Paranormal Division: Awakening

by Ellie J Duck

  “What did you think he’d do when you brought a human in here?” Brody scoffs.

  “How does he even know she’s here? I didn’t tell any of you I was bringing in a human recruit for this reason.” Summers begins serving food onto plates in the kitchen before he adds, “Mitch, leave Anna alone and get dressed for dinner before she gets annoyed and stabs you.”

  Mitch is clearly enjoying the attention I’m giving him too much to heed that warning because he pushes even closer to me, toppling me over with another butt of his fat head.

  “Watch it, cat, or I might just shoot you again for the hell of it,” I warn the lion when he shoves his head against my chest, pushing me backward before he tries to climb into my lap.

  “God, you’re pathetic!” a girl’s voice laughs. “Get off her and get some clothes on!”

  She walks over dressed in denim cut-offs and a shirt identical to mine.

  “You need a hand here with this one?” she asks even as she bends down, sinking one hand into Mitch’s mane and grabbing a fistful of the fur over his back before she heaves. I feel even more self-conscious about my inferior human abilities when she manages to lift the lion off my lap and drag him away.

  Mitch puts up a fight but eventually he gives in and disappears, tail twitching happily as he climbs the stairs and walks into what must be his room.

  “I’m Tara, by the way,” the pretty were-tigress tells me, offering me her hand to shake and surprising me with the strength of her grip.

  “I’m Anna Cane,” I reply, smiling.

  “The daughter of Magnus Cane?” she asks me seriously.

  “The very one,” I nod.

  “I’ll bet that’s a lot of pressure on your shoulders. What’s your specialty?” she asks me easily, even as she drops down on the couch next to Brody and begins tussling with him for the remote control.

  “Weapons,” I tell her, watching her drop an elbow jab to Brody’s ribs when he tries to hold the remote out of her reach. She snatches it and changes the channel from the baseball game Brody was watching to America’s Next Top Model.

  “That’s cool, we could use an extra sharp shooter watching our backs for the next job we’ll be working on,” she says as Brody shoves her sideways and pins her to the couch, trying to take the remote from her. She bats at his face with her hands the way a cat bats playfully at a mouse.

  “Will you two cut that out and find Tobias?” Summers cuts in. “If he doesn’t get his arse in here, I’m not feeding him.”

  “Like he’s going to listen to either of us, Greg?” Brody scoffs gruffly, scowling at the tigress still batting at his shoulders and face in a way that looks more annoying than painful.

  “Yeah, he can smell a human. He’s not going to come near this place for at least a few hours. You know he won’t, and if he does; look out!” Tara injects into the conversation.

  Summers makes a sound of frustration.

  “Anna, why don’t you go on up and change out of that shirt. The blood is making everyone hungry,” Summers says. I glance down to see that, thanks to Mitch, I have blood smeared on my right bicep and a dark patch of blood slowly drying on my shirt. Scowling in annoyance, I do as I’m told, wondering what all the fuss is about over a little blood and the idea of this final team member having an issue with me being human.

  Chapter Three

  “W

  e don’t need anyone else on the team, Greg!” A low, growling voice that radiates anger draws my attention the minute I walk out of my room still pulling on a clean t-shirt.

  “That’s not your call to make, Tobias, and I say we do need her. I don’t care how fast your reflexes are, the fact of the matter is that Vampires can teleport a lot faster than you can move and if I can have Agent Cane in position to save one of your damn lives, I bloody will!” Summers argues with him, and, unlike his interaction with the other three members of the team and with me, there is no dorky soccer-dad overtone to his actions and instructions. As he glares at the man who has his back to me, he looks every bit the fierce, scowling leader of a Kill Squad.

  “And what help is a weak little human going to be against Vampires?” the man scoffs. He is dressed much the same way I am, dark shirt, cargo pants and boots. “Other than perhaps as bait?”

  “She can keep your ass from being bitten when they use their lure on all of you,” Summers growls at him.

  “She’s a human! Even if she’s as good with weapons as you claim, there’s no way her reflexes will be fast enough to keep up with a teleporting vampire. And she reeks to high heaven of her weakness. What are you going to do when those bastards get a whiff of her and teleport away from us and drain her?”

  “The likelihood of that is slim to none but should that happen I’m going to run for the hills because her father, Magnus Cane, will descend on anyone and everyone who has anything to do with the death of his only daughter,” Summers replies, not exactly inspiring confidence.

  “She’s Agent Cane’s kid?” the man with his back to me, whom I assume is Tobias, growls, sounding even more offended than he did a moment ago.

  “Yes,” Summers answers.

  “Well, why don’t we just kill her now and get it out of the way? Save ourselves the trouble of trying to protect her from any and every creature he’s ever pissed off that are going to be gunning for her? Especially if they find out she’s human,” he snarls, and I feel my whole body stiffen in annoyance at that particular suggestion.

  “I have every faith she can handle herself just fine,” Summers replies, spotting me over Tobias’s shoulder as I silently descend the stairs, wearing, what I don’t doubt, is a foul expression on my face.

  “She can’t even walk down the stairs without everyone hearing it,” the man scoffs, refusing to turn to look at me even though he obviously knows I’m here.

  “You know,” I say, aware of the way I’m biting the words short and vibrating with fury though I’m not entirely sure why, “I find myself wondering how well you’ll heal when I empty this magazine into your heart.”

  I shove the point of my gun against his back, so he knows I’m not mucking around, and I feel the way the tension in the room spikes when Summers and the others realize I’ve drawn my gun again. I get the feeling several bullets to the heart might be a little more effective than clipping Mitch in the shoulder with just one.

  “I find myself wondering which part of threatening me seems like a wise idea to you?” Tobias replies, his voice changing from growly to low and deadly.

  He spins so fast that, had I blinked, I’d have missed it and suddenly he is gripping my wrist, trying to force the point of the gun away from himself. He is far stronger than I’m expecting, but I hold my ground, baring my teeth at him like a mongrel mutt.

  “You keep doing that and you can be damn sure I’ll empty the clip into you,” I warn him, struggling against his grip and thankful for all the times I’ve trained with Dad. It takes more strength than it should to keep from having him take my gun and fling my hand away from him.

  “If you don’t drop it, I’m going to break your hand,” he replies coldly and it’s in that moment when I glare up at him rather than focusing on the fact that he’s grabbed me, that I realize I’m completely screwed.

  His jaw is square and dusted with a layer of stubble, his nose straight, eyes a bright shade of copper. He is the most handsome man I’ve ever laid eyes on, at least by my approximation, and I say that having recently seen the naked forms of both the other guys on my team. Damn, even just looking at this guy makes me feel like someone has hotwired my senses. I grit my teeth in frustration with myself, noting the fact that his eyes glitter with pure, unadulterated hatred as he glares back at me.

  “Tobias, let her go!” Summers commands. I, and the asshole wrestling with me, jump in surprise when Summers suddenly seizes Tobias’s hand on mine, jerking it away from me. “And Anna, if you shoot another person on this team, I’m taking it out of your ass.”

  “Don’t be such a kill
joy, Greg,” Tara says, watching the entire exchange with a keen interest.

  “I see this is how you intend to deal with having a human on the team. By jumping to protect her every time she’s in danger,” Tobias scowls, taking those hate-filled eyes off me and levelling a cold look at Summers. “Won’t that just be a delight? If you think for even a second that I’m going to do anything to help her when she gets herself captured by something, you’re out of your mind, Greg.”

  “And when the time comes that you need my help, you can bet your ass I’m going to sit back and watch the show as something rips you apart. I might even break out the popcorn,” I retort.

  “As if you’d be able to do anything to protect any of us, if the need ever arose,” Tobias scoffs and I feel my lip curl with fury at the insinuation that I’ll be useless on this team. “What are you going to do, little human? What are you going to do when a vampire comes at you, veins crawling, fangs out, ready to suck you dry?”

  “Keep talking and you’ll get a free demonstration!” I snarl right back at him, my gun now trained on his pretty face and my trigger-finger itching to squeeze down and see how well this fool can heal from a round of bullets to the face.

  “Anna!” Summers warns, still trying to drag Tobias away from me, making me realize that me and the asshole are standing toe to toe, snarling at each other like animals.

  “Yes, Greg?” I ask, addressing him by his first name in a sickly-sweet voice to let him know how annoying I find it that he keeps using my first name that way. He narrows his gaze on me while my finger tightens on the trigger of my gun.

  “For fuck’s sake, Cane!” he barks, looking annoyed. “I swear when I next see Magnus, I’m going to beat the shit out of that bastard!”

  “I’m going to laugh watching you try. Now are you going to leash your attack dog or am I going to see what it takes to put the mongrel down?” I demand, still eyeballing Tobias.

  “Oh no, she didn’t?” Mitch gasps and I get the feeling from the look on Tobias’s face that being called an attack dog and a mongrel has hit a nerve. I’m staring at the werewolf of the group, it would seem, and despite the horror films of my adolescence I hold my ground and glare him down. Blast him for being so handsome, too! The fairytales of my childhood never warned that the Big, Bad Wolf had looks that could make your panties drop.

  “ENOUGH!” Summers barks, looking furious and all the more menacing for it. I make a mental note never to push Summers so far as to have him truly lose his temper. I have a sneaking suspicion I’ll regret it if I do. “Put the gun away now, Agent Cane. Agent Hilton, stand down or I’ll write you both up and leave you here when we get the next coms hit.”

  I manage to drag my eyes from Tobias Hilton to level a glare at Summers and notice that he looks like he’s about to bust a vein in his forehead. Reluctantly, I re-holster my gun on my hip and I step around the werewolf still glaring at me, before going over to the kitchen bench where Greg has plated up everyone’s food. When I stick my finger in it, it’s cold, so I take up the plate I assume is mine, because it has about a third as much food as everyone else’s and put it into the microwave.

  No one speaks as I wait for the food to re-heat, though Brody, Tara and Mitch all get up and join me in the kitchen, each of them picking up a plate and waiting for me to be done with the microwave. They copy my actions and then join me when I take a seat at the table and dig in.

  “So….” Mitch begins when everyone is seated, Tobias and I sitting as far from each other as possible. “What’d you do before you joined the team, Anna?”

  I eyeball him for how chipper he sounds, though he looks like he knows exactly how tense this meal is and is trying to alleviate some of that tension.

  “I was at a Military Academy in Georgia; signed myself out this morning,” I reply around a mouthful of spaghetti.

  “It’s your birthday, isn’t it?” Brody asks, throwing a lopsided grin my way.

  “Yup, eighteen today,” I tell him with a tight smile in return.

  “Well shoot, now I feel bad for demanding that you rub my mane,” Mitch comments,

  “… though a little better about letting you shoot me.”

  “Right, because you totally painted a target on your forehead and begged her to cap you,” Tara rolls her eyes, making me laugh.

  “You recruited not only a human but a total rookie right out of high school?” Tobias’s low voice demands, his copper gaze fixed on Summers, who meets his gaze stoically.

  “I recruited the best solider for the job of playing sniper. The fact that she’s right out of high school has no bearing whatsoever on her ability to kill-shot a man at twenty-five hundred yards,” Summers replies. “And given what she did to her ex-boyfriend last evening, I’d be careful about calling her a rookie, if I were you.”

  “What’d you do to your ex-boyfriend, Anna?” Tara asks, her eyes lighting up over the idea of me putting some fool in his place.

  “Nothing he didn’t deserve,” I reply, not wanting to get into the details of what I did to James and Sarah.

  “Remind me not to cross you,” Mitch says, winking at me with a broad grin.

  “…. Because you had intentions to do that otherwise? Even after she shot you?” Brody asks the werelion skeptically.

  “Well, no, but I’m no longer intending to sweet-talk her into bed with me, though that was my plan after having her hands in my mane earlier,” Mitch admits, looking as arrogant as only a lion can.

  “Probably for the best,” I grin at him. “Wouldn’t want to wake up one day totally bald, now would you, Mitch?”

  “Note to self, never piss off Anna,” Mitch mutters, clutching at his wild blond locks as though terrified of the idea that he might one day wake up without all that hair. Everyone at the table laughs at his comment and some of the tension eases.

  “So, tell us about yourself, Cane,” Brody says, watching me across the table with an expression of interest.

  “What do you want to know?” I ask him, glancing around awkwardly when I notice they all have their attention riveted on me.

  “I’m still waiting to hear what you did to your ex-boyfriend,” Tara inserts slyly.

  “Nothing six months of rehab won’t mend,” I roll my eyes, shooting a look at Summers for even bringing the topic up. James stopped me on the way out of school and might’ve incurred my temper, implying that it was my fault he’d cheated on me because I wasn’t willing to put out for him. I may or may not have broken his shoulder, and I really wish Summers hadn’t brought it up.

  “Let’s not forget what you did to his partner in crime,” Summers adds with a smile of his own that tells me he’s having fun throwing me to the animals, literally, in this case.

  “The mongrel cheated on you, huh?” Mitch asks, slinging his arm over my shoulders again. I glance sideways at him.

  “Yeah,” I answer, not wanting to get into it.

  “Tell me you stabbed the bitch?” Tara begs around a mouthful of food.

  “Nah, just knocked her out and left her exposed to the elements overnight. She’s got mild hyperthermia,” I reply evenly, grinning a little when she flashes me a predatory smile.

  “I’d have killed her. No one touches what’s mine,” she says with a straight face, making me think she’s not kidding.

  “Neither of them was worth the effort of digging their shallow graves, and it wasn’t exactly a loss, if you know what I mean,” I tell her.

  “He was a pathetic human, what did you expect?” Brody asks me, grinning too.

  “More fear, actually,” I admit before I feel my phone buzzing in my pocket. I frown when I pull it out and see that it’s James trying to call me, “But it seems breaking his shoulder hasn’t kept him from trying to call me…”

  “Is that him?” Tara asks. “Let me talk to him.”

  “You don’t want to waste your breath, plus, the minute I answer he’s going to start shouting and swearing at me for screwing him over for his physical next week to get
into some elite program he signed up for,” I tell her.

  “Oh, I like this one, Greg. She gets even by tampering with people’s futures,” Tara says excitedly, and I chuckle, suspecting that in her at least, I’ve made a friend.

  “Are you going to continue to eat with your arm around me?” I ask Mitch mildly when I suddenly notice the tricky cat still hasn’t let go of me and seems to be toying with a lock of my hair that’s fallen loose of its bun.

  “Probably,” he answers before forking another huge mouthful of spaghetti into his face. Typical cat behavior.

  A lengthy silence follows the statement as we all keep eating.

  “So, what about you, Anna? Anything you want to ask the team about themselves?” Summers says when the silence begins to grow awkward. I glance at him.

  “I’ve seen three of them naked today. I wouldn’t want to go into information overload,” I say, earning myself an amused snort.

  “The eye-candy can be a little much,” Tara agrees with an easy smile, no doubt knowing as well as I do what so much naked man-flesh is doing to my body.

  “And I really wouldn’t want to ruin that image with all that crap about people, you know, having personalities and shit,” I smirk at her while she starts to laugh.

  “I like you,” she laughs. “Greg, I’m keeping her.”

  ∞ ∞ ∞

  The sound of someone pounding on my door before it bursts open has me reaching for the handgun beneath my pillow and aiming at the intruder in my room. I blearily catch sight of the bright red numbers glowing on my alarm clock. It’s a little after four in the morning.

  “What the fuck do you want?” I demand, eyeballing whoever has come through the door though my eyes are so blurred from being asleep that I can’t make out anything other than that it’s a large male.

  “Get up!” The cold, furious voice of Tobias growls through the room and I wonder if this is some weird dream. A man’s voice should not have the power to so effectively turn me on; especially not this man.

  “Fuck off, Hilton” I command, burying my face back in the pillow and hoping he’ll go away so I can sleep more.