by LeAnn Mason
It’s happening, and I’m stuck on the sidelines.
The team would do their thing, and then they’d go, leaving me trapped here. Cole wasn’t coming back with my books. He wasn’t coming back at all.
The supe team and their handler were a curse bigger than my supe genes. They’d scared off any chance I’d had of making friends. I should have ditched them regardless of the information they offered me… or didn’t. They’d told me so little that it had merely put me in more danger than letting me live in blissful ignorance and learn to ignore my powers. If I had other women in here on my side, then someone might be willing to stop on their way out of this shithole and bring me with them.
And stay out. I kicked the door, wishing I were kicking a certain dreadlocked puppy on his way out the door. Knowing it would accomplish nothing but damage my toes didn’t keep me from my impotent rant.
The familiar sensation rose up my throat, roiling into a dense ball, the scream releasing. My head tipped back, neck arching to propel the wail to echo around the tiny, elemental chamber. My banshee nature couldn’t be denied, expelling my frustration and, concurrently, pronouncing CO Michaels the newest death I heralded… unheard by any other harbinger.
Beneath it, a small voice whispered, Take me with you. No matter how mad I was at those bitches and their little dog too, they were my only hope.
◆◆◆
“Cole really is a puppy. Look at the sweetie.”
The two birds peered across the room where Jessica indicated, taking in Cole’s tough-guy stance at the door leading to the hallway and mess hall.
Since it was raining, they were cooped up in the recreation room for ‘free time’ today. Claustrophobic discomfort rode Raven’s bird, yet she kept it tucked inside.
“You think he actually feels bad for the banshee?” Ember rolled onto her knees atop the table they had claimed. In a corner, against a wall, it had strategic placement.
“Leave him alone.” Raven turned away for another sweeping pass of the room, scanning for any sign of the threat to CO Michaels’s life.
While Cole appeared to be surveilling the inmates, as was expected to be his duty, he was more focused on watching over their target. He had to be ready to cloak the scene at a moment’s notice.
“That protective streak is hard to control. I mean the chick is just crying out for help.” And keeping Raven up at night with her need for a nursemaid.
If Seke decided to adopt the hazardous orphan, Raven might consider applying for a unit transfer. He hadn’t given them instructions beyond introducing the naive girl to the supernatural world she was unknowingly a part of. However, he rarely gave them explanations or advance warning. Their captain’s decisions were meaningful and usually in the team’s best interest, at least in his eyes.
“She’s certainly crying out,” Ember snorted, catching on to Raven’s wordplay.
Ember wouldn’t stay—that was certain.
There was an unspoken agreement between the trio that Aria had to be shaken loose. They hadn’t even discussed the ploy in the cafeteria before marching over while the banshee caused a ruckus. It was her own fault for forcing their hand. They’d needed to distance themselves from her and put her on the sidelines. Now, a literal barricade protected them from her attention-drawing incompetency.
What was she raised in, a loony bin? Had she been bumbling along her whole life, screaming at seemingly random moments? The lack of basic self-knowledge raised questions about Aria’s origin and heritage, though not enough to make Raven want to find out. It would be fantastic if CO Michaels’s life could extinguish while the hindrance wasn’t distracting them from doing their jobs. Then, they could hightail it out of there devoid of further interaction.
“I’ve got a way to keep those lips of hers real quiet.” Jessica made a smacking noise with her mouth.
“Whether you mean kiss or kill, the answer is no,” Ember told their hungering siren.
The infamous pout had no effect on her teammates, so Jessica stood, tossed her hair, and pushed up her breasts. “Fine, then I’m going to find someone else to play with,” she declared, flouncing toward a group lingering in a corner. Amongst them, Raven noted, Jess’s regular hook-up leaned against a wall.
“Don’t stray too far,” Ember called after her. “This could go down any minute.”
Raven clucked. “She’ll come when she’s needed. Just ring the dinner bell.”
Ember snorted.
The itch to fly was strong, but unlike her lascivious companion, Raven had the restraint to wait patiently for Lights Out to stretch her wings. Rising from her seat on the ground, a vantage point from which she could inspect ankles and shadowy niches for hidden shanks, she wiped the seat of her pants. “I’m going to patrol.”
Mahogany eyes squinted at Raven. “Wings?”
“Human of course. Nowhere to Shift discreetly.” Which was the point of the prison and something she liked about it, in terms of the job. Being in the HDPU had some advantages like the enclosed stomping grounds, heavy restrictions, and constant surveillance that kept their target within sight and proximity. It didn’t slow them too much either, what with Seke’s and Cole’s gifts, and her own ability to slip through bars as a raven.
Her pace was steady as she passed a pair playing checkers with ripped-up pieces of paper on a board drawn in marker on the table. Skirting around three women doing a push-up competition, she scrutinized everyone with her sharp eyesight.
Flying off trajectory, a peanut soared right toward Raven, but her keen eyes caught the movement from her periphery. Spinning with dark hair flying, she tipped her head back to snap the tiny nut from the air the way her bird might catch a bug in the sunset. Chewing, she scowled at the group at the table near her. They studiously ignored her and continued tossing the snack one of them had received in a gift box.
CO Michaels had doled out those goodies—unwrapped and already checked by security—at the beginning of free time. The team never got any mail, having no reason to receive care packages from anyone. But they paid attention nonetheless. Sometimes it was easier for Seke to contact them through coded messages than to appear on the premises himself before it was time. It was best if they kept one member of their team on the outside for coordinating.
Someone cheered, and another whistled when a nut successfully landed in the gaping mouth of the woman across the table. Lucky for them, it hadn’t slipped past to hit Raven again.
“Nice catch, Raven.”
Raven nodded her thanks at Bertha, who was seated backward on a chair. The Amazon had been very respectful since the rock incident, and her wound looked to be healing nicely. She’d have a scar, but that would be useful in here. A signal to others that she was a brawler.
Looks could be deceptive. It was a big part of how their team went unnoticed most of the time. That, and their tricks.
Most of their tricks helped to increase their stealth. Last night, Raven had soared for hours and roosted on the prison roof until almost dawn without notice, a bid to avoid Aria. A smile curled her lips as she realized she’d get the whole cell to herself again if only temporarily. Maybe she’d stay and sleep in the bed tonight. It wasn’t pillow-top, but it was better than sitting on a coil of wire between two razors.
“What’s got you so happy? Oh, think I know.”
Raven paused her wandering to cock her head at Bertha’s knowing grin. “Yeah?” There was no way anyone had seen Raven. Her Shift was as noiseless as her wings, and Cole often came by to give her a little dusting of his invisibility magic. Just in case.
“Yeah.” The woman crooked her finger, indicating she had a secret to share with only Raven and no one else. They were Bertha’s friends, so it seemed unlikely they didn’t know whatever Bertha did.
She could want revenge for the stone. Or she might have something on Raven.
Raven made eye contact with Cole and Ember before moving closer, a warning without words for them to be on their guard. If their cover was blow
n, they’d need to call in Seke immediately. A few close calls in the past had required his assistance but never a full reveal on the records of this team. Ember stood up on the picnic table, keeping a secondary watch on the room. Cole began a casual stroll toward them. Jessica was… impaired at the moment. They’d grab her if it came down to it.
Bertha’s attention shifted to Cole for a moment, tensing Raven’s back.
“Do tell.” Raven’s head cocked to the side as she leaned close, keeping her sights on Bertha. Being the lookout, she was tempted to glance behind her and check this wasn’t a nefarious plot to sneak up on her. There was enough trust in her team that she was able to reassure herself Ember was watching her back.
Bertha, she could handle. They were thoroughly trained to handle any difficulties their workplace could toss in their path. She didn’t even need a rock.
“I seen ya. At night.”
Raven’s heart began to flutter. This was bad. They needed to be vigilant for CO Michaels’s attack, not defending their innocence. It could happen right now. They didn’t have time for this. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.” How had she been seen? How could she make the connection between herself and the bird even if she had?
Bertha was rolling in her newfound power, delighting in it. It didn’t seem to matter that Raven excelled at schooling her expression into a semblance of bland indifference. Bertha smelled blood. “I think you mean who. Speak of the devil.”
Blinking, Raven slammed down her brows in confusion. Twisting toward where Bertha’s eyes indicated, the shifter blurted, “CO Cole?” She almost laughed. The guy was like her big brother. “You think I’m having a secret romance?” Raven did not date within the team. She didn’t date much, period. It was tricky with a job that kept her locked away for random periods of time. Sneaking out at night for a quickie was one thing. Regular flights to the same location? That could get dangerous, for both involved.
Bertha nodded seriously. “I seen him coming to your cell at night.”
Raven was quick to offer a truth. “That’s because my new cellmate was screaming.”
“Uh-huh. And during the day yesterday?”
An eye-roll wanted to surface. It was when he’d warned the girls that Aria would have questions. “That was about my cellmate again. She’s having a tough time. I’m sure you’ve heard that she’s in solitary?” There was no guilt about tossing blame on the banshee.
“Yeah. Based on what you and your friends claimed. I think it’s so you can get a little alone time.”
Cole arrived. “More separation than that, please, ladies. Everything okay over here?”
Bertha’s smile turned vicious. “See? I knew you’d come protect her.”
Crossing her arms, Raven stood tall. “I don’t need protection. Remember?” She pointed at Bertha’s head.
Undeterred by the reminder, Bertha retorted, “I think you got him to get your cellmate out of the picture. Seems some favoritism is going on here. That ain’t right.”
Cole stepped forward. “There is no favoritism or anything of the sort. I uphold the rules of this prison and ensure that all inmates are given the same respect.”
Before Raven could attempt to negate any association with the hellhound, Bertha nodded.
“Uh-huh. That’s why you came over here for her, leaving the door unprotected.”
Raven and Cole didn’t have time to react. Ember called their names, but too quickly, Bertha climbed onto the chair to shout, “Now!”
Chaos erupted everywhere.
18
An almost choreographed burst of violence erupted around the room at Bertha’s command. Each patrolling guard was engaged, if not instantly subdued, by the women closest to them. The decisive strike made Raven feel almost prideful of the savage humans. Her keen eyes lit on the far wall, which was made of thick transparent plastic from waist height to about the top of the door. There were several guards behind it, and it took only moments before their stunned faces morphed to reflect their drilled actions.
A shrill and deafening alarm siren blared with the intensity of a tornado warning. All hell was breaking loose. Maybe that meant her team would have more than one soul to escort out of life. Things like this never turned out well in places like these.
Jessica flounced back to where the rest of her team had gathered, no hurry to any of their movements. They couldn’t care less about an escape attempt. Getting out of the human detention center wouldn’t be a problem. No, now their attention was tuned to finding their target.
Raven’s attention flitted from face to face, quickly looking for their now-revealed target, Aria’s warning sinking in. She’d said it would be soon before striding from their table. This had to be how the man died. How many times would a prison riot end without bloodshed? It was too perfect.
The door to the stark room stood open, a downed officer acting as an unconscious doorstop, keeping the metal door agape. Dark headed and paunchy, the man was not CO Michaels.
Bertha’s plan wasn’t finished though. She’d brought Cole to her for a reason. Whipping out a shiv from her sock, the large woman made a remarkably smooth stab to impale the looming guard. It felt like slow motion as Raven watched the behemoth’s arm arcing in a haymaker toward its intended victim before thudding heavily into flesh.
Cole stood, eyes round with shock, much like every other set of eyes that looked on, Raven’s not to be excluded. No one anticipated Ember’s interference though they really should have...
Red liquid, a darker hue than her hair, spewed from Ember’s mouth as she gasped from the impact, the sting of the wound, the certainty that the injury would be fatal. The filed plastic of Big Bertha’s cheery yellow toothbrush protruded from Ember’s neck, white bristles quickly tinting scarlet as Ember’s life-force spurted violently from the mortal puncture.
Raven rushed to cradle the little fiery pixie as she crumbled, pushing her own body to the floor with the added weight.
“There better be ice cream,” Ember grated, her words slow and heavy as her life left her to pool, starkly contrasting, on the cream linoleum.
“Vanilla. Of course,” Raven quipped back, pushing the wisps of Ember’s drawn bangs from the cinnamon eyes that rapidly lost their luster.
“Better… not… be.”
A throaty growl met Raven’s ears, forcing her attention briefly from the dying team member in her arms to the small crowd in proximity. She watched Cole pull back his lips and show elongated teeth, a sight that had Big Bertha wetting her pants. She made a mistake flashing her eyes to meet his. Cole had let his hound off the leash, and it shone in glowing red irises. A heavy power radiated from his entire meaty being, fury brewing at the threat to his team.
Good thing his fist followed, otherwise Bertha might have tried to take on the available role of banshee and scream bloody murder.
Humans couldn’t handle the supernatural, couldn’t reconcile the reality of them with what they knew of the world.
Raven snorted as, with one solid punch, Cole had the large woman’s eyes rolling to the back of her head. Her thick frame fell backward in a limp heap, looking remarkably like a felled tree, until her hard head hit the table she hadn’t gotten far enough away from.
That incited a cringe from the normally unflappable Raven shifter. Solid obstacles lent another layer of danger to an already fallen opponent. It almost seemed to be overkill.
Jessica checked the bully quickly, revealing that she still breathed. The supernaturals unanimously turned away from the unconscious instigator and toward Ember.
“Is she gone?” Jessica asked, her attention roving the room, fully in mission-mode.
Ember’s eyes stared vacantly toward the ceiling, but her body wouldn’t cool. Raven ran a hand down her fellow harbinger’s face, closing her eyes for the last time of this cycle. Gently, Raven pulled from under Ember’s slight weight made heavier by death. Laying her body upon the ground, Raven moved to rejoin her team.
They had a j
ob to do.
The room was rapidly thinning of occupants, the women, feral and wild, kicked and snarled at any uniform they came across in a race toward the exit—toward the light at the end of the tunnel. Except the light was an illusion. Anyone who thought otherwise was a fool.
Still, this was the job, and they were now on the hunt.
There had only been a few guards in the room. That left the majority of the available force free to mobilize toward the threat. Those women were now in a funnel. Easy pickings.
Raven’s bird rose, wanting to be free to soar above the carnage, to observe and locate her target swiftly. But alas, she was stuck in her human visage. The alarm was beginning to seriously grate on her ears. It was too loud for their sensitive hearing. She shouted to her team, knowing only they would hear her in the chaos. “Anyone see Michaels?”
A chorus of no’s met her question. Evidently, they needed to enter the funnel… and leave Ember behind.
But no man left behind held a different meaning for the HDPU.
“Cole, want to take point so we don’t get shot when we stick our heads out the door?” Raven jerked her chin toward the propped door. “I don’t sense death in here. These losers will be fine...ish.”
“On it,” Cole responded, moving swiftly to the front of their vigilant group. Only Cole, being a guard, had any visible weapons at his disposal, although in truth, any of them could overcome most human weapons. Saving them from revealing their supernatural abilities, his authority would ensure their venture into the hall didn’t end with taking a rubber bullet to the noggin from one of his peers. The girls all hated when they had superficial injuries that marred far more than hindered.
The room was becoming eerily quiet save for that stupid alarm that kept shrieking at them. It reminded Raven of the banshee, and a smile graced her lips as she pictured the inept woman sitting huddled in an isolation cell.