Deadly Call (7 page)

Victrixa leaned back against her head scientist’s desk. “As you know, Roman, there’s a reason why you and I have these little chats in private. I appreciate your discretion, especially when it comes to my ungrateful wretch of a daughter.”

“You and I have always shared a very important outlook on the world, Victrixa. I have always understood that.”

“I appreciate your loyalty.”

He gave a nod. “And you will always have it.”

“I assume you are as concerned about the missing shifter soldiers as I am.”

“Maybe more so. From a scientific perspective, this whole nightmare may signal a warning as to the uniformity of the results of the serum.”

“How so?”

He stroked his chin. “Well, for instance, if there were shifters coming through the mutation process differently than the others, perhaps with more intelligence…”

She paced to the window and back. “Then they would possibly be able to see beyond their need for
k’ul
.”

He nodded. “And thus, their need for their shifters to lead them to it, find them places to den, etc.”

“Damn it. How sure can you be?”

“I think we need a slightly longer observation period after injection. We’ll keep the new
hellions
separated from the general population for a week. That should give us the proof we’re looking for. Perhaps even sooner.”

“If your theory is correct, is it fixable?”

“I assume your greatest concern is that we’ll have to scrap the project and start over?”

Just hearing it out loud made her want to throttle the scientist, but she exhaled and kept her cool. “Exactly.”

“I seriously doubt that would be necessary. Even if the situation could not be rectified through science, I’m sure we could weed out the problematic
hellions
and they would then be yours to do with as you saw fit. They could certainly be destroyed, but you may also find they could be useful in some capacity.”

As they said good-bye and Victrixa closed the door to his office, a smile spread across her face. This was why it was so vitally important to keep her temper under wraps when it came to Roman. He was far too useful to her to get rid of him. There were always raised eyebrows when other shifters in Toltec’s upper ranks realized he was human—not exactly who one would expect to see as the highest ranking scientist in an organization of shifters who generally viewed humans as vermin. But as soon as she had learned about the finer points of Sean Delaney’s research, she knew it would be beneficial to have his partner in her corner.

At first she had wondered if he’d need to be kidnapped, bribed, or possibly forced to help Toltec gain access to Delaney’s work. Ultimately, they’d never needed to do any of those things. What Roman wanted was actually very simple—he wanted to be a shifter. And in order to reach his goal, he would need to pervert Delaney’s research to his own ends. He could hardly do all that at the college where the two of them taught. So Victrixa had brought him on board with the promise that he could have access to their facilities in order to work on his own goal, while he helped Toltec with theirs. She had no idea whether or not he could actually achieve it. If he did, she’d worry about it then. She could hardly have humans running around, turning themselves into shifters. For now, her deal with Roman was strictly between the two of them. And it would stay that way, if he knew what was good for him.

“Almost ready, Doc?”

“Yeah, just let me grab my coat. I swear, since I moved in here, I can’t find a thing. Oh, did you remember to ask X about training?”

“Yeah, it’s all set. The closet will get a lot bigger once I knock the wall down between this room and the one next door. Come on, Doc. You don’t need a coat.”

His mate poked her head out of the closet. “It’s Massachusetts. It’s midnight. It’s January.”

“Not where we’re going.”

She came flying out of the closet. “Tell me!”

He laughed and wrapped his arms around her. “Nope. Hang on tight, female.”

Within seconds, Diesel was holding his arm up to shield his face from the mid-morning sun.

“Oh, my God. It’s incredible. Where are we, Dies?”

“Hopefully, in Tibet, if I shot it right. We’re in the Pahar, the foothills.” He pointed. “Check out the Northeast.”

“The Himalayas!” She threw her arms around his neck and kissed his cheek.

“Happy mating, Doc. Up for some exercise?”

“Hell, yes!”

He grinned at her and phased to Tiger. He waited for her to follow suit, but instead she walked to him and took his face in her hands. She ran her fingers through the fur on his head and scratched behind his ears. He closed his eyes, basking in all the attention. He opened his mouth and let his tongue hang out.

“No, I am not kissing you in your second form, you big show off.”

He gave her a slight growl of impatience, and she phased into Gazelle. She walked in front of him a couple of times knowing full well how stunning she was, and he realized he could see similarities to her movements in her first form. Then she took off. Big time.
Fuck.

He bolted after her and waited for her to slow down for him. He wasn’t going to be able to outrace her. His Tiger form was built for strength, not speed. He also wanted her to stick close by. This was the wilderness. There would be predators here. She stopped and he circled her a couple of times. She started off again, but this time at a much slower pace. They chased and played through the hills until the noonday sun was high overhead.

They finally stopped at a watering hole for a drink and he phased back and sat down in the grass. When she finished drinking, he put out his hand and she gave it a lick before returning to her first form. She lay down on her back with her head in his lap.

“Hey, female. How’s Nepal treating you?”

“It’s amazing. Thank you, my male.”

He dropped a kiss on her forehead. “You’re welcome. Your second form is amazing and also, oddly hot.”

“Um, don’t tigers generally eat gazelles?”

“Oh. Maybe I’m mistaking my appetite for my sex drive again.”

Helen stroked his whiskers and grinned. “Shocker.”

He smiled and she lay there admiring his dimples.

“Up for a swim, Doc?”

She looked over at the watering hole. “Oh, are you sure? It’s kind of cool.”

Her mate stood up and stripped off his shirt. “Aw, c’mon. It must be at least sixty-five out.”

“Like I said.”

He stood in front of her and stripped until that body of his was completely naked. “You can get undressed or get your clothes wet.”

“You wouldn’t.”

“See now, I’m pretty sure I would.”

She stood up, watching her mate jump in as she started to undress.

He popped his head up out of the water. “See? It’s not so bad.”

She walked to the edge and put a toe in. It was freezing. As in frigid.

“Come on.”

Typical male.

She started to walk in and stopped at her mid-thigh.
Holy. Shit.

He walked to her and picked her up. At first she thought he was going to throw her in. But he walked back into the water and let her slowly get used to it. Then he gently let her slide in. She leaned back to get her hair wet, then stood on her tiptoes and put her arms around his neck. He leaned down and kissed her.

And it almost happened.

She almost told him she loved him. And she did. More than she’d ever thought a person could love another. She wanted to say it, but it just wouldn’t come out.

She looked into those green eyes of his. “Mm. Do that again.”

He kissed her again and she suddenly forgot how cold the water was. She let his strong arms hold her halfway out of the water, the warm sun hitting her neck and shoulders. Their tongues entwined and she shivered all the way from head to toe.

“Are you cold?”

“A little.”

“Come on. Let’s get you dressed.”

Diesel dried her off with his T-shirt and they reluctantly got dressed. He still couldn’t believe she’d gone in the water. His mate was totally badass. He smiled to himself. Yeah, she was. He waited while she walked toward the water to get her sneakers.

That’s when he saw it.

A Bengal tiger had apparently discovered the same watering hole they had.
Son of a bitch.
It must have caught her scent while she was in her second form. He smelled the air. It was a male and it was alone. At least it wasn’t a female with cubs. He measured the distance between the cat and his mate. He knew he could make a jump of twenty-five feet. There was no way to know how strong this Bengal was. He couldn’t risk gleaming to her and then gleaming them out. It might not be fast enough.

“Doc, stay perfectly still and don’t turn around.”

“What is it?” she whispered.

“You’re okay. Just do exactly what I tell you. On a count of three, I want you to make for that narrow space between those rocks to your right, as fast as you can. Understand?”

“Yes,” she breathed.

The only way he was going to win this thing was if he let his instincts take over. Which wasn’t going to be difficult. The Bengal had nothing to protect. He did.

No fear.

“One, two, three.”

As his mate took off for the rocks, Diesel phased and put himself between her and the other male. The tiger leapt forward and Diesel pushed himself off his back legs, meeting the other cat mid-air and knocking him off balance for an instant. He’d given Doc the time she’d needed.

Helen crouched between the jagged rocks, watching the two animals go at each other. They moved so fast, she could barely keep track of who was who. They wrestled one another to the ground, Diesel ending up on the bottom. Their roars were deafening. She could hardly swallow as she watched him try to change his position. When he suddenly let the other cat move over him entirely, she stopped breathing altogether. The other Bengal gave a sudden roar and leapt off of him, limping into the brush. Diesel stayed down. She was afraid he was hurt and she wanted to run to him, but she had no idea where the other tiger was.

All at once, Diesel phased back, stood up, and brushed off.

She started to stand, but he put up his hand. He gleamed to her and a moment later they were standing together in their room at the compound.

She looked up into his face. He had three gashes down his neck and shoulder. “Oh, my God. Are you okay?”

“I’m okay. I think I twisted the hell out of my ankle though.”

She went straight into doctor mode. “Sit.”

Her mate sat on the edge of the bed while she slid off his boot and checked to make sure the bone was sound.

“Ow!”

“Ow? Really? You just fought off a tiger, sport.”

“Well, he didn’t fuck around with my ankle afterward.”

She sighed. “You’ve got a good sprain. Let me get my bag and I’ll clean up those cuts.”

Shit.
She was pissed. Her force fields were up and she was asking Scotty for more power. She turned to stand up and he caught her arm. “Hey.”

She turned back around and gave him exactly zero eye contact.

He gently stroked the inside of her wrist with his thumb and moved his head over to catch her gaze. “I’m sorry.”

That was all it took.

She put her hands to her face and burst into tears.

He pulled her in between his legs, put his cheek to her belly, and wrapped his arms around her. He had no idea how long they stayed that way. When she seemed like she was calming down some, he put his chin against her stomach and looked up at her.

She ran her hands through his hair and sniffled. “I could kill you, you know that?”

“I think you’ll have to get in line for that one.”

She smiled. “Don’t make me laugh. I wanna stay mad at you.”

“I’m sorry,” he whispered.

She kneeled down in front of him and pulled him to her. As they held each other, tears came to his eyes when it hit him that he’d almost gotten her killed. Again. He was the one who was supposed to be dead. He was the one living on stolen time. He never should have made it out of that Humvee. Why was everyone around him paying the price?

Evy went into the technology room at the youth center and closed the door behind her. She could just as easily have done this at home, but the internet connection and computers at the lab were a lot faster. She sighed. That wasn’t it. Now that she had decided to do some digging on Troy Thomsen, she didn’t want to wait until ten o’clock that night when she got home from the center.

God. She couldn’t believe she was about to do this.
Oh, please, Evy.
Who the hell was going to know? So she did a search on Troy Thomsen. Big friggin’ deal. People googled shit on other people all the time, right?

She brought up the search engine and typed in his name, along with Southie and the name of their high school.

Nothing.

That was odd.

She deleted their high school and added a few different search terms. Again nothing.
Okay.
She was going to have to get serious. She looked up Boston’s Department of Children and Families. She had no idea where that was going to get her. It wasn’t as though she could access his direct file. And anyway, he was a legal adult. DCF wouldn’t have his current address.

The door suddenly opened and her friend Liz came strolling in. “You’re here early. Was your class canceled?”

“No, I cut out.”

“That’s weird for you. Me, not so much. Must be something important.” She leaned over Evy’s shoulder. “Troy Thomsen, huh? Well, he’s certainly more important than getting your degree.”

Evy flushed. “I came in to start an assignment, nosey.”

“And that’s how you ended up on the DCF website?”

“Okay, fine. I was just wondering what he was up to now. I couldn’t seem to find anything on our school site, so…”

“Look, Evy, you don’t have to defend anything to me.” Liz froze. “Wait, did you say he wasn’t on the high school site?”

“Nope. It’s like he was never even there.”

“Okaaay.”

“What?”

“It’s just that I chair that alumnae committee. We have just about everyone current.”

Evy laughed. “If you’re in charge, I believe you.”

“I just like to be thorough when I do things.”

Ya think?
“Uh-huh.”

“Anyway, more importantly, I know we have his information. I’ve seen it. Scoot over.”

An hour later they had scoured the alumnae site, the DMV, and criminal records. Wow. Liz knew how to do a lot of shit. Nothing. It was like the guy had never been born.

“Okay, this has officially piqued my interest,” Liz said. “For all intents and purposes, the guy you saw walking by you a few weeks ago doesn’t exist according to the Internet. We can’t even get an address for him, even though he’s obviously alive and breathing.”

Evy shook her head. “This just keeps getting weirder and weirder.”

“You can say that again. But, have no fear, Liz is here. I’ll figure it out.”

“You’re a goof.”

Diesel lined up the seven ball to the side pocket, then changed his mind. “I think maybe we should throw some more into this bet, SE.”

“Ah, in case you haven’t noticed, my brother, our females are kicking our asses right now.”

“No worries, bro. I’m holding back my awesomeness for later in the game.”

Ana rolled her eyes. “Are you going to take the shot today or are we gonna need to go for food and water?”

X laughed and turned up the music.

Diesel almost went through the ceiling. “Jesus, X! Don’t do that when I’m concentrating!”

“Easy there, Tiger. My bad.”

Diesel looked across the table at his female who was looking at him with a worried expression. He went back to focusing on the game, sinking the seven ball by hitting the nine. “Bonus.”

Troy walked in and grabbed a beer from the fridge. “Whassup, fellas? Gettin’ your arses kicked by your females again I see.”

Helen took a sip of beer, hopped down off the stool, and started to chalk her cue. “Do you want to end the game right now, Ana, or should we wait a bit and see if we can catch a glimpse of this elusive
awesomeness
?”

He gave her an air kiss.

Troy shook his head. “She’s out for blood, bro.”

X grinned. “Nope. Far worse. Losers cook dinner tomorrow night.”

Troy shook his head. “Fan-friggin-tastic. Who’s the genius who came up with that one?”

SE gave a nod in Diesel’s direction.

“Natch.”

Diesel casually leaned on the bar and gave him the finger.

Ana grinned. “I think we’ve let them suffer enough, don’t you Helen?”

She smiled. “You know, you’re right. It’s pretty cruel considering they still have to cook for us.”

Diesel watched his mate sink her last two balls and the eight ball all in one shot.

“Bouya!” X yelled.

Diesel pulled her to him and kissed her forehead. “Well played, gorgeous.”

“Thanks, my male.”

Ana put her cue away. “Shit. I’m supposed to take the baby for Adriana. I’m out.”

Helen followed her out the door. “I’ll walk you up.”

X grinned at Diesel. “So, what are you making tomorrow night, Ramsey?”

Troy snickered. “Hope they like hamburger helper.”

An hour later, Diesel met Pax in the compound hallway. “What’s on the docket for tonight?”

“There’s an abandoned storefront in Mattapan. Reyn wants us to check it out. He thinks it’s a possible den.”

“Let’s head there first then. Maybe we’ll have some time to gank a few couples afterward.”

They materialized one after the other two buildings away from the one in question.

Diesel took out his pistol. “Huh. Pretty small for a den.”

“It does look quiet.”

“I’ll buzz in and check out the sitch.”

“Be careful, Dies. This doesn’t feel right.”

“I always am.”

“If you’re not back in five, I’m coming in.”

Diesel gleamed into what seemed like the smallest room.
Kitchen.
So they were dealing with some now defunct diner. And from what he could tell, there was no one—scratch that!

An arm came around him from behind and he flipped the cocksucker to the ground in front of him. He took the shifter by the throat to keep him quiet. Hang on.
What the fuck?
He couldn’t sense any other shifters nearby except Pax.

“Why are you here alone?”

The Toltec soldier stared at him wide-eyed.

He squeezed his neck harder. “I asked you a question. Where’s the wife, asshole?”

The explosion from behind him knocked him clear over the counter and onto his side. He sat up and stared at the fire coming from the stove. He was vaguely aware of the enemy as he got to his feet, ran for a side door, and escaped.

When Pax materialized inside the storefront, what he saw put his blood on ice. His best friend was standing in front of what looked like a gas fire. He was waving his coat at it wildly and screaming.

“Will! Will!”

Holy. Shit.
“Diesel!”

He crossed the room in seconds, leapt over the counter, and grabbed the brother by his shirt. “Diesel! It’s gonna blow! We have to leave!”

Diesel turned and looked at him. He was panting, his eyes wild. “We have to get them out!”

“We gotta go, man!”

“Will’s still in there! I won’t leave him!”

Fuck!
Pax did the only thing he could think of. He grabbed onto the male as tight as he could and gleamed out just as the explosion hit. As they materialized in the foyer, Diesel threw him off. He had stopped shouting Will’s name and was now yelling at him directly.

“How could you just leave him there! How could you leave him to die!”

“There was no one in there, man!”

Shifters were coming from all over the house wondering what all the commotion was about.

Helen came running to the top of the main staircase. “Ana! My bag! It’s on my nightstand!” She flew down the stairs, reaching the bottom just as Ana materialized there. Pax watched as the doc pulled a syringe out of her bag and started to fill it from a bottle.

He looked up just in time to see Diesel running straight for him. Never, in all the time he’d known him, had he seen that look on his face. His eyes blazed. The brother’s very scent gave off a murderous rage.

“X! Grab him!” He heard Ana yell.

Diesel’s hands came up and Pax instinctively knew that they were going for his throat. Thank fuck X got to the male first. His fist slammed into the side of his jaw, throwing him off balance. As he hit the floor, Helen stabbed him in the ass with the syringe.

She looked up. “Will you guys help me get him downstairs?”

“You want him in the ward?” Troy asked.

“No. Our room’s fine. He’ll be out for a while. I’ll be down in a minute. Would you stay with him ‘til I get there?”

X nodded. “Yeah, no problem.”

As the two brothers gleamed out with Diesel, Pax suddenly realized he was shaking.

“Oh, Pax.”

He felt Helen’s arms wrap around his middle and he sank into her small shoulder.

“It’s okay. He had a flashback. You didn’t do anything wrong.”

“He was just standing there, trying to beat out the fire with his coat, and screaming for Will over and over.”

She looked up and rubbed his arm. “I’m so sorry. It must’ve been the fire that triggered it. He’s not angry with you, Pax. He probably wasn’t even sure who you were.”

“It sure as hell felt like it.”

“I know, hon. I know.”

Diesel groaned, rolled over on his side, and opened his eyes. His mate was sitting next to him looking through some files. Wait, it was daylight?

“Hey. You’re awake. How do you feel?”

With way too much effort, he sat up and leaned against the headboard. “Don’t ask. What the hell happened?”

“You were out on duty with Pax last night and you had a flashback.”

He groaned. “Fuck. Is he okay?”

“He was pretty shaken up, but he’ll be fine. Has anything like this ever happened before?”

“No, never.”

“I’m surprised. You deal with a lot of triggers when you’re on duty. Pax said there was a fire last night?”

He shook his head. “I can’t remember.” He cracked his neck. “Man, what did you hit me with?”

“A ton of sedative.”

“That explains why my limbs weigh a hundred pounds each.” He rubbed his face. “Who nailed my jaw?”

“X.”

No wonder it was creaky.

She kissed his cheek. “I’ll make some coffee. It’ll help. Reyn and Richard wanted to see you when you came around.”

“Hey, Doc?”

She turned in the doorway.

“Who knows about it?”

“Ah, Pax, X, Troy, and Ana.”

He looked down at his lap. “They’re gonna put my ass on leave for this.”

“Maybe not. It’s never happened before. I’ll be right back.”

Diesel sat with his elbows on his knees and tried to wrap his head around the sitch. Fighting meant the world to him, but how could he justify being out there if he was a danger to his own brothers? That shit was just wrong. Ah, hell. They’d probably pull him anyway. He picked up the phone and in as few words as possible, he let Reyn know he was conscious.

A couple of minutes later, his female was back with two mugs of Dark Magic Extra Bold.

“So, does this mean that the PTSD is getting worse?”

“Not necessarily. It doesn’t really work that way. The medication I put you on to help you sleep is working well. You’ve been thrashing less in your sleep. I’m adding an antidepressant tomorrow to help with the jumpiness and anxiety. There’s also a med that could help with flashbacks. But the most important thing right now is therapy.”

“No way. Look what happened to you when Adriana saw you as an outside doctor.”

She leaned over and ran a hand through his hair. “I know. I happen to be mated to the most amazing male.”

That’s me. Mr. Amazing.
“Seriously, Doc. Even if they agree to it, which I doubt, I can’t risk another civilian’s life. There’s just no way.”

She sighed. “Okay, well, we’ll just have to hope the meds do enough on their own.”

An hour later, Diesel went up to the mansion and walked to the study door where Pax was already waiting. He leaned against the wall. “Hey, bro.”

“Hey.”

“Guess I probably scared the shit out of you last night.”

“Wasn’t your fault.”

“Yeah, well, it still sucks and I’m still sorry.”

He couldn’t have been sorrier. What if there had been more than one Toltec shifter there when it happened? What if the whole place had been loaded with goddamn Frankenshifters? Christ. He was starting to feel like he was somehow toxic. Maybe pulling him out of the field was for the best.

Pax looked down at his watch. “I guess we better get in there. Won’t look good if we show up late.” He turned and looked at him with those big, brown eyes. “You know, Dies, I could always—”

“Don’t even think about it. I won’t have you lying for me, Pax. Just tell them what happened exactly as you remember it, okay? Will you do that for me?”

Pax nodded and went in. Diesel followed and closed the door behind them.