“But that war is long over,” I continued. “And this past weekend showed how effective we can be when we work together.”
Takara’s next grunt might have been agreement. I couldn’t tell.
I’d determined other things about her as well—though maybe determined was too strong a word. I suspected other things. For one, that when she’d healed from the blast, the survivors of her samurai clan had rejected the horribly-scarred girl. That’s why she had left. Not by choice, but necessity. Internet research had shown me that the Sakuma clan still existed and also that someone didn’t simply leave them, not without a death wish. Forced out, Takara had found a family among the ninjas, the samurai’s mercenary cousin.
I also suspected that the repercussions of the atomic blast had gone further than scarring her body and losing her clan. It had instilled her with her dragon powers. How, I had no idea. But I’d witnessed the toll those powers could take on her, the pain they inflicted. Which led me to believe she had joined Legion for the same reason as me: to be cured.
On this last point, I had a little more evidence. While in the Biogen building, I’d picked up traces of her scent.
“Is that all?” she asked impatiently.
I knew better than to bring up any of my suspicions.
“Yeah, carry on. I’m going to drop off my things, then look for Sarah.”
At the front of the barracks, I almost ran into Olaf, who was coming out. He was no longer wearing a neck brace, and his head was bandage free. He made brief eye contact with me before lowering his head and lumbering on.
I grabbed his upper arm. “Hey, hold on a sec.”
He stopped and turned toward me as if awaiting a command.
“Back in El Rosario, Sarah said you requested to be included in our final push.”
“Yes,” he confirmed.
“Why?”
“To finish mission.”
“But you were injured.”
I watched his eyes closely as they stared back at me.
“Was there another reason?” I pressed.
His dull blue eyes shifted slightly, as though trying to look away.
“One having to do with the bombing in Waristan?”
This was something else I’d had time to think about in the Biogen building. Olaf’s coming hadn’t made sense. Injured, he was a liability—he would have known that from his own training. But not only had he joined us, he had helped lead the children out to safety. It seemed like a long shot, but had some part of him been trying to atone for helping destroy the Kabadi’s warrior class? And had he overcome his programming to do so?
I watched a thin film of moisture grow over his eyes.
I gripped his shoulder and lowered my head. “Olaf, you can tell me.”
With a face-trembling effort, he wrenched his gaze from mine. “I was assigned to mission and wanted to finish,” he grunted. “That was all.” He lowered his head and continued walking.
Dammit, I thought as I watched him go. There is a living human in there.
I dropped my stuff in my room and crossed the compound in search of Sarah. The El Rosario mission completed, we needed to get back on a training schedule. I also intended to raise the issue of Olaf and whether it was ethical keeping someone like him on our team. If Centurion was denying his humanity it was either because they hadn’t looked hard enough or hadn’t wanted to. That didn’t make me feel good about keeping him. Unless he had the freedom to choose his path, like the rest of us, he may as well have been a slave.
Inside the main building, Sarah’s office door was ajar. When I knocked, though, the voice telling me to enter wasn’t hers. Like the scent, it belonged to an older man. I pushed the door open.
“What are you doing here?” I asked.
“I can’t visit the program I helped develop?” Reginald Purdy looked up from a folder on Sarah’s desk, already smiling. He opened a hand toward the chair facing the desk. “Have a seat, Captain.”
“Where’s Sarah?” I asked as I lowered myself.
“Meeting with Director Beam.”
“Problems?”
Mr. Purdy chuckled. “Far from it. He’s planning to use the success in El Rosario to sweeten Legion’s promotional material. I’m sure he’ll want to meet with you too at some point.”
“So we’re all good?” I asked carefully.
“That’s between you and Director Beam … though I suspect he’ll want to work out some things for future missions.” He raised an eyebrow. “Such as how to take a direct order.”
“You mean calling off the mission at the eleventh hour? That was a bullshit order, and you know it.”
Purdy’s eyes twinkled with humor. “Which is why I let you handle it.”
“So you did get my message that day. Why didn’t you call back?”
“Because I wanted to see something.”
“And what was that?” I growled.
“Whether I’d picked the right man to lead the team. Director Beam and I have had our…” He circled a hand. “…creative differences, I guess you could call them. What you did is exactly what the Legion Program should represent, as I told you the other night. Our clients need to know we’re behind them, regardless of costs. Especially at this early stage.”
“I’m not a pawn in your boardroom pissing contest.”
“Well, maybe I wanted you to see something too.” He held up a hand before I could speak. “Let me ask you a question—and answer me honestly. Did you feel like a mercenary in El Rosario?”
“No,” I admitted. “I didn’t.”
He smiled as though to say, Well, there you go.
“But it was because El Rosario’s population was vulnerable,” I added. “They needed our help. Get us more missions like that, and I’ll never grumble about Legion being a mercenary outfit again.”
“I’ll see what I can do, Captain.”
I watched Reginald Purdy, trying to decide whether or not I could trust the man. Beneath his polished surface and pinstripe suits, he was an operator. Was he only telling me what I wanted to hear? And did it have anything to do with the three days of testing I’d just undergone?
As though sensing I was trying to draw a bead on him, he touched his folded kerchief to his grinning mouth and stood. “Keep the troops sharp in the meantime. There’s a developing pattern of killings up in Canada. Wolves, from the early analysis.”
“How is that a supernatural issue?”
“Did I say wolves?” He chuckled. “I’m sorry, werewolves.”
The idea of facing werewolves touched off something primal. A sudden heat erupted throughout my body, and my pulse pounded in my temples. That was the Blue Wolf talking. Bring it, he was saying.
But it was Jason Wolfe who finally nodded.
“We’ll be ready.”
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Books in the Strangeverse
PROF CROFT
Book of Souls
Demon Moon
Blood Deal
Purge City
Death Mage
BLUE WOLF
Blue Curse
Blue Shadow
* More to come *
Acknowledgements
I had the pleasure and good fortune to work with a solid group in transforming Blue Shadow from concept to reality. Big thanks go to my advanced readers; to the talented Orina Kafe for the cover design; and to Aaron Sikes for his stellar job editin
g. Naturally, any errors and/or inelegance that remain are this author’s alone. I also want to thank James Patrick Cronin for his excellent narration of the Prof Croft series and now the Blue Wolf audiobooks.
Finally, thanks to my readers for exploring this universe with me.
Blue Shadow (Blue Wolf Book 2) Page 24