by M. D. Grimm
“I pity all of you!” He stared at her as she stood over him, panting, her eyes wide and her hair disheveled. “You are the soulless, Godless fiends who will never know anything but hate and bloodlust! You are the disease plaguing this world, and the only way civilization will be saved is if all of you are exterminated!” He flipped her words against her, and she shut him up by kicking his face. He blacked out.
Poe stood on the other side of the street from PurNex—it was a tall and narrow office building. Rather nondescript and hidden in plain sight. He stood with Odin, binoculars to his eyes and his left hand holding Odin’s right. It was a very interesting thing—Odin’s ability—he not only could make himself invisible, but if he concentrated hard enough, he could make whatever he held invisible.
Including other agents.
They stood in a vacant doorway, the busy city of Dallas surging past them. Horns honked, people chattered and ranted, and the smell of exhaust and greasy food hung in the air. It was also incredibly warm and Poe felt his body armor more acutely than he should. No one noticed them, and that gave Poe time to scope out the building.
“Seven stories,” Poe said. He had a small, discreet radio placed in his ear that allowed him to be in contact with the other agents waiting for the signal to invade. All of them had radios and he’d ordered Glenn fitted with one as well. The entire Agency had been deployed and all agents not stationed elsewhere were now in units of three or four, each with a select mission.
“Probably has a basement,” Odin said in a low voice. His ability didn’t extend to keeping them unheard by the rest of the world, which meant they spoke in undertones.
“What about security?” Poe asked, still looking through the binoculars. “You think they have any link to the cops?”
“Doubtful,” Odin said. “Considering what they get on with in there.”
Poe’s face tightened, and the hand on the binoculars threatened to crush the metal between his fingers. He focused and calmed enough not to break his equipment, which he sometimes did accidently. The gift of strength did have its drawbacks. He could crumple metal as easily as a normal person could crumple a piece of paper.
“Private security,” Poe murmured. “Cameras. The techs still working on hacking into them?”
“They are,” Odin said. “But it would seem that the Knights have fail-safes. The techs don’t want to risk setting off an alarm.”
Poe hated that they were essentially blind without those damn cameras. But what could he do? It was now or never. “I don’t see any guards….”
“Let’s hope those access codes the techs found work the way they should,” Odin said.
“Give our guys some credit, Captain,” Agent Pan’s voice came through Poe’s small earbud. “Jin and Persephone did it themselves. They don’t make mistakes.”
“Good to know,” Poe said dryly as he pressed his finger to the ear bud, activating it to speak. “But don’t get cocky, agent. We have no room for error. Stay focused. Stay vigilant.”
Night was falling. Perfect for what they wanted to do. The front doors required an access code to get in, and all the windows were thick and probably had sensors in them. Where the hell had the Knights found the funds to purchase all those goodies?
Poe pressed his finger to the ear radio. “Glenn, report.”
A second later Glenn’s voice came through as clearly as if he were standing right next to Poe.
“Agent?” Glenn said.
“Listen carefully, Glenn,” Poe said sternly. “You’re only a tourist in this operation, understand? You don’t take the initiative, and you don’t wander off on your own. You stick to Agent Isis like you’re made of glue, do you understand?”
“Yes, sir,” Glenn said.
“And if the shit hits the fan, you get the hell out of there, do you copy?”
“But—”
“Glenn.” Poe used his most intimidating voice, the one that always made the Agency aides pee their pants if he used it on them. “Do not argue with me. I’m going against my better judgment by letting you tag along here. I won’t allow you to mess this up. This is bigger than you or Hunter. If Isis is killed or severely wounded, there will be nothing you can do for Hunter. You will be shot without mercy. Your only hope for survival is to leave.”
“Hunter—” Glenn continued to protest.
Poe could hear the desperation and anguish in the shifter’s voice. It pained him but he never let it show, in words or tone.
“—will be the first to die when the Knights know what we’re doing,” Poe said bluntly. “His only hope is if you and Isis find him before the Knights can organize. Do you copy?”
There was a moment of tense silence before Glenn answered. “I copy.”
“Good.” But Poe still didn’t like it. “Isis.”
“Poe,” she said.
“Take care of the kid,” he said. “As best you can.”
“That’s my job,” she said, no inflection in her voice. It was her job. It was the Agency’s purpose.
“We can’t wait much longer.” Odin said as night fell completely, blanketing the city. Dallas was still busy, the street in front of them still filled with chattering people, only this time most were dressed for clubbing.
“I know,” Poe said, stowing his binoculars and gripping the strap of the AK-47 rifle hanging off his shoulders.
Poe rattled off the positions for the different units, quickly relaying to them their mission and the sequence of events that needed to happen if they were to succeed. His stomach turned to ice when he called for radio silence. The hand that gripped Odin’s was sweating profusely, making him grateful he was wearing gloves.
“This is going to get messy,” Poe murmured.
Odin squeezed his hand. “There’s no other way it could be.”
For the first time in hours, Poe took his attention from the PurNex building and looked at Odin, grateful and proud that his old partner still had his back. Odin gave him a small smile. Neither of them spoke of the fact that they hadn’t alerted their chief about this operation. And when he learned about it, there would be hell to pay.
They had all synchronized their watches, and Poe waited, braced, for his turn to enter the enemy’s lair.
Chapter Eleven
Glenn and Isis went in right after the tech team shut down the security and cameras. Glenn stayed close to Isis as they went in the back door. She pointed up and he nodded. The halls were dark but they wore night vision goggles. Isis moved silently, like she wasn’t even there, just a mirage. Glenn tried to copy her and half wished he was in deer form—he could be way more silent as a deer.
His stitches itched. Dammit, what a time to have that nuisance. They probably needed to be taken out. He swallowed hard, remembering his quick phone call to Rowan. Poe had given him five minutes on a burner phone, which was why he didn’t contact his father. Douglas would have demanded a thorough explanation. As it was, he trusted Rowan to convey the short message he’d managed before Poe snatched the cell away and destroyed it.
They found the stairs and headed up. Glenn’s eyes adjusted quickly and what he saw didn’t distress him very much. The inside was as mundane as the outside—it looked just like any other office building. There were offices with the names of the occupants and mailboxes stuffed full of paper. But as they reached the second floor, he noticed the difference right away. All the doors required passcodes and there were large signs warning everyone that these were restricted areas with delicate equipment. Glenn’s stomach flipped at the thought of the “equipment” they had behind those doors. And what they did with that equipment.
Monsters.
Hallways turned into lobbies full of cushy couches and tables with coffee machines. It all looked so innocent, so mundane. But it was nothing of the sort.
Where is Hunter?
They went up another flight of stairs, but the door they needed to go through was locked, with a sign stating this was restricted access. There was a keypad next to th
e door on the wall with a small box that indicated a card had to be swiped before the door would open.
Isis said nothing, and pulled out her tablet and a card that had a cord attached to it. Glenn noticed that the other end of the cord attached to the tablet. Isis swiped the card, punched a few keys on her device before typing on the keypad. The light, which had been red, turned green and they went through. Glenn became colder and colder as they climbed up the floors, each becoming steadily more sinister. The number of doors shrunk, indicating that large rooms dominated the floor—like massive laboratories.
But as they reached the sixth floor, they came across their first signs of life. This floor had many doors, all with numbers and letters on them. Isis shoved Glenn against the wall as a figure at the end of the hall froze at the sight of them. Before the person could do more than stare, Isis sprinted up to him and a flash of blade met Glenn’s eyes. Then the figure fell and Isis gestured to Glenn. Legs trembling, Glenn followed her, stepping over the dead knight, a dark pool spreading out underneath the body. He didn’t even know if it was a man or a woman.
Did it matter?
Glenn felt like he might throw up. All of this was entirely against his nature. It felt so foreign and strange but he had no regrets as he followed the agent deeper into the enemy’s stronghold. His heart pounded in his ears and his right hand clutched a large dagger, courtesy of Poe after Glenn admitted he had no experience with firearms. Isis constantly looked over her shoulder at him, making sure he was behind her.
As they reached the seventh floor, all the lights down the hallway suddenly blazed to life. Isis hissed and threw out an arm across Glenn’s chest, pushing him back against the wall behind her. She pressed against the wall as well, the rifle slung across her chest, her other hand holding the grip.
“What—?”
“Shh,” Isis snapped and yanked off her goggles.
Glenn bit his tongue, also lowering his goggles, his eyes blinking and tearing after being blinded. At first, he couldn’t hear anything except his heart, and then he heard footsteps. Isis slowly got her rifle ready and raised it higher, standing frozen like a statue.
A door opened down the hallway and a slim black woman stepped out. She was an older woman, her hair pinned in a bun at the top of her head. But Glenn noticed that it was messy, almost wild-looking. It was in stark contrast with her attire, which was a tailored, pale lavender pants suit. Her heels were muffled as she stepped out of the room on the carpeted floor. She looked down the hallway, first left, then right… and saw them.
She didn’t freeze. Her eyes widened and she swiftly grabbed a handgun from inside her jacket and aimed it at them.
“Down!” Isis said. As if her voice was connected to his knees, Glenn dropped to the floor as Isis opened fire. The woman flung herself back into the room, but Isis charged after her.
“Stay there!” she said at Glenn, and before the woman could shut the door, Isis ran in behind her. Glenn only stayed for a moment before crawling across the floor, his dagger in his hand. He hugged the wall and heard the sounds of combat in the room. At the same time, his earbud radio came alive with voices and commands. Gunfire could be heard in the background. It would seem the other knights were aware of their headquarters being infiltrated.
Mouth dry and his body breaking out in goosebumps, Glenn slowly peered into the room. It was empty except for the two women fighting, both with deadly skill, and a tied up man in the middle of the room whom he knew very well.
Glenn barely resisted the urge to lunge at Hunter. Instead, he watched Isis and the knight and realized they were completely focused on each other. He crawled slowly forward, the dagger tight in his hand. Glenn didn’t know what was going on below him, and he figured everything was soundproofed. Wouldn’t want to interrupt anyone’s work with the tortured screams of a shifter.
Gritting his teeth, Glenn reached Hunter, who was watching the women fight with wide eyes. It was like they were participating in a deadly dance—but one where neither led and neither followed. Kicks and punches, feints and sidesteps, they were equally matched.
Glenn touched Hunter’s shoulder and his mate jerked violently. He turned his head in shock.
“You had to know I was coming,” Glenn said with a grin of pure relief. He sawed through the thick cords of the rope that were cutting into his mate’s skin. The dagger was sharp and the ropes snapped easily. Glenn helped Hunter to his feet and pulled his arm across his shoulders. Glenn looked around for Isis and realized that she managed to overcome the knight and knock her unconscious. Without pausing, Isis pulled out handcuffs and her own ropes from one of the pouches around her waist and hogtied the knight.
Hunter was trembling and Glenn looked at him in concern. Hunter’s eyes were fixed on the unconscious knight and there was a strange expression on his face—strange enough for Glenn to ask about her.
“Who is she?” Glenn asked.
“My mother,” Hunter said in a hollow voice.
Glenn’s jaw clenched and he tightened his arm around Hunter’s waist.
“What now?” Glenn asked.
Isis straightened and put her hands on her hips. She took deep breaths and sweat glistened off her skin.
“Now we get you two out of here as fast as we can,” she answered.
“No, wait,” Hunter said, panting as they walked out of the room. “Glenn, your herd. She knows about your herd.”
Glenn felt all the blood drain from his face and his muscles tightened in response to Hunter’s words. He looked at Isis and she gritted her teeth. She pressed her fingers to the radio.
“Poe, code red. Code red,” she said as they strode down the hallway. “Change to channel four. Channel four, over.”
Glenn heard Poe’s voice confirm Isis’s request, and then it was only a few heartbeats before Isis began talking again. Glenn couldn’t hear Poe, but he had his hands full trying to keep Hunter on his feet.
“Glenn’s herd is in danger—the Knights know their location,” Isis said.
“She was able to contact soldiers,” Hunter said as he pushed away from Glenn to walk without help. “They have to be going there now.”
“Did you hear that, Poe?” Isis asked. Glenn switched his channel just as Poe’s orders rushed out.
“Copy,” Poe said. “Take Oenghus and have Mac fly the helicopter. Get the damn knights and bring them back here.”
“Copy,” Isis said. “Over and out. C’mon, boys, move your asses!”
The three of them ran down the stairs as Isis contacted the other agents. Glenn kept one eye on Hunter and gripped his arm when he stumbled. Glenn’s heart pounded in panic for his family. He didn’t know what he would do if anything happened to them.
Rowan tilted her head and her senses tingled. “Dad, listen.”
Douglas stopped interrogating his daughter about Glenn and stared. She brought her finger to her lips and looked at her mother and Ash. Jade gripped Ash’s hand. Rowan knew they heard it and felt it as well. They might not be in deer form, but they were still more sensitive and instinctual than humans. They were programmed to detect danger.
And there was danger. It was approaching steadily. Douglas gestured with his hand and silently flipped up a piece of carpet on the left side of the hearth, revealing a trap door. They lined up, Jade first, then Rowan, then Ash, and then Willow. They each climbed down the short ladder that led to a tunnel that passed under the house and opened out into the forest. Douglas went in last and grabbed the carpet before shutting the trap door, hiding it once more.
“Hunter must have been false,” Douglas said, his voice hard, trailing his herd.
Rowan turned back. “No, Dad, didn’t you listen to what I said? Glenn said Hunter was being a martyr. He most likely—”
“We can discuss this later,” Willow said in a tone that ended the argument. “Let us get to safety first.”
Rowan frowned and looked forward, helping Jade and ducking when the ceiling dipped low. She hoped Glenn was all righ
t. And she hoped they would be all right.
Poe shoved the knight, a man around six feet tall, into the wall and not only broke the knight’s body but the wall itself. He’d already used all his bullets, so he grabbed the barrel of his rifle and swung it at the face of another knight who tried to sneak up behind him.
As soon as the lights blazed on, all hell had broken loose. Knights had surged seemingly out of nowhere, and it became a battle of life and death. Poe relished it despite the fact he’d been trying to avoid it. He lusted for blood, to break these monsters, to destroy them. He let his fury be his fuel and charged after the knights, using his great strength to break and shatter them. He knew he should probably let some survive, but he would let other agents capture the knights.
Odin was behind him, protecting his back. They were still on the first floor and Poe was trying to head for the basement, convinced that was where the leader of the Knights would be found. He suspected that was where all the knights now attacking them had come from. They seemed to be trying to keep him away from there.
Though they weren’t all knights. About half were grunts. Mentally broken thugs for higher with no sense of self-preservation. He pitied them even as he mowed through them, trying to get at the real enemy.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Agent Anubis take a hard punch to the nose and come back swinging. Then he felt cold and heat collide with a whistle like a boiling teapot and figured Luke, Anubis’s partner, was ice to a knight’s fire. He heard other fights through his radio, first Hecate, then Jin, then Captain Hera herself. He just hoped Hera kept her cool and didn’t use her ability—controlling the earth. An earthquake would kill all of them.
Poe broke the nose of another knight, and the path to the basement door lay unbarred. He charged forward, panting and sweating. Shots shattered the windows to his right. He ducked and rolled, realizing the shots had been aimed for his head. He slid behind a desk and peered round the corner, seeing two men holding M16s, wearing all black and ski masks.