Communication
Page 6
CHAPTER TWO
Tatiana stuck her head inside Adam’s office. “Did you hear about Trina?”
Adam slumped in his chair. “I heard.”
Trina was the fourth partner he’d lost in a year. Laura died after two months, though her heart attack was in no way his fault. Timothy ran off and eloped with his long-distance girlfriend after five months. Jackson lasted four months before he quit without telling anyone why.
Trina hadn’t even made it a month before she had a mental breakdown.
Tatiana took a seat on the edge of Adam’s desk and leaned over to pat him on the back. Her sympathy bled through her touch. “I’m sorry. You know it’s not your fault, right?”
Adam did know. He could read his partners’ minds, after all, and while none of them had particularly loved him, they hadn’t hated him either. Their emotions toward him were ones he typically engendered in people—that of casual regard for an acquaintance. With his abilities, it was easier to avoid people than to make friends. Tatiana was the only person who had ever punched through his defenses, and he was fine with keeping it that way.
He clasped his hands together and let them rest on his desk. “I am merely concerned that this will complicate my latest assignment.” Undercover work was easier with a partner, but Adam could handle the case on his own if he had to.
Squeezing his shoulder once more, Tatiana grinned. “Oh, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about that. We’ve got fresh blood in the office.”
Adam glared at the empty desk on the other side of the office. He had cleared away Trina’s things as soon as he heard she was leaving. He had hoped he’d have the room to himself for a little while. “I always end up with the trainees.”
“Because you’re the only one who doesn’t complain.” She hopped off the desk. “Squeaky wheel and all that. I’m gonna get back to work; Stanton just opened his door and they’re headed this way.” She was halfway out the door when she paused and tilted her head as if listening for something. A smirk blossomed on her face. “This one sounds like a real character!”
Adam felt like locking his door and pretending he was still at lunch. Avoiding his new partner wouldn’t solve anything though, so he took a deep breath and rose from his seat. He stepped out of his office just as Stanton and a young man with incredibly messy blond hair rounded the corner. He nodded at them. “Good afternoon.”
Stanton nodded in return. “Afternoon, Adam. Tatiana warn you we were coming?”
“Of course.”
Turning to the man at his side, Stanton explained, “Tatiana is our resident gossip-monger.”
“I heard that!” Tatiana’s voice rang across the office, making the young man spin around to look for her.
Stanton just laughed. “I knew you would, and it’s only the truth,” he called to her. The man turned back towards Stanton, a curious look on his face. “Tatiana can hear sounds as low as a mouse squeak from half a mile away,” Stanton explained. “Naturally, all the information she gathers gets disseminated rather quickly.”
The man flashed a quick smile, one which didn’t reach his dark blue eyes. “Naturally.”
Stanton wrapped his arm around the trainee’s shoulders. “Adam, this is Jason Keith, shapeshifter extraordinaire—” Jason smirked and suddenly he had dark chocolate skin and nappy black hair “—and your new partner.”
Just as quickly as he had shifted before, Jason morphed back into his blond persona. He took a step forward, offering his hand. Adam took advantage and pressed his hand to Jason’s. Under the guise of a handshake, he tried to read Jason’s surface thoughts and emotions.
Jason reverberated with self-assurance and curiosity. Adam couldn’t seem to get a grip on Jason’s thoughts though, and his touch made Adam feel… odd. He released Jason and tried to surreptitiously wipe his hand on his pants. Jason’s glare made it obvious that Adam hadn’t hidden the movement very well.
“Now that you’ve been introduced, I’ll leave you to orient Jason. He’ll be working with you on the Orion assignment.” Stanton gave them a jaunty wave and ambled away, leaving the two of them staring at each other.
Adam wasn’t sure what to do with Jason. All of his previous partners had been Cognetics like him, though their powers had ranged from precognition to clairvoyance. How was he supposed to work with a Morpher?
Jason didn’t seem to have any similar qualms. He pressed past Adam and into the office. The abrupt skin-to-skin contact made him itch all over.
“So, I guess I share this office with you?” Jason strode over to Trina’s now-empty desk and fell into the chair behind it. “It’s kinda small, isn’t it?”
Adam’s hands tried to clench into fists, and he had to force himself to relax. “It suits our purposes.” The two desks were small, but there was enough room to move around without bumping into each other. Adam entered the office, shutting the door behind him, and took his own seat. “Have you been briefed on our case?”
Jason nodded, and his appearance shifted. His muscles grew thick, and his skin darkened to a rich tan. His hair straightened and shrunk to a buzz cut, making him look like a stereotypical soldier. “I’m ready to kick some slave trader asses!”
Adam counted to five in his head before attempting to respond. “This is an extremely delicate assignment. If the Orion group discovers that we have located them, they will move before we can rescue the victims.” Forced prostitution was a huge issue among the paranormal society, and the Orion group trafficked more people than anyone else in New York. If they brought them down, they would undermine the city’s entire trafficking network.
Jason’s muscles deflated and his skin and hair returned to the bleached-blond look. “Jeeze. I was just making a joke.”
“This is no joking matter.” Adam took a calming breath. “Imagine the catastrophes that could occur if we went in to investigate and someone realized you were a shapeshifter.”
Jason crossed his arms. “No one has ever figured out who I am unless I wanted them to.”
Self-confidence rolled off of Jason in waves. He’d probably never faced a real challenge in his life. Adam wanted to shake him. He had seen people killed by the Orion Group. He had felt their lives draining out of their bodies, their emotions shifting to anger and pain as they died. He had met women who escaped from slave traders like the Orions. Being within twenty feet of them made Adam ill. The blatant despair embedded in their skin turned his stomach and made it impossible for him to breathe. Jason’s pretty smile and suave charm might have gotten him out of scrapes in the past, but the difference between the Orions and a bar brawl was the difference between a saber-toothed tiger and a kitten.
“You wouldn’t be able to trick the psychics that the Orions employ for twenty minutes, let alone the weeks you might be required to spend undercover.”
“Oh, really?” Jason raised an eyebrow.
“Indeed. I’m far less skilled than they are, and you couldn’t hide from me for more than a day.”
A smirk spread across Jason’s face. “Are you willing to bet on that?”
Adam didn’t normally take bets, but he would do anything to wipe away that smirk. “What are the restrictions?”
“Within a month, I’ll spend a day—spread over twenty-four nonconsecutive hours—shifted in your presence without you realizing it.”
Adam would uncover Jason within the first fifteen minutes. All it would take was a touch; Jason might be able to hide his thoughts, but he couldn’t hide his aura. Adam had just one caveat. “You must spend all twenty-four hours in a single body. No switching between people.”
Jason’s smirk grew. “No problem. What do I get when I win?”
“When I win,” Adam said, “I get one hundred dollars.” And the satisfaction of crushing Jason’s ego.
Jason nodded slowly. “One hundred dollars sounds fair.” He stuck out his hand. “You’ve got yourself a deal.”
“You’re on.” Adam grasped Jason’s hand hard, the tingle of Jason’s aura buzzing under his
skin and assuring Adam of his eminent victory.
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