Circe's Recruits: Gideon: A Multiple Partner Shifter Book Read online

  “What’s wrong with Elijah?” Roane asked.

  “I don’t know, but Lang’s team knew he was dangerous.”

  Doc smiled. “That’s what Alex told us. Thank you, Gideon.”

  “Whatever.” He stared at McKinley standing in front of the females. Gideon took a sniff. They smelled Circ, but he had little interest in them or the guys behind him. McKinley though, he’d be a nice addition to Gideon’s pack.

  Gideon shook off the thought, bemused by what it might mean. “So you need my blood?”

  “Yes. But only if you donate willingly.”

  Gideon turned around. “Okay. I’m in. But I want you telling me everything you find, okay? No holding back. No secrets.” He stared into Doc’s eyes, saw the older man swallow, his pulse race. A bit of fear there. Good.

  Then Roane was there, blocking Doc and returning Gideon’s stare. The ass didn’t look away. Gideon didn’t like that. Not his pack, alpha of a rival group. A threat.

  “Back down, boy.” McKinley said from behind him. “Or I’ll scramble you like I did last time.”

  “Fuck off.” Gideon kept this back to the big man as an insult. “Doc and I have things to do. Take your women and blow.” That said, he walked back into the lab and settled into the surprisingly comfortable hospital bed.

  Doc returned with Roane and Hale by his side. “You’re good with this?” the man asked again.

  Gideon nodded. “Explain this mating heat again though, cause I don’t get it.”

  Roane and Hale exchanged a glance.

  Gideon glanced at the leader. “Roane, you explain. You live with it, right? So what’s the deal?”

  Roane shrugged, and Gideon could sense his unease. A vulnerability. Bingo.

  “Doc’s right. It started a few years after we changed into our alternate forms. You saw us. We’re more than human when we toughen up. But with that power, we have certain needs. A Circ needs a Circ. Like, sexually.”

  Hale continued. “When we first changed, there weren’t other females. We had to form bonds, to be a pack, to be tight.”

  What he left unsaid… “So you guys got busy with each other? Is that what you aren’t saying?” Gideon stared in surprise. Because no way he’d peg these macho, tough dudes as being loose with their sexuality. Growing up tough in the city, he’d never much cared one way or the other. A guy did what he had to to survive. If that meant blowing a John, so be it.

  He’d been fortunate not to have to perform sexually to eat. Rod hadn’t been so lucky. But Gideon hadn’t loved him any less for it. Brothers stuck together, no matter what. Blood, sex, none of it mattered.

  And now it didn’t matter anymore either, because Rod had paid the ultimate price.

  Roane studied him. “That’s right. It wasn’t easy. Not all of us on the team were okay with it. But we couldn’t contain ourselves when the hunger hit. You’re Circ, you’re strong. You need to fuck. It’s not a want; it’s a necessity.”

  Chapter Five

  Hale agreed. “You’ll do anything to get it. The rougher the better. And Circs can go what seems like forever. Fucking at all hours, until the heat wears off.”

  “Yeah. And you’re different.” Roane looked pretty red now. “You’re all lubricated. Your dick, I mean. We’re made to fuck when the heat hits. And male or female, your partner doesn’t need to worry about receiving, not when you’re slick and able.”

  So that was what Palmer had meant about Gideon being wet. Well, damn. He didn’t know how he felt about that, especially because he suddenly wanted to see Palmer and the others again. He glanced at Roane. “The other guys are Circ. So they’re going to get this mating heat too?”

  “Yeah.” Roane plucked at his shirt, telltale nerves from the big man who didn’t seem bothered about much else. “The thing is, when we were under the mating heat, we changed form. You and the others seem to be in a static form already. You change, but subtly.”

  Doc took some blood, and the needle didn’t hurt when it slid into Gideon’s veins. The guy knew what he was doing. “It’s fascinating. I take it Edwin Lang fiddled with the formula enough to make you blend in. But he hadn’t figured how to deal with your eyes. Your pupils remain elongated.”

  “Elongated?” Gideon asked.

  “Like a cat’s eye. It’s thin, slit, and your irises are brighter than normal. Alex hid his behind contacts, so I suppose to go incognito, you could always do as he did and mask them.”

  Smart guy. “But my teeth and claws come and go when I get mad. Or if I focus hard and call them out.”

  “Can you make that happen right now?” Doc asked and withdrew one vial of blood before fixing another.

  Gideon focused on his hand and claws lengthened from his nails.

  Doc watched. “May I?” He held out a hand.

  Gideon shrugged. “Sure.” He placed his hand in Doc’s and let the man feel his claws.

  “They’re strong, fully bonded with your nail bed. Nothing growing over, but rather through your fingers. Amazing.” Doc removed a second full vial of blood and the needle. “You can retract the claws if you like.”

  Gideon did, feeling a little foolish with everyone staring at him. “It’s not a big deal.”

  “It is,” Roane disagreed. “You’re even better at hiding than we are. When we change, everyone can tell we’re Circ. But you can hide in plain sight.” He frowned. “Must be why there’s been so much interest in Lang’s research.”

  Doc nodded. “We’ve been looking into Dr. Lang for a few years, but not much has been said about him. When we learned he’d planned to continue Elliot’s work, naturally we were concerned. He was one of Elliot’s star pupils years ago.” Doc paused. “Do you have any idea what he planned on doing with you after his experiments?”

  “No. I kind of thought he was just pushing me to see what would kill me, to be honest. Fucker liked hurting me. Almost as much as Smith did.” He couldn’t wait to gut that bastard.

  “Elijah and Carter. You mentioned they’re dangerous. Just as Alex said. They don’t seem as forgiving as you are.” Doc put away his instruments, then came back to sit with Gideon. “Do you think you could talk them into staying with us? I’m worried about the damage they might do if they just leave.”

  Gideon had a feeling the guys would benefit from staying, at least for a short while. He liked Doc, and the beast inside him did too. He’d reserve judgment on the Circs, though he had to admit they’d been more than fair with him. So far at least.

  “I’ll talk to them, but I can’t guarantee they’ll listen.” He then asked what he’d been putting off. Not mentioning it made it seem like something from a bad dream, not real. “Hey, uh, my friends. Well, what’s left of them. Of Ollie and Rod.” He swallowed hard. “Do you think you could get their remains so I could have a funeral for them? I don’t seem to have the money right now.” Hell, he had less than nothing. “But I’ll pay you back. I swear.” He coughed. “Smith showed me what was left of Rod…in a jar in that lab.”

  Doc’s voice gentled. “The government teams are processing what they find, but I’ll make sure to tell them we’d like the remains of your friends. Rod and Ollie, you said?”

  “Manuel Rodriguez and Oliver Torelli.” Gideon’s eyes burned, but he refused to cry, burying his pain under an unspoken promise of retribution.

  “We’ll make sure you get your friends back,” Roane promised.

  And Gideon believed him. “Thanks.”

  “Leave no man behind,” Hale said quietly. “Yeah, we’ll make it happen. Had plenty of our friends go down because of that serum. We didn’t have an Edwin Lang. We dealt with Elliot Pearl.” He placed a large hand on Doc’s shoulder. “Don’t know what we would have done without you, Doc.”

  Doc’s cheeks turned pink. “I’m just sorry you all suffered needlessly. I should have done more.”

  Feeling like an intruder on a private moment, Gideon swung his legs off the table. “Can you take me to the guys now?”

  “Alex i
s awake. You can see him. Elijah and Carter are still out of it.” Roane shrugged. “For their protection. Because if we left them awake, I’d have beaten the shit out of Elijah. He never shuts up.”

  That earned a wry grin. “I noticed.”

  Roane grunted. “Come with me. I’ll give you the tour.” They walked out of the room into the hallway. McKinley and the women were nowhere to be seen. Hale joined them, the men flanking him down the hallway.

  “Warning for you,” Roane said. “We take our mates’ protection seriously. Fuck around with them, we’ll end you.”

  “What he said,” Hale agreed. “Roane’s the boss around here. Follow simple rules and you can stay as long as you need to. Step out of line, you’re done.”

  “I can respect that.” Gideon didn’t want to screw with these Circs. Not until they screwed with him first. He’d end any battle, but he wasn’t in the mood to start one. Thinking about Rod and Ollie hurt, and it made him want to check on Palmer, pronto. Same with the other two jackasses. He didn’t like them, not exactly. Hell, he didn’t know them. But they belonged to—with—him. Three guys he knew against this group he didn’t.

  Roane and Hale showed him the lab, which had several rooms, all like the one he’d left. They took the elevator up two flights, into what the guys called the second laboratory, where temporary housing and work could be done on newly found Circs. Up the stairs, a normal house sat atop the hidden lab.

  A two-story colonial boasted a large kitchen and open living space. Six bedrooms, three on the first floor and an additional three on the second floor housed guests, of which Gideon was to consider himself one. At present, he and his guys were the only ones using the house.

  “All the furniture’s big and sturdy enough for Circs,” Roane explained. “Our bone structure’s denser than a normal person’s, so we tend to weigh more. Even the females, though don’t mention that if you’re smart.” He grinned, and Gideon was surprised to see a normal person under all the hardass.

  “So you guys were military before being Circ.” Marines, Roane had said.

  “Yeah.” Hale pointed out the window to a building central to other outlying structures. They sure had a lot of land out here…wherever here was. “Being Circ was a good fit for us. Because we’re physical guys. And speaking of physical, that’s the gym. You’re going to want to use it. Being Circ means you have to exercise the shit out of your beast, or it’ll grow pissy. Trust me. Tiring the thing out helps a lot, especially when you’re new.”

  “That or fucking the fight out of it,” Roane said. “But since we’re the only other Circs here, and we’re all a team and mated, you’re on your own.” He paused. “Then again, you have your own team—Alex, Elijah, and Carter.”

  Gideon flushed.

  “It’s natural. Weird, but natural.” Roane sighed. “Took us all a while to adjust, and we had years being Circ before it hit. I get the feeling you don’t have that long. Don’t wait, whatever you do. You feel that itch, scratch it. Or it’ll turn violent. We know. We’ve been there.”

  “You seriously fucked each other? Even having women around?”

  Hale nodded. “Being Circ is like another label altogether. Not gay or straight or bi. You’re Circ. Therefore you do Circs. But it’s a pack mentality, man. We’ve met lots of Circs, but I belong with Roane and the guys. No one else. You’ll see. It’s instinctive.”

  Gideon thought about that as they walked out of the house. “Where are we, by the way?”

  “Outside Cape May, New Jersey.”

  Gideon stopped. “What?”

  “Your fight was in Philadelphia, right?” Hale asked. When Gideon nodded, he said, “Well, we found you in Portland, Oregon. That’s where U-Ground had that satellite lab.”

  “Satellite?”

  Roane answered. “It’s not the head of the snake. We cut off a tail that will just grow back. Lang and his scientist buddies escaped. We only managed to shake up their security, who of course knew jack shit about anything. But we’re tracking the money, the person who funded the lab. Once we get him, we’ll know a hell of a lot more.”

  “Good.” Gideon would start with that guy and work his way back to Lang.

  “So you and the others will be staying in the house we just left. I’m thinking Carter might need to stay isolated.” Roane glanced at him with curiosity. “Seems like you and the others are more than just Circ. You guys are all psychic too, aren’t you?”

  They walked toward the large building housing the gym.

  “Why do you ask?”

  Roane gave him a knowing look. “You fried us the way McKinley does. A mind hammer, as the big guy calls it. Carter seems to be able to talk people into doing whatever he wants. Alex can read impressions off inanimate objects. Elijah we’re not sure about. But Doc’s got a theory that you four were able to withstand the EL13 serum because you’re psychic. Something in your brain chemistry helped you bond with the formula.”

  “Huh. That’s a theory, all right.” One that could make sense. Why else would he survive and not Ollie or Rod? “So where’s Alex?”

  “Probably with McKinley and Paige.” Hale guided them to a smaller house north of the gym. “That’s the gym, like we said. You’re free to go whenever you want. The house will have everything you need. Food, supplies, clothes.”

  “I can’t pay for any of it yet. I—”

  “Uncle Sam is covering the cost, trust me.” Roane grimaced. “If they hadn’t funded the project so many years ago, or at least cleaned up their messes, you wouldn’t be here now. Edwin Lang is their problem.”

  “Why are you helping me?”

  “Because we’re the guys who clean up the messes they can’t handle,” Roane answered, all teeth. The look in his eyes put Gideon on alert. Clear threat in the man’s entire being. Then Roane relaxed. “We’ll take care of you and your guys, Gideon.” From one alpha to another.

  Gideon started at the thought that felt…right.

  “Those houses,” Hale continued, pointing out a few more residences, “are off limits. They belong to us and our mates. We’re not kidding about killing you if you go where you’re not allowed. Not there. Not in any of those homes.” Hale vibrated with tension. “It’s no joke. You go where you’re not invited, you stop breathing. Permanently.”

  Gideon nodded. “I understand. I’ll make sure the others do too.” He wondered if there were any children around. Circs would be ferocious about guarding mates. Kids too, no doubt. He didn’t ask though.

  “We’re going to my place because that’s where Alex is. Paige and McKinley—my mates—took a liking to him. Alex is a decent guy and worried about his sister.”

  “Sister?” Hale had two mates? Paige and McKinley?

  Hale sighed. “Come on.”

  They entered Hale’s home, a large ranch-style house, where Gideon caught several scents. Overwhelming vanilla and evergreen permeated the house, intertwined with a light cherry. “What’s with the Christmas smell?”

  Hale shrugged, looking embarrassed. “That’s what we smell like to other Circs. Each of us has a different scent than the others.”

  “Yeah?” Gideon looked from Hale to Roane. “What do I smell like to you?”

  Roane frowned. “I can tell you’re Circ, but it’s not a scent thing. It’s a knowing. But you project no scent. Odd.”

  “More camouflage.” Hale shook his head. “Damn, Roane. We’re being replaced with Circ 2.0.”

  Roane chuckled. “Funny. Wonder if they have a button for karate-chop action too.”

  “I know a little guy who’d love that.”

  Roane grinned. “So do I.”

  The pair said no more. And Gideon grew distracted by Palmer’s scent that wasn’t a scent. Rather, a psychic pull that yanked him toward the kitchen.

  He found Palmer sitting next to a pretty blond, across from McKinley, who watched him like a hawk.

  McKinley didn’t glance up, but he warned Gideon to behave. “Be nice to Paige and Hale. You ste
p out of line and I’ll end you.”

  “You and what army?” sat on the tip of Gideon’s tongue, but sight of Palmer distracted him. To his befuddlement, he didn’t mind the guy sitting close to Paige. McKinley bugged the hell out of him, though.

  He swallowed a growl and put himself between Palmer and McKinley. “Hey, man.”

  Palmer glanced up, his eyes red. “Gideon.”

  Was it his imagination, or did Palmer seem relieved to see him? “What’s wrong?”

  “My sister’s dead.”

  Paige put her hand over Palmer’s. “We don’t know that,” she said softly. “She might be okay, Alex.”

  “No. I feel it. In here.” He slid his hand out from under hers and covered his heart. “I always know her, here. She’s gone.”

  Palmer—Alex—looked so lost. Gideon’s beast clamored to offer solace, protection. He didn’t argue with the creature inside him. He pulled Alex to his feet. “Come on.”

  Not sure why he needed Alex alone, he took the bereaved man back to the house he’d been told was his to use. Inside, he sat Alex at the large kitchen island and found him some juice from the refrigerator. A sniff told him the apple juice was fresh, not drugged or contaminated in any way.

  “Drink. Then tell me how you know your sister is dead.”

  Alex took a sip of the juice then pushed it away. “I could always feel her. We’re psychic. Or at least, she was.” Tears fell from his eyes, and Gideon felt an odd ache inside him. A literal pain at seeing Alex’s tears.

  “Come on,” he said, his voice gruff. He led Alex to a nearby, unoccupied bedroom. “Rest. Then we’ll talk. And if she’s really dead, we’ll kill the bastards who dared touch her. Okay?”

  Alex looked hopeful, at least, for a moment. Then the sadness returned. “Yeah. Okay. I’m tired.”

  Not letting him go on his own, Gideon refused to acknowledge any weirdness in undressing the guy to his underwear and tucking him in like a kid. He studied Alex, saw him uninjured, then pulled the covers over him.

  He at least refrained from kissing the grown man on the forehead. Jesus. What is wrong with me? Yet it felt more than good to sit in the living room, protecting Alex while the Circ rested.