Dawn Endeavor 3: Julian's Jeopardy (7 page)

The resulting scream of pain and rage it made into his ear broke his eardrum, but already numb to the pain, he barely felt a pop before the darkness started to settle once more. He felt its bite and its tongue as it sucked the life from him.

But Jules couldn't think of anything beyond ending its life. If the thing made it past him, Sheridan would be next, and he couldn't let that happen. So much life, so much pure goodness in her aura. She had to live. His beast demanded it.

With a strength he hadn't known he possessed, he pulled back his hands and pushed up hard, digging into the monster's chest cavity.

“Holy shit! Do it, Grayson. While Hawkins has its attention, take its head. I'll get its legs.”

He didn't recognize the voice. But he did realize that the mutant's voracious sucking at his neck slowly subsided. At that point, he completely lost his vision.

Scent, touch, and hearing started to fade as well.

He dreamed of his team laughing and smiling. Mrs. Sharpe disappeared, then reappeared, standing arm in arm with his old boss, Admiral Geoffrey London, a good man, a good friend. The sky lit up like a supernova, so pure and bright.

Welcoming.

His beast protested, and Jules frowned. They needed to go. But they… He couldn't leave. Not yet. Not without her.

“No! Jules.
Jules
. Come back to me. Please.” A woman's voice. Warmth. The fire of pain as his tissue joined and his bones knit.

The numbness faded. Pain, so sweltering and all consuming that he seized in an indescribable spasm of the worst torture imaginable, became his entire center.

His heart stuttered, his breath came in short bursts, and slowly, so slowly, the shaking pain became an aching throb, which gradually eased into an uncomfortable buzzing in his ears, and a weightless kind of tranquility. Not like the numbness, but a good, pure calm.

He blinked up into the vision of an angel surrounded by white. So bright, it hurt to look at, her silhouette was one of grace and peace.

“It's okay. You're good now, Jules. You'll be all right.” Her voice was hoarse but sweet, and she stroked his face with hands from heaven. Jules sighed, basking in the delight of the afterlife.

The warm peace he felt reminded him of something, his experienced pain and resultant pleasure kindling a fantasy of the perfect woman in his arms. He struggled to understand the voices above him, and his beast growled at the deep male tones too close to Jules's angel. But then peace reclaimed him, and he let himself float in the drift of calm nothingness.

Jules didn't stir when Raul lifted him in his arms.

“Heavy fucker,” Raul muttered and shifted the bulk of Jules's large body between him and Grayson. “Can't believe he wasted a mutant when he was nearly dying. Damn.”

“Go easy, please.” Sheridan wiped tears from her eyes and would have fallen if Grayson, the other Circ nearest her, hadn't steadied her.

When the two large rogues in front of her had turned and killed the other rogues trying to drag her away earlier, she hadn't known what to think. She'd wanted nothing but to escape them all to help Jules.

It was only when Grayson left her to help Jules, and Raul caved in to her demand to help Jules as well, that she realized these rogue Circs weren't the enemy. In an odd twist, Raul was in fact the same guard who'd entered her room earlier with Elena. The one who'd told her to comply because he didn't want to have to hurt her.

She didn't understand what they were really after or why they were helping her. But right now, the only thing that mattered was saving Jules. God, she'd wanted to die when Jules had begun to fade. It made no sense, but literally feeling his life force depart from his body had stolen her will to do anything but help him or die trying.

“He'll be okay now,” Grayson murmured. Like Raul, he'd transformed back into the form of a man. She still couldn't totally believe she'd seen men transform into beasts. The scientist within her saw the possibilities, but the woman had a hard time believing she wasn't going crazy. For now she'd accept it, because she didn't have the time or energy to do anything else.

Fortunately, both men wore loose-fitting trousers that had withstood their earlier shift into those beastlike creatures. The pair of Circs stared at her, and she tried to look steadier on her feet than she felt. Healing Jules had taken everything within her. But it was worth it.

She smiled as she stared at Jules draped between Grayson and Raul. He was okay. Finally. He'd need rest, but he'd recuperate.
Thank God.

Grayson cleared his throat. “Ah, you might want to put some clothes on.” She blinked, not understanding him, and would have fallen if he hadn't let go of Jules and caught her.

“Shit. Call that number, Raul. You heard what she said earlier.” She tried to make sense of his words, but she couldn't stop squirming. He felt nice, but he didn't smell right. No vanilla, no Jules. She faded, seeing nothing but darkness. And then she blinked and saw Grayson again. What had he said? “
Call
that number
…”

“You're gonna call?” She said the phone number again, remembering it easily in Jules's deep voice. “He needs help. You promised.” The vague assurance that she'd made a deal with these rogues in return for something lingered at the back of her mind.

“Sheridan? Hey, Sheridan,” Raul said louder. “We have a deal or not?” Raul slanted a dark look at Jules now over his shoulder. “I'll take him, but you have to heal us.”

She didn't have much of a choice now, did she? The need to protect Jules wouldn't leave her. “Right. The deal.” She shook her head, trying to push through the fatigue weighing her down. To her surprise, Grayson began to rumble against her side in a vibrating purr. She glanced up at him and saw his hazel eyes narrowed on her chest.

“Sorry.” He caught her look and grinned, and she saw a very handsome man under the threat of the Circ. “We'd best get you dressed.” He cleared his throat. “So it's a deal, right, Sheridan?”

She nodded.

He turned to Raul. “Take him.”

“I don't need you telling me what the fuck to do,” Raul growled.

“Wait.” She struggled in Grayson's arms before he set her gently down. Not sure why she cared so much, she looked around for the backpack they'd brought along. She found it near some trees and stumbled to it. Sheridan wished she had the energy to dress, but right now, she couldn't make herself care. She focused on her task at hand. The ring she sought lay in the front pocket of the pack, and she pulled it out and off the chain on which it sat.

By rights, she barely knew more than Jules's name or the way he felt inside her body. But she'd felt his energy. She's watched him protect her at great cost to himself. He could conceivably be worse than Ricardo, though she couldn't bring herself to believe it.
Just because he can heal himself doesn’t mean he can’t have a
secret agenda. After all, he knows Ricardo in some way. A drug deal gone bad? A cop
who got too close?

Though her conscience protested she have a care in her dealings with Jules, her heart wouldn't listen. Her mother had told her that the time would come when she'd know to pass on the ring. And God help her, but Sheridan just
knew.

The ring needed to go to Jules.

“Sheridan, he's getting heavy,” Raul muttered.

“Just let me do one thing.” She slowly walked over to Raul, ignoring the way he studied her body with a hunger that made her more than uncomfortable. She moved behind him to grab Jules's hand dangling down Raul's back. As she slipped the ring on his ring finger, she wasn't surprised when it fit as if made for him.

Some way, somehow, if she didn't end up dying in this jungle, she'd find him again. He'd touched her heart without meaning to. An enemy of her enemy—

Ricardo Montaña.

“Be careful, Jules. I'll see you soon,” she whispered and kissed his cheek. He didn't move, just lay slumped over Raul's shoulder.

Raul growled. “I'll make the call and dump him somewhere safe.” The look he gave her warned her to move back.

She bumped into Grayson and froze. Like Raul, Grayson had a worn, mean demeanor. She could feel his wounds as if her own. Her palms itched, and she curled her fingers, holding back. She sensed his tension, as well as something else.

Behind her, his erection pressed into her back. Against these men, she was helpless, and they all knew it.

The spark of cruelty in Raul's gaze darkened. He licked his lips, and she saw the hint of a sharp fang. “Grayson will take you someplace safe. I'll be back as soon as I can. You don't move until I get there.”

She nodded, not happy, but she'd already agreed. “I have your word you won't just ditch Jules somewhere and leave him for dead?” Raul stared down at her. But before he could answer, Grayson answered for him. “He'll do what he said. Or he'll answer to me.” The menace in his voice made her shiver.

“Fuck you.” But whatever Raul saw in Grayson's face convinced him to end the argument. He turned and disappeared into the jungle after one more leering stare at Sheridan.

Grayson turned her in his arms and sighed. “We'll get along without a problem, right, Doc?”

“Sure, Grayson. But I'm not a doctor.” She felt safer with him than Raul, actually. But she didn't think it best to admit it. “I need my c-clothes.” Sheridan trembled again, despite the heat. Fatigue weighed heavily on her shoulders.

“Yeah, you sure as shit need some clothes.” He groaned. “Come on, Doc.” Grayson took a few steps from her and dug into a large rucksack she hadn't noticed before. He took some clothes out of it, then moved to her pack and dumped the contents of it into his rucksack. He hooked the straps over his shoulder, seemingly ready to go.

He handed her the clothes, then surprised her by turning his back. She stepped into the T-shirt and shorts with gratitude.

After a few moments, he faced her once more and held out a hand. “I'll carry you. You probably weigh little more than the pack.” She flushed.
I wish
. “It's okay. I can walk.” Grayson narrowed his gaze. “No, you can't. You're weak from whatever the hell you did to Hawkins, and you're barefoot besides. Look, I'm not going to hurt you.

You heal Raul from Silva's whacked-out experiments and fix this chronic stitch in my side, and I won't let a damn thing happen to you.” He paused, studying her with bright hazel eyes. “You never worked for Montaña, did you?”

“No.” She rubbed her throat, where Ricardo had mauled her earlier. When Jules had made love to her, he'd overtaken her memories of what Ricardo had almost done. But now, in the presence of another strange male, Sheridan couldn't help reliving the horror of the event. Her eyes welled with tears.

“Shit. Okay, Doc, here we go.” His voice gentled as he scooped her into his arms and held her against his chest.

But he didn't smell like vanilla, and she couldn't help missing her Circ.
Jules
Hawkins
. The man who'd taken more than her precious ring when he'd gone. He'd taken her trust, her respect, and, she feared, her heart as well.

* * *

“
Holy shit
. It's him. I thought it was going to be just another wild-goose chase.”

“Easy. Don't move him yet.”

“I'm not. But he seems okay. Just out of it.”

Jules moaned at the loss of warmth that had cocooned him from the world. But instead of basking in peace, he blinked up into the faces of two of his teammates—

Kisho Hayashi and Morgan Reynolds.

The normally stoic Asian smiled with relief when he met Jules's gaze. “Damn, Jules. Where the hell have you been?”

Hayashi's mate, Morgan, breathed out a sigh of relief. “Thank God. Now you can deal with Tersch. He's been driving everyone crazy while you've been gone.” Morgan's green eyes flashed with humor as he studied Jules. “And I have to say, for a man we imagined tortured for weeks, you look pretty damned good.”

Jules groaned as he stretched. “Where am I?”

“In a hotel in Trindade, off the coast of Brazil. I smell the scent of a rogue Circ in the air, but nothing more,” Hayashi answered. “What the hell happened to you, Jules? Where were you?”

“Trindade?” Everything felt fuzzy, wrong somehow. Rogue Circ? What about the angel in white? “The woman. Where's the woman?” Morgan and Hayashi exchanged a glance before Morgan answered, “There's no woman, Jules. The manager saw a big dude drop you off yesterday. The man paid well to make sure no one fucked with the room. Other than that, no one's been here.”

His beast snarled at him to wake up and find her. “I need to find her.”

“Easy, Jules.” Hayashi helped him stand.

To Jules's bewilderment, he wore cotton pants that fit, as well as a white T-shirt. But no shoes. On his ring finger sat an unfamiliar ring. It looked old and expensive. And it wasn't his.

“You feel okay, hoss? How many fingers?” Morgan held up three fingers.

“Three, and don't call me hoss.”

“Yeah, he's back.” Morgan turned away to make a few phone calls on his cell.

Hayashi waved Jules to a change of clothes. “I brought your stuff, and we have a plane on standby.”

Jules studied his friend. “You
saw
this” Hayashi nodded. “I had a vision of the three of us in this very room, then on a plane back home. Nothing else. I had no idea when you'd arrive. As soon as I had the vision, I left with Morgan. We've been here for almost three weeks, scouring the nearby towns along the coast and inland. No one's seen anything of you, Jules. Then yesterday, the emergency number gets a call. Some guy says to come here to this seedy hotel. And
bingo
, here you are.”

“No woman?” Where was she?
Who
was she? Was she even real? A mysterious beauty who'd healed him while in… Where the hell had he been? An image of Montaña rose to mind, but was it because he needed to find the man or because Jules had been held in the enemy's stronghold? More questions than answers, and his head began to pound.

It would make sense if Montaña had been behind his kidnapping. But that some nymphet, who just happened to screw his brains out, had helped Jules escape?

Yeah, right. A fantasy if he'd ever had one.