Code Name: Fox / Mind Games (Syndicate Series Book 1)

by A. L. Kessler

  “It’s my eldest sister, she’s sick. Sophia came with a price.”

  Reagan pulled the swaddling tighter around the child and nodded. “Go, help her. We’ll be fine.”

  He didn’t question her. There seemed to be something unsaid lingering as if he held absolute trust in her that if she said they’d be fine then they’d be fine. It was an odd feeling to have no questions, with the Agency, and even with Jake, there was always questions, conditions, check-ups. Being a witch, even one who could only use psychic magic, made her highly untrustworthy by normal standards. The idea that a werewolf could trust her without any prerequisites was liberating and frightening at the same time. She held his niece in her arms, one of his pack, and he trusted her. Looking down at the girl’s little face Reagan relented, maybe she should start trusting him a bit more too.

  She held her hand near Sophia’s fingertips and the little one reached out wrapping her fingers around Reagan’s digit and squeezing tightly. “Wow, that’s some grip you have, little one.”

  The baby laughed and cooed. She wasn’t sure how much time had passed while she stared down at the child, whispering and smiling at Sophia’s precious face, but somewhere along the passage of time something shifted. The child she’d eyed cautiously for being a beast, stared up at her with light blue eyes and every smile made Reagan’s heart feel fuller. This child had a right to live without being hunted. She never once stopped to think about the children in her blind hatred of werewolves, but holding this small member of the pack made her heart ache for the horrible thoughts she’d had earlier about wishing for the death of all werewolves. Sophia didn’t deserve that sort of blind hatred, no child did. Reagan paused her thoughts. But did the adults? Once they grew up, did they deserve to be lumped together and hated? Her moral compass was trembling, she wasn’t a hateful person, but when it came to werewolves, clearly she’d given in to the darker side of human nature.

  Something moved near the doorway and she looked up to find Liam, wiping his bloody hands on a towel and leaning casually against the door frame watching her. She frowned. “How long have you been there?”

  “Long enough to see that she likes you and you like her too.”

  “Well, she’s a very,” she paused trying to think of the right word, “agreeable baby. It’d be hard to not be taken with her.” Standing carefully as to not disturb Sophia, she walked over and held out her arms for him to take his niece. “How is your sister doing?”

  “Good. She’s resting and will probably sleep better with her daughter back in her arms.”

  Reagan nodded. “I’ll go to my room then.” Handing back the cooing baby Reagan felt a shiver when her fingers brushed against his. She passed by him and called out, “Later you’ll have to tell me about the blood.”

  He laughed. “Are you concerned for me?”

  “Hardly. I just imagine there’ll be a good story from whatever occurred.” Truth be told she had been concerned and chastised herself for actually showing it. But after he laughed again she conceded that he’d bought her cover up and would let her off the hook.

  The sheets tangled around Reagan’s legs as she tossed and turned. Dinner had been awkward, holding Sophia had been eye-opening, and actually caring about why the alpha of the O’Conner pack was bloody had pushed her past her emotional threshold, but sleep was elusive. Her mind raced with thoughts of the past. Her mother’s screams, her father yelling. As a child, all she could do was cover her ears, but as an adult, she’d forced herself to bury those memories deep and cover them in a thick hatred of the creatures responsible.

  She sat up in bed and looked around at her room’s furnishings, for all of its modern decor, one antique item stuck out and was beckoning for her attention. An old grandfather clock ticked consistently from the corner. There was a pull from the item but Reagan stayed in the bed. She knew that feeling all too well.

  Just like with people, one touch could suck her in, and she’d have to relive whatever memory was embedded in the item. It didn't happen with most everyday items, but when it did it was usually because of something horrific in the items past. Clocks were the worst. They remembered nearly everything. Some people chalked it up to the fact that clocks were made with quartz crystals, and crystals are conduits or batteries, especially when it comes to the paranormal. An old quartz watch could give off such detailed memories that it would be like watching a movie.

  A big item like the grandfather clock’s memory would probably knock her for a loop. She’d be out for hours watching the past play out which she didn’t have time to do. It was harder to pull oneself out of an item’s memory than it was with a human. In the past of an item you lose yourself. Psychics have been known to stay years inside an item only to surface to find themselves hooked up to life support in order to survive. You can’t eat or sleep or drink in a memory, if someone didn’t find you, you’d die and even when they did find you there’s never much they could do to help unless you’ve tethered yourself to the real world.

  Psychometry wasn't her strongest mental ability, but she'd trained in it enough to know better than to touch the clock. She’d had to do it before as practice during training. But she’d used Jake as her tether. He emoted enough that she could find him in her mind and pull herself out, but it had still taken hours before she was able to do it. There was no way she was taking a chance touching that clock in this place. No one would come to her rescue and she’d probably die right there on the rug in front of the ticking time-bomb.

  As the incessant ticking slowly started to coax her eyelids closed, a loud commotion came from Liam’s room. Reagan flew out of bed, pressing her ear against the wall. The only useful aspect of Psychometry was the ability to look through an object. The psychic touch could allow her to use a wall or other surface like a window to see what was hidden on the other side, but that too had its risks, and using it outside of the Agency was highly illegal. Given her current situation, she wasn't about to do anything that might get her in any more hot water with the Agency than she was already in.

  The sound was muffled but distinct. Someone was breaking stuff in the room. Without another thought she ran out of her room to his door and hesitated. She couldn’t just enter without permission, but if someone was hurting him then she very well couldn’t wait to knock. A shimmering form appeared next to her and the wolf’s astral projection pawed at the door whimpering. “I take it you want me to go in there?”

  The animal nudged the door with its head and howled. She looked around hoping no one would find her and the creature outside their leader’s room, and to her relief no one came. “Am I the only one who can hear you?”

  Of course the beast didn’t answer but went back to its scratching. She held her breath while testing the door handle. As soon as she was inside the wolf vanished and Reagan was faced with the sight of Liam convulsing on the bed. Rushing to his side, she examined him. There were no marks, no blood either this time. His face contorted in pain making a million hairs on her body stand on end. She didn’t like this game one bit. And truth be told she didn’t like seeing him in pain either.

  Without another thought, she climbed up on the bed and straddled him. His skin was on fire, sweat beaded his forehead. “You’re burning up,” she whispered and his only answer was some muttered groans and grunts as his body shook. Resting her fingers against his temples she slipped easily into his mind.

  Once again she was in the calm meadow. Liam was a short distance from her and his wolf was nowhere to be found. He was in pain, laying much how he was in the real world. As she approached two things stuck out. Something was giving the air a rancid smell and black veins were creeping up Liam’s neck.

  “Liam? Wake up. I need you to come out of this.”

  His only response was a moan that sounded more like an animal in pain.

  She knelt down and shook him. “Liam?” When no response came she slapped him hard on the cheek and shouted. “Liam!”

  This time he opened his eyes with ange
r boiling just under the surface until his gaze focused on her. “Reagan? How did you know something was wrong?”

  “Well, you broke a lot of shit in your room for one thing.”

  He arched a brow. “And the second thing is?”

  She shrugged. “I’m psychic, remember.” He nodded and she relaxed. There was no way she was telling him that she’d somehow pulled his wolf out of his subconscious and was relying on its instinct to protect its master. His hair stuck to his face and as she pushed it back she noticed that his skin was on fire in his mind as well. Her brow drew together. “I think you’ve been poisoned.”

  “Nothing attacked me though.”

  “Are you sure?” He nodded and Reagan stood up holding out a hand. “Well let’s get you up then.”

  His hand didn’t lift more than an inch from the ground. Panic whirled in the sky above them. His jaw clenched. “I can’t move.”

  Just as the words left his mouth the dark figure from before ran past, leaving a wake of stench in its path. Reagan jumped back and then took off in pursuit. Liam was yelling at her to stop and there was no mistaking the fear in his voice, but she ignored it. This person was hurting him and trying to set her up to take the fall with the Agency. She couldn’t stop.

  As she closed in one spell came to mind, and she threw her hands out yelling the words sending a stream of flames forth from her fingertips and engulfed the creature.

  The creature scrambled in a mad dash for the edge of the Mindscape and let out an ungodly cry. The flames chewed at its dark form until the creature cast a spell of its own and vanished. Reagan gritted her teeth and cursed, but Liam was still calling for her. She turned slowly around and returned to his side. "We need to figure out what is wrong with you."

  His eyes held hers and the wild look gave her a shiver. "Don't you ever do that again."

  "Do what? Save your life?"

  "Go after an unknown enemy. You could have gotten yourself killed."

  "And?" She glared. "I saved you, that is why you hired me, isn't it?"

  Liam took a deep breath. "I didn't hire you just to have your blood on my hands."

  "It wouldn't be on your hands. I am here to protect you."

  He growled in a way that made heat pool between her legs and she bit her lip in response. He didn't bother to say a word, but his growl said, "It's my job to protect you."

  She knelt down next to him in the meadow and tried to focus on the task at hand. "Why can't you move?"

  As he inhaled, his nose wrinkled. "Do you smell that?"

  "Yes, it's terrible. Smells like sulfur."

  He nodded. "In the real world you'd probably like the smell, but here it’s different, this is how it smells to us all the time."

  "What is it?"

  "Aconitum." His nose twitched again. "Wolf's Bane. Could whoever is doing this found a way to place some in my mind?"

  “I honestly have no idea.” She could manifest things in people's minds but never had she seen one have a reaction like this. She'd never in a million years thought of using a poison against someone by manifesting it in their Mindscape. "You must be in contact with it if it is keeping you from moving." Using all of her strength she rolled him over and found a small bunch of purple flowers that had been crushed under his weight. Reagan snatched them up and rolled him back over. She narrowed her eyes examining the plant. It looked familiar, but its stench was something she’d never smelled before. Holding up the flowers she incinerated them with the whisper of a spell and black ashes fell to the ground. "Done. Now can you move?"

  He reached up, and she thought for a moment that he might be reaching for her, but instead he withdrew his hand. Rolling to one side he pushed himself up and nodded. “I can move.” There was a pause and he finally cleared his throat. “You can pull us out of here now.”

  “Right.” She dropped her hands from his temples and stared down at him, his eyes opened and the fog of being inside his mind quickly vanished from both of them. Reagan’s eyes widen with the feel of his body hardening beneath her as his lips curled to show fangs starting to elongate. Another visceral response, her heart started to pound and her core ached. His hands were quick, but she was quicker. He gripped her hips just as she slid off him. The movement was a mistake. Both of them moaned at the quick friction that seemed to light both of them on fire. She felt her cheek burn and the heavy lump in her throat made it impossible to say something to cut the thick tension.

  Liam gave her a hungry look, and with a hoarse voice, he whispered. “You don’t mount an animal unless you want a ride, lass.”

  She had every intention of popping off with a witty retort but instead all she could muster was a breathy moan. The beast inside him must have liked that response, Liam snagged her around the waist and dragged her back on top of him. There was no way she’d sleep with him, not a werewolf, but she had to admit the heat between them felt good. How long had it been since she let someone touch her? Two years, maybe. As soon as she pulled herself out of his grip, the chill of loneliness rushed into her bones once again. It was a feeling she thought she was used to, but now that he’d sparked something inside of her the coldness made her hurt. “I should go,” she muttered with a shaky voice.

  His eyes grew wild as if he wanted her to stay but he nodded his head and sat up. “Yeah, probably for the best.” She trudged her way to the door, a part of her wanted him to tell her to stay. She hated that part of herself. She was weak and giving into temptations that she should never give into. Her hand hovered on the door handle when he called out. “Reagan, stop.” Her heart felt like it might skip which angered her even more.

  Turning slowly she stared at him. Her body shaking with anticipation. “Yes?”

  His face was stone cold and that achy cold feeling crept back in. His words practically dripped with ice. “I won’t be here tomorrow morning, so you’ll have to just make yourself comfortable. I’ll be back in the afternoon.”

  She clenched her hands into fists and locked her jaw as anger took over the feelings of loneliness. “You’ve got to be joking. If I am here to help you and protect you, then I am going with you. That’s what you are paying me for, remember? I’m not just here to be your fucking housemate.”

  Liam stood up and closed the distance between them while she pressed herself as close to the door as possible without becoming one with the thing. “You said you want no part of seeing my business and quite frankly as long as you’ve got this Agency-mentality I don’t think it’s in my best interests to have you anywhere near my employees or my business. So you will stay here and do as your told.”

  “I will not do as I’m told, you aren’t my master. I’m not one of your bitten mutts, you jackass. You don’t get to control the world like you control your pack.”

  “You know nothing about me and my pack and you are not coming with me, end of story.”

  “Then I’m not staying here.” Turning on her heels, she yanked the door open only to find it slamming shut before she could get a foot out the door.

  Liam’s breath was hot against her ear. “You are not leaving.”

  She should have kept her mouth shut but instead she turned around coming nose to nose with him and replied through gritted teeth, “Try and stop me.”

  His mouth crushed her. Reagan’s entire body stilled at the warmth of his tongue invading her. He tasted like spice and alcohol. There was no rational reason why she suddenly liked that taste, and without permission her arms wrapped around his neck, pulling him closer as she kissed him back violently. Her tongue warred with his, her teeth nipped and bit his lips. Everything she did elicited the same feral response from him. He tightened his grip, his hard body rubbed against her, and the sound of his growl echoed around the room. She could stay in that moment forever, her hands fisted in his hair as she bit his lip hard enough to make him snarl.

  Her head was spinning, mind racing, and more than anything she wanted skin to skin contact. Her hands dropped to the collar of his shirt and tore t
he fabric enough to score her fingers over his skin. Before she knew what was happening he pulled back. Panting, Liam rested his forehead against hers, holding her at bay, and took several deep breaths. “Reagan, stop.” She was trying to coax him back to her mouth, but he held still. “Reagan, you don’t want this.”

  “I just want—”

  He stepped back and reached out cupping her chin. The pad of his thumb brushed over her swollen lip. “Go to your room, don’t come back tonight no matter what. I won’t let you do this, you’ll hate yourself if we go any further.”

  “I—” She had no viable argument. He was right, she could already feel the self-loathing settling in now that her head was clear.

  “We both lost our heads. No harm, no foul. Go to bed. I’ll see you tomorrow.”

  His hand shook as he reached past her to open the door. It took several second for her to convince her feet to move and she felt the sting of tears burn her eyes as the door closed behind her.

  Her room, the beautiful room she’d be living in for the foreseeable future looked bleak and uninviting. She hated the feelings that were brewing inside her. She should never have let that creature touch her, let alone kiss her, and she should have fought the urge to kiss him back. Werewolves were not to be trusted and any sane person knew better than to have sex with one. It was a sure way to get bitten and Reagan would sooner die than let one of those beasts destroy her like they have other women.

  Curling up in bed, she pulled the blankets over her head and closed her eyes. She wasn’t sure where the frustration ended and the anger began, but new pain settled in between the two as a mournful howl rose up from the room next to hers. For as long as she had the strength to stay awake the wolf next door howled. She drifted off to sleep to the sound and long after her dreams took hold she could still hear it, but added to it was a chorus of answering howls as if whatever Liam was upset about could be felt by his pack as well.