Chapter Fifteen
ELI WATCHED FROM a safe distance in the warehouse, crouched near the bodies of three mercenaries Yates’s crew had brought with them. Pussies. He’d taken them out with a short swipe of his claws. No muss, no fuss, immediate death. Just he way he liked it.
The sight that met his eyes made everything inside him want to shout and clap with glee. Seeing Myers turn into mutant had been karma at its absolute best. The fuckhead had done some shit to Eli while Eli’d been trapped at the U-Ground labs. All that joking about being raped and devoured by monsters, and Myers had turned into one.
If Alex didn’t do something, and soon, the dumbass was going to get himself dead. And not a great way to go. Kennedy struggled with Yates, who held her back, not allowing her to interfere. At least one good thing to come from this clusterfuck.
Because yeah, Alex was a shitty liar. Eli had known from the jump that something wasn’t right. So did Bailey. While the guys checked out Kennedy’s lead, he’d followed Alex. Just in case.
And a good thing. Boy genius had no idea how to fight something like what Myers had turned into. Not by himself. Alex was still a good guy at heart, a man who’d never had do bad things to survive. Eli had been a punk and a thug, and though not proud of what he’d done when younger, he could still eat, breathe, and move on his own. No broken bones, no severed spine, no owing anyone anything. He was his own man, plus one. The beast inside him liked pain, and it liked the thought of stepping in to save Alex.
But if he did that, he’d ruin whatever shitty plan Alex and Kennedy had concocted. He’d heard enough to know they thought they had to be there, alone. For some reason, Kennedy believed that her stunt, separating the team, could save her cousin.
Eli might have called her on her bullshit until he’d overheard her beg Alex to leave her again. That she didn’t want his buddy hurt meant a lot. And that she fully intended to do whatever she could to save her cousin endeared her to him even more. Eli was a shit and a liar, sometimes a thief. And yes, now, a killer. But he knew the value of loyalty. The real reason he stayed with Gideon and the others.
Pack came above money and gain. Pack was family, belonging. He’d never had that in his life, not counting the gang that had substituted as a weak attempt at family. He sure as fuck wouldn’t give it up now. So while he watched and prayed Alex got his crap together and dealt with Myers, he readied to interfere if he had to. Alex wouldn’t die here tonight. Not if Eli could help it.
He sent an encoded text, not surprised when Carter texted immediately back. Close by.
Eli silently snorted.Alex, you dummy. You can’t fool pack. And man, is Gideon gonna ream you a new one for trying to go off on your own. You poor bastard.He sensed Kennedy probing again and withdrew into himself, letting her thoughts slide past him as if he didn’t exist.
In the meantime, he continued to watch…filming with his cell so he could share the best bits later. It appeared Bailey wasn’t the only one needing remedial training. Alex needed a refresher course on how to handle a mutant. And Eli had a feeling Gideon would be all to happy to show him how.
******
Kennedy thought Alex might have a screw loose. Why did he have to become a stupid manly-man and think he could take on a mutant, for heaven’s sake? Evensheknew rogue Circs were bad enough. Humans with anti-Circ weaponry were bad enough. A mutant Alex had stirred into an uncontrollable rage? That was insanity.
“Shh. It’s okay, Kennedy. I have you.” Yates held her against him, her back to his belly, his forearm tucked way too tightly under her breasts. She felt his arousal against her and wanted to cringe. “I won’t let Myers get to you. Poor fucker.”
She wasn’t worried about Myers getting to her.Alex, do something or I will!
Stay back,he roared. Then he took out Myers’s other eye, effectively blinding him. Myers didn’t seem to care much, too intent on sucking or kissing, whatever one might call it, Alex’s chest. Not to mention his claws had dug into Alex’s torso, holding him still. And…could things get any worse? She noticed Myers’s movements had changed, from holding Alex still to lowering him, then grinding into him.
With that spiky cock?The one she’d unfortunately seen when Yates had bent him over her table?
Alex!
Her mate was about to get help whether he wanted it or not. Though Kennedy had never conceived of using her mental abilities as a weapon, she tried to implant a suggestion into one of the human’s minds. They weren’t as shielded as the Circs, who used their beasts to protect them. Though she thought she maybe could have invaded Yates and even Sheer if she tried hard enough, she had only so much energy.
While Alex pummeled Myers, ripping into eyes that grew back and a face that healed at the same time Alex raked him with long claws, Kennedy tried to persuade one of the mercenaries to shoot at Myers.
She concentrated on several minds, working to see what she could pry into easiest. Her mind passed over a few less individuals than she’d sensed earlier. Odd. Before she could take charge of the weakest of them, Alex leaned closer to Myers and whispered something.
Then he slid down Myers’s front and grabbed him by his genitals.Oh no. Alex, please don’t feel like you have to—
She watched in shock as Alex sliced off Myers’s dick. The black blood that sprayed was nothing next to the shriek of pain from the mutant. Alex didn’t hesitate. He continued to dig into Myers over and over, going for any and all soft spots.
Kennedy didn’t want to watch. She glanced away to see Sheer looking intrigued, and some of the humans walking closer, closing in on Alex and Myers.
Then Alex tossed Myers with a yell and a show of strength that stunned her. Myers had to weigh over three hundred pounds, easy. But Alex had tossed him like a bag of dirt.
Myers crashed into two mercenaries, who shot into him when he turned to them for food or sex, whatever he was doing with that malformed body. The bullets didn’t phase him as he started feeding. She’d swear the mutant did nothing sexual, but his groans and grunting, and the odd motion of his hips into the men, said he must be doing something carnal. How she had no idea, and she didn’t want to know.
“I’m bored.” Sheer yawned and flicked his fingers at Myers.
In seconds, Myers and the screaming men beneath him caught fire. The blaze burned, the fire reflected in Sheer’s terrifying gaze.
Alex stumbled and fell to his knees, blood loss a real threat. She could only pray he healed quickly, and that Myers hadn’t hit anything vital when he’d clawed into him.
