“What is it?”
His reaction to my simple question shocked me. He flinched away from me, the color draining from his face. “Nothing.”
Yeah, right. Nothing made him jumpy. Nothing was on the ceiling. I shook my head and resumed walking. Something had spooked him, but he wasn’t going to talk about it. Like all those stupid asshole men.
Julian allowed me to enter the cafeteria first. More than half of the tables were occupied by personnel, some in casual clothing, others in the ubiquitous suits.
“Do you think they get a discount on polyester?” I whispered.
Julian’s mouth ticked up, but he didn’t reply. I led the way toward the back to an empty table. God, I missed daylight. The fluorescent lighting in the compound was too harsh, yet never quite woke me up. We’d only been here three days, but my mood had dipped already.
As if responding to my thoughts, the strip above our seats blinked off, then on again. An insistent hum made my eyes vibrate as if ants nibbled on the inside of my brain.
“Fuck. I can’t sit here. Let’s move.” My voice sounded as tired as I felt.
Julian threw me a concerned glance before getting up. “There’s another table over there.”
At least he was still talking to me. It would have been an awkward breakfast otherwise. We put our jackets on the back of our chairs and made a beeline for the coffee pot.
The cafeteria might be sterile and uninviting, but the hot brew smelled gorgeous, and the selection of pastries made up for the hostile looks thrown our way.
I’d probably regret it later, but that didn’t stop me from filling up my plate with several custard-filled donuts and Danishes.
Julian smiled for the first time in days. “Hungry?”
I nodded, stuffing some sweet dough between my teeth. After I washed it down with hot, bitter coffee, I said, “I need some sugar today.”
Julian reached out as if to put his hand over mine, but pulled back at the last second. “I’m sorry. I’m not… I want to be…”
He sighed and ran his fingers through his hair, but didn’t finish his sentence.
“Julian. What’s going on with you?” Maybe it was the harsh light that made everybody look washed out. But his usually good-natured expression was replaced by a sullen, depressed look. The bruises under his eyes indicated he wasn’t sleeping well.
A familiar voice rose above the breakfast din. Kiernan and his mom sat at the far back of the small room. I hadn’t been paying attention to our surroundings, or maybe they’d arrived after we’d already taken our seats. Either way, Kiernan clearly wasn’t happy with his mother.
Whatever they were talking about, it wasn’t a comfortable conversation. Their body language was tense, and Assistant Director Hennessy seemed irritated beyond belief.
Julian threw one look at them and grimaced as if he’d bitten into a caterpillar. “I don’t trust her. At all.”
Mrs. Hennessy looked up and caught me staring at her. She glowered, and I quickly looked away. “Join the club. For some reason, she hates me.”
“I’d love to say you’re wrong, but yeah. You’re right.”
“Thanks,” I said dryly.
“Don’t feel bad. She doesn’t like me, either. Let’s just say, the feeling is mutual.”
I nodded, but the sweet pastries congealed in my stomach like lead. Something bad was coming our way. I could feel it in my gut. Literally.
10
KIERNAN
The fight with my mother yesterday had stayed with me all night, well into the morning. I couldn’t leave it like that.
On my way to her private quarters, I clutched a half empty paper cup of steaming coffee, ignoring the heat against my fingers. My feet dragged like clods of clay, and each step was a conscious effort.
What could I say to her to change her mind about Amber, about our Quint, about me?
Ma, come on. Amber makes me happy. Don’t you want to see me happy?
Ma, we can’t afford to fight. There are people out there, wanting to see me dead.
Ma, we’ve got to rescue all those students. Can’t you understand that?
Next to her door, there was a small label in a plastic holder. Assistant Director Hennessy. The wad of clay crept from my legs to my chest, making it harder to breathe.
She wasn’t my ma any longer. She was the head of a secretive organization that had gunned for us in the past.
“I’m not the only one who’s changed.” The words bubbled up and escaped my mouth before I was even aware of it.
“Hold it together, Hennessy,” I whispered and knocked on the door.
Half an hour later, back at the cafeteria, we were at a stalemate. I put my fork down, ignoring the scrambled eggs on my plate.
“Come on, Ma. I don’t know why our relationship is the thing that sets you off. You have two husbands after all.”
Goddammit, now she looked at me with a mix of hurt motherhood and indulgence for her wayward son.
My voice rose in line with my building frustration. “And while we’re at it—we, the Quint, saved your bacon.”
Her sparse eyebrow lifted in that smug, incredulous gesture that had driven me nuts growing up.
I sat back and folded my arms, holding on to my temper. “You know what? Maybe it’s time you said ‘thank you’. Because without us, there would be no compound full of agents. They’d all be fucking dead.”
She flinched at my use of the swear word, but I held eye contact, unwilling to back down. She dropped her gaze first. Then she sighed heavily and took my hand.
I was so annoyed with her, I wanted to pull away. But she was my mother, so I didn’t.
“You’re right, Kiernan. I allowed myself to be blinded by the head witch. But I wasn’t the only one. There are a lot of things you don’t know—”
“So tell me,” I challenged her.
“I will. But not now.” At least she had the grace to look regretful.
I returned to our quarters, my heart just as heavy as after yesterday’s lunch. She still wasn’t honest with me. I didn’t care if she was a big brass in the organization. I had a right to know what we were facing.
The room was empty, smelling of stale bodies and dirty socks. Everybody had cleared out, and I flopped face first on the unmade double bed. I regretted it right away.
“Ouch.” My body still ached from the arrow wound, even though the healer’s salve had worked miracles.
Under the locker room whiff, there was a faint trace of Amber’s fresh scent, and I buried my nose in the covers.
The silence pressed on me, and unbidden memories drifted through my mind.
Julian’s happy face after we’d first kissed. Macha’s expression when his tongue got stuck in the tuna can. Lance’s laughter at something Amber said.
I rolled onto my back, staring at the ceiling, my mouth tightening. Amber was still pissed at me and Lance. We’d had fights, sure. But not about life-or-death issues.
Lance was adamant we needed more training, and Amber was equally insistent we didn’t have enough time.
Macha was with Amber all the way, and I had no clue where Julian stood. The man I considered my best friend had grown distant. He barely spoke to us anymore.
The Soul Weave ritual was supposed to tie us closer together. And in some way, it had. We’d shared powerful magic that night.
When I closed my eyes, I could sense my lovers as faint, colorful impressions. And maybe their emotions were clearer to me than before. But the Soul Weave hadn’t fully taken hold.
I groaned and pressed my fists against my eyes. And then there was my mother. Every time I thought about her, it felt like my earth magic was burying me alive until I had to struggle to see the light through my heavy thoughts.
There was the woman who’d given birth to me, who’d raised me, and who’d been the center of my life for so long.
And then there was the woman who hid things from me, who knew more about the conspiracy than she let on.
&
nbsp; But maybe I had it all wrong. Maybe she was worried about me and wanted to send me away for my own safety.
Whatever her intentions, the result was that Lance and Amber were pissed and couldn’t even look at each other. Julian was giving everybody the cold shoulder, and Macha looked like a lost kitten whenever all of us were in the room.
And to top it off, we didn’t have the option to get space from each other. We were forced to spend every night together. Which would have been awesome at any other time. But right now, being near Amber and not touching her was torture.
Before my dark thoughts spiraled further, somebody knocked. I got up, groaning like an old man, and shuffled to the door.
An agent stood outside. Regarding me coolly through a pair of glasses, he said, “Assistant Director Hennessy asked for you. Would you follow me?”
It wasn’t a question. I felt like declining, but what would be the point of that? Besides, I had nothing to do today. And I was bored. So bored.
We walked past the cafeteria to an area I recognized. The offices here were mainly used for meetings.
The agent opened the door and ushered me inside while he stayed in the hallway. “Wait here.”
The room looked like any other nondescript office space. Nothing in here said “super secret government hideout” other than the cameras whirring as they followed my progress. Four chairs sat around a round table in the center.
I picked the one facing the exit. I felt more comfortable with my back against the wall. The camera moved until it pointed right at me. Just to piss my mother off, I smiled and did a little finger wave.
The door opened, and Callaghan entered, followed by a female agent. “Good morning, Kiernan.”
They sat down. Callahan shuffled some papers and looked at them with such dedication, it had to be fake. If anything, he seemed embarrassed.
I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was coming next.
Callahan picked up his pile of documents and tapped the edge against the table several times. But he still couldn’t look at me.
“This is Agent Brewer.”
The woman smiled, her gaze grazing my body like invisible hands. “Nice to meet you. I think we’re going to get along just fine.”
I turned away from her and addressed Callahan directly. My tone darkened as my discomfort grew. “Sorry, I don’t want to be rude, but what am I doing here?”
His face slowly morphed from pink to tomato-red. “Assistant Director Hennessy asked me to begin your training since you’re reluctant to travel to Quantico.”
I leaned back, suddenly full of suspicion. “What kind of training?”
“The kind that’s tailor-made to your magical ability.”
Callahan opened his mouth and closed it. He glanced at the woman next to him and then shuffled through his damn papers again.
My disquiet grew. Callahan wasn’t usually so tight-mouthed.
And then Agent Brewer dropped the bomb on me. “Let’s be clear. We know you’re half incubus.”
My stomach flipped and my limbs went ice cold. My mother must have told her. What a shitty thing to do.
“Your mother wants you to train to become a special interrogation agent.”
Images of tortured prisoners flashed through my mind. I forced myself to keep the growing panic at bay. “How does my earth magic come into that?”
“It isn’t your elemental magic we’re interested in, but your incubus nature.”
I stared at her for a long moment, trying to understand what she’d just dropped on me. Then I stood up and pushed my chair back. “Absolutely not. I’m not going to seduce somebody to give you information. Who the hell do you think I am?”
Agent Brewer steepled her fingers and regarded me calmly. “Sit down. You’re Kiernan Hennessy, the son of our Assistant Director. Let me explain your situation.”
My whole body tightened in preparation for what she’d say next.
“She’ll do everything to keep you out of the field. If you give her an excuse, she’ll have you shipped back home. And she’ll make sure you never see Amber again.”
The ball of earth energy inside my belly clumped at her words. It grew so fast, I could barely breathe through the magic worming its way through my stomach into my throat.
I closed my eyes and clenched my teeth to fight it back down. Somehow, I managed it. What remained was such intense anger, I had to take deep breaths to stop it from erupting.
I finally said as calmly as I could, “Are you putting pressure on me and using Amber as collateral?”
Callaghan’s face lost all color. He knew what I was capable of. “No, Kiernan. This wasn’t our idea. But Assistant Director Hennessy thinks this is the best way to use your talents while keeping you safe.”
“I’m a grown up, for fuck’s sake. What does she think she’s playing at?”
My Irish accent grew stronger by the second as I let loose. In the middle of my tirade, Agent Brewer got up and walked around the table until she stood next to me.
Calm as a cucumber, she said, “Calm the fuck down, Hennessy. You want to be treated as an adult, act like one. This isn’t personal. We all have to do shit we don’t want to. That’s the price we pay for working for the FBMA and keeping folks safe.”
Her matter-of-fact words cut through my rage like a pail of cold water. I was acting like an amadán, a fool.
Agent Brewer put her hand on my arm. “This could be pleasurable. I’m all for not making a job harder than it needs to be. But understand this, Hennessy. I have a boyfriend. And I’m not interested in fucking around with you. This is purely business.”
I nodded in agreement. Then I sat down heavily, feeling off balance. “I apologize.”
“Apology accepted. Let’s start over. My name is Agent Brewer. Call me Jamie while we train.”
11
KIERNAN
Callahan cleared his throat and shifted his chair closer to the table. “It’s my fault. I should have eased you in. I keep forgetting you haven’t been through basic FBMA training.”
I growled at the mention of what was tearing Amber and us apart, but let it pass. Callahan didn’t know how much this affected us. “Let’s start again. What else does this training entail?”
Callahan opened his folder. “We want you to practice on Agent Brewer until you can turn your incubus powers on and off.”
I’d always assumed the girls loved me because of my Irish magnetism. It was depressing to learn it was because my birth father had been a sex demon.
“I still don’t understand what I’m supposed to do, though.”
“It’s simple,” Jamie said. “I want you to focus your powers on me right now. You’re an okay-looking guy. But my boyfriend looks better. So whatever I’m going to feel has to be because of what you send my idea.”
I was trying not to take the comment personally, but damn. Way to kick a guy when he’s down.
“I want you to focus on me until I get turned on. Can you do that, Trainee Agent Hennessey?” Her tone was mocking, but her eyes were steady.
I groaned and dropped my head on my arms. Jesus wept. How is this my life? After regretting every choice that brought me here, I straightened in my chair. “And that’s all I have to do?”
“Yes. That’s all you have to do. For now.” Callahan got up, ready to leave the room.
But Jamie raised her hand. “Not so fast, Special Agent. I would like you to be our chaperone, in case something goes wrong.”
Callahan looked as if he wanted to run. But I added, “She’s right. Would you stay, please?”
His shoulders slumped in defeat, but he took his chair, moved it as far across the room as he could, and sat down, pretending to go through his papers. His ears were bright red.
Maybe he had the hots for Jamie. Either way, I felt better with him being here. There was a full bottle of water sitting on a shelf with four glasses. I got up, grabbed one, and filled it.
“Want some?” I asked.
; Jamie shook her head. By the time I’d emptied my water, her patience was running thin.
“Can we move it along? I haven’t got all day.”
I put my glass down. “The thing is—I’ve actually no idea what to do.”
She stared at me, aghast, then laughed. “What do you mean, you don’t know what to do? You’re an incubus.”
“Half incubus,” I corrected. “And no, I never turned my powers on and off at will.”
“But they do work.”
“Yeah, but not when I want them to. Usually they pop up when it’s inconvenient.”
Jamie groaned. “Oh Lord, have mercy. Okay, Hennessey. Kiernan. Just imagine it’s your elemental power. You know how to access that, right?”
“Of course.”
“Well, feel inside for something different. Draw on that, and let’s hope you don’t turn me into a lump of dirt or something.”
She winked as she said that. But now that she planted that thought in my head, I really hoped I was up to the task.
I closed my eyes, connecting with the familiar heavy earth magic in my body. There was no mistaking its grounding aura, counteracting my fiery temper.
I poked at it. It sat like raw clay, waiting for me to pull it forth and give it shape. But that wasn’t what I needed.
I went deeper, beyond my energy center. There was something, all the way down. It felt like a tiny thread of hot pink, and as I plucked it gently, I felt a corresponding tug.
A rich purple flashed through the connection. The Soul Weave bond. It didn’t feel very strong, but it was there. I focused in on it. It had to be Amber. I felt her strength, her generosity, and love.
It was easy to find the others. Julian’s black was so light it bordered on gray, flickering occasionally. I didn’t go near it. It seemed so fragile, I was afraid I might break it by accident.
Lance’s red pulsed strongly. And Macha’s orange was a steady, calming hue, interspersed with traces of blue.
But there was no sign of my incubus power. Jamie’s and Callahan’s presence pushed against my concentration.
Second Chance Doom: a paranormal romance adventure (Second Chance Academy Book 5) Page 5