Rogue (Book 2) (The Omega Group)

by Andrea Domanski

  Come on, you’re running out of time. Myrick grabbed the beast by the scruff of his neck and pulled, but the bear didn’t move. He looked at him with his huge brown eyes and shook his head as though saying, “No.” Myrick got the feeling that his reluctance wasn’t caused by fear. Instead, it looked as though he was making a conscious choice not to be saved.

  Myrick stared into those sad looking eyes and screamed through the water, “If you don’t come, I can’t go out there and save your friends’ asses. Now move it!”

  Finally the bear swam, with Myrick pushing from behind. He didn’t know how long the beast had before the lack of oxygen caused him to lose consciousness and his body forced him to suck water into his lungs, but he guessed it would happen quickly. As opposed to allowing the bear’s natural buoyancy to bring him to the surface, Myrick propelled him there. He was rewarded by the hacking sound of a waterlogged bear taking a long overdue breath.

  “All right, buddy. Let’s catch up to your friends.” Myrick grabbed the end of the cord that was still attached to his chest and placed it in the bear’s jaws. “Same routine as with the door, except swim.” One by one, he picked up every wet animal in the river and deposited them on a large plateau on the river’s edge.

  “You can call me the Pied Piper, if you like.” The bear that was saved seemingly against his will, nudged Myrick’s thigh with his snout. “Not wearing a belt this time, big boy.” Myrick looked down into eyes that were more human than he’d expected. The bear lowered his chest to the ground and jerked his head to the side.

  “Seriously? You’re gonna give me a ride? Sweet!” Myrick smiled at the beast as he climbed on. “When you get back to your human form, you’re going to have to tell me how you got that scar under your eye. It looks kind of like a crescent moon.”

  Chapter 39

  Carter’s right arm had gone numb minutes after they’d left the hangar. The only reason he hadn’t already fallen to his death was the vise-like grip of his other hand on his wrist. Jackie would be furious to know he was treating his recently dislocated shoulder so badly. He didn’t know what direction they were flying as his view of the moon was blocked by the body of the chopper, but they were still over trees, so he assumed they were going north.

  Thus far, no one had tried to shoot at him, so he figured they didn’t know he was there. When they landed—for his arm’s sake he hoped that would be soon—he’d at least have the element of surprise.

  Carter used his time to search the ground below. There didn’t appear to be anything but trees; however, if he’d learned anything over the last few days, it was that looks could be deceiving. Still, when the copter finally angled downward, he couldn’t discern any sign of life below.

  When the chopper slowed to a hover twenty feet above a small clearing, Carter let go. Although the fall was dangerous, it was far less so than having a helicopter land on top of him. It also gave him time to get to cover before anyone disembarked.

  Once he was safely in the tree line, he grabbed the tranquilizer gun from his belt. He knew from experience they only held two shots, but since he’d lost his rifle in the hangar when Mirissa flung him to the chopper, it was his only weapon.

  As the chopper landed, Carter played out the upcoming scenario in his head. The general was the main target, but he was far from the greatest threat. One of the soldiers had been killed in the hangar, but that still left three more genetically enhanced enemies to deal with. Add to that the presence of Lou, and this little party was going to get real interesting, real quick.

  He waited until all the passengers were on the ground so he could see Lou. There were four soldiers, not three, but something seemed off with one of them. He was fighting against the hold two of his comrades had on his arms. The other one had Lou in his grasp. Carter made his decision.

  His first shot took out the soldier with Lou, his second hit one of the ones manhandling the unwilling soldier. Carter threw down his weapon and shifted into his wolf form. The clothes he was still wearing draped off his new frame. The pants fell off as he ran, but the shirt stayed in place, causing him to stumble over the too-long sleeves.

  He leapt into the air, jaws wide open at the other soldier. Before he could sink his teeth into the man’s throat, he was batted to the side. He rolled back to his feet and attacked again, only to be kicked in the ribs with a leg that was far more powerful than he’d expected.

  This time, instead of leaping for his throat, Carter aimed a little lower—below the belt. The “man code” might forbid that kind of conduct, but this guy was no normal man, and Carter needed every advantage he could get. He dodged the foot that was clearly meant for his head and latched onto the man’s nether regions. The high-pitched scream that followed told Carter everything he needed to know. That guy was out of the fight.

  To his surprise, the fourth soldier threw a punch. Not at him, but at the general, who crumpled as though his jaw was made of glass.

  The man raised his arms above his head and spouted, “I’m not one of them. My name’s Jackson. I’m Yavapai.”

  Carter’s wolf looked at Lou for verification.

  “He’s telling the truth. Not sure why he’s dressed like that, though.”

  Carter shifted back to his human form, straightened his crooked, grass-stained shirt, and grabbed his pants from the edge of the clearing. “Are you guys all right?”

  “We are now,” Lou said.

  Carter pulled some zip ties from his pocket and handed them to Jackson. “Can you secure those guys while I deal with the general? Wrists and ankles. Get the nutless wonder first. The other two will be out for a while.”

  The general pulled himself off the ground, straightened his uniform, and glared at Carter with a hatred he hadn’t seen since the night his father kicked him out of the tribe. “You haven’t saved the day, you know. Quite the opposite, in fact. A lot of good soldiers will die because of what you’ve done here tonight. Our men in uniform need my research. They need the enhancements I’ve developed.”

  “You might be right, General. What they don’t need, however, is you.” Carter grabbed the general’s hands and roughly secured them with a tie. “You’re a sociopath that needs to be put down and I, for one, want a front row seat.”

  Carter saw the general’s facial expression change from arrogance, to fear, and then to something that looked like relief. When the corner of his mouth twitched upward, Carter knew something was very wrong.

  He turned around just in time to see Lou swing a rifle like it was a baseball bat at a soldier’s head. The man went down hard, still holding the rifle he’d been aiming at Carter a moment prior.

  Lou wore a cheeky grin on his boyish face as he looked from the downed soldier beside him to Carter. “Now we’re even,” he said.

  Carter glanced over at the other soldier he’d hit with a tranquilizer, half expecting him to be coming after them, too. But he was still out cold, snoring a little with every inhale. That’s when Carter remembered: He’d traded pistols with Jackie back at the facility when they were planning on shooting Captain Hancock. The first tranquilizer dart in her gun held only enough sedative to last a few minutes.

  “Yes, we are, Lou. And, Jackson? You might want to get this guy next.”

  The ticking of the slowly cooling helicopter engine was drowned out by a thunderous sound coming from the woods to the south. Carter turned to see dozens of wolves and bears stampeding toward them. “Looks like the cavalry showed up.”

  “Yep. Too bad they didn’t make it a few minutes earlier,” Lou said.

  Carter smiled at the approaching tribe members. “True, but I’m just glad to see them working together.”

  Epilogue

  Mirissa woke up enveloped in the most comfortable chair she’d ever been in, let alone on an airplane. Despite her best efforts, she’d dozed off for the first few hours of the flight. Maybe there were some lingering effects from the massive amount of drugs she’d been injected with the night before, or maybe the craz
iness of the last week had finally caught up with her. Either way, with Greco’s arm wrapped around her shoulders, she was happy just to relax for a while.

  They’d delayed their trip home for a few hours to allow Carter some time with his father. Judging by the contented look on his face, their relationship was at a much better place than it had been. With Gina wrapped tightly in his arms, Mirissa thought he looked happier than she’d ever seen him. The kiss he planted on Gina’s lips just then confirmed it.

  “Oh, bloody hell. Not you guys, too. Between Mirissa and Greco and the two of you, I’m going to be filling up every air sickness bag on the jet.” Myrick popped him on his injured shoulder as he passed them in the aisle.

  “Hey! Watch it, fish-man,” Carter yelled to the Scotsman.

  Yep, things are definitely back to normal.

  A raucous laugh erupted from a few rows behind, and Mirissa turned to peek over the back of her chair. The newest member of the Omega Group, Captain Will Hancock, was being regaled with Han’s somewhat exaggerated stories of their exploits. Although he didn’t have a preternatural origin, Hancock’s enhancements, and recent unemployment, made him an irresistible hire for Mirissa’s mom. Han had taken to him immediately, as had the rest of the team, and Mirissa was secretly happy to not be the newbie anymore.

  Settling back into her seat, she asked Greco, “What did I miss?”

  “Just the usual rundown.” He ticked the points off on his fingers as he spoke. “The general’s capture was credited to a particularly dedicated young park ranger who is now ripe for a huge promotion. Director Finley is sending one of the lawyers he has in his pocket to make sure Persaud’s insanity is properly documented before whisking him away to parts unknown. The mind-controlled soldiers have been moved to an undisclosed location for de-programming and seem to be doing well. Dr. Powell is back at work at the DARPA facility, which is, of course, under new management. Turns out, he really didn’t know what the general was up to. Just goes to show that even geniuses can be totally stupid. The tourists who lost their memories have absolutely nothing to worry about. The blood tests showed low levels of a psychotropic drug that was, according to Powell, used to erase the memories of anyone who happened upon the facility’s entrance. Oh, and the Havasupai and Yavapai tribes are now friends.” Greco took a comically deep breath to illustrate that he’d finished with his recap.

  “So, pretty much the same-old same-old, then.” Mirissa reached into the bag at her feet and pulled out her book, eager to find out what dastardly plans the crazy psychics had for world domination.

  “Where did you get another copy of that book?” Greco asked.

  “I didn’t. This is the one I came with.”

  “You mean, as our last jet was hurtling to the ground, and you were faced with almost certain death, you thought to grab your book?”

  Mirissa gave him a wry grin and a quick peck on the lips. “What can I say? It’s a seriously good book.”

  The same flight attendant they’d had on their last flight rushed down the aisle toward Mirissa’s mother. She knelt down and whispered something urgently in her ear. Mirissa was overcome with a strong sense of déjà vu, as was everyone else on the flight, apparently.

  All eyes were on Myrine as she made her way to the cockpit. When she turned to address the team, they were already strapping on their weapons. “Relax. There’s nothing wrong with the equipment. We’re just heading into some strange atmospheric conditions.”

  “What kind of conditions?” Myrick asked.

  “I was just about to ask the pilot that exact thing.” As she turned to the cockpit door, it burst open and the pilot grabbed her arm.

  “I’ve never seen anything like this. I don’t even know what to call it, but it’s everywhere.”

  “What are you talki—?” The expression on her mother’s face as she looked past the pilot spoke volumes. Apparently, Mirissa wasn’t the only one that thought so, as every person on the plane clamored to get a view.

  When she reached the cockpit door, Mirissa’s jaw dropped. The sky that was once clear and blue was now filled with billowing red clouds, rolling in every direction. Black tendrils of what looked like smoke snaked around and through each cloud before moving on to the next.

  Myrine was the first to find her voice. “What are your instruments saying?”

  “Nothing. They’re not picking up any disturbance at all. When I sent Carrie back to get you, there were only two red clouds. Now”—He spread his arms wide—“they’re everywhere.”

  “Get us on the ground. Now,” Myrine commanded. “Everyone else, take your seats and strap in.”

  Mirissa turned to walk down the aisle, but stopped short. “Ow!” She grabbed the front of her shirt and ripped it open, not wanting to waste time with the buttons. The burning on her chest was excruciating and she needed it to stop.

  “Mirissa, are you all right?” Greco asked as he turned her around to face him. He saw it at the same time she did.

  The key she wore on a chain around her neck—the one handed down to her through generations of her Amazon family for reasons as yet unknown—was glowing red-hot.

  “Oh, this can’t be good.”

  The End

  Stay With Me!

  You’ve just read Rogue from the Omega Group Series. I hope you enjoyed it.

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  If you’d like to read an excerpt from Pandora, the next installment of The Omega Group series, please turn the page.

  Pandora

  Introduction

  The legend of Pandora’s Box predates recorded history and, as with all ancient legends, there have been many incarnations. A creation story, eerily similar to that of Eve in Genesis, it depicts man’s fall from grace at the hands of an overly curious woman.

  It is said that Zeus, angered when Prometheus gave the gift of fire to mortal man against his wishes, created the first woman as a punishment. Her name was Pandora, and the leader of the gods sent her to earth with a chest full of all the evils which had yet to plague mankind. Zeus gave her instructions to never open the box, but also endowed her with great curiosity, which he knew would cause her to disobey him.

  When she did so, the evils imprisoned in the box escaped, spreading disease, hardship, death, and a myriad of other suffering upon the earth. Gone was the utopian perfection that was once mankind.

  This story, over thousands of years, has been told almost as a cautionary tale for children. It is also only a fraction of the truth.

  Chapter 1

  Daedric coughed up another lungful of dust as his archeologist companions slowly chiseled away at the rock separating them from their prize. It took a great deal of self-restraint to not scream at them to move faster. They were so intent on preserving every Greek symbol carved into the wall, it had taken them more than a month just to uncover the entrance.

  All Daedric could think about was getting the box he knew sat on the other side of the wall and delivering it to his father. Dear old Dad, Ares, had saved him from Mirissa and the Omega Group team a few months prior, and Daedric needed to prove himself worth the effort. The only problem, aside from the incessant banter from the mongrel sent to keep an eye on him, was the utter disdain Daedric felt for the peons with whom he’d been forced to work.

  Humans annoyed him at the best of times, but having to pretend he was one of them—laughing at their ridiculous jokes, feigning weaknesses he didn’t have and, worst of all, not using his demi-god powers—became almost unbearable. Although he detested every second of living as a human, he also felt grateful to have the ability to do so. It was the only reason Ares, the Greek god of war, created him by impregnating his human mother. Ares needed him for this.

  No god could enter the chamber holding the infamous Pandora’s Box. Daed
ric’s human half allowed him to get close, but even that wasn’t enough to get him inside. His two recently acquired archeologist colleagues would have to bring the box to him, assuming they were able to get to it at some point in this lifetime.

  “Any chance we’re going to get into that chamber today?” Daedric asked them with as much kindness forced into his voice as possible.

  “For an archeologist, Rick, you are really impatient,” Jonathon, the boss, quipped in his usual condescending tone. The two men laughed. It was their standard line when discussing the colleague they knew only as Rick Aresson.

  “I was just asking.” Daedric’s jaw ached from clenching every time he had the urge to kill one, or both, of them. “Yesterday, you said it would be today.”

  “You did say that.” The whiny voice of his appointed chaperone echoed down the rock corridor. Flip, the little troll Ares insisted Daedric keep at his side, pretended to study the ancient Greek symbols carved into the stone at the other end of the corridor. The real reason for his distance, currently thirty feet away from them, was his aversion to pain. He was, after all, a full-blooded Greek god, and couldn’t get anywhere near the chamber.

  “I don’t know how you two got through all those digs listed on your resumes. We’ve only been at this for a month, and you’re already chomping at the bit. Relax a little, Rick, and tell your strange friend to do the same. We’ll get through when we get through.”

  The tap, tap, tap of the tiny hammers in their hands came to an unexpected stop. “Jonathon, I think we’ve done it,” the one named Luke whispered.

  Daedric leaned forward as they stood to admire their work. The last piece of the seal, which had kept the chamber’s door in place for five thousand years, fell to the floor. Even Jonathon looked excited to finally be through. His excitement, however, didn’t move him to speed up.