Marie Harte - Zack and Ace

Kelly raced with a foul-smelling man for the dark shadows in the dim warehouse. The sun outside said it was daytime, but she couldn’t remember much past Simon Dunn and Stephen Folsom…drugging her? She glanced down and saw she wore a long hospital gown.

Perfect. Calling on the beast within, Kelly tried to transform…to no avail. Harry swore at her to hurry up and run, pointing outside and away from the van. Surprisingly fast for a man his age, he disappeared around the corner of the building.

She hurried into the shadows, fairly certain she couldn’t be seen as she watched the woman speed away. S. Torrence, the name tag on her white coat had said. Well, S. Torrence had apparently rescued Kelly at great cost to herself. The woman bled profusely from her forehead, and a dark patch had spread over her shoulder, whether from glass or a bullet, Kelly didn’t know. She could only hope S. Torrence would be all right.

Still trying to conquer the shock to her system, Kelly processed what she knew. She was pregnant and in danger of being captured by the PPA.

She was pregnant.

The need to find her mates and protect her baby triggered the change in an instant.

Thank God. Kelly sniffed the air and caught several scents. Decay, refuse, oil. The tang of blood, probably belonging to that Torrence woman. And Zack…

Kelly raced in the direction of her mate’s scent. Once outside the building, she found a narrow street parallel to the one the van had escaped onto. No one was in this alley, so she ran as fast as she could toward Zack. Soon she heard the sound of a fight. To her relief, she scented Ace as well.

She stopped as she turned the corner of another building. Derrick’s red truck sat next to a dark car. Zack and Ace fought two massive Circs while Derrick engaged Simon Dunn.

All five Circs had changed. Simon didn’t stand a chance and in seconds lay in a heap, one arm broken, his face covered in blood.

“Kelly belongs to me,” one of the rogue Circs argued. “I was made specifically for her.

We share the same blood.”

“That I collected, Colins. Pearl promised her to me,” a Circ that looked like Stephen said. He was twice as thick in the chest and two heads taller than the pleasant-faced man she’d dated a few times. “It was my work that found her. Mine that gave her what she needed. She’ll carry my brood. Mine.”

Ace growled and attacked Stephen, while Zack took on the other male. Derrick spotted her and immediately ran over to her.

“You okay?” he rasped.

She nodded. “You?”

“I’ll be fine, as soon as your mates stop dicking around and end this.” He finished in a raised voice.

Everyone froze as they saw Kelly, fully changed, wearing only a hospital gown that hugged her curves.

The fighting engaged in earnest. Watching Ace and Zack battle was like watching a ballet. Choreographed, graceful moves merged with power and skill to decimate their enemies.

Surprised not to see more of the PPA around them, she asked Derrick what to make of their absence.

“Roane and Hale are providing a distraction.”

In the distance, Kelly saw smoke in the air. The roar of sirens grew louder.

“We need to go,” she whispered.

Derrick nodded.

At that moment, Zack twisted the head of the Circ he fought, breaking the male’s neck.

Ace knocked Stephen’s head into the ground hard enough to crack his skull. Stephen slumped to the ground, unmoving.

“About time.” Zack shook his head at Ace and dropped his adversary to the ground.

“Show-off.”

“Hurry up,” Derrick called.

They turned and rushed to Kelly’s side.

“Baby, I’m so glad you’re all right.” Zack embraced her, hugging her tightly in his arms.

Baby is right. Kelly squirmed out of his hold. “I missed you, too, but we need to leave, before we have company.”

Ace kissed her hard. He and Zack moved to the backseat of the truck, allowing Kelly to sit next to Derrick. They sped around a corner, just in time to avoid the horde of Pearson Labs vehicles as they reached Simon’s car.

“Not that we’re not happy to see you, but how the hell did you escape from the labs?”

Ace asked.

Kelly explained waking up in the van and about S. Torrence. “I hope she’s okay. She saved my life. From what she told me, Pearl is fixated on me.” Because of my baby. She wanted to share her news with her mates, but confusion and uncertainty made her weary.

She still needed time to process the news herself. There’d be time enough to tell them later.

“This S. Torrence,” Derrick said. “You sure she helped you? Maybe it’s all a setup.”

“For what? If Pearson Labs wanted me, why let me go? Besides, the woman took a bullet for me. They shot at her while she was leaving. I don’t think she faked that.”

“I don’t like it.” Derrick sniffed in Kelly’s direction. “Something’s off. That blood on your gown isn’t right.”

“No, it’s not,” Zack said quietly. “But at least it’s not hers.”

“It’s Torrence’s blood. I didn’t sense anything odd about her, if you don’t count her working for Pearl. Then again, I was more concerned with getting the hell away from that mess than I was studying her.”

“Pearl’s people don’t help us. The damned scientists only care about their experiments, about ‘positive results.’” Derrick muttered. “Torrence is bad news. Soon as we get you back, we’ll see just what the hell they did to you in that lab.”

“D’s right.” Ace gripped her hand. “You were gone for a long time, Kelly. We were so worried about you. You sure you feel all right?”

“I feel fine.” Kelly smiled, catching Zack’s hand as well. She liked Ace saying “we.”

After Derrick called Roane and Hale, who also headed toward the compound, they drove in companionable silence.

Two hours later, they left the Parkway a few miles from the house, and Kelly voiced what she’d wanted to know since she’d left the other night. She turned to her mates in the backseat. “Is it safe to say you two have worked things out?”

Zack grinned. Ace flushed.

“Don’t get them started.” Derrick grimaced. “If I have to look at Zack mooning over Ace’s sorry ass, I’ll puke. I could barely handle the two of them slobbering all over you. Now I have to watch them making cow eyes at each other. It’s damned embarrassing.”

“Oh?” Zack asked coolly.

“Yeah, oh. I swear, one of you starts giving the other chocolates and I’m outta here. It’s bad enough the women have you idiots getting them flowers.”

Zack relaxed, and Ace laughed. “Chocolates?” He looked at Zack. “Come on. You can do better than that. You want a way to my heart? A nice, long massage should do.”

Kelly’s beast purred its approval, ecstatic to see the love flowing between her mates.

Zack shifted in his seat. The scent of arousal filled the small truck.

“Shit. Cut that out,” Derrick growled. “You push me into a mating heat, and I swear, it’s Kelly I’m taking.”

“You sure?” Ace asked as he leaned closer. He surprised Kelly that he’d tease Derrick, considering his issues about loving a man.

Zack grinned from ear to ear. “Now, that’s sexy. What do you think, Kel? We going to keep him? Our own little Ace in the hole?”

Ace snickered at the innuendo, though his cheeks flushed.

“Kelly, just say yes and put me out of my misery,” Derrick begged. Then he snapped at Ace. “And you, sit the fuck back. I don’t think Kelly wants to see what I’ll do if you don’t cut that shit out.” He shifted in his seat, drawing Kelly’s attention to his arousal.

“I don’t know, Derrick. You’re a handsome man. Why wouldn’t I…?” Kelly teased.