by TL Reeve
He didn’t have to say their names for her to understand who he’d been talking about. “Logically, I understand the mission. My heart on the other hand...”
“It’ll get easier from here. We know the stakes now. We have Grainger on the inside. He’ll do what he can, and, in the meantime, we find those seer eyeballs.”
“Blarg, don’t remind me,” she grumbled. “I can’t believe we have people who keep gross stuff.”
“They’re not real.”
“Huh?”
Warren tipped her chin up and brushed his lips across hers. “They’re not real.”
“I’m confused.” Fallon turned and faced Warren. “How can they not be real?”
“Because of who our target is, we’ll load some video into a set of microchipped synthetic eyes and give them to him.” He shrugged. “It’ll be easy.”
She shook her head. “You’re not making sense.”
Warren sat up, dragging her onto his lap. “Let’s get some coffee and I’ll explain how all of this will work.”
“We’re kind of naked.” She glanced down at herself and him.
“Haven’t you ever been nude for no reason?” He cocked a brow.
“When I shift, sure. The rest of the time it’s been kind of hard due to the whole living in an orphanage thing.”
“Then all the more reason to do so today.” He placed her on the floor then stood. “Come on, I need some coffee.” He scratched his chest as he started for the door. His wings unfurled a bit then shook themselves out before settling into his back once more.
“Okay then...” She followed him into the little kitchenette area of their hotel suite. “Do you do this often?”
“Every morning. You’ve been too busy sleeping in to see for yourself.” He glanced over his shoulder, tossing her a grin.
“Well, I guess I shouldn’t be sleeping in anymore.” She leaned her hip against the counter while Warren prepared the coffee. “Now what?”
He flipped the coffeemaker on then picked her up and placed her on the counter. “Now, we make out until it’s ready.”
She laughed. “You’re insatiable.”
“Incubi.”
“No... I had no idea,” she teased.
He snarled before capturing her mouth with his. The warmth of his body touching hers, pushed away some of the negative thoughts crowding her mind. Fallon wrapped her arms around his neck and sighed, sinking into his embrace. When he pulled back, the content expression on his face eased some of the growing tension within her. As much as she worried, so did he. So did all of them. None of this was easy on any of them. It was selfish of her to not contemplate how Warren or Abraham or even Suān ní were dealing with the situation at the moment, let alone Grainger who’d been left behind.
Again, she was being self-centered.
“It’s okay to be worried about Lyle,” he said, as though reading her thoughts.
“I'm worried about everyone, to be honest. I, however, focused more on my pain instead of all of our pain. Grainger is in there. Lyle is in a cage smelling like a mate and something else I can't even put a name to. It's overwhelming.” She frowned. “I don't think we should wait for the auction. We should move fast.”
“If I listened to my heart, I’d say the same.” Warren tipped her chin up to meet his gaze. “But, my training is telling me we have to let this play out. We’ll obtain more evidence and learn more if we allow them enough rope.”
“Uh, what?”
“Haven’t you ever heard the saying, ‘given enough rope, they’ll hang themselves?’”
“No?”
He laughed. “In this situation, the more information you and Abraham find out while you’re at the warehouse, the more ammunition we’ll have when it comes to arresting those in charge there and within PBH.”
“Oh.” That made sense. “I get it.”
“Still sucks, right?”
She nodded.
“Grainger is trained. He knows what he is doing. Whatever they’ve done to Lyle and the others can be fixed. We have to find out what it is though.”
“So, I have to go back in.” The scent of fresh coffee filled the space and Warren handed her a mug so she could pour some for herself. “How do those synthetic microchipped eyeballs work?”
Warren took a sip of his coffee and sighed. “Because we now know who is running the warehouse, we can check out different CCTV feeds along with other footage and put together a montage of clips. It’ll pass the test and since whoever buys them won’t be back for a refund, even though they won’t work, he’ll never be the wiser.”
“Wait.” She held up her hand. “How will he see the footage?”
“Are you sure you want to know?” He stared at her; his gaze unyielding.
“Yes. I have to understand everything.”
“He’ll shave off a sliver of the sclera and eat it,” Warren said.
“Eat it? As in eat it, eat it? How does...” She shook her head, closing her eyes. “I thought he’d put it in his eye or something.”
Warren barked out a laugh. “No. Once the sliver is absorbed into the body, the nanos in the microchipped eyeball spread through the body and end up in the part of the brain responsible for memories—the amygdala. Since there are specific images in the microchip, the nanos will trigger those memories and play them back word for word.”
“Crazy. Who came up with that technology?”
“Keeley and Jerome.”
“Color me impressed.” She took a sip of her drink then slid off the counter. “Jerome is your guy, isn’t he?”
“Yep. He comes up with all the cool shit. Phoenix, his eldest son, has gotten into the business as well. He's developing some interesting tech too.” Warren took her hand. “We should shower before everyone arrives.”
“Is that your way of asking me to join you?”
He tugged her into his arms, careful not to spill their coffee. “I’ll wash your back if you wash mine.”
She bit her lip. The thick stalk of his dick pressed against her lower belly, sticky with precum. His body hummed with energy and arousal. If sex allowed her to not think for another hour or so, she was down. Maybe Suān ní would join us. She enjoyed the little scene both men put on for her in the early morning light. It was erotic and exciting. There'd been zero inhibitions there and she'd felt a bit naughty watching them, though they eventually drew her between them, turning their attention to her pleasure.
“I know that twinkle in your eyes. You were remembering early this morning, weren’t you? Pressed between Suān ní and I. The way we both filled your sweet little pussy with our cocks...”
She swayed toward Warren and moaned. “Yes.”
“I believe our kitten would like a repeat,” Warren said. “What do you say, Suān ní?”
“I would do anything to pleasure you, mistress.”
“Then a shower it is.” Warren grabbed Fallon’s mug and placed it on the small table. “Come, kitten. Let’s get your pussy cleaned up.”
She chuckled. “You’re vulgar.”
“And you, Fú zé, like it.”
Yes. Yes, she did.
When they stepped out of the bathroom, it was nearly two p.m.. The shower had been temporarily halted so they could enjoy each other in the large garden tub in the center of the room. By the time they stepped into the glass-enclosed stall configured by multiple shower heads, she'd trembled with excitement and arousal. The treats bestowed upon her in the tub did nothing to calm her.
Fallon sighed as she combed out her hair. The time they’d spent together in the bathroom, allowed her to forget about everything except for Warren and Suān ní. Now, the guilt rushed back to the forefront of her mind. She needed to concentrate. A knock came at the door of their room drawing her attention.
Their new team member was there.
She joined them after tying back her hair. When she entered the space, a man she’d never seen before stood with his back to the suite door. The menacing energy wafting o
ff of him was enough to keep her back. He had sandy-blond hair, gunmetal grey eyes, and a square jaw. He stood a bit over six-foot tall and wore leather. Tons of it. Head to toe. On his hands were skeleton gloves and around his neck was a half-skull face mask.
He wasn’t one of the good guys. She could feel it down to the depths of her soul.
“Fallon, this is Ghost,” Warren said, in way of introducing him. “He’s here to help.”
“Uh...” She ran her hands down the thighs of her jeans. “Good to meet you. I thought Jerome was supposed to join us?”
The man grunted. “It’s okay not to trust me. I wouldn’t if I was you.”
“How did you?” She stared at the man.
He pointed to his head. “Latent telepath. Still learning how to use it.”
“Oh.” She frowned.
“You’re broadcasting awful loud.” He smirked.
“Anyway, he has the eyes for us.” Warren held up the case. “He’s also staying. Jerome is still working on a few things.”
“W-what? Here? With us?” Her gaze snapped between both men.
Ghost laughed. “No, not here with you. Close by.”
She let out a sigh of relief. “Thank goodness.”
She joined them at the small table where Warren had left their coffee before they’d gone for a shower. The cups were cold now and she frowned. So much for a burst of caffeine. Warren placed the case in the middle of the table. She wasn’t sure what she expected when Ghost opened it, but what she saw turned her stomach. The eyes were covered in red as though they’d been freshly plucked from a person’s face. The optic nerves had been curled around eyeballs and laid on a small sterile cotton patch. The one distinguishing feature she also noticed besides how the eyes were presented was the fact the eye color was mismatched. Heterochromia. The left eye was brown while the right had been a light shade of green.
“Is that typical? For, you know, seers or whatever you want to call them.” Even though she knew they were synthetic, they appeared real. She waited for one to twitch and glance her way.
“For the rarest of seers, yes.” Ghost closed the case. “Giving you these, will take you farther into the ranks of the bratva running the warehouse.”
“Really?” She tilted her head. “They’re just eyes.”
Ghost chuckled. “When Kalkin told me you were green, I didn’t believe him. Your skills are exceptional, Fú zé. I expected you to understand how the whole dark web, black market arena worked.”
“Sorry. I’m into petty crimes.” She rolled her eyes.
Ghost snorted. “The easiest way for me to explain it is like this; you've brought them a vampire with the backing of the Nemescu family. There are only a few members of the family less than a hundred years old. One of them lives in Window Rock with her mates. The others live in Romania running the syndicate which has been around since the fourteen-hundreds. Tonight, you're bringing them a set of rare seers' eyes. They'll believe you're an exceptional pair of hunters. They'll keep you on their payroll to bring them more items, hence why I am staying.”
She sat back, the air leaving her in a whoosh. She hadn’t realized when they brought Grainger to the warehouse who they’d been delivering. She supposed it was due to Grainger keeping his distance with her, and her not wanting to get to know him. Now, she worried she’d never find out how he ended up under the Nemescu’s protection. She cut her eyes at Warren, pinning him with a glare, she hoped conveyed how pissed off she was. “Did you know when he volunteered?”
Regret and guilt filled his blue eyes. “We all did. It’d been why he chose to go in. He had more value.”
“Bullshit!” Fallon smacked the table with her palms. The sting of it flowed up her arms and added to her anger. “Why would you decide to send him in knowing the truth without telling me too?”
“The less you were aware of, the better chance we had of getting you in there,” Warren replied, holding up his hands.
“You made me seem oblivious then?”
“If you’d known the truth, would you have gone through with it?” Ghost crossed his arms, the creak of the leather, drawing her attention. “How long would you have argued with everyone about the danger?”
Hours. Days. She would have tried to come up with a different plan. Maybe sacrificed herself instead. She stared at him, refusing to answer the question though the truth stared her right in the face. Ghost smirked. The smug asshole still rubbed her the wrong way. He reminded her of someone else she knew but couldn’t place him.
“Exactly. They couldn’t risk it.” He sat forward then, bracing his forearms on the table. His gunmetal grey gaze snared hers. “You are still the loose cannon. Your technique is flawed though your attitude has gotten better. You act before you think and any wrong move could have ended up with all of you being killed, including my best friend.”
She frowned. “Grainger is your best friend?”
Ghost chuckled. “No. Lyle. I already lost his brother. I’m not about to lose him too.”
Fallon blinked. She sat there in stunned silence. This guy sitting before her was friends with her brothers? How? When? “You’ve got me at a loss. I’ve only regained my memories a few days ago.”
“I heard.”
“I’ve been stuck in a loop.” She scrubbed her forehead. “You say they’re your friends.”
“Yes.” He stood then. “I have to get back to Jerome and Phoenix. Warren knows how to reach me after you’ve made the delivery.”
“Wait!” Fallon shot to her feet. “You’re dropping this bomb on me and walking away? What the fuck, man?”
Ghost chuckled. “She is a lively one. Congratulations and good luck taming her.”
Warren gave a small sad smile. “Yeah, thanks. I’ll keep you posted.”
Once Ghost closed the door behind him, Fallon turned her ire on Warren. He held his hands up, the wary expression on his face gave her pause. They were all tired. They were all worried about Grainger and now her brother and the other two people with him. Every caustic sentence she'd wanted to spit at him, like venom, hoping to burn him so he'd feel half the pain she did, evaporated.
“I don’t know if I’m cut out for this kind of work,” she whispered. “I thought I could do it.”
“It’s not for everyone.” Warren wrapped his arm around her. “This is your first mission though. You’re way too close to it. You can’t turn off your emotions as easily anymore and it’s making it difficult for you.”
“Are you psychoanalyzing me?” She peered up at him.
“No. I can feel your emotions. You're all over the place.” He took a step back from her. “The big picture would be clearer for you if we were on a different type of mission. We also wouldn't have used Grainger. It sucks tossing you into the deep end, but getting your feet wet, wouldn't have worked either.”
It made sense. They had years to form their bonds together. She’d had a year and at that, she spent a good amount of time keeping all of them at arm’s length, including Suān ní. Now, when she opened herself up, she also had to deal with the fear of losing more than just Lu. The whole mission meant she could lose everyone she’d come to care for and she hated it. Because, deep down, she wanted to scream, don’t leave me. Don’t go. I don’t want to be by myself anymore.
“I think I understand. I don't want to, mind you. It's easier to be pissed off at you guys than to worry, even though it's all I've done since we left Grainger behind.” She wrapped her arms around her middle. “What if something happens to him? What if they kill him before we can save him?”
Warren snatched her back into his embrace. “Don’t. Don’t ever think in those terms. They’ll do nothing but hurt you. We will get Grainger back. We’ll save your brother and the others too. You’ll see. You have to trust us though. As long as we have your trust and you have ours, we’ll make it work.”
She pressed her face to his chest and inhaled. The masculine, clean scent mixed with darkness and brimstone. It calmed her erratic emotions,
steadying her. “I trust you.”
“Then we need to start getting ready. When the sun sets, you and Abraham will be on your way back to the warehouse.”
She bit the corner of her lip. “Can I, you know, join you when you wake Abraham?”
A warm growl of approval rumbled in Warren’s chest. “I believe Abraham will enjoy your company, kitten. As will I.”
Chapter 11
It was hard to get very many pictures. Grainger tried his best, but, being kept in a dark room with almost zero visibility, even for a vampire, didn’t bode well. As soon as Fallon and Abraham left, he’d been dragged to the cell beneath the warehouse and chained. The iron cuffs irritated his skin and made his hunger worse. Maybe going two days without feeding wasn’t such a good idea.
It’d been three now. Or, at least he thought so. Although he might be underground, he could still feel the pull of the sun, more so when it was directly over the building. He’d only experienced one full day cycle, he believed, since he arrived so it had to be night and, if his calculations were right, Abraham and Fallon would be returning soon with the eyes.
He smirked. The eyes. For every step in the wrong direction PBH made for humanity, PRA was right there, dragging society back into the light. The old fart, Jerome, continued to invent new tech for them. Since they found out about some of PBH’s practices, they began making synthetic organs. The first ones were made on a 3-D printer. Now, they were made with composite materials to give them a more realistic appearance.
Too bad he couldn’t be there to see the look on Fallon’s face when she saw the eyes for the first time. Grainger laughed to himself. She probably freaked out. Perhaps she poked them to see if they were real. Warren or Abraham more than likely explained how they worked and that too might have grossed her out. For all her bluster and verve, she was squeamish. He supposed it was why he liked her so much. Under the armor she wore to protect herself, she was a normal girl who didn’t like grotesque things.
Grainger closed his eyes. What he wouldn’t give to see her again. Realistically, he realized he wouldn’t see her until the auction, but a guy could hope. Already he could feel his body atrophying due to the lack of blood. He snorted. Just his luck. This could be the one mission he didn’t return from.