“Those guys friends of yours?” Roane asked Robbie, looking at Hawkins and the other rogues with him.
“You could say that.”
Roane wiped the sweat from his forehead, and Hale noticed the healing wounds on his forearms. “Come on, then.” Over his shoulder, he said, “Derrick, bring Sabrina down here to see to Hale. Zack, make sure every one of these fuckers is dead.” Zack passed Hale, carrying one of Doc's special guns. The ammunition had been doctored to counteract Circ healing. A bullet to the brain would kill anyone living.
“Zack, Kelly's safe in the lab with Ace,” Hale heard Paige say.
“Thanks.” Zack started shooting at the ground, one bullet per body. He stopped and reloaded just as Hale left the hallway.
Paige quickly wormed her way under Hale's arm as everyone congregated in the family room and kitchen, where Sabrina stood in a ragged shirt. Her black hair was messed, and a scratch was healing on her cheek. At Hale's raised brow, she shrugged.
“A bunch of rogue Circs took me by surprise upstairs. But Derrick killed most of them.”
“Except for the ones Sabrina tagged. A few got away,” Derrick admitted.
“Damn.” Hawkins leaned against the kitchen counter. “They'll get word back to Dunn about us sooner than I'd hoped.” He looked over his shoulder at the other rogues with him. “Fallon, Tersch, take care of our problem, hmm? And tell Hayashi to bring his ass back here when you see him. He's not answering his cell.”
The rogues nodded and left on silent feet.
“They're solid.”
“Great. Now, who the fuck are you?” Roane snarled. “And why is our house littered with rogue Circs and mutants? What happened to our alarm system? Where the hell is Doc?”
“Shit,” Robbie muttered. In a louder voice, he said to Roane, “This is Hawkins.
He's one of the Circs they tapped at Pearson Labs. A Navy SEAL, right?”
“Yeah.” Hawkins looked uncomfortable around the females. “McKinley, please tell me Doc made some headway with our problem. Torrence looks fine.” He nodded to her.
She blinked up in surprise. “Julian?”
“Julian?” Derrick echoed, less than pleased. “You know this squid?”
“Hell. What were you? Not Air Force. Army? No.” Hawkins sneered. “A jarhead, right? Figures. Marines. All muscle, no brains.” Derrick made a move to go at him, but Roane held him back. “Cut the shit.
Hawkins, I want answers. Now.”
Hale had to admit, Roane was impressive in a rage. He tried to move to his friend's side when his knees buckled, and he slipped out of Paige's arms to the floor.
Paige knelt by his side, worried. “Hale?”
Sabrina motioned to Derrick. “A little help here. Get me a towel and come here.” Derrick did as ordered, no questions asked.
“Sorry.” Hale didn't understand why he felt so weak. “Not sure what happened to my legs.”
“Stanch the bleeding,” Sabrina ordered her mate, as mean as ever. “Dammit, Derrick. Hold the towel here.” She shoved Derrick's hands over his side, and Hale couldn't help squirming to avoid the intense pain.
“That really fucking hurts.”
“Shit. Hold on, Weston,” Hawkins said to Roane. Hale heard him talking but couldn't see him from his position on the floor. “I called, and this time Hayashi picked up. He's going to bring some antivenom with him. He's at the labs right now.” Hawkins paused. “There's some serious shit going down. A special task force just breached security.”
“Dammit.” Robbie crouched down beside him, staring hard into Hale's eyes.
“Mike told me he wouldn't move until I could be there.”
“He probably knows you'll try to rip out Kohl's guts. Can't have one of his men up on charges of murder,” Hawkins offered.
“Who said anything about murder?” Robbie said through extended fangs. “I'm talking extermination. Plain and simple.”
Hawkins chuckled. “Nothing simple about you.” Caitlyn appeared in the dining area, and Hawkins stared at her a minute too long. When Roane growled, he cleared his throat and looked away. “About that headway…?”
Robbie answered, “Sabrina, do you know if Doc's gotten any closer to settling the rogue Circs using my blood? Some of the guys manage to last up to a year without going off the deep end. But with all the experimenting Pearson Labs has been doing lately, it's hard to know where the guys stand. Packard's blood helped you a good bit.
Maybe it would help Hawkins and his men?”
Hale watched Sabrina and Robbie interact as if watching a movie. Everything seemed dreamy, scripted, and disconnected from him.
“I don't know. Doc speculated that Derrick helped me because we were mated.
The nature of a Circ is to keep in tune with his or her own survival. By healing me, Derrick ensured the possibility of a future generation of his DNA. I don't know if the procedure will work for you, Julian. I'm sorry.”
“Doc will know,” Roane said firmly. “As soon as he gets back, he'll know exactly what to do. And if he doesn't have the answers now, he'll work until he gets them.”
“Actually, he's a lot closer than you might think,” Kelly volunteered as she ambled into the kitchen ahead of Ace.
“Ma'am.” Hawkins nodded respectfully but took a step back when Ace threatened him with bodily harm. Zack entered behind them, equally as wary.
“Ace, relax. My beast doesn't sense a threat. And I'm very sensitive to anything that might harm the baby.”
Zack rumbled something.
“Julian Hawkins. Nice to meet you,” Hawkins said. “So about this progress?” Kelly responded. “I think Robbie is the key to a lot of the problems the labs initially had with the Circe serum. I overheard Doc talking to someone on the phone, and I was curious, so I asked him.”
“Robbie?”
“McKinley,” Hale rasped. “My mate.”
“No shit. Found someone who would have you, eh? What about the female?” Hawkins asked Robbie, glancing at Paige.
“She's ours too,” Hale answered for him. “Disobedient female who needs a good spanking…” His voice faded as the room went dark.
He heard her calling his name. He smiled, but he didn't open his eyes. He needed the rest. Once he gathered his strength again, he'd teach her not to worry her mates. In just…a little…while…
Evan struggled against the ties binding his wrists. The rank office they'd thrust him into was filled with gore. Several mutants had apparently revolted, because scientists, rogue Circs, and the PPA were running all over the place trying to sort out the madness. Simon Dunn had definitely been playing with things best left alone. He had greasy hair and splotchy skin. A foul odor wafted from Simon's body with his every movement. The rogues he'd used to infiltrate the compound and capture Evan obeyed him, but Evan could tell it was only a matter of time before they completely turned.
At home when learning as much as he could about McKinley, Evan had been startled to find several properties in the Circ's blood that he'd also found in the men of Circe's Recruits. Comparing McKinley's samples with Caitlyn's, he'd discovered a potential method to creating an antigen to combat the viral strains of EP12 that he suspected caused the mental breakdown in Circs. He would have been more active in his discovery were it not for Paige. He wanted her to stay with them, so he'd been using most of his free time to show his niece he wasn't an ogre. He wanted her to trust him, to feel safe. Except she apparently wasn't safe, because he sat bound and gagged in Pearson Labs. He prayed Dunn only wanted him, and that he'd left the rest of those at the compound alone.