by Amelia Jade
“Ah, Peyton Raine. It’s good to have you back into the fold again,” the woman said.
Even her voice makes me want to hit her as hard as I can. Twice.
“It’s good to be back,” she said noncommittally.
“I’ll bet,” the blonde said, clapping her hands together, and then straightening the lines of her dull gray business suit as they wrinkled in response to the motion.
A frown creased her face as she tugged at the sleeves, and Peyton immediately got the impression that this was a woman who needed a place for everything, and everything in its place. There probably wasn’t a huge ability to adapt to the randomness of life.
Her anxiety must suck.
The thought was so unrelated to the situation at hand that Peyton had a hard time not bursting out into laughter. But she kept herself under control and simply nodded in response.
“I must admit, seeing you here, slumming it with these Cadians after your fine, fine work on your last job was a surprise. But I suppose things don’t always work out the way you’d planned, now do they?”
Peyton hid her smile once more and agreed. “Yes, life sometimes throws you curveballs. But that’s why I got sent where I did, because I can roll with them. So, it took a bit longer than anticipated, but nothing to stress over.”
The blonde’s hazel eyes flared with anger, and Peyton let her lip twitch slightly this time, letting whomever it was know she’d phrased her words on purpose. There was clearly a history between them, but as was the broken record of her past few weeks, Peyton had no idea when or how.
“Indeed. But still, what you did over in Fenris? That was unbelievable. When the plan was brought forth, I knew it had far too many inconsistencies to work. It was too ridiculous. But somehow you made it work. I am impressed. The government there must have thought you were the greatest thing to come along.” She snickered. “Though I doubt they believe it now.” A shrug once again ruffled her suit. “At least those that are still alive.”
All the others in the room began to laugh at that, as if the deaths of people they didn’t know was just a game to them. Peyton let a false smile play over her face so as not to give herself away, but internally her mind was going crazy.
Fenris? Government? Plan? What the hell is she talking about? What the hell did I do?
She wasn’t entirely sure, but an idea was forming in the back of her head, and try as she might, Peyton couldn’t shake it, couldn’t stop it from coalescing.
“So why come to Cadia?” the woman asked as the laughter died down. “When I heard you were here, I didn’t believe it.”
Peyton returned to character, letting her face reflect her internal unhappiness, ensuring it was genuine. “I didn’t have much of a choice, actually,” she admitted. “Some elements there found me out, tossed me in a cell next to a bunch of people taken from here,” she improvised, with a wave to indicate she meant Cloud Lake. “Next thing you know, some Cadian commandos are knocking at the door and taking me back like I was some helpless little thing as well.”
She rolled her eyes. “Not ideal, but at the same time, it got me the hell out of there, and put me right smack in the middle of Cadia for a week before I came out here.”
The blonde—she still didn’t know the damn woman’s name—smiled. “Well I hope you got some useful information. We were admittedly surprised as all hell when you attacked Carter here.”
Carter. Finally. A name. But first name or last name? Peyton decided it didn’t matter; she could use it as either one. It was a start.
“Yes, I am sorry about that,” she said half-apologetically. “But they were still tailing me. I played it off like he was some creep trying to bed me, and they seemed to buy it, but it was a close thing.”
The man grimaced, and Peyton noticed that one of the two techs was failing miserably at hiding a grin at his colleague’s misfortune. Perhaps Carter wasn’t all that liked by others as well. The other one was staring at his screen in consternation.
The blonde followed Peyton’s look. “Well, what is it?” she snapped.
“Ma’am, there are shifters in the dry cleaner,” he said, his voice tight in shock.
Peyton spun. Kiefer! It had to be.
“You were followed!” the woman spat at Carter.
“Impossible,” he said. “There weren’t any in the bar.”
Her mind replayed the image of the woman at the final table as they walked out the back. Peyton knew where she’d seen her before. That was Allix, the mate to that captain, Klein, she believed. He was one of the Green Bearets that Kiefer was close with.
That sneaky son of a gun! He planted shifters who don’t look like shifters in there without telling me. And because I didn’t know, I couldn’t give anything away! Damn, he’s sneaky.
Her smile was cut short as Carter kept talking.
“There was no reason for them to follow us either. Unless...”
Peyton moved, but Carter was faster this time, having gotten the jump on her.
The cool metal of his knife came to a rest on her throat.
“I wouldn’t try that if I were you,” his voice whispered into her ear as he pricked her skin with the tip of his blade.
Chapter Twenty-One
Kiefer
Kiefer saw the steel-reinforced door behind the counter and with a snarl, took a straight-line path for it. He almost plowed right through the counter, but at the last moment flipped himself up and over it. Silence was the key here. They needed to sneak up on whoever was inside.
His shoulder impacted the door and it clanged open.
Surprise, mother—
The words died in his mind as he came to an abrupt halt. His arms flew out wide to either side, forcing Allix and Mia to come to an abrupt halt.
“What the hell is this?” Mia hissed angrily at the scene in front of them.
Kiefer’s eyes never left the man who was holding a wicked knife to Peyton’s throat. As he watched, a droplet of blood pooled and then flowed down the blade and dripped to the floor.
A threatening rumble filled the room, and it took him a moment to realize it was him.
“If you hurt her, I’m going to give you a brand-new definition for the word pain,” he threatened.
The man snorted. “Take a step toward me and I’ll slit the traitorous bitch’s throat.”
Peyton’s eyebrows rose in anger, and Kiefer shook his head. “I wouldn’t make her angry if I were you.”
“Enough dick-swinging!” a voice snapped.
Kiefer’s attention shifted very briefly to a boring-looking woman wearing a stiff business outfit. The drab gray only served to further emphasize a prim matronly look that he felt she was actually trying to avoid.
“Who the fuck are you?” he bit off, trying not to get too belligerent.
The woman ignored him.
“Peyton, Peyton, Peyton,” the blonde said, slowly shaking her head in time with the words as she stepped down from the upper tier in the room and onto the main floor where the rest of them stood.
Kiefer noted the two techies behind her, almost hidden behind their screens, but not quite. He immediately dismissed them as a threat; their faces had terror written all over them.
“You were supposed to abuse their trust in you,” the blonde continued, coming to a halt between both parties.
She turned to face him, placing her hands on the metal table that occupied the center of the room. It also separated Kiefer from the man hurting his mate. It didn’t provide a real obstacle to him, but it would ensure a fatal delay if he tried to go for the man before he could slice open Peyton’s neck.
“What you weren’t supposed to do is fall for him as well. You were just supposed to get any necessary information we could use, and then report back to us.” There came one more sigh.
“Fuck you,” Peyton spat. “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”
The blonde frowned at Kiefer and then turned to face Peyton as she struggled slightly, her efforts only
drawing yet more blood from where the tip of the knife dug into the tender skin of her jaw.
“What do you mean you don’t know?” she asked. “You were there; the mission was assigned to you. You should have known what to do when you were taken to Cadia. It was quite logical.”
“No, you stupid bitch,” Peyton replied. “I literally don’t know. I can’t remember a damn thing.”
Kiefer realized then what Peyton was trying to do. She wasn’t admitting her own weakness just because. She was using it, hoping to goad the woman, to get her to talk, to reveal things that none of them knew.
“Oh,” the woman said. Then her face split in a grin. “Oh, this is too rich. So you went and fell for this buffoon, without realizing what you’d done?”
The woman held her sides as she laughed, the tension in the room increasing on all sides. Even her puppet behind Peyton was getting annoyed with her. Kiefer wondered if perhaps she was always this unstable and on the edge. That would explain her minion’s apparent exasperation.
“You don’t remember why you were sent to Fenris in the first place?”
Peyton began to shake her head, but then switched to her words when the tip of the blade pressed against her. “No. I do not.”
More laughter.
“This is just too good,” the woman said. “For years I hated you, Raine. Hated you. I was convinced you were up to no good, that you had other plans. And now, you’ve turned rogue without meaning to, and I can finally eliminate you for good.”
“Well, you could try, but I think those three over there might have something to say about it,” Peyton said confidently.
“I can see how you might think that,” the blonde replied. “After all, big, bulging, and brutally stupid over there is just itching for a chance to rip Carter’s head off.”
Kiefer just grinned in agreement.
“But you might find their tune changes once they realize what you’ve done.”
“I doubt it,” Peyton retorted. “They’re good people.”
“Indeed, I’m sure they are,” the blonde taunted, having way too much fun with it. “But are you?”
Kiefer’s blood froze at the unyielding confidence in the woman’s tone. His eyes flicked over to Peyton, but her gaze was focused on the woman, even as her face went white. She’d heard it too, then. The certainty that this woman knew Peyton had done something bad.
“That’s right,” she said quietly. “When I tell them all about your mission to Fenris, and the talks with the government that you had. The way you beautifully manipulated them into war with Cadia. When they find out that you, and solely you, are responsible for all the death and destruction that has been wrought upon them, they aren’t going to be so quick to come to your rescue, don’t you think?”
Peyton was shaking now.
“That’s enough,” Kiefer growled.
“What? You don’t want to hear about how things are going to go now? The seeds have already been planted, you know.”
“The seeds of what?” Peyton asked, managing to get herself under control.
“Why, Cadia’s downfall, of course. The biggest and strongest of the shifter strongholds. Both of them are about to come under our control.”
“The government?” Kiefer asked in confusion.
“No, not the government, you big idiot,” the woman sneered. “Once your precious Green Bearets go and attack the remnants of Fenris, we’ll have all the jurisdiction we need to take over your Cadia, and do with it as we please.”
Kiefer rolled his eyes. “You’re too late on that one, lady. We’re not going to attack them.”
“No, you are incorrect,” the woman said. “Because there’s going to be incontrovertible evidence that they sneaked into town and killed three Green Bearets in cold blood.”
He arched an eyebrow. “And how do you plan to do that?”
The woman’s expression hardened and she flung a hand up in the air and snapped her fingers.
Without warning the two techies rose from behind their monitors and pointed something at him.
A moment later tranquilizer darts appeared in the chests of Allix and Mia. The women hissed in surprise, and then slowly collapsed to the ground as their shifter systems betrayed them. The heart of a shifter worked faster than a human’s, pumping blood through its system to increase cardiovascular support and also to power the rapid healing. But it also meant that if one of the few drugs that they were susceptible to was introduced into their bloodstream, it spread fast.
Kiefer didn’t have time to think before he reacted. He’d just seen the mates of two of his close comrades go down. He’d promised both Captain Klein and Colonel Richter that their mates would be safe. There was no other option now. Kiefer had to ensure that his side won.
A roar thundered from his throat, and with a casual flick of his wrists he sent the solid steel table flying through the air at the techies.
It was time to kick some ass.
Chapter Twenty-Two
Peyton
Her eyes widened as the two women flanking Kiefer fell to the floor.
The situation had gone from bad to terrible in an instant. She saw the rage blossom in Kiefer’s eyes as his bear realized it was under attack. It all sort of happened in slow motion. The blonde woman in charge was standing to her right, and Carter was positioned behind her with his left hand holding the blade under her chin.
Without thinking Peyton flung herself back and to the left, using her size advantage over Carter. She fell over him just as Kiefer flipped the several-hundred-pound table into the air, where it came down on top of the techs and their gear.
Glass shattered, sparks flew, and the lights in the room went haywire as an electrical current was set loose. Peyton didn’t have time for any of that, however. Her problem was much more immediate.
Carter and the knife.
Even as she fell to the ground on top of him, she was trying to wrench the knife out of his hands. Though she might have been larger, the more innate upper-body muscle development of males worked against her. She had leverage, but he was stronger. Peyton knew if she could get into a position to use that leverage, she might win. But in a close struggle like they had now, she was going to lose every time.
Then they hit the floor and she landed right on top of Carter. He groaned and for a split second his fingers went limp. She snatched the knife out of his hand, and, still on top of him, stabbed it down and behind her. The sharp blade bit deep into the flesh of his right leg. Carter screamed, suddenly brought back to full consciousness by the pain.
“I’m going to kill you, bitch!” he howled.
Peyton did a half-situp, pulled her elbow forward, and then swept it out behind her as she dropped back onto him. The bony point connected just below his eye and snapped his head around to the side.
Carter grunted and tossed her clear of him.
Peyton almost landed on her feet, stumbled once, saw Kiefer looking at her with a glazed look in his eyes. He held his hand to a red line across his side, saw the third tranquilizer dart embedded in the wall behind him, and then she crashed into the blonde, spilling both of them to the floor. It had all taken place in approximately a second and a half.
The woman screeched until Peyton drove a knee up into her stomach. Air was expelled violently and a panicked look appeared in her eyes as she struggled to breathe.
Peyton rolled to her feet just as Carter charged at her.
Kiefer sluggishly reached a hand out to stop him, but the short man simply ducked under the blow.
But Peyton saw it coming, and even as his head came back up, she drove her fist down to meet him.
It was all about leverage.
Given the extra distance and the perfect downward angle, her blow took him smack in his already-busted nose. Carter’s eyes promptly rolled up into his head and he fell to the floor.
There was a bright flash and suddenly all the lights went out, plunging the room into darkness.
Peyton spun around a
s she heard shoes scrabbling for purchase on the floor. Then the doorway, the source of only the vaguest hint of light, was suddenly blocked by a moving figure.
Without hesitation Peyton hurled herself after the blonde before she could escape. This was her only chance to figure out who she was, to learn if she truly had done all the horrible things she’d been accused of.
She burst through the door and amongst the racks of the dry cleaner. The woman was heading for the front, but Peyton brought her down with a flying tackle at the hips. The blonde yelped and hit the ground hard, almost rebounding up from it. Peyton was on her in a flash, but a surprisingly swift elbow took her in the ribs and sent her rolling off.
Peyton recovered and the two stood up.
To her surprise, the woman had adopted a combat stance, one foot in front of the other, weight evenly distributed, arms held up to help ward off any blows to her face.
“Come on then!” she snapped, beckoning Peyton over.
Peyton shrugged. “Okay.”
And she attacked, dancing forward and then lashing out with one, two, then three swift kicks aimed at her opponent’s legs. But the blonde bounced away from one, swayed out of range of the second, and met the third with a kick of her own.
Peyton winced as pain shot up her shin from where a foot had hit it.
“You never were a match for me.”
“I don’t even know your fucking name, bitch,” Peyton replied tiredly as she backed away.
Behind her metal jingled softly as she hit the thin wire hangers that had been obviously left behind. She snarled and batted them away, but they just swung crazily on their hooks.
Then an idea came to Peyton.
Without looking she reached up and took two hangers from the rack.
“What are you doing?” the blonde asked.
Peyton quickly flattened the triangular pieces of metal, until they looked like an elongated J-shape. Then she slipped her fingers into the base of each piece.
“What the hell?” the blonde asked as she advanced.
Peyton just smiled, and whipped her hand out.