by Meg Ripley
Jack nodded. “I see. So you’re saying you sensed something about the man?” He was glad to guide the conversation back to the mission instead of focusing on Erica.
“Like I said, I’ve been there several times. He keeps his animal quiet, though. I can’t tell what he is; I just know it’s there. And when I’ve studied the satellite imagery that the DHS has so carefully collected, I’m noticing more than just livestock. No one else pays attention because they’re only looking for humans.” Winston ducked under a branch that had grown out over the trail. “You’re really going to have to watch your back, Jack. I’d much rather go in myself than send someone else to do a job I’m perfectly capable of, but like I said in there, I’ve already been on the scene too much. You’re the only other one I trust with this.”
They walked on in silence for a moment while Jack debated saying anything more. Winston was, however, one of the few people he knew he could trust with his life. “What about Erica?”
“What about her?”
He ran his fingers over his lips, concentrating. “She’s not a shifter.”
“No.”
“Doesn’t that go against your plans of keeping shifters on shifter business?”
Winston glared at him, the dim light of the darkening woods casting shadows on his face. “There’s only so much I can do. She might not be one of us, but I do trust her. She’s earned herself quite a reputation, just as you have, and the small amount of time I’ve spent with her since we arrived has shown me that she’s competent and level-headed. I don’t think you have a better option.”
They arrived at Jack’s cabin, and he used his key to unlock the door. The space was much smaller than the one in the main building, but at least the rustic appeal hadn’t been tarnished by the presence of computers, desks, paperwork, and government employees. A small kitchenette sat in the far right corner, the queen bed only a few feet from it. Directly in front of the door was a small seating area. The place might’ve felt claustrophobic if it hadn’t been for the vaulted ceiling and the French doors at the back.
“Think it’ll do?” Winston asked, one eyebrow raised.
Jack nodded as he dropped his pack on the floor. “I’ve certainly experienced worse.”
His old friend clapped him on the shoulder. “My cabin is just a little further down the way if you decide you want a drink later.”
“Thanks. And Winston?”
“Yeah?” The older man turned in the doorway, expectant.
“I appreciate you thinking of me for this mission. I won’t thank you for getting me involved, not until we see how it goes, but it’s nice to know my work hasn’t been completely forgotten.” Jack really meant that last part. He’d lived in a world entirely different from most Americans, one they didn’t even know about. He’d done things and he’d seen things, and even though he might be hailed as a national hero for his actions, no one would ever know about most of them.
“I wouldn’t think of putting any bastard’s life on the line but yours,” Winston said with a grin. “Get some sleep, Jack. It’ll be a long, boring day tomorrow while Roger goes over all the tiniest details you could possibly imagine.”
“I will.”
But he couldn’t. Jack didn’t mind sleeping in a strange place. The bed was even pretty comfortable compared to what he’d slept in out in the field. The little cabin was cozy, and he could see it being the perfect place for a young couple looking to escape the rigors of daily life.
For Jack, though, it only left him with his thoughts. He took a quick shower in the small bathroom and tried to sleep. Despite the comfort of the mattress, he tossed and turned. His body and his brain were far too awake. Getting up, he attempted to watch television, but there was nothing on. He felt restless, filled with the need to do something productive. Really, though, he knew there was only one fix.
Jack opened the door at the back of the cabin and stepped out onto a small porch. The deck boards were splintery under his bare feet, and the humid air threatened to suffocate him. Jack tipped his face back to the moon, a waxing gibbous with thick clouds slowly streaming past it. The cicadas sang loudly, filling any parts of the air that weren’t already choking with water vapor, and a mosquito squealed in his ear. It was a miserable time to be human.
But not a fox. Jack didn’t bother taking any precautions before he let go of his human shell. The others were likely locked away in their cabins this time of night, and if they didn’t think they could trust him, they wouldn’t have brought him in. His spine rippled as his bones shifted position, his skin tingling as thick red hairs shot out of it in every direction. A thick, luxurious tail extended behind him as his hands and feet curled inward and morphed into black paws. Jack rolled his head to the side as his face extended into a snout, and the sound of the night around him instantly changed as his ears moved up the side of his skull.
God, it felt good to be himself again. Jack enjoyed quite a bit about human life, but there was no greater feeling than the freedom of being a fox. He padded softly off the deck and down onto the swampy ground. His weight was delicately balanced between his paws, meaning he didn’t have to worry about sinking in like he did in his other form. His tail provided balance as he moved among the trees, wandering away from the direction Winston had indicated his own cabin lay.
A small noise, so tiny he never would’ve heard it if his vulpine ears hadn’t picked up on it, caught his attention near the root of a tree. Jack paused, listening, watching, waiting. Soon enough, a tiny face poked out of a hole and looked around. It didn’t see Jack, still as he was, and it darted out onto the ground. Jack’s entire body came to life in the spirit of the hunt as he went after the mouse. His muscles moved without any conscious thought, keeping him light and silent along the forest floor.
The mouse realized it was being pursued and scurried along faster, but Jack already had the advantage. He pounced, his teeth swiping up the tiny body and tossing it down his throat. A fox didn’t exactly smile, not the way humans did, but he certainly felt the corners of his mouth pull back as he moved on. This was exactly what he needed. Jack liked people. He liked the feeling of brotherhood that came from working alongside those he trusted most, and he pulled in a certain amount of energy from knowing that the others on the Force always had his back.
There was something incredibly soothing, though, about having time alone. He wasn’t the only creature in these swampy woods, not by a long shot, but none of them were like him. Jack moved silently, knowing he could remain completely hidden from the world for a long time if he chose to. This was a therapy he’d employed all during his life, including his time in the Army. It hadn’t mattered if he was in basic training or on a top-secret mission overseas, Jack took any opportunity he could to let the other side of himself free. He needed that feeling of wild abandon, of letting himself simply be an animal. There were so many expectations that came along with being a human, and he could only handle them for so long. No one had ever spotted the agile fox darting around the edge of camp here or skirting around an Army base there. There would be only so much time that he could pretend to be a feral creature, though, because civilization needed him.
Stepping out into a clearing, Jack paused as the clouds parted and let the moonlight filter down onto the wet grass and illuminate his fur. He backed up as he realized he’d been so involved in his own pursuit that he’d hardly even realized he was no longer alone. The clearing he currently stood in served as a back yard of sorts for one of the cabins. A lone figure stood on the back porch, her hair lifting in the slight breeze.
Jack studied her, realizing after a moment that it was Erica. She looked completely different from this angle, her arms spread and her hands braced on the railing as she tipped her face toward the moon. Her eyes were closed, her chest rising and falling in long, meditative breaths. Maybe it was just the celestial glow on her face, but she had the beauty of a goddess.
He shifted his paws as she slunk further into the shadows. Even in his a
nimal form and from a distance, Erica did things to him. Saliva dripped from his pointed teeth and his heartbeat quickened. Despite his normal instincts to remain hidden from any potential enemy—and humans were always potential enemies in this form—he found himself fighting the urge to lunge forward, dart across the field onto the porch, and curl up around her feet. It was the most ridiculous notion he’d ever had, whether as a fox or a human, and he mentally chastised himself for it.
Jack was already putting himself in a precarious position by going on this mission. He didn’t need the DHS digging into his current job with the SOS Force, because that could potentially lead to his biggest secret being brought out into the open. Even heading into this terrorist’s compound meant putting himself and others like him at risk, since it was likely they were dealing with other shifters. How could he possibly explain himself to Erica if the truth came out?
His mind flicked through all the possibilities. He envisioned Erica realizing that Ben Jones or one of his recruits was something other than human. The horror and shock on her face were clear in his mind’s eye, and he was already rehearsing how he would de-escalate the situation. Even worse, the next image was Erica catching him mid-shift and understanding that he, too, was one of them. Encounters he would never have coursed through his brain, preparing him for any situation. It was an exhausting state of mind sometimes, but it was one that came naturally for him. Jack told himself that this was exactly why he was so good at his job. He couldn’t see the future, but he was constantly preparing for it.
Suddenly, Erica’s head tipped forward. She straightened, no longer leaning on the rail as she looked around the clearing. Her green eyes had turned teal in the moonlight as they darted from side to side. “Who’s there?” Her voice was barely above a whisper, but Jack heard it loud and clear.
He turned and raced back through the trees toward his cabin. She couldn’t possibly have seen him. Even when he’d stepped fully into the clearing, Erica’s eyes had been closed. He felt his mind trying to run through scenarios again, visualizing Erica telling him about her odd encounter behind her cabin the night before and how she had the distinct feeling she wasn’t alone.
No, he told himself as he paused just before reaching his cabin and shifted back to his human form, just in case anyone had been watching. Erica didn’t know him, and from the way she’d spoken to him at their meeting, she didn’t really care for him, either. Unless she thought there was a very good reason—like public safety—she wasn’t likely to come running to him with her fears.
Jack slipped back into his cabin and locked the door behind him. He took a brief tour of the small building, just to make sure no one had crept inside while he’d been gone. All was secure, and he flung back the sheets before crawling between them.
Though his body felt better from the swift run through the wilderness, he struggled to fall asleep, his thoughts consumed by Erica.
4
“All right. Here we go.” Jack got behind the wheel and fired up the ignition.
“Can our first stop be for a decent cup of coffee? The Department always buys the weakest stuff, no matter where they have me working.” Erica rubbed her face, the heaviness of sleep still thick behind her eyes. She hadn’t slept well for the last two nights. The little cabin resort wasn’t exactly a luxury hotel, but it was the type of place that should’ve been a welcome relief for her. The little winding lane that led back into the woods hadn’t been traveled by anyone but the mission team, and the cabins were well spaced out. It was exactly what she’d needed to keep her head clear as she prepared to go into the field.
Something was disturbing her, though. At first, Erica had thought it might be Jack. His presence had inundated her mind, flooding her with flashing images even before she touched his hand. To make things even more frustrating, she didn’t understand what any of it meant. Most people were pretty easy to read. Erica could pick up on childhood trauma, abusive relationships, and mental illnesses, and she’d learned to interpret and understand the symptoms fairly early on. Not everyone with a rough past acted out, but they couldn’t hide it from her, either.
Jack made her mind feel as though she were suddenly in a small crowd, one that she couldn’t parse out and separate to make the thoughts into smaller pieces her mind could handle. Her body reacted to him as well, but that was easy enough to understand. He was tall and well-muscled, his broad shoulders fitting tightly into his t-shirt. The smooth lines of his face and the intensity behind his light brown eyes would’ve made any woman weak in the knees.
“Didn’t sleep well?” he asked as he guided the battered car down the bumpy road.
“Hm? Oh. No, not really.” She’d almost gotten lost in her thoughts about him, even though he was right next to her.
“If you’re nervous about the mission, I don’t think you have any reason to be. This sounds like it’ll be a pretty easy operation. We get in, we get the information, and we get out.” Jack turned onto the highway.
Erica scowled at him. “For your information, I’ve been on plenty of missions before. I don’t need your reassurances.”
“I’m just trying to be nice,” he said with a shrug. “A lot of people get a little tense at the start of something like this. No matter how many times you’ve gone out, you’re always heading into something new.”
“I’m fine,” she said through gritted teeth, “and I don’t need you to mansplain my job to me. The only thing that bothers me about this mission is that I didn’t have much time to recover from the last one. That, and I’m working more directly with you than with Winston.” She folded her arms across her chest and turned her head to look pointedly out the window. The trees whizzed by, but she wasn’t really looking at them anyway. She was too busy fuming.
“What exactly did I do to piss you off?” Jack had been quiet and mild-mannered the previous day as they’d discussed the mission’s particulars with Mr. Worth. There was a hard edge to his voice now.
Erica pulled in a deep breath through her nose and let it out through her mouth, but it wasn’t slow enough to actually relax her. She had a feeling there never would be any relaxing around this man. “It’s not necessarily something you did, I guess, but I have to admit I’m pretty resentful that they would call in a consultant on this mission. I can handle this myself, and I don’t need you.”
“Clearly, Mr. Worth thinks you do,” he pointed out.
“No, I don’t! I’ve worked plenty of missions on my own, thank you very much. I’m sick and tired of having to deal with men in this line of work who think I’m too delicate to do it. They’re all afraid I’m going to have my period or something and not be able to complete the mission. It’s fucking ridiculous.” All her anger leading up to this was pouring out of her mouth. Erica didn’t know how to stop it, and she wasn’t sure she wanted to. She’d spent years keeping it all pent up inside, lest anyone should find out how she really felt, and now it seemed like there was no point in trying. It hadn’t really gotten her anywhere.
Jack was quiet for long enough that Erica risked glancing at him. He gripped the wheel with his right hand while his left rubbed the back of his neck. Tension filled his face, and she waited for him to explode right back at her. “I’m sorry,” he finally said. “It’s not fair that anyone should treat you that way. But it isn’t as though I was the one doing it. I was asked to come here and help, so I did.”
Erica snorted. “The words are nice enough, but I know you don’t mean it.”
“Excuse me? First, you tell me you’re pissed off simply because I happen to be here, and now you’re calling me a liar? You don’t even know me!” Jack’s left hand slapped against the wheel as he adjusted his grip, guiding the car smoothly around a curve despite his anger.
She knew him much better than he realized. True, Erica didn’t know how to explain the visions that pounded her head when she was around Jack. Some were easy enough, with a lot of sand and guns and blood, but others were more like a scene from a National Geograp
hic documentary. Even without her psychic powers, she’d seen the doubt in his eyes. He was just like Randall Holt, perturbed over her gut feelings that had served her so well in the past. “I don’t need to know you. I saw the way you looked at me when I was trying to explain why we have to go after Jones. You’re the type of man—just like almost all of you are—who doesn’t believe in anything you can’t see with your eyes.”
“I see. You’ve worked with some assholes, and you decide that just because I’m a little skeptical that I’m one, too. What an awesome mission this is going to be.” His grip tightened on the wheel now, his knuckles turning white.
Erica sucked in a breath. She didn’t know if she felt like crying, screaming, or flinging herself from the moving vehicle. Jack was big physically, taking up far too much space in the moderate sedan Mr. Worth had secured for them. Now that he was angry with her, his already massive psychic presence had grown tenfold. There wasn’t a molecule of air or energy that wasn’t saturated with him. “Maybe you should just turn around.”
He kept the gas pedal steady, with no hint of slowing down or looking for a place to turn. “I don’t think so.”
“I do,” she asserted. “We’re clearly not meant to be doing this together. I should’ve convinced Winston to come with me, or I should’ve just gone by myself.” It would look awfully damn good on her record if she actually got a solo mission. Erica knew that was a rare thing, and even the top-ranked specialists didn’t get those opportunities very often. The Department was big on keeping not just the citizens safe, but their employees as well.
“It’s not happening.” Jack’s throat moved quickly, thrumming with his heartbeat.
She was getting him riled up. He was a big man, and the bulge of his arms under the short sleeves of his t-shirt might have intimidated some. Erica didn’t sense any threats from him, though, despite his anger. She just needed to push him a little bit further, and then this whole farce would be over with. She’d get reassigned—most likely to the shittiest undertaking DHS could find for her—but she didn’t care. “It is. I’m not continuing with you.”