Risky Bargains

by J. C. Diem

  Emma took matters into her own hands and I felt her rummaging around in my brain. I mentally reached out to Liam and our family bond strengthened. My minion became connected to him and she found the location where he wanted to go in his mind.

  “Well?” Liam asked, not bothered at all about having a squirrel inside his head. “Can she do it?”

  “Yep,” I verified with a grin. “She’s pretty awesome, isn’t she?”

  “She sure is,” he said with a fond smile. “Let’s grab our gear.”

  We trotted to our bedrooms as everyone else began leaving theirs. I grabbed my duffle bag and shoved my laptop into it, along with some snacks. Emma didn’t bother to slip inside the backpack that I slung over my shoulder. She would need to be out in the open to use the zombie highway. Heading out through the front door, we moved into a huddle.

  “Is Agent Steel sending one of his pet zombies to transport us to Montana?” Franko asked.

  Liam shook his head and pointed at Emma. “We don’t need one. Emma will do the job for us.”

  “Where is Elmview, boss?” Brynn asked.

  “It’s in Montana.”

  “We’ve been to Montana,” Nick said. “Has Em traveled there as well?”

  “Nope, but she’s about to,” I replied.

  At my mental signal, the squirrel took us into the ground. We emerged in the spot Emma had gleaned from Liam’s mind and appeared in an overgrown backyard. Nick recognized the place and his eyes widened. “You’re a talented girl,” he said in admiration to Emma, who basked in his praise.

  “Are we going to walk to Elmview from here?” Crowmon asked as he looked around. I could see the rooftop of a house through the dense trees, but I couldn’t hear any people inside.

  “A van is on its way,” Liam replied. “Someone will be dropping it off soon.”

  We waited until we heard a couple of vehicles approaching. They both stopped and we heard a door open, then close. Footsteps crunched on gravel, then another door was opened. The person climbed into the second vehicle, then it drove away.

  “Why all the secrecy?” Heath asked as Liam gestured for us to follow him.

  “Few people are aware of Agent Porter’s true nature,” our boss said. Franko flicked a look at the hooded vampire and sneered. “We’d like to keep it that way,” Liam added pointedly.

  Sullen at being reprimanded when he hadn’t done anything wrong, the alpha dropped back until he was bringing up the rear. I could practically feel his eyes crawling all over me and quickened my steps until I was walking in front of Yas. She knew what I was doing and deliberately blocked the werewolf’s view of me.

  Syd and Brynn also moved so they were between me and the man we all disliked so intensely. Crowmon and Nick turned to glare at Franko when he muttered a derogatory comment about women that we didn’t quite catch. Liam just shook his head and guided us through the trees and shrubs to the driveway.

  I glanced at the house to see it was almost completely surrounded by trees. A face peered out at us from a broken window. From her wispy, see-through appearance, she was a ghost. She turned and drifted away before I could lift my hand to wave at her. I mentally slapped myself up the side of the head when I remembered Franko wasn’t supposed to know I could see spirits.

  Liam took pity on the team and slid behind the wheel rather than letting me drive. We took our usual seats and he plugged our destination into the GPS, then took off.

  I’d brought my earphones along so I could listen to music on my cell phone this time. The twins talked quietly, while the rest of us entertained ourselves. I could feel Heath staring at the back of my head during the entire trip and studiously ignored him. Emma watched him like an undead hawk. Yas kept turning to glower at him while she listened to heavy metal bands on her phone. Unfortunately, she was wearing her hood, so he couldn’t see her displeased expression.

  When we reached Elmview, Liam drove to the playground where the kids had vanished. Yas stayed in the car, but the rest of us climbed out. The sheriff was a slightly pudgy man in his late thirties. He broke away from the terrified parents and approached us. “You’re from the PIA?” he asked quietly, eyeing us doubtfully.

  “Yes, sir,” Liam replied and showed the sheriff his ID. We all copied him when the officer looked at us expectantly. “What can you tell us about the missing children, Sheriff?” our boss asked.

  “They’re four-year-old identical twin boys,” he reported. “They were wearing red t-shirts and blue jeans. They’ve been missing for three hours now. I found a print of what looks like an animal paw over there.” He gestured near a swing set. “The boys were playing with trucks. One minute they were there, the next, they’d vanished.”

  Deputies had erected barricades to keep the gawkers back. Parents had come to collect their kids as soon as they’d heard about the disappearances. Some of them had stayed to demand action be taken. Most of them seemed to assume a human had kidnapped the children. The sheriff hadn’t dissuaded them from that idea yet. Until we found the boys, we couldn’t be sure who or what the culprits had been.

  The sheriff ambled back over to the hysterical mother of the missing boys. Nick and Liam had exchanged a look when they’d heard we were searching for twins. My brothers weren’t identical, but this mission was hitting them both hard anyway.

  We crossed the playground, wending our way around the equipment and over to the swing set. The trucks had been abandoned and I could smell two almost identical human scents mixed in with dozens of others. I could also smell something that was vaguely familiar, but I couldn’t quite place it.

  “It smells like a mangy cat was here,” Franko muttered.

  Syd cut him a glare, then reluctantly nodded. “I’m definitely picking up on a feline. There seems to be at least two of them.”

  Brynn sucked in a breath through her mouth and nodded in agreement. “I can detect three of them.”

  Liam hunkered down and studied a blurry pawprint in a patch of dirt next to one of the trucks. “I don’t think they’re very big this time,” he said. “Whatever they are, they aren’t our size when we shift.”

  “That would explain why they took kids instead of adults,” I figured.

  “Can you sense anything strange, Crowmon?” Liam asked as he stood up.

  The deity’s gaze went distant as he quested with his senses. “Aye, lad,” he replied. “I can sense the same magic I’ve picked up at some of the other sites we’ve been to.”

  “Let’s find their trail and blast these cats into oblivion,” Franko said in a self-important tone.

  Liam shook his head that the alpha was trying to tell us what to do, then motioned for us to follow him. “Yas, the trail is leading northward,” he said without raising his voice. “Meet us on the other side of the fence and take the lead.”

  “I’m on it, boss,” the vampire said. She was already in position on the other side of the fence, rather than still sitting in the van.

  Chuckling beneath his breath at her initiative, Liam turned to face our vehicle and locked it remotely. He nodded at the sheriff that we were about to track the creatures, then led the way to a gate in the back fence.

  Chapter Twenty-One

  WITH YAS IN THE LEAD, we followed the scents of the missing kids and the felines that had taken them. So far, we’d only seen a few drops of blood, but there wasn’t much hope that we’d find the twins alive. Most of the monsters that had been brought to our world had been deadly. Crowmon and a few other beings that had turned up were anomalies.

  The cats had headed across a field to the woods a few miles away from Elmview. “I can smell five of these things,” Yas said when she stopped to let the rest of us catch up to her.

  “So can I,” Brynn agreed.

  “I thought snakes tasted scents,” Heath said. His tone was slightly mocking.

  “Everyone knows what I mean, Franko,” the wereconstrictor said. “I shouldn’t have to spell it out for you.” She was still pissed at him for the way he’
d behaved during their training session. None of the females wanted to spar with the alpha now that we knew he played by his own set of rules. We were all weaker than him, except for my bestie. Franko flat out refused to spar with the vampire. He knew she’d wipe the floor with him every time.

  “Keep it down,” Liam warned us. “We still don’t know what we’re dealing with yet. Until we find them, I want total silence.”

  Yas saluted him, no doubt smirking behind her mask. She took the lead again, moving so quietly that I could barely hear her. We all walked with as much stealth as we could manage as we followed the leech. Crowmon was able to muffle his noise completely.

  After a couple of more miles of trekking through the wilderness, Yas came to a stop. She went into a crouch and waited for us to join her. Pointing at a clearing, she waited for us all to make out what looked like a burrow. It was big enough for the little boys to have been dragged through it. Their scents led directly to the opening.

  Liam signaled for Emma to investigate the tunnel, knowing she could flee to safety in an instant if it was dangerous. I watched through the squirrel’s eyes as she leaped to the ground and scampered over to the burrow. Her night vision kicked in once she was beneath the ground. Moving noiselessly, my zombie reached a den that had probably belonged to a badger or something similar and looked around.

  I sucked in a breath when I saw the remains of the kids. “They’re dead,” I whispered, to no one’s surprise. Both boys had been consumed right down to their bones. Their clothing lay in tatters around them.

  “Is there any sign of the creatures?” Liam asked me quietly.

  I shook my head and called Emma back to me. She sank into the ground and popped up at my feet. “They’re probably out hunting for more food,” I said bleakly.

  “Search the area and find their trail,” our boss ordered. He motioned for me to stay with him, then the others split up to try to find a scent.

  Sydney signaled us a few minutes later. “They went this way,” she said. Everyone crossed to her and looked at Liam for fresh orders.

  “We should set a trap for them,” Heath said before our boss could speak. “That’s what I would do,” he added when we all looked at him.

  “What are we going to use as bait, Franko?” Yas asked him mockingly.

  “How about a squirrel, Porter?” he retorted sarcastically and pointed at Emma.

  “Damn it, that’s not a bad idea,” Yas muttered.

  Liam was annoyed that he hadn’t thought of using that ploy, but he nodded. “Hopefully, these felines won’t be able to tell that Emma isn’t alive. She can wait for them in their path. We’ll hide nearby and ambush them when they return.”

  The alpha puffed his chest out, feeling superior that his suggestion was being used. “Get into position, zombie,” he ordered.

  Emma just sat on my shoulder, staring at him unblinkingly.

  “You’re not our boss, Agent Franko,” I reminded him. “None of us take orders from you, including Emma.”

  Flushing at the reminder that he wasn’t in charge, the rookie crossed his arms and pressed his lips together.

  “Emma?” Liam said and gestured at the trail Syd had found.

  The squirrel obediently leaped to the ground and ran over to a tree stump. She climbed onto it, then went completely still to wait. She wasn’t fazed at being the bait for five felines from another dimension.

  A couple of long, boring hours passed, then Emma’s ears twitched. I heard the soft sounds of several animals slinking through the underbrush. I pointed at the squirrel, who was now pretending to groom her tail. Everyone went on full alert now that our quarry was heading back to their den. We’d all chosen trees to hide behind. Crowmon and I had picked a tree off to one side, since neither of us were armed. We wouldn’t get caught up in the crossfire here and would hopefully be out of danger.

  My eyes were sharp enough to pick up movement, then I saw the backs of five large cat-like creatures. Their fur was fluffy and gray, but that was all I could tell. Emma stood up on her haunches to draw their attention. Five heads instantly rose above the long grass. Their eyes were brown and they were carrying fresh prey in their mouths.

  The lead creature dropped the rabbit it was carrying and began to stalk my minion. Its companions stayed behind to watch, unaware that we were studying them. The feline slunk through the grass and underbrush, staying low so it was out of sight. I saw its head pop up every few seconds. Its pointed ears twitched and its long tail flicked from side to side.

  Franko leaned out from behind his tree and pointed his Colt at the animal. “Open fire!” he shouted, then pulled the trigger. The cat flattened itself down and the bullet smacked into the tree stump instead of into its head. Hissing and growling, the felines all went on the attack.

  Furious that the alpha hole had ruined our ambush, Liam signaled everyone forward. They stepped out of concealment and began shooting at the creatures that had converged on the newbie. Franko frantically backed away, kicking at them when they tried to slash him with their claws.

  Emma had jumped off the stump as soon as the alpha had fired. She’d used the zombie highway to return to me. She was ready to take Crowmon and me to safety, but I didn’t think it would be necessary this time. While they were fast and vicious, the animals couldn’t heal their wounds like some of the other monsters we’d encountered.

  Guns blasted in a continual barrage until the five felines were dead. Heath opened his mouth and Liam silenced him with a glare. “Not one word, Franko!” he snapped. “Or I’ll order Emma to take you back to the Shifter Corps base and leave you there so you can repeat your training!”

  The alpha snapped his mouth shut, clearly affronted. Holstering his gun, he crossed his arms and sulked while our boss took photos of the animals.

  “What the hell is wrong with you?” Nick asked our newest colleague in true puzzlement. “Do you have a pathological need to try to take charge all the time?”

  “I’m an alpha, Nicky,” Franko said with his usual arrogance. “You’re just a lesser wolf, so you’ll never understand my instinct to rule my own kind.”

  “You know, I’m sure whoever made these suits for me can make a muzzle for the douche nozzle,” Yas said. “He can’t blow our missions if he can’t open his trap.”

  Crowmon snorted out a giggle, which made me laugh. Everyone except for Liam and Franko found her comment hilarious. Our leader and the alpha hole were both too furious to laugh, if for very different reasons.

  Chapter Twenty-Two

  LIAM HUNKERED NEXT to the felines to examine them when he’d finished taking photos. “They’re definitely not from here,” he said. I ambled over to take a closer look at them. They were about the size of a lynx, but their mouths were bigger than normal. Their teeth were long and jagged and their claws were longer than usual. Apart from that, they could almost have passed for native animals.

  “They don’t have pupils,” Brynn noted as she studied them.

  “I wonder what dimension they came from?” Nick said.

  “Who cares?” Franko muttered. “What possible difference could it make?”

  “We need to know where they came from, so we can figure out what’s bringing them here,” Liam said in an annoyed tone. “Our job is to keep the world safe, which means preventing things like them from coming here in the first place.”

  Heath struggled against his urge to argue with our leader. It was obvious he didn’t respect Liam at all. “Whatever you say,” he said with a sarcastic salute. “You know best.”

  Crowmon nudged me in the side and I turned to see him grinning slyly. I had no idea what he was up to at first when he pointed at something. Then I saw a wasp begin flying towards the newbie. He’d only used a trickle of his magic to ensnare the insect, but it was enough to rile the wasp up. It darted towards Franko and stung him on the back of his neck.

  Letting out a yelp of pain, the alpha slapped at his neck, but the wasp deftly avoided his hand. It managed to stin
g him on the cheek, jaw and forehead before the deity released it from his control.

  Shrieking with laughter, Yas had to lean against a tree to hold herself up. Even Liam was laughing this time. Heath quivered with fury as the small lumps shrank, then vanished as he healed. There was no way he could prove any of us had been behind the attack, but he was clearly suspicious.

  “Even the bugs don’t like you, Franko,” Syd said, wiping away tears of mirth and smearing her eyeliner in the process.

  Liam put a tracker on one of the felines for the Cleanup Crew to find, then we returned to the burrow. “Someone needs to go in there and take photos of their lair,” he said. The guys were all too big to fit into the tunnel. Crowmon probably would have been able to squeeze through it, but he was just a consultant rather than an agent. This sort of work wasn’t in his job description.

  “I’ll do it,” Yas said in resignation. Not only the thinnest member of our squad, she was also wearing a suit that would keep the dirt out of her nooks and crannies.

  “Take photos of the remains and anything else I need to see,” Liam requested and handed his phone to her.

  “You don’t mind if I make a few long-distance calls, do you, boss?” she asked as she took his phone. He gave her a withering look, which made her snicker.

  I watched through my bestie’s eyes as she slithered into the tunnel. She had to crouch when she entered the den. “Sheesh, I barely have room to kneel in here,” she complained as she took photos of the remains. Her tone was subdued rather than amused, which meant her task wasn’t pleasant.

  We kept watch for more felines while we waited, but there didn’t seem to be any others. I was glad this mission had been relatively easy. Having Franko along was putting us all on edge. He made no effort to get along and he was constantly undermining Liam. We were all sick of his excuse that his alpha instincts were to blame for his rudeness.