by J. C. Diem
“He’s pretty awesome,” I said fondly and leaned down to pat him. He grinned up at me and his love for us all swelled. We were his pack and he knew this was where he belonged.
I felt rested and far more alert by the time we landed. It had been a long flight from Florida to Idaho and my stomach was rumbling. “I’m hungry enough to eat a horse,” I complained as we climbed into the waiting SUV.
“I ate a horse once,” Flynn told me and everyone turned to stare at him. “Or at least I think it was a horse. All that was left were a few slimy bones and four hooves.”
“It was a horse,” Mark confirmed. “The owner of the neighboring property paid me a visit while you three were in your wereforms. He was lucky enough to catch me as I was leaving to pick up some supplies.
“He told me that he’d found a hole in his fence. He’d followed the tracks of a small herd of his horses to our base. Your enclosures had only just finished being built a few days before we arrived. I can only presume that the horses were trapped on our property when the fences had been constructed. He asked for permission to search for the herd. I told him there was a cougar somewhere on the grounds and that it was far too dangerous for him to search alone.”
“That wasn’t a lie,” Kala mused. “If he’d entered my enclosure, he would have been dead within minutes.”
Mark nodded grimly then continued. “I told him I’d bring his horses back, but that it would take a couple of days. As soon as you transformed back, I used a drone to find the horses. I then called in the Cleanup Crew to coral them and return them to where they belonged. We were lucky Flynn only ate one of them rather than the entire herd. That would have been hard to explain. Cougars only hunt when they’re hungry. They don’t slaughter indiscriminately.”
Kala screwed her nose up and looked across me to Flynn. “How could you eat an entire horse? Not even I could chow down on something that big when I turn into a werecougar.”
“I guess my venom must have partially dissolved it,” he shrugged. Out of all of us, Flynn was by far the most fearsome creature when he turned.
“You’re a freak,” Kala decided with a grin.
“I’m one of a kind,” he responded and I felt a brief flare of pain from him. I had no idea where EERI had gotten snake shifter DNA from. As far as we knew, he was the only wereconstrictor in existence. His origins were a mystery to us all.
“Where to, boss?” Reece asked.
“We have a base a couple of hours away from the EERI compounds,” Mark said. “It will take us three hours to reach it.”
I groaned, beating Kala to a complaint this time. “Please tell me we’re going to stop for food.”
“Of course,” he said with a faint smile. “I’m a patient man, but not even I could put up with listening to four shifters whining that they’re starving for three hours.”
Reece slanted him an affronted look. “I never whine,” he informed our boss.
“You’re whining right now,” Mark replied.
Opening his mouth, Reece realized there was nothing he could say to help him win this argument. Let it go, I advised him when Kala and Flynn sniggered. You’re an alpha. You’re strong enough to deal with it. Besides, you know he’s only teasing you.
He was too serious most of the time and it was rare for Mark to joke around. Reece conceded defeat and I gave him a mental pat. Good boy. I’ll give you a treat later.
He sent me a wry look. I’m not Zeus. I can’t be bought with treats.
That depends on the treat, I replied and sent him a picture of what I was going to do to him. His ears turned red and he put his foot down on the gas.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Nine
We stopped at a diner in the first town we came to and ordered takeaway. We opted to eat our meals at a small park across the road that had picnic tables. I gave Zeus a burger before taking a seat. I scoffed down three burgers and large fries then followed them up with a milkshake. Chock full of energy again, I was ready for action.
“Using your necromancy must be draining,” Mark observed. Unlike us, he ate at a normal pace. Being the only human among us, he also ate far less than we did.
“It isn’t usually this bad,” I replied. “I guess calling up a corpse that’s been dead for several hundred years took it out of me.”
Kala noisily sucked down the last few drops of her milkshake, drawing a disgusted stare from a passerby. “I wonder what the creepy little half-faery wanted with the zombie,” she mused.
I shrugged and tossed my trash into the bin. “I have no idea.”
“We have more important things to worry about right now,” Mark reminded us.
“Yeah,” Flynn agreed. “Spying on EERI and trying to locate the person in charge.” Balling up his trash, he casually tossed it into a bin that was at least thirty feet away. A small kid walking hand in hand with his mother grinned in delight, revealing gaps in his teeth. He waved at Flynn, who raised his hand modestly in return. The sun was sinking from the sky and it was dark enough that the shot should have been nearly impossible. We were lucky his mother hadn’t witnessed it.
We took a brief bathroom break while Mark stocked up on more snacks. Then we took to the road again. “Do we head to our base or to the EERI compound first?” Reece asked Mark.
“To the EERI compound,” he decided. “I’d like to take a look at it as soon as possible. The intelligence that the Board gave us is several days old now. For all we know, the compound might be deserted. Besides, it’s on the way to our base and we’ll be passing near it anyway.”
Idaho was more rugged than I’d expected. The airstrip had been on a relatively flat area, but we entered the mountains shortly after leaving the field. Just like our agency, EERI preferred their bases to be in remote areas. Both of our organizations were clandestine. It was a classic case of good versus evil. It should have been strange for shape shifters to be the good guys, but our goal was to save humanity while EERI’s seemed to be the opposite.
Reece followed the directions from the GPS to the central base that was surrounded by five other compounds. He made sure to stop well out of range of any cameras or surveillance that they might have in place. He nudged the SUV off the road and parked behind some trees so it was hidden from view. It would be just our luck for a random patrol of guards to drive past and see our vehicle.
“Are you ready?” I asked Kala when we gathered together. We wouldn’t be bringing the cat to us this time, so Zeus didn’t have to stay in the SUV. He stood at my side, alert and ready for action. To him, this was an adventure. He knew there was danger nearby, but it beat staying behind and waiting for us to return.
“As I’ll ever be,” she replied and rubbed her hands together nervously.
It was easier to take control of her this time. I carefully stayed away from any thought that included sex and concentrated on the task at hand. It wasn’t easy since sex was on her mind pretty much constantly.
It’s not my fault, she thought almost sulkily. Linked to her like this, it was difficult to keep our thoughts separate. If you were a werecat you’d be exactly like me.
I know you can’t help it, I replied. But that didn’t make it any easier to deal with when my father was one of the men on her mind.
Kala sensed a cat and I angled towards it. I took over its brain and realized it was larger than a normal feral cat. I was pretty sure it was a lynx or maybe a bobcat.
It was a male this time and I made him lope towards the distant EERI compound. He covered the ground at a steady pace. When he was close to the boundary, I directed him to climb a tree. Lying on a branch, his head turned slowly from side to side. I surveyed the base through him, taking in everything. The bright lights around the perimeter made the cat squint, but he could make out what was going on inside the grounds.
Watching through me, Reece relayed what we were seeing. “There are at least twenty armed guards.” All of the men wore black uniforms and carried assault rifles. “There are over a d
ozen trucks and jeeps parked in the lot as well as thirty or so civilian cars.”
The parking lot was to the right of the building. There were no trees, shrubs or gardens on the grounds. The last EERI base we’d been to had been painted the same color as the ground to help it blend in. This one was plain gray and was unadorned by paint. It was stark and made no attempt to seem like anything other than an institution where bad things happened. The building was long and wide and only one level on the surface. We knew there were two more levels beneath the ground.
I watched the base through the cat for a while, but didn’t see anything particularly interesting. I was about to direct him to return to his territory when he spotted a vehicle approaching. A long black car drove up to the gate and stopped. A guard jogged over and the window was lowered. The guard nodded deferentially at whoever was inside and the gate swung open.
“That’s interesting,” Reece said thoughtfully.
“What is it?” Mark asked with a hint of impatience. He desperately wanted to see what we were seeing. It couldn’t be much fun hearing what was going on secondhand.
“A limousine just arrived. It’s pulling up out front of the building. Two guards just climbed out, followed by a man in a black suit.” We watched as the man was quickly surrounded by guards. “I didn’t see his face,” Reece continued, “but he’s clearly important. Two of the guards are carrying expensive looking suitcases. It looks like he’ll be staying here for a while.” The VIP was escorted inside then the limo was parked with the rest of the cars in the lot.
“Do you think it’s him?” Kala asked excitedly. “Could he be the boss of EERI?”
“There’s no way to be sure,” Mark replied. “We’ll find out when we infiltrate the base and question him.”
“You can leave that part to me,” she said with a gleam in her golden eyes. “I’ll make him talk.” Cats were known for their cruelty when they were playing with their prey. Feline shifters were no different. This wouldn’t be the first time she’d tortured someone for information.
Mark nodded his agreement. He wasn’t squeamish about the idea of her using knives on the man we were hunting. “I contacted the O Squad earlier,” he said. “They have the manpower and equipment to break into the place. Kendricks didn’t like following my orders, but I reminded him that the Board has promised us all the resources we need. He and his team should have arrived in Idaho by now. I’ll arrange for them to meet up with us to infiltrate the compound in a few hours.”
“They’re not going to stay at our base, are they?” Kala said with a scowl. “I don’t want any of them going through my underwear drawer again.”
“They have their own accommodation this time,” Mark soothed her. He hadn’t liked sharing our quarters with the Obliteration Squad any more than we had.
He moved aside to call Kendricks while Kala and I returned the cat to his hunting grounds. Shaking his head when we withdrew from his mind, he looked around in confusion then began to wash himself. He wasn’t sure what had happened, but he was already putting the strange experience behind him.
“We’re in agreement then?” I heard Mark ask and tuned into his conversation.
“Fine,” Kendricks ground out. “My people will handle the infiltration this time. It won’t be necessary for any of your agents to assist us.”
“If you insist,” Mark said and rolled his eyes at Kendricks’ churlish tone. “We’ll meet you at the designated area.”
“We’ll be there,” the leader of the O Squad said with grim promise.
“Why do I get the feeling he doesn’t like us much?” Kala said.
“He lost seven men the last time we teamed up together,” Mark reminded her as he tucked his phone away.
“That wasn’t our fault. We didn’t kill them.”
“Actually,” I said. “We did kill one of them.”
“Oh, yeah. I forgot about Flynn breaking that guy’s neck.”
“I did?” he said and blinked. “I don’t remember it.”
“The hydra had control of you,” Mark told him. “You weren’t to blame.” Not that Flynn would have felt any remorse. Kendricks and his men might work for the same organization that we did, but they weren’t exactly good guys. I’d personally hoped we’d never see them again. Now we were going to be joining forces with them once more. Something told me this mission wasn’t going to end well. They weren’t even here yet and I already had a bad feeling in the pit of my stomach.
Mark checked his watch and motioned for us to head back to the SUV. “Let’s head to our compound. We’ll need to stock up on weapons before we enter the base. God only knows what we’ll find once we’re inside.”
Kendricks might not want me to bring my sniper rifle with me this time, but we weren’t going to go in unarmed.
Thanks to Reece’s tendency to break the road rules, it only took an hour and a half to reach our newest compound rather than two hours. Dense woods surrounded the entire property. The trees had been cleared for thirty feet on either side of the electrified fence, leaving a strip that was devoid of vegetation. It would be hard for anyone to sneak up on us with the cameras that were spaced out every twenty feet or so. Mark would be alerted on his tablet if anything came too close.
Zeus asked to be let out as soon as the gate swung open. Hearing the request through me, Reece stopped without needing to be asked. Flynn sent me a querying look when I elbowed him in the side. “Zeus wants out,” I explained. Alarm flashed across his face. He scrambled out and opened up the back door. I grinned when he climbed back in. “He doesn’t need to go to the bathroom. He just wants to run a perimeter check.”
“Oh,” he said sheepishly. “I guess I’m still traumatized from the incident in the park.”
“Poop in a bag,” Kala said and sniggered. “I doubt any of us are going to forget about that in a hurry.” He leaned forward to send her a dour look, which only made her laugh more.
Every time we arrived at a new base, it was like coming home. Every building looked exactly the same. The usual black van was parked in the garage and we pulled up beside it. The only difference with each compound was the décor. It was always interesting to see what the interior would look like.
Whoever had decorated our compound this time was obviously fond of green. The leather couches were a deep forest color while the rug was leafy green. The dining and coffee tables had been painted a cool pale mint color. All that green should have been overwhelming, but it was actually fairly soothing.
“Whose turn is it to cook dinner?” Mark asked when we’d all scanned our prints into the system on the computer table. He knew us well enough to know we’d already be hungry again.
“Mine,” Kala said then snorted out a laugh at our horrified expressions. “Just kidding.”
“It’s my turn,” Reece said.
“Do you need any help?” I asked.
“No, but I could use the company.” We shared a smile and he linked his fingers through mine as we headed to our rooms to unpack.
“I’ll be in my room,” Kala announced. “I’ll lose my appetite if I have to watch you two making googly-eyes at each other.”
Flynn disappeared into his room as well and Mark took a seat at the computer. We heard his fingers on the electronic keyboard that was embedded in the table even before we reached my room. Once we were inside, Reece backed me against the wall and kissed me, stealing my breath away as always.
“I’m hungry!” Kala yelled. “Suck face later!” Unfortunately, our door was open a few inches and so was hers. The soundproofing only worked when our doors were closed.
Reece rested his forehead against mine for a few moments before sighing and stepping away. “When this is all over, we’re going to have a long vacation so we can be alone without any distractions.”
“You’re on,” I agreed then shoved him towards the door. “Go, before Kala bursts in here and drags you out by your Mohawk.”
We might be tightly bonded now, but he headed to his
room and left his bags inside rather than unpacking his gear in my room. The closets were fairly large, but there wasn’t enough room to hold both his and my belongings. My bathroom cupboards didn’t have a lot of space either. At least the bed was big enough for two.
I took a few minutes to unpack then headed downstairs. Reece had beaten me to the kitchen. Taking a seat on one of the six barstools that were lined up next to the long island counter, I watched him as he began taking items out of the fridge. Someone in the Cleanup Crew had thoughtfully left a plate full of raw steak in the fridge for our dinner. He put them in a frying pan to cook then chopped up vegetables and set them to steam.
By the time our meal was ready, I was starving, but it wasn’t food that I wanted to devour. I wanted to drag Reece upstairs and tear his clothes off. Food first, he thought. You’re going to need your strength for what I have planned for you.
I let Zeus in and fed him as everyone gathered in the dining room. I barely took my eyes off Reece during our meal and didn’t take in much of the conversation.
“Reece and Lexi,” Mark said sharply. “Are you even listening?”
“Huh?” We both said. Our plates were empty and we hadn’t even noticed it.
“Just go,” our boss said in resignation. “Get it out of your systems so you’ll be able to focus on the mission tonight.”
Kala’s wicked laugh followed us as we raced upstairs.
₪₪₪
Chapter Thirty
I barely waited for Reece to lock the door before I was on him. Pushing him against the wall, I mashed my mouth against his. Heat instantly flared and spread through us both. I grabbed hold of his t-shirt and tore it off him. His amusement quickly changed to desire when I unzipped his pants and knelt to draw them down to his feet. He toed his shoes off and I pulled his jeans free then tossed them aside.