by Dianna Love
“I’m going back to where I belong,” I managed between gritted teeth. Both feet were now on the floor, but I was standing only by my death grip on the bed and sweat soaked my cotton hospital gown.
“You’re heading back to Podunk, nowhere Idaho?”
“It’s Mud Lake.” I shook my head. Big mistake as the ringing bells took up residence and my vision blurred. “And no, I’m goin’ to prison.”
Mandy actually whistled, one of those low, can’t-believe-what-I’m-hearing sounds.
That made me crack a smile. Now I knew how to shut her up. Shock her into silence.
But she surprised me. Before I could do anything more than breathe Mandy was back chewing on me. “Ling Mai’s under a lot of pressure to make the agency succeed.”
“And I should care because?”
“She’ll sacrifice any of us in a heartbeat if it makes the team stronger. Especially a screwed-up witch.”
“Don’t you get it? I’m making her job easier.” I exhaled and shuffled forward.
“Ling Mai doesn’t like to fail. You bail on her, there’ll be a bigger cost than going back to wherever you came from.”
Maybe, maybe not. If I bailed that might save face for Ling Mai. It wasn’t like I was screwing up a mission and she had to scramble to hide the fact one of her agents couldn’t cut it.
I glanced around the room, looking for where they’d stashed my clothes when the thud of footsteps marching down the hallway made me look up. Another painful move that had me sucking air. Who knew how much of a person’s ribcage was attached to the rest of their body?
It was M.T. Stone, looking as gruff and dangerous as he was, even if he wasn’t that much older than I was. He was the poster boy for what an assassin should look like: whipcord lean, muscles rippling beneath his black t-shirt, hair that dark shade between brown and black and cut short, so short an opponent wouldn’t have anything to grab in hand-to-hand combat.
As if any opponent were stupid enough to even try. Stone had that edgy danger vibe that either said psychotic threat or lethal mercenary. I hadn’t made up my mind which it was, even if Vaughn and he were now an item.
Our team leader must like walking on the wild side. Waking up next to Stone would be like waking up next to a hungry panther. Not an easy thing to do.
But no longer my problem. Vaughn was a big girl and could handle herself way better than her debutante image made you think.
And Stone? He’d always land on his feet, most likely with a dead body nearby.
But I was determined to say my goodbyes, pack what I could take to the Gray House, and head out as soon as I could move.
“What do you want?” I growled at Stone, not caring if I sounded snarly and pissed off. He wasn’t my instructor anymore.
“Where you going?” he asked in that low-timbered, hint of a Southern charm voice, that left no doubt he was going to get answers.
“She’s goin’ to prison,” Mandy piped up from the other bed. “Knew she was a lightweight. Goin’ when the goin’ gets tough.”
If I could have swung round and bopped her one I would have. No Noziak was a lightweight unless they were dead, and I wasn’t running away. No matter what it looked like.
“That true?” Stone asked, holding his ground, like a steel wall to walk through, rather than around.
“Yeah.” I ducked my head. “I’m out of here.”
He shrugged. Which stung. No pep talk, no convincing me I was wrong, just a roll of the shoulders that made me feel like an A-plus loser. That and it made me want to crawl back in the bed and pull the white sheets over my head.
“Better report to Ling Mai first,” he said, as if my bailing were expected and not news. “She’ll want to know.”
Well screw him and his stick-up-the-backside attitude. Same with Mandy. This time tomorrow and they’d be so far behind me I’d forget their names in a week.
“Good.” I straightened but couldn’t stop a wince, which Stone caught but said nothing except narrowing his eyes. “I was heading to Ling Mai as soon as I found where my clothes were stashed.”
I wasn’t crawling to the director in a wispy hospital gown. Enough of me had been stripped already. My determination, my pride, my backbone. I’d salvage what I could, even if it killed me to wrestle into a pair of jeans and a t-shirt.
Stone marched over to a cupboard behind the open door, flung it open, grabbed a stack of clothes that stunk of sweat and echo-demon slime, tossed them on my bed and said, “I’ll wait for you outside.”
It was all I could do not to stick my tongue out at him as the door clicked shut behind his exit.
Supercilious prig.
* * *
Thirty minutes later I knew I was right about two things. Tussling into day old, stiff clothes was not a piece of cake, and left me sweating and bracing my legs to hold myself upright. And the second thing: I was more determined than ever to say goodbye to the Invisible Recruit agency and compound.
That’s what I kept repeating to myself as I followed Stone’s straight back gait over what must have been a mile of hallways until we reached Ling Mai’s office in the main house. The compound had started life as a summer retreat for a wealthy DC mucky-muck back when rich houses meant tons of stone, rare woods, high ceilings, and a staff of servants to dust and clean the place.
My shuffling footsteps echoed on the wood floors as we came to Ling Mai’s closed door and Stone stopped. He shot me an appraising glance, one that had his eyes narrowing again. “You’re sure you’re up to this?”
How many times did I have to repeat to myself that Noziaks were not lightweights? Though I could understand why Stone’s basilisk-like face actually showed concern. Even if the expression was gone as fast as it’d appeared.
My skin was clammy with sweat, hair tendrils glued to my face though my waist-length hair was pulled back into a ragged braid. I was breathing heavily, if in short gasps, and was chewing my lip to keep from moaning. “I’m sure.” I wished it hadn’t come out like a wimpy whisper.
Stone straightened. “Fine. Your call.” He knocked once then pushed the door open. “After you.”
The man was not a half-wit. Facing Ling Mai with news she didn’t want was only for fools or desperate idiots. I fell into both categories.
“Miss Noziak.” Ling Mai nodded her regal head an inch as I shuffled into her office, a setting that matched her cosmopolitan background. Gold brocaded chairs, an ornate desk that was probably some fancy furniture style, Louis the XIV or something, a small Chinese altar very discreetly tucked into the feng shui power position, according to Jaylene.
Ling Mai was Director of the IR Agency, a gracious Amerasian woman of indeterminate age, but probably somewhere between thirty-five and late forties, killer looks, and a soul-deep poise, especially in times of crisis. Her self-assurance made me feel like I still carried the dirt of Mud Lake, Idaho on my boots.
She was the last person one would suspect of running a group of covert operatives tasked by the U.S. alphabet agencies to do the jobs they couldn’t or wouldn’t tackle. And only a few power brokers in those agencies knew about the recruits’ additional abilities. The woo-woo factor. Most humans didn’t know or believe in non-humans, but a rare few of the ones we had to interact with did. And less than a handful of those truly believed in our abilities. Bottom line, ninety-nine percent of those who knew about us didn’t believe in what we could do and were just waiting for us to fail.
The one percent? They were the dangerous ones because they were the ones smart enough to know that non-humans and humans existed side by side. Knew and meant to retain the status quo between two worlds existing among each other. Humans did not want to know about non-humans. Funny thing was most non-humans felt the same way, happy to hide their abilities and talents to avoid witch hunts and wholesale slaughter.
We non-humans, the organized ones, governed ourselves using the Council of Seven. Seven of the most populous beings—shifters, demons, shamans, fae, mages, druids, and
vampires—with one representative elected for a lifetime position. They held ultimate power among the law-abiding non-humans and the council’s sole function was to keep the knowledge of non-humans from humans. Not an easy task but a necessary one.
I was so focused on thoughts of the council, the same council who let me be imprisoned for an unintentional killing I committed, that I almost missed Ling Mai’s next words.
“Congratulations on the success of your summoning exercise,” she said, setting down a Mont Blanc pen, a whisper of a smile shadowing her lips. “I knew you could live up to your promise.”
I glanced at Stone to see if this was some kind of a joke. He kept his face blank, eyes forward, hands clasped behind his back at parade rest. He couldn’t have shouted you’re-on-your-own-Noziak any louder.
Fine. I was used to fighting my own battles. But I didn’t really mean to blurt out my next words. “I just about killed the whole team. I wouldn’t call that a success.”
Ling Mai allowed one elegant brow to arch. “And yet you summoned a demon.”
“Three,” I mumbled under my breath.
“And you were able to send them away.”
Barely.
“Did you expect any of this to be easy?”
I shrugged.
“Then don’t behave like a disappointed child. You are undisciplined, only because you choose to be.”
Ouch.
She continued, “To become proficient with any ability you must practice at all times. Without practice you are an empty vessel, of no use to anyone.”
From what Ling Mai had told me when she recruited me, she was right. She’d said it’d be hard and there would be casualties. What I hadn’t realized was I didn’t care to be the one killing my fellow teammates, intentionally or not. It was clear as an Idaho blue sky that Ling Mai and I were on opposite sides of a great divide as to what was acceptable to get the job done.
She swept an elegant hand toward two chairs facing the desk. “Come closer and sit down.”
“I’d rather stand,” I said, squaring my shoulders and raising my chin. “I’m here to tell you I’m leaving.”
There. That wasn’t too hard.
“Oh.” Ling Mai clasped her hands in front of her on the desk, the picture of calm control.
I wanted to slam fists to her pristine desk, shout, throw something, anything to break her serene expression.
Yeah, lady, you’ll have to find another patsy to sacrifice for the greater good. Ling Mai’s perceived good.
Instead of speaking to me she angled her head toward Stone. “You were aware of this decision?” she asked, as if Stone did my thinking for me.
“She told me in the infirmary.”
“Did you tell her what has been happening?”
Damn, I hated it when people spoke as if I weren’t in the room. “Tell me what?” I demanded, as if I cared. Not really since I was out of here.
“Please, Miss Noziak.” Ling Mai pointed to the chairs again. This time I shuffled toward one and plopped into it. Easier than continuing to be bull-headed and risk toppling as my knees had begun to shake.
“Thank you. Now, Mr. Stone.” Ling Mai managed more communication in a nod, a smile, and crease of her eyes than most drill sergeants were able to produce in a whole repertoire of barked orders.
Once Stone took his seat, more graciously than I had, Ling Mai reached for a lavender-colored folder on her desk. Who kept purple folders for important information? The woman was in a league of her own. She didn’t open the folder but placed it beneath her clasped hands as if reading whatever was in it by osmosis.
“I’m afraid I have some disturbing news, Miss Noziak. News that I had planned to impart to the whole team later this morning, but which I’ll share with you now.”
Okay, I was as much a sucker for a secret as the next woman, but when I caught myself leaning forward in my chair, I pulled myself back.
No one said anything though. In the interest of prodding this show along I circled my fingers, the only thing on my body that didn’t ache if I kept the movement slow and my arms flat against the chair’s armrests. “So what’s this news?”
“We are seeing a disturbing increase in the number of negative incidents involving non-humans and humans,” she said, which wasn’t really saying a whole lot.
I glanced at Stone but spoke to Ling Mai. “But there have always been human and non-human interactions. Most humans just don’t realize what they are dealing with, and from what I know, most non-humans prefer to keep it that way.”
This I knew firsthand. My father was a recognized Shoshone shaman, though few outside of the tribe were aware of his designation. And only one within the tribe, and no one in the general population except for his immediate family, knew he was also a shifter. He and my four brothers. I, being the only girl, bypassed the shifter gene and took after my mother, a full-blown Celtic witch. Which is where I got my green eyes and my propensity for spell casting, rusty as it was.
“Correct, Miss Noziak.” Ling Mai nodded as if I’d answered an easy question on a pop quiz. “Humans and non-humans have existed side-by-side for centuries.”
Yeah, I got it. Most humans were clueless about their non-human peers. The only way non-humans could protect themselves, even though they were by far the more dangerous species. Dangerous but they could still be killed by people who didn’t like to share their world with anything other than themselves. From a non-human perspective most humans operated from a kill-first-then-ask-questions-afterwards position.
I think Ling Mai actually may have forgotten her control long enough to sigh. The woman must be seriously bothered. “Not all non-humans are dangerous, though there are enough races that can be a threat to humans if they decide to change the current status quo.”
Obviously I’d hit my head harder than I’d realized as I stumbled through translating her words. Finally I spread my hands and asked, “Who’s changing the status quo? And why?”
“Good questions and ones I’m afraid we don’t have the answers for.”
“Yet,” Stone growled with a low-timbre sound that sent chills snaking down my back.
“But someone or something is?” I leaned forward in earnest now. “Are you sure?”
I wondered how much she knew about the Council of Seven? Not that blabbing about them was going to make me friends with that group. Just the opposite. One spoke of the council only if they were tired of living.
“The signs are pointing not only to an increase in agitation among the non-human population, but a possible union among non-human groups.”
“What?” I glanced at granite-faced Stone before continuing. “You mean like Weres aligning with shifters? Or the fae joining forces with the pixies? Not likely.”
“I’m afraid it’s not only possible, but it’s already begun.” I heard a tremor of deep unease beneath Ling Mai’s tone.
That was seriously bad news, if it was true.
“But most of the non-human populations are enemies. Going back centuries and beyond. What would cause them to play nicey-nicey together now?” I asked.
It was Stone who answered. “An organized bid for power. Someone or something has found a way to set aside differences for a unified goal. Something that’s changed in the non-human world that’s more a threat than exposure to humans.”
“No freakin’ way.” I was sure this was a ploy to justify the existence, and thus the funding of the IR Agency. That was all.
I guess my look said what I was thinking as Ling Mai shook her head. “We are not fabricating these incidents,” she said.
The lady could be seriously spooky.
“In fact, the agency was conceived knowing full well that this scenario was a very real possibility at some time.”
Stone jumped in. “We didn’t expect to see the signs this early. The signs and the speed at which the agitation is growing.”
“Meaning what?” I ignored the worry swirling in my gut. I had lived among shifters and Weres. I kn
ew how dangerous they could be if unleashed on humans. But the thought of Weres joining with vamps, fae, or demons chilled my blood.
“We’re hearing of sightings worldwide,” Stone said, angling forward, leaning his elbows on his knees and clasping his hands together. “But it’s not that non-humans are coming forward to be seen, it’s what they have been doing.”
“Such as?”
Stone nodded toward the file on Ling Mai’s desk. “A cadre of shifters and vamps broke into two Swiss banks a week ago.”
“Stealing money?”
“Customer information,” Ling Mai said, the single word hanging like an iron weight in the room.
Since I came from a background where scraping together and doing without was the norm, and becoming a beauty operator was a step up financially, I was confused. “Why a bank? Or banks?”
“Not just any bank, but banks that service some of the richest individuals and corporations in the world.”
I shrugged.
“Information is power,” Ling Mai said, “With the lists removed from just those two banks, a third of the world’s most influential and powerful people can be identified and compromised if the details of their financial holdings, holdings which they work hard to hide, are revealed to their enemies or competitors.”
“Okay. I can see where this isn’t a great scenario,” I offered, thinking the situation might suck for some mucky muck who wanted to hide his fortune, but other than that, so what?
“There have been several more incidents,” Stone added. “A bio-research lab in Russia, which is one of the two locations where the remaining, live smallpox virus is stored, had a break-in yesterday.”
“Which means?” Usually I wasn’t this slow on the uptake but my head was ringing and the effort to just inhale my next breath was taking all of my concentration.
“Which means the virus can be replicated and used in germ warfare.” Ling Mai looked at me closely.
“Against humans?”
She nodded. “Combine germ warfare with magic and the potential for disaster is multiplied.”