by Alisa Woods
Because she was not going to be the person who broke Jace River’s heart.
Jace was riding shotgun while Piper drove the black sedan that belonged to his pack.
They were riding across the broken asphalt road at the perimeter of the abandoned airfield where her brother, Noah, and the other shifters were being held. At least, that was what the witches claimed, although he was inclined to believe them. The pack had hastily pulled together a plan that was fraught with risk, undermanned, and really just a bad idea. But they didn’t have a lot of options at this point. They could wait and try at a later time, after gathering more intel, but that would just give Agent Smith another chance to slip away. Especially now that the Colonel knew Piper was on to him, and they were about to test just how involved he was in this whole scheme. Jace wouldn’t put anything past the man—anyone who abused his family would do anything he could get away with, if it served his purposes.
Jace was still riding high on the fact that Piper wasn’t letting the Colonel jerk her around and intimidate her anymore—and that she had opened up to him. The night they spent together, even if that was all there ever was to it, was worth all the risk. He didn’t like the fact that the two of them were about to volunteer themselves for capture.
“There’s the shack.” Jace used his miniature scope to check it out, even though they were still a half-mile way. “Looks like just a single guard.”
Piper nodded and swung the car onto the long drive that would lead up to the shack. She adjusted her collar where the hidden microphone was sewn into the fabric. “Testing, testing. Can you still hear me, Jaxson?”
His brother was waiting with the rest of the pack farther out along the perimeter, at the opposite side of the airfield. Jace and Piper were supposed to gather intel on security without raising alarms. Well, without raising whatever alarms would happen when they showed up—which would be pretty much all of them. They hoped. That was part of the point. Flush them out, see what they had, then come in for the assault from a different angle, that hopefully, they wouldn’t be expecting.
If the witches’ magical GPS was correct, the objective was a large hangar in the middle of the airfield. There were several smaller hangars strung out along the length of the single lane airstrip that was crumbling and weed-filled from years of disuse. There were no visible planes in the area, but that probably just meant they were stashed in one of the smaller hangars.
“I hear you loud and clear, Piper,” Jaxson’s voice came over the stereo speakers in their car. They had it tuned to a far-band frequency that was unlikely to be used by Agent Smith’s forces on the airstrip. The communication would be one-way once they left the car, but they were at the maximum distance from the pack right now—if Jaxson could hear them at this point, he should be still receiving once they were inside.
“Do you have a visual on us?” Jace asked his own hidden microphone embedded in his shirt. The car was tricked out with a couple cameras, and he and Piper also carried button ones as well. But the best intel would be whatever movement happened on the airfield once they made their presence known.
“Affirmative. I have a clean line of sight all the way to the hangar.” Jaxson’s voice was calm. He was the lookout, while the rest of the pack were strategically placed in three different camps around the perimeter, fully armed, and waiting for the signal for the assault. Jaxson would coordinate and lead the assault, but it was up to Jace and Piper to get him the intel he needed for it to be successful.
“All right,” Jace said. “I’m going radio silent with the car stereo. Repeat, we will not be able to hear you from here on out. Please don’t forget to come get us.”
“Well, don’t be all day about it,” Jaxson said. “I’ve got a lunch date with Olivia.”
Piper smirked and smacked the off button on the radio. “How long have they been together?”
“About six minutes.” Jace returned her smile and thought about how fast Piper had whirled into his life as well. “But so far they seem fabulously happy.” Jaxson could still hear them, but Jace wasn’t saying anything his brother didn’t already know. Besides, there wasn’t much Jace would keep from him.
They were coming up on the guard shack. Just a hundred more feet.
“Are they mated?” Piper gave him a sideways look, then kept her eyes on the road.
“Yeah.” Jace grimaced. “I didn’t know Jaxson couldn’t have a mate until after it was all over. He kept it secret for a long time.” He watched her carefully to see if she would probe for more.
“Am I the only one who knows your secret?” She was sneaking looks at him again, not watching the road. They were almost there.
“Just you, me, my brothers, and the entire United States government—or at least the ones involved in the tribunal in Afghanistan.”
She just nodded, and there was no more talking possible, due to the fact that they’d arrived at the shack stationed next to the chain-metal gate that surrounded the airfield. It wasn’t the kind that would keep out any serious attempt at infiltration, more a demarcation with an “Off Limits, Private Property” warning hung on it to keep out the curious and the idle.
The guard was dressed in desert camouflage, with an M-16 looped around his shoulder. He was either military or ex-military, but either way, he meant business. And he wasn’t pleased to see them arrive, according to his stiff gait as he approached.
Piper threw him a sexy grin, and even though Jace knew it was all for show, he couldn’t help having a twinge of jealousy. She had to deploy all her assets on the job, and he was getting a chance to watch her in action, but he wasn’t sure how he felt about that. In general? Very hot. Specifically, today? He didn’t like it at all.
“This airfield is closed, ma’am.” The guard’s voice was gruff, as if that might dissuade them more than the gun. Or perhaps convince them he would use it.
“Well, I’d imagine so,” Piper said with a smirk. “But we’re here to see the secret hangar where you’re hiding the shifters. Colonel Wilding sent us.” She beamed a faux-innocent smile at him.
The guards face opened in surprise, but it didn’t take more than two-tenths of a second for his rifle to come up and point at her head. “Step away from the car!” His boots scuffed the ground as he stumbled back.
Jace held in his growl. He had to play this cool, or it wasn’t going to work, but he didn’t like a gun pointed at her, no matter what. Piper already had her hands up, but she had to reach down to open the car door.
“Hey, hands in the air!” the guard shouted.
“Well, Hot Stuff with a Rifle, I can’t really do both, now can I?” Her voice was dead-on sexy and teasing, and Jace couldn’t hold back his smirk.
On second thought, he kind of liked watching her work.
Jace’s hands were already in the air as well. “Can I stay in the car, too?” he shouted, just to prod the startled guard a little more.
The man’s snarl was clear even from ten feet away. His rifle point wavered uncertainly between Piper and Jace.
“Stay right where you are!” The guard stumbled backward toward the shack, obviously changing his mind about the protocol.
Jace and Piper kept their smiles and their hands in the air and waited.
“Do you think this idiot can actually get us inside the airfield?” Piper asked out of the side of her mouth.
“Well, not if you flummox him anymore. Take it easy on the guy, Piper. He’s probably only human.”
She bit her lip in a way that made him want to bite it himself.
“Hey, knock it off,” he said. “I don’t want to be sporting wood when they come to take me away in handcuffs. Could be embarrassing.”
She tried to keep in her laugh, but her shoulders were shaking. The guard was on his short-wave radio, gesturing furiously at the car with his gun. It took a few minutes, but eventually a Jeep pulled out of a distant hangar and rumbled down the cracked concrete toward them.
“I hope you’re seeing this, Jaxson,”
Jace said quietly. “Jeep at twelve o’clock, sourced from the small hangar next to the target.” He had stowed his binoculars already, but by squinting through the afternoon sun, he could see at least four figures in the military-camouflaged vehicle. “I see two thugs and two suits.” He flicked a glance at Piper.
She was keeping her eyes on the nervous guard. “Copy that.”
The chain-metal gate rumbled on some mechanical servo that pulled it aside as the Jeep approached. The vehicle stopped on the far side of the gate, even though it was open. Two men in desert camouflage spilled out, followed by two men in dark suits. The paramilitary guys hustled toward them.
“I’ve got eyes on Agent Smith,” Jace whispered, mostly for Piper’s knowledge, but also in case the cameras and Jaxson’s scope missed it. “He’s the tall one. Unknown suit accompanying him.”
The thugs reached their car, and with a flurry of shouts and commands, they ordered Piper and Jace face down onto the dirt-packed road. Jace couldn’t see Piper any longer, given she had to exit on the opposite side, which coiled up tension in the pit of his stomach. While the thug shoved a boot in the middle of his back, holding him down, a prick of pain in his shoulder sparked alarm through him. He twisted around to see the thug pocketing a syringe—whatever he injected into Jace didn’t take effect right away, but immediate drugging wasn’t one of the contingencies they’d planned for.
Jace strained to see where the suits were going. Agent Smith was saying something to Piper, but Jace couldn’t make out the words. Just as the thug none-too-gently hauled him to his feet, Agent Smith strolled around the car. His face was full of red fury, no doubt from whatever line Piper had fed him.
“What are you up to, Mr. River?”
“About six-foot-two. Yourself?”
“Whatever game you’re playing here, I want you to understand: I’m going to win it.” He narrowed his eyes at Jace. “And my multimillion dollar research project could use another guinea pig. Nice of you to volunteer.”
“I just can’t get enough of your charm, Agent Smith.”
Agent Smith looked seriously unimpressed. He lifted his chin to the thug standing closest Jace, who then sideswiped the butt of his gun across Jace’s face. Pain exploded across his cheek, and his head whipped to the side so hard, it spun him to the ground. He tasted blood, but he was sure Agent Smith was just warming up. Shifters healed fast, which meant they could take quite a beating… and Jace already knew Agent Smith liked to mete those out from when he got his jollies with Jaxson strapped to a chair. Watching that go down had been painful, but Jace would happily take whatever Agent Smith had to dish out as long as he didn’t start in on Piper. If he did, there was going to be a problem. Namely that Jace wasn’t sure he could keep himself under control.
At least the two of them were still conscious—whatever the thugs had injected into them wasn’t knocking them out. Which meant it was probably more of the drug Agent Smith had used before to keep them from shifting.
“Bring them,” Agent Smith barked. The scuff of his hard-soled shoes meant he was done with Jace for the moment. One of the thugs cuffed his hands behind his back and hauled him up from the ground. He shoved Jace toward the back of his own car, which had been commandeered by the second thug. Agent Smith was returning to the Jeep, while the other suit had Piper by the arm, climbing into the back seat. He pulled Piper into his lap, holding a gun conspicuously pressed against her side. Her hands were cuffed behind her, forcing them into the suit’s lap… which Jace was sure the suit was getting off on. The thug guarding Jace shoved him in next to them in the back while he took a seat up front. He kept his pistol trained on Jace’s head.
Piper squirmed a little in the suit’s lap. “It’s getting a little stiff in here. Do you like what you’re feeling, G-man?” Piper’s sultry tone just reddened the suit’s face, which would have made Jace laugh… except then the man gave her a vicious leer behind her back and moved his gun to obviously caress Piper’s breast.
“I’m kind of hoping you’ll misbehave, Ms. Wilding.”
Piper huffed with disdain. “Don’t get your hopes up, shorty. I don’t misbehave for men in cheap suits.”
The unnamed agent growled and jabbed his gun deeper into Piper’s chest. “Keep talking and we’ll see.”
Jace’s wolf was clawing to come out, and they hadn’t even gotten within a mile of how bad this could go.
“Tell me again why I agreed to this?” he asked Piper, not exactly blowing their cover, but he couldn’t help letting her know he was seething with dislike about this whole thing.
“Because Daddy ratted these guys out, remember, pumpkin?” Her strained smile had a definite what the fuck are you doing? look to it. But Jace didn’t think it mattered—they were rambling toward the hangar, regardless. Nothing they said at this point would matter.
“I know, but he didn’t mention anything about handcuffs,” Jace said, straining to keep his voice light. “Is it too late to mention I’m not into the kinky stuff?”
“Shut up.” The front-seat thug nudged Jace’s head back with the barrel tip of his gun.
Jace glared at him, but followed Piper’s lead and kept quiet for the rest of the ride in. As they were hustled into the main hangar, Jace hoped Jaxson was still getting a good feed on the audio, as well as the button cameras—and that he’d get his ass in here if things went badly for Piper.
Jace tried to twist around, giving his brother a solid look at the inside of the hangar, but it wasn’t anything good—dozens of paramilitary types, even more staff in medical scrubs, and at least fifty shifters in cages and strapped to gurneys in miniature medical suites. Where had they all come from? There couldn’t be this many that had gone missing from Seattle. Were they bringing in others from around the country?
Suddenly, Piper broke free of the suit holding her and rushed forward—what the hell? Jace’s guard whipped his weapon to point straight between Jace’s eyes.
“Not a muscle,” the man said coolly.
Jace was stuck watching as the suit scrambled after Piper… but she stopped suddenly in front of one of the cages.
“Noah!” she said, then reared back to kick the cage door. “Noah, wake up!” She slammed her shoulder against the metal bars, rattling the entire thing, then the suit reached her and pulled her back.
Jace wanted to go to her, calm her down, but the beefy man guarding him looked like he was waiting for any excuse to put a bullet in Jace’s brain.
“No!” That was Piper again. She was on the ground.
“Piper!” Noah, her brother, staggered to the gate of his cell and banged it. “Get the fuck off my sister!”
Piper struggled against the suit’s hold, but three guards descended on Piper and pinned her. They hauled her up and held her off the ground, kicking and screaming, and carried her toward one of the medical suites. Agent Smith stood there, a grin slowly spreading across his face.
No, no, no!
Jace looked straight in the face of the man holding a gun to his head. “This is not exactly going to plan,” he said to him… but he was really speaking to Jaxson.
The guard smirked. “You’ll get your turn, shifter.” He stepped to the side but didn’t lower the weapon. “Come on.”
He ushered Jace toward the med suite where Piper was being strapped to a gurney.
Come on, Jaxson. Jace didn’t know if his brother could get here before they started doing things to Piper that Jace would never forgive himself for. She was putting up a hell of a fight, but they were quickly getting her strapped in. Jace was ticking through the options—head-butt the guard, take his gun, chop him to the neck, somehow call attention to himself, anything—but they all had nearly zero chance of success. Just as he was getting ready to do something foolish and very unlikely to work, a smattering of gunfire froze everyone in the hangar.
Then all hell broke loose.
Five different doors around the edges of the hangar banged open and members of his pack flowed in like black-a
rmor-clad demons. Gunfire erupted everywhere. Jace took that moment of chaos to head-butt his guard then swipe his feet out from under him. He hit the ground hard, but Jace was already gone, turning toward the medical suite where Piper was being held. The melee going on around him gave him cover, but just as he reached her and plowed into one of the guards standing near her, a series of small explosions made him involuntarily duck. A quick glance around showed Jaxson and his pack doing the same while everyone else—guards, medical staff, even Agent Smith, hitting the deck and scrambling for something, like they’d lost some treasure hidden among the crates of supplies.
Then something drifting down caught Jace’s gaze—a pinkish cloud was falling on them. He sucked in a breath and worked desperately at getting Piper’s restraints off with his hands cuffed behind his back. Her eyes were wide, watching the pink mist fall down around them. She held her breath, too, but Jace wasn’t fast enough. And the guard he had just sent the floor with his blow was back up… now with a gas mask on.
He pointed a gun at Jace’s head.
Jace stopped his frantic attempt to free Piper. But he was running out of air… and the pinkish mist was seeping into every pore of his body, tugging on his eyelids, and sending him crashing down into oblivion.
Piper slowly awoke to the sound of someone being hit.
She supposed she should be glad it wasn’t her—but when she creaked her eyes open and peered through the steel bars of her cage, she almost wished she was the one taking the blows. Jace was tied to a chair, with his hands bound by zip ties around the back, and he was being pummeled by the man he had called Agent Smith. There was no question that Smith was some kind of government operative, judging by the cheap suit and the overabundance of swagger, not to mention the smirk, as he pounded his fist into Jace’s face again. Piper had no idea how long this been going on, but Jace was keeping quiet during Agent Smith’s barrage of fists and questions. Which meant he was getting worn down.