“Well enough.”
Vaughn gave him a small nudge to his hip, probably one of the only places on his body not damaged. What? Was he supposed to moan and groan?
“Good.” Ling Mai cut short the glare Vaughn was giving him. “I have been considering what you said not long ago. About the need for further training and more recruits.”
“And?”
“Your concerns have merit.”
Stone bit back a snort. Damn right they had merit. Every fight they’d gone into so far they’d walked away from by the skin of their teeth. That was a crapshoot waiting for casualties.
But Ling Mai obviously had an agenda. Nothing new there. She gave a soft cough as if to refocus him. “I think it would behoove us to accept a small job, one where all the team is not needed to participate.”
Stone didn’t say anything, though the skin along his neck told him there was no such thing as a small job. Not in their line of business. It was Vaughn who was left to ask, “Meaning?”
“There is an item. A rare one which is called an orkheos.”
“An orchid?” Vaughn asked. Leave it to her to understand Latin or Greek or whatever language the word was in.
“The word orchid derives from orkheos but it does have other meanings.” She and Vaughn exchanged a funny smile.
“I’ll explain later,” Vaughn said to him as if there was a private joke.
They were going flower collecting now? He asked, “What’s so special about this orchid?”
“I have information which indicates this orkeos is a key which can lead us to more intelligence regarding the Seekers.”
“The ones Alex spoke about?” Vaughn asked, stifling a shudder that Stone caught in spite of her best attempt.
“Yes.”
“Do we have any other intel about who they are or what they want?” Stone asked.
“Not enough to create an effective defense against them,” Ling Mai said, her voice sounding determined. “I have the Librarian working on seeing what she can find.”
Ah, the all-knowing librarian. This mysterious figure who kept track of preternaurals, to figure out who bred with whom to see if their offspring were human or non-human. She also appeared to keep a tab on all things preternatural and then sold that intel to those willing to pay.
“So we do what?” Stone asked, zeroing in on business. “Send a small group in to collect this orchid, or orkheos?”
“That was my idea. We don’t need more than three or four agents at the most.”
It was sounding too easy again. Then Vaughn spoke up, “If it’s a straight snatch and grab undertaking I think it’s time Kelly led an assignment.”
Both Stone and Ling Mai looked at her, waiting for the punch line.
Vaughn offered her palms up, classic body langue for giving. “I’m not ready to be much help and neither are Mandy or Stone.”
Nice way to massage his ego, which they both knew she was doing.
She continued, “Nicki isn’t ready in spite of her shifter abilities. Alex needs some recovery time so why not let Kelly take the lead, and Jaylene and Nicki back her up with Mandy acting as control central in a stationary location.”
“She has a point,” Stone conceded, earning another poke at his hip. At this rate it was going to be as bruised as the rest of his body. “If it is a straightforward operation.” His tone indicated that he was still concerned. Still, he continued, “Running an op will give her some more self-confidence. Make her a stronger team member.”
Vaughn was nodding even as Ling Mai cleared her throat again. “There might be one small problem.”
He knew it. He absolutely fucking knew it. It was never easy, especially with Ling Mai. He found himself bracing as he asked, “Because?”
“Because the orchid is blooming near the area of Africa where Kelly’s sister was killed.”
That was it? He glanced at Vaughn before saying out loud what they were both thinking. “That shouldn’t be an insurmountable issue.”
“I don’t know.” Vaughn was pursing her lips and not in the good let’s-kiss way. More let-me-throw-a-kink-in-the-works kind of way. “That could be very emotional for her.”
“Agents can’t afford emotions,” Stone snapped, wondering, and not for the first time, what he was doing leading a team of all women. Talk about a touchy-feely quagmire.
“Don’t be stupid,” Vaughn shot back, then turned toward Ling Mai. “I’m still sure Kelly can do an excellent job. Not—”she cut a sharp glance at Stone. “Not because she can not handle her emotions but because she knows there’s a job to do and she’s qualified to see it through.”
Whatever.
Ling Mai looked to Stone. “Do you agree?”
“Yeah. The part about letting Kelly lead. She’ll have back up. Vaughn and I can give feedback via headquarters in Maryland. Those who need some healing time can get it. Let Kelly go in, find this orkheos, and get out.”
Ling Mai’s smile told him he’d said the right thing. The absence of Vaughn poking at him also let him know he had her support, maybe not for the reasons she wanted, but it wouldn’t be the first time he said tomahto and she said tomato. So why was his gut telling him even easy missions could backfire?
THE END
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What readers are saying about Invisible Fate
"Not since Kate Daniels and Mercy Thompson have I fallen in love with a female character like I have with Alex Noziak." ~Urban Girl Reader.
"This is a definite must read for anyone who enjoys a bit of a thrill, a good laugh, and great characters with attitude." ~ Parchment Place
"I. . .encourage those of you who like action, magic and sassy heroines to snatch up this series." ~ Romancing the Genres
Want to read more about Alex Noziak and the Invisible Recruit team? Check out:
INVISIBLE PRISON (novella)
On her first days with the Invisible Recruit Agency, Alex Noziak learns she’s not the only recruit with secrets to hide. But hers could get her kicked off the Team even before she begins Or they could get her killed.
INVISIBLE MAGIC (full length novel)
On her first official mission for the Invisible Recruit Agency Alex Noziak discovers that to save the innocent she must call upon her untested abilities. But at what cost? She has nothing to lose, except her life.
INVISIBLE DUTY (novella)
The mission sounded easy for Alex Noziak, part witch/part shaman. And easy is what she needed. But in the heart of Africa, she finds something so deadly it will test her in ways she never expected.
INVISIBLE POWER (full-length novel)
When Alex has a chance to save her brother and expose the Weres who held him hostage, she must make a hard choice with lives at risk, including her own.
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Kelly McAllister Books coming in 2014
INVISIBLE FEARS (novel – coming Spring 2014)
She’s a human fighting for the preternaturals.
He’s a preternatural fighting for the humans.
Kelly McAllister’s Invisible Recruit mission is to destroy a threat to preternaturals. Van Noziak’s military mission is to retrieve and deliver a botanical bio-weapon. In deepest Africa the race against a deadly bloom reveals secrets, expos
es fears and forces unlikely alliances.
INVISIBLE SECRETS (novel – coming Fall 2014)
INVISIBLE EMBRACE (novel – coming Winter 2014)
About the Author
A USA Today bestselling author I started my career writing romantic suspense novels. Nothing like bombs and gunfire making a relationship more complicated. Between publication dates I was also fortunate to become a writing craft instructor, offering live workshops around the US and Canada as well as online workshops to writers throughout the world. As fun as the travel, and getting to know so many writers of all genres was, my first love has always been fiction. Thus the Invisible Recruit series was born and took off running!
I love conflict. On the page. The conflict between dark magic and white. The conflict between beings created with different needs and wants. Witches. Mage warlocks. Shifters, Weres, and demons all trying to co-exist against their natures. Bring it on!
I'm a huge paranormal and fantasy lover. Especially Urban Fantasy and any paranormal fantasy series that allows me to throw myself into magic and mystery page after page, book after book.
The paranormal world of the Invisible Recruits is built on women who must learn to embrace their preternatural talents to fight good and evil. Talents that they've hidden from the human population for fear of being different.
But because I love conflict I've dropped these women into a world where magic and fantasy exist side by side with humans intentionally kept in the dark about Shifters, Weres, warlocks, witches, and especially about magic.
Throw in a strong dose of romantic suspense, emotional relationships to add more conflict, and paranormal beings you've never heard of before, and you'll know why readers can't get enough of this fast-paced paranormal thriller series.
www.MaryBuckham.com
www.InvisibleRecruits.com
INVISIBLE FATE BOOK THREE: ALEX NOZIAK (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) Page 28