment she had kissed Troy, everything had changed. Now she could never go back. There had to be a way to let them know she was at least alright. She sighed, pulling on her jeans and Troy’s sweatshirt before heading back to bed. Troy had left her his book. She’d read it twice, but hell, anything was better than more TV.

There was a knock at the door. She figured it was Helen or X. “It’s open.”

A handsome auburn haired shifter she’d never seen before poked his head in the door. “Hi. I’m James. Do you mind if I come in?”

CHAPTER NINE

James got about three steps in the door and froze. Holy shit. The female was human. It had never even occurred to him. Hanging with humans was against pretty much every law in the Order’s book.

“It’s okay. You can come in. I’m Evy.”

“I’m really sorry to bother you.”

She put down her book. “You’re not, believe me. I’ve been going insane all afternoon. So, are you a New Breed?”

“Ah…” Jesus Christ. Just how much did this human know? He nodded. “Yeah. Like Troy.”

She smiled. “You look young. Not that it’s a bad thing or anything.”

He leaned against the back of the side chair. “Yeah, I’m eighteen. I’m the youngest. The thing is you know how you and Troy know each other from school?”

“Yep.”

His heart sped up. “Well, I think you might know someone who used to be a friend of mine. My best friend, actually.”

“Oh. What’s his name? Or is it a girl?” She grinned.

He flushed. “Um, no. We played Varsity basketball together.”

He wasn’t sure how to say it exactly. He didn’t want to scare her. “His name is Seth.”

Her big brown eyes got even bigger.

“Oh, no, it’s okay. You’re safe here. I just needed to know something.”

“What?”

“Did he, you know? Was he the one who stabbed you?”

She looked at him for a moment before nodding her head slowly.

He sighed. “I’m sorry I bothered you with this. You must have been terrified. I’m so glad Troy was able to find you.”

He stood up to go when the door opened. One minute Troy was in the doorway and the next the brother was materializing right in from of him. He grabbed him by the front of his sweatshirt and slammed him against the wall.

Troy’s aqua eyes bore into him.

“Get out, James,” he said with a feral growl.

“Everything’s cool. I just asked her a question.”

“Get out, James!”

He didn’t even bother using the door. He gleamed back to his own room where he paced off the adrenaline. His mind was reeling. It was Seth. Seth had stabbed the female. As he walked back and forth, the seriousness of what had just happened with Troy started to set in. That was not the behavior of a protective friend—those eyes, that growl, the force behind that push. Those were the behaviors of a mated male. The brother was mated to a human.

Holy fuck.

Troy sat down on the edge of the bed and kissed his female’s cheek. “Are you okay?”

Evy nodded. “I’m okay.”

“You sure? I’m sorry I flipped out. Gettin’ a handle on the protective instinct after you’re mated takes some practice, especially for the male.”

“I’m sure. I actually feel kind of bad for him. He asked about Seth.”

“Seth?” Just like that his eyes lit up and reflected onto her porcelain skin. “The dirt bag who knifed you?”

She reached out, closing his eyes gently with her fingers. Her touch was so calming that when he opened them the reflection was gone.

“I think he knew Seth in high school. He looked really upset.”

At first he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. “Wait. You know, we rescued James from Toltec. He was in their holdin’ cells waitin’ to be given the serum that turns shifters into mutants—like the things that kidnapped you. Maybe he did know him.”

“Oh, my God. No wonder. He said they were best friends.”

He grinned. “Man, the crap you don’t find out about around here.”

She gave his leg a playful slap.

“Listen, I talked to X. I couldn’t get outta duty tonight.”

“That’s okay. I’ll read. Will you be late?”

“We’re usually in by three at the latest, but I’ll make sure I’m not that late tonight. I have a meeting after dinner. We’ll probably head out from there. Helen should be up and she’ll bring your dinner. Do you know what you want?”

She grinned.

He shook his head. “Lemme guess. Waffles. You’re gonna turn into one. I’m gonna be mated to a fucking waffle.”

She sat up and threw her arms around his neck as she laughed. God, it felt good. Feeling her laugh resonate through him was like heaven. He held her an extra moment before letting her go.

She tucked her hair behind her ear. “Where’re you going?”

“I need to go next door to arm. I’d sit this out, Ev. It can look pretty overwhelming and you’ve been through a lot.”

Thankfully, she waited on the bed. She had plenty of time to learn the ins and outs of being a New Breed’s female later. It didn’t have to be his first time out since they’d mated, thank you very much. He gave her a kiss and tried to make like it was no big deal, which was kinda stupid. She was real intelligent and she’d seen what he was capable of. He just didn’t want her climbin’ the walls while he was out. She wasn’t fully healed. At least, not yet.

SE absentmindedly traced his mate’s mark on the back of her neck as she sat against him on the bed and fidgeted with the remote.

“Did you DVR another Dancing with the Stars, my male?”

He kissed the side of her long, gorgeous neck. “Maybe.”

“God, I hate that show.”

He kissed the other side. “I can’t understand how you can be Latina and hate a dance show,
Ihkweea
.”

“It isn’t that one. It’s all those competition shows.”

“You seem to have it in for that one in particular.”

“Why do you say that?”

“Because you keep erasing it from the series queue.”

“Do I?”

“Yes, you do.”

All at once, it dawned on him. It wasn’t the show. It was the dancing. He let his head fall back against the headboard. His female couldn’t dance. No wonder she hated that show. Dancing was a major part of Mexican culture, but it wasn’t the kind of thing you’d tend to learn when your mother was psychotic bitch Victrixa Mata. He turned her face to him. “Do you know how to dance,
Ihkweea
?”