That didn’t mean she had to personally do it herself, which was a relief, because up until that very moment, Kat hadn’t realized she didn’t possess enough moxie to do it herself. She would have to get him to do it for her.
“You need to kick those shoes off…” She teased nodding toward his feet.
“Do you have a problem with shoes?” He laughed. He pushed his shoes of his feet then rolled over and kissed her. “First yours and now mine.” He chuckled as he pulled his pants off.
“I do.” She squeezed her eyes shut and kept them that way until she felt him get under the covers. As he shifted to kiss her again, she grabbed her bracelet, released the needle, and stabbed it into his arm as he shifted to get closer to her. She was grateful he didn’t feel it, or so she surmised since he didn’t even react to it.
He kissed her and had just reached around her back to unsnap her bra, yet again, when his entire body went limp. His weight nearly crushed her. She rolled him over, and then adjusted his head on the pillows. She got off the bed and leaned against the dresser for a moment to catch her breath.
Her body trembled. That had been one of the scariest missions she had ever been on, which made no sense to her. She hadn’t been in any real danger, so she couldn’t wrap her mind around why she had been so scared. Like crazy scared, in a way she hadn’t believed was possible. Glad that it was over, she walked across the room so she could get ready for the next portion of her mission.
Her hands shook as she pulled her dress on and she had to take several deep breaths so she could get the zipper up. She retrieved her barrette from the drawer, then pinned it into place and switched on her earpiece.
“This is Sierra reporting in,” Kat said using her usual handle. At the moment she wasn’t being utilized as a sniper, hence the phonetic use of the ‘S’, but it had become her permanent on-duty tag long ago. “I need all the cameras turned off in the main corridor so I can get into Vlad’s office.”
“Copy that, Sierra.” Jason replied.
She ran into Vladimir’s office, opened the lid on his laptop and inserted a thumb drive. She removed the back of the cordless phone, inserted a listening device, then replaced the battery and put it back on the charger. She watched as the tracking program installed itself onto the laptop then ejected it, shut everything off, and made her way upstairs. She did the same to all the equipment there, then met Wyatt, Ariel and David in the hallway. They entered the ballroom laughing.
Lauren looked their way when Jason informed her they had accomplished their mission. Several minutes passed and they watched as she laughed and joked with Vladimir. They disappeared outside for a long moment and when Lauren came back inside she headed their way. They piled into the Mercedes, drove into town, and parked the car behind a secluded building. They teleported to Ariel’s house and Lauren followed behind Kat as they stepped into the bathroom and locked the door behind them.
“What the hell happened?” Lauren whispered the second they pulled their cameras and turned off their earpieces.
“What the hell happened with you?” Kat asked. “I can’t believe that tonight, of all freaking nights, the damn wife hung around the entire time!”
“And he knew it too, he even asked one of his friends to send his son over to entertain her, but she wouldn’t budge.”
“Maybe she’s tired of sharing him…” Kat pulled on her jeans. “Come on; let’s get going before the purebreds get curious.”
They walked to the briefing table and took seats and waited silently as everyone made their way to the table. Ariel began setting up communications so they could teleconference with Elder Jay.
“Where’s Jason?” Kat asked.
“Something happened to the some of the equipment. He said it was some kind of power surge that came in from the satellite, so he’s attempting to fix it, and find out what the problem is.” Wyatt said.
Kat nodded and pulled open her book. She fidgeted the entire debriefing and was glad that no one asked for specific questions pertaining to Nicolas after she told them that she escorted him to the room and sedated him. After several long and boring comments, Elder Jay bid them farewell, and Kat walked to the teleporter and went home.
Kat stepped away from the teleporter beams and two seconds later Lauren appeared. She unlocked the double-sided keyed dead bolt, and they walked into Jason’s home office. Lauren started rambling on about their night, as Kat locked the closet door.
They strolled to the kitchen as Lauren recounted how sweet Vladimir had been and how much fun she had at the party. Kat felt bad that she had to remind Lauren that Nicolas was the subject of an ongoing infiltration, but Lauren didn’t care because she was miserable. She was defective and had spent her entire existence surrounded by purebreds.
But life had gotten far worse when she and Wyatt completed their unity ceremony, any hopes of living a normal life gone. It wouldn’t have been so bad if she had moved into a dorm room, but with all the defective agents, the High Council wasn’t taking any chances. Lauren and Wyatt were ordered to move in together and portray roommates. So Kat tried not to burst her bubble when she went on and on about flirting and dancing since it was all that she had, the only thing that put a smile on her face.
“Okay, so what the hell happened?” Lauren squealed. “And don’t give me that I just followed proper procedure crap! That dude was hot and man can he dance, it was like you two were made for each other. That damn tango left me pretty hot under the collar!”
“Shut up.” Kat laughed.
“You’re so blushing!” She giggled. “Come on! Tell me all about it, cause if he was that hot on the dance floor, then mama mia—”
“You are a pig.” Kat laughed. “I am happily mated, so I just followed proper procedure—”
“Was he a good kisser?” She cut in.
“Lauren!”
“Come on, Kat! I’m the one slated to be with a human now and I need all the juicy details. All the stuff they teach us is so boring!”
“Oh, all right,” Kat said. “It was nothing like what they teach you, so listen to mom when she’s filling you in, because that’s closer.”
“Kat,” she whined.
“All right, all right,” Kat sighed. “It was definitely more exciting than what mom says and it wasn’t like with Roger either. It was…” She looked at her for a long moment then sighed. “Crazy, really fast, but in a good, crazy, kind of way. That amount of passion was pretty intense even though I wasn’t interested—”
“You slut!” She giggled.
“Oh, hush.” Kat laughed. “I love Jason, so it wasn’t anything compared to kissing him but whoa, this guy is definitely experienced because there wasn’t any of the clumsy shyness that Roger exhibited—”
She looked down at her watch as it chimed, her hand stopping midair as the lights flickered, and the power shut off, then came back on. She silenced the watch.
“That’s gotta be Jason,” Kat looked around because the lights flickered again. “What the hell is wrong with the power?”
“Come on, tell me before he gets down here, did you sleep with him?”
“No!” Kat stared at her. “Lauren, I am in love with Jason—”
“But you and Jason don’t sleep together—”
“I’m sorry, weren’t you the one that told us they pump us so full of drugs that we can’t, which doesn’t matter,” she added. She looked around because the lights flickered again. “There’s more to being in love than sex—”
“I’m sure there is but wouldn’t that be nice!” Lauren giggled. “Tell me what happened, because I’m sure Nicolas doesn’t have any issues in that department!”
“Yeah, no worries there,” Kat chuckled.
“Go home, Lauren,” Jason called, the power going out the second he stepped into the room.
“Babe,” Kat jumped to her feet. “I didn’t even hear you coming downstairs.” She looked around as the power flickered again then gasped when she saw him.
“Wh
at the…” Lauren started. “Jason, are you—”
“Go home!” He yelled.
The lights flickered and the sound of electricity filled the room. She and Lauren took a step toward Jason because the sight of his sweat-drenched and pale face was so alarming they wanted to ensure he was okay. But that one step seemed to infuriate him enough that a streak of electricity coursed through him and when he yelled for her to leave again, a high-pitched frequency filled the room for a second, then the windows imploded.
Kat and Lauren dropped to their knees and covered their faces with their arms as glass shattered and flew into the room. Hopeful that the worst of it had passed, Kat leaned up to make sure Jason was okay and scrambled to her feet when she saw he wasn’t okay. He was the farthest thing from it.
“No!” Lauren grabbed her ankle and made her fall. “Don’t touch him, Kat, he’s—”
“Get off of her!” Jason lifted his hand, and a gust of wind erupted from nowhere and caught Lauren in its grip, then slammed her against the wall on the other side of the room. “I said go home. I told you to get out!”
“No, Jason!” Kat shouted when she saw a wild look in his eyes. “Jason, I need you to calm down!” She ran to Lauren and helped her up.
“Don’t touch him, don’t, Kat…” She spat blood out of her mouth.
“Get out of here!” Jason lifted his hand toward Lauren.
“No!” Kat said standing in front of her. “Go, Lauren, go and get my mom,” Kat told her then took a step toward Jason. “She’s going, babe, she’s leaving.” Kat held her hands up in front of her. “Please, Jason. Calm down, talk to me and tell me what’s wrong?”
“You know what’s wrong!” the lights flickered and crackled with electricity.
“No, please,” she stepped away from him. His skin looked iridescent from the glow of energy that surged through him. “Did you get hurt? Did something happen to you when the satellite interfered with the comm—”
“I blew it up!” He walked toward her. “I didn’t mean too. I didn’t, but when Ariel insisted that you leave with Nicolas, I felt the energy surge and I thought I had it under control—”
“You can, just try to calm down—”
“I can’t!” He reached for her and she tripped over a chair and landed painfully. “You pulled your camera. You turned off your earpiece—”
“It was only so wouldn’t have to see—”
“I saw everything!” The lights exploded. He dropped over her to shield her from the glass and surge of electricity that sparked across the room. “I saw everything, Kat. I used a satellite and the infrared,” he kneeled over her. He was being careful not to touch her, but she could see him struggling. “I had to make sure you were safe and that he didn’t hurt you.”
“Shh,” she cried. The agony of his face the saddest thing she had ever seen, “I’m sorry. I’m so—”
“Don’t,” he shouted. His eyes opened and anger replaced the pain that had been etched within them. “You liked it, you liked having to—”
“No, Jason—”
“You did!” He grabbed her forearm and pulled her against him.
The surge of electricity that flowed into her body caused every muscle to tense painfully and blood filled her mouth as her jaw locked into place and caught her tongue in the process. Everything went dark for a second and when she opened her eyes again, she was curled into a fetal position on the floor. Blood poured from her nose and she spat out what she was sure was part of her tongue.
“Babe, I’m so sorry.” He repeated, “Kat?”
“Jason,” she whispered, all she could manage. “It’s okay.”
“No,” he cried. “I hurt you, I didn’t mean too.”
“It’s okay.” She leaned up on her elbows.
He ripped his sleeve and handed it to her so she could wipe her nose. Before she could get done and catch her breath, he pulled her against him and the surge flowed through her again, her body tensing in a different way as she tried to push him away.
“I’m sorry; I don’t know what just…” He slid a few foot away from her. “I just wanna touch you,” he said between gulps of air. There was something about his breathing that caused the lights to flicker in the oddest way.
“I remember,” Kat felt the familiar flow of energy pumping through her veins.
“Kat!” She heard her mother call from upstairs a second after their watches chimed.
Jason’s face changed. The softness was replaced with darkness. The lights went out. Kat cried out when he grabbed her, the electricity crushing her. Jason screamed in agony, which caused him to release his grip on her. Kat crashed onto the floor, the jarring knocking the rest of wind out of her. She heard the familiar crackling sound filling the room, then heard Jason cry out again.
An odd adrenaline filled Kat’s body and brought her to her feet before she even realized what happened. She stumbled toward Jason, who had been flung across the room. Kat kneeled beside him, an intense anger consuming every inch of her. She looked up as her mother ran farther into the room; the urge to hurt her was so overwhelming that it brought tears to her eyes.
“He’s too strong, Kat.” Her mother slid to the floor beside them. “I need you to take some of the energy, let me grab him first, and then you take my hand—”
Jason bolted upright and with a flick of his hand, her mother cried out as electricity coursed over her body. She struggled to her feet, and then forced the electricity that flowed over her into a ball that she tossed back at him. The impact sent him flying across the room. Not being able to stop herself, Kat pounced on her mother and only released her throat when Lauren slammed into her. They slid across the floor.
Kat rolled on top of Lauren then pressed her hands against her chest. The fury within her was so overpowering that even though a part of her didn’t want to hurt Lauren, she couldn’t help it. There was a bigger part of her that demanded she do so. Lauren convulsed as Kat’s energy flowed into her.
Julianne pulled Kat off of Lauren. Kat spun and punched her, then stumbled when Lauren hit her from behind. She turned and faced Lauren, and with a flick of her hands, a ball of energy shot out of Kat and crashed into her. The force tossed Lauren across the room and she landed in a heap on the floor.
“Fight it!” Her mother grabbed her hand and put a syringe in it. “Fight that urge to hurt us. It’s natural because you are programmed to defend him, but they will kill him if they learn that he’s tapped into his powers.” Julianne pulled her into an embrace and Kat squeezed her eyes shut and tried to steady her breathing. She didn’t want to kill her mother. A part of her recognized that. “I need your help, kiddo. Calm down, you’re the only one that can inject him now, he’s getting too strong. Get him in the jugular, but let me grab him first—”
Kat was ripped out of Julianne’s embrace. Julianne was thrown across the room and landed next to the still unconscious Lauren. Jason somehow willed the wind to shift directions and pull Kat toward him. She didn’t resist it; she gripped the needle behind her back, and waited until she got close enough.
Kat pulled the cover off of the needle and when she was within reach, she jabbed it into Jason’s neck. He screamed and stumbled backward and she instinctively reached out to keep him from falling. When their hands touched, a jolt of energy overcame her. Then everything went black.
Chapter Nine Forgive & Forget
Kat wiped the counter clean and took a moment to study Jason’s parents. They were sitting on the back porch reading the paper, and for all intents and purposes, appeared to be the prototypical middle-aged couple. Kat knew better, and she hated that they had spent every day since Kat and Jason had come back from Russia at the house. Almost like they knew their son had nearly destroyed their beautiful wedding gift.
“Hey,” Brian said as he came into the room with groceries.
“Hey, Daddy,” Kat leaned over so he could kiss her cheek. “I’m surprised,” she laughed as she reached for some of the bags he carried in from t
he supermarket. “You usually buy the entire store—”
“He did,” Jason came into the room with several grocery bags. “There are at least eight more trips we need to make.”
“You exaggerate.” Brian chuckled, “Maybe four, at max, five.” He lifted bags onto the counter.
“Well, here’s one more load,” Julianne said carrying in two bags. “You go, Kat. I know you hate unpacking the groceries, and you know I hate carrying them in.”
“Deal,” Kat grabbed her sweater on the way out and pulled it on. The weather was unseasonably warm for October, but she still needed it.
“Hey,” Jason yanked her into the corner of the entryway and kissed her cheek. “Are they still here?” He took her hand, and they walked toward Brian’s car.
“Well, they knew my parents were coming over for dinner and a movie, so they invited themselves to stay.” She rolled her eyes as she picked up a few bags.
“I swear they don’t know anything,” he slammed the trunk. “I’ve spoken to my dad a bunch of times, and he doesn’t seem different or suspicious.”
“Then what the hell are they doing here all the time? The past five days have been a nightmare,” she whined.
“He did mention they received a report of a disturbance in the neighborhood a couple of days ago, but he hasn’t mentioned it again.”
“Did he mention anything in particular?”
“No, he said some of the neighbors heard a loud boom. But he was here the next day and we had everything cleaned up.”
“Maybe it’s the difference in you…” She added softly as she used her body to close the front door.
“What difference?” He whispered by her ear.
“That tickles,” Kat giggled as she turned her head. “And I told you already, you’re just different—”
“Would you two get a room?” Brian came into the room and took the groceries she was holding.
“We did, five with four baths and—”
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