M. Lee - Dark

by M. Lee

tryingfor middle ground.

  “Breaking and entering seems more likely at this

  point,” Jaime retorted. Still, he didn’t move to call for

  help. Dark took in the hands on Jaime’s hips and

  figured he had a chance. Quickly, he turned to the

  screen and pulled up an image of the orc band he was

  trackingfromthat morning. Jaime sucked ina breath. “I take it they don’t have a permit for carrying

  concealed,”Dark asked.

  “No,” Jaime answered. “There are only three

  guests with weapons allowances on the high wing at the

  moment.” Dark stored that information away in case it

  proved usefullater. “We should contact security.” Dark shook his head. “Can’t do that. It ties in to

  anactive case.”

  Jaime hesitated, a touch of suspicion lingering in

  his eyes, then moved forward to stand beside Dark. He

  leaned over Dark’s shoulder and laid a hand on the

  pad. “Audio activation,” he commanded. He removed

  his hand. “Bringthemup.”

  Dark had scanned for any technology that would

  alert the authorities that he was messing where he

  wasn’t supposed to, but he hadn’t noticed this

  particular feature. He typed in a string of code and

  brought the orcs’ current position in the hotel,

  somewhere in a conference room, up on the screen.

  Grunting and hoarse vocal sounds filled the air. Dark

  strained forward. The sound was clear, but despite

  years oftraining, he could only make out the odd word. “Food,” “weapon,” and “contact” did not make a

  particularlyusefulpicture.

  “Right,” Jaime said next to his ear. Dark turned his

  head to see Jaime listeningintently.

  Dark wasted several seconds blinking in shock.

  “Youspeak orcish?”

  Jaime waved a hand. “I speak a lot of things.

  There’s a great deal of time to spend on other activities

  inthis line ofwork. I assume youwant a translation?” Dark considered. Jaime’s assistance might be

  needed. And it would certainly be useful. He nodded.

  Dark listened in something approaching awe as Jaime

  provided a simultaneous translation, breezing through

  the sounds that were indecipherable to most non-orcs.

  He soonlost his awe infavor ofgrimsilence.

  There was something deeper going on. The orcs

  had rented use ofthe conference roominorder to get in

  touch with someone. Their discussion revealed little

  about their contact, but they soon fell into talk of an

  attack. There was a target, here at the hotel, though it

  was unclear whether it was a personor anobject. “They’re just talking about food now,” Jaime said

  eventually, “what steak would be good, preferred

  sauce….”

  Dark leaned back in the chair. “Can we get audio

  ofpast interactions?”

  Jaime shook his head. “It only works for

  simultaneous happenings. For the sake of privacy.”

  Dark closed his eyes and felt a tentative touch on the

  back ofhis shoulder. “Sorry.”

  Dark rolled his shoulders. “Could be worse.” “Hmm.” Jaime traced a line up Dark’s shoulder.

  Dark felt a stirring in his groin, despite the unlikely

  circumstances, and rolled aneye at Jaime.

  “You,” he said, “have fairies somewhere up the

  line.”

  Jaime grinned, shameless. “Grandmother,” he

  agreed. “AmI botheringyou?”

  The subtle seduction effect was one he could

  throw off. But perhaps a little stress relief was a good

  idea. He spun the chair and pulled Jaime into his lap.

  “No,”he said.

  Jaime laughed. “Here?”

  Dark leaned in and bit Jaime’s lip. “Fast,” he said.

  And gasped when Jaime did something that magnified

  the effect of his heritage. It was one thing to learn about

  fairy anatomy and sensati, the hormonal controls that

  made them more sexually potent, in a classroom, but

  something entirely different to experience it firsthand. It

  sent prickles offire over Dark’s skin.

  “Won’t be a problem,” Jaime said. He bucked his

  hips forward, twisting to rub himself against Dark. His

  hands rose to pinchat Dark’s nipples throughhis shirt. Dark tilted his head for a kiss. He let Jaime wash

  over him like an aphrodisiac, losing himself in the wet

  heat of his mouth. He ran a hand down Jaime’s chest

  and cupped a hand over Jaime’s cock. Jaime rutted

  upward. Hunger buzzed through Dark’s veins. His

  pants became uncomfortably tight. Their lips stayed

  locked together as Dark pulled Jaime closer. Jaime

  obedientlyrearranged himself, straddlingDark’s lap and

  writhing. Dark hummed inpleasure.

  “Good?” Jaime’s whisper was followed

  immediately by his tongue tracing a delicate line around

  Dark’s lips. Dark jerked, arching his hips off the chair.

  With a small sound, Jaime reached down and

  unfastened Dark’s jeans, pulling his cock out and fisting

  it. The effect was electric, sparks shooting down his

  spine. He felt Jaime’s quick fingers release him for a

  moment, the back of his hand brushing against Dark as

  he freed his ownerection.

  Dark watched Jaime’s face as Jaime touched them

  both, wrapping his hands around their cocks and

  jerking them off. Jaime’s tongue flickered out, drawing

  a quick, wet line over his lips. This close, Dark could

  see a flush working its way over Jaime’s high

  cheekbones and the shine of sweat on his brow. He

  watched in fascination as Jaime’s pupils dilated and his

  jaw loosened, making him look like the perfect picture

  ofsex.

  Finally he looked away, down at their laps.

  Precome slicked them both, easing their slide together.

  Dark knew what his cock looked like: thick, dark like the rest of his skin, sparse black hair at the base. Jaime’s slender length looked like perfection to him, even-toned and somehow delicate and masculine all at once. His mouth watered as he remembered how it

  tasted. He saw his cock jerk a little at the memory. “Thinking something sexy?” Jaime twisted his

  hands, and Dark swore.

  His thighs tensed. “Want to suck you again,” he

  said. “Maybe eat youout downthere.”

  Jaime moaned. “Yeah? You like that? Spread me

  out. See how wide youcanget me?”

  Dark’s mind spiraled, suddenly aching for a fuck.

  “Rather get youinme.”

  “We could do that,” Jaime said. He made a

  breathless, eager noise as he rubbed a thumb over the

  head ofDark’s cock. “Not right now.”

  “No,”Dark said. “Too close.”

  “Yeah? Come on, then. Youcanlick it offme.” Dark groaned, hips fucking up into the tight ring of

  Jaime’s hands. His balls tightened and he came, spurting out a string of come over Jaime’s shirt. Jaime made a hissing, urgent sound, but Dark pushed him off and pinned him to the floor in an instant. He licked at his come, the harsh fabric deterring himnot at all. With fast swipes, he worked his way down to Jaime’s cock and swallowed him. Jaime’s hips arched off the floor, and Dark drank his orgasmdown. He pulled off and licked

  his lips.


  “As good as I remember.”

  Jaime shivered. “Ummm.”

  Dark smiled at the dazed look on Jaime’s face.

  “Come on,”he said, levering himselfto his feet, “time to

  go.”

  Jaime groaned and let himselfbe pulled up.

  ONCEthey’d climbed off the floor, Jaime’s linguistic skills proved useful once more. He had been able to identify a time when the orcs should be out of their room. Jaime had also, reluctantly, keyed Dark into their suite, making the lock open easily under his fingers. Dark, as he had already proven, could have opened the door himself. He would rather not be found lingering in front of this particular suite, though. And letting him in left Jaime in no particular danger. He was supposed to be able to come and go from guests’ suites in order to do his job effectively. Dark had even manufactured a message from the orcs, complaining about some small detail Jaime might have entered to figure out. The cameras monitoring this part of the hallway were temporarily not functioning, courtesy of access to the guard station.

  Inside, Dark shut the door softly, scanning for any additional security measures his enemies might have left behind. Seeing nothing fromhis position by the door, he soft-footed it further in. Pulling black gloves from his pocket, Dark put them on. He had no intention of leaving behind fingerprints. A second device, a black case with a red light, only two inches long, came from the same pocket. He knew information would be more useful, but his duties with the EPS meant scanning for weaponry. As expected, he pinged the weapons he’d seen the orcs use. He followed the device’s mapping of the roomto uncover another short-range weapon and a cache ofbanned materials.

  Perhaps they hadn’t thought the uranium was an artifact after all. Or perhaps they’d been educated since he’d disappeared out their window with it. It was definitelysuspicious.

  Not knowing how short his time was, Dark felt along the frames of the beds and chairs for any more surprises. He wasn’t shocked by the lack of papers; he was dealing with orcs, after all. They might be able to handle almost any weapon, but they weren’t much for reading. The single book, concealed by the cushioned chair, stood out. Dark grimaced at it. Homeland was aninfamous text fromhalfa centuryago, a manifesto for isolating the worlds again. An extremist agenda and illegalweaponrypainted anuglypicture. Perfect.

  A search of the bedrooms turned up nothing, and the dining roomwas clean too. Aware that he’d been in the suite for nearly half an hour, Dark moved on to the bathroom. He almost missed it. In his haste, checking in the toilet tank was an afterthought. He stared at the touchphone, identicalto his own, taped to the underside of the lid. It was an agency phone. This was it. Take it and risk discovery, or leave it?

  Afaint noise fromthe outer roombrought his head up. Dark silently eased the lid down, body tensed. He leaned toward the open door, listening intently. There was a soft beep, indicating the lock giving access. He slipped through the door and darted for the far wall of the mainroom, throwinghimselfout the window.

  Above him, Dark heard the orcs snorting and gruntingto eachother, and prayed none ofthemnoticed the window cracked open. He gripped the sill with his fingertips, not daring to look down. The orcs might be ona lower levelthanhim, but he was stillfive stories up. His arms trembled withthe strain.

  It seemed to take forever for the noise to recede, though Dark estimated it was only a few minutes. Once he was certainthey’d gone to another room, he secured a better hold with one hand and let go with the other, tugging the glove off with his teeth and switching it for his climbing gloves. He sighed with relief and hurried up the wall, moving steadily toward his room. It was time to make a call.

  JULIUSdidn’t pick up. In fact, his phone went straight to his answering service. When Dark checked his own messages, there was one fromanhour ago.

  Julius’s message was terse and to the point. “Believe I’ve located something. I’m on the trail, will callyouagainonce I’ve confirmed.”

  Dark cursed. As ifhe’d needed more confirmation after what he’d found! The orcs hadn’t had that phone long. He’d tracked it to somewhere between Laos, three months ago, and Orcshire a few weeks later. He was doing his best to narrow their route down, but it looked increasingly dubious. Weapons of that grade weren’t simply lying around—not on the Earth world, anyway. When he had thought to check the world log, there had been no mention of when they had crossed into the Earth world, either. He hadn’t been able to track any crime reports that led to them. That meant someone must have supplied them.

  EPS was the only logical organization to carry weapons of that type in the Earth world. Dark only hoped he could rule out the Commander by her schedule during that timeframe. Wired, he went back to his computer, working his way deep into the EPS database. It was with relief that he located the Commander’s schedule. Her public appearances over the last four months wouldn’t have allowed her to be in contact with the renegade orcs. He ruled out two of his fellow agents the same way.

  As he worked, he put the pieces together. He didn’t dare tip anyone offwith Julius in the field, or he’d be hacking people’s pasts, looking for isolationists. There was no question that the Blending, that nearly mythic time when science had advanced far enough on each world for them to detect, then communicate with each other, hadn’t gone smoothly. He’d read the accounts: Lyshir, the smallest of the human worlds, nearly wiped out by Earth’s nuclear attacks; orcish raids from Frauch before the elves took it upon themselves to chase after their fellow beings and stop the slaughter; humans falling in masses under the sexual allure of the fairies, only to wake up confused and angry; and the diseases that had wracked allthe worlds. Despite the horrors ofthe past, the worlds had enriched each other too. The advanced medicines of Lyshir had benefited fromEarth’s widespread distribution systems. Weapons technology was more dangerous, but more controlled than it had been in Earth’s history. Athos’s colors had cross-pollinated with elfish geometric designs to create art and clothing of stunning beauty. The fairies had eventually bestowed gifts on those that felt they had been wronged, the beginning of courtship patterns that shifted in several worlds. The only way to isolate them now would be to destroy the Gates and perpetrate genocide on anyone caught on the wrong side whentheywent down.

  A list of guests at the hotel would be nearly useless. The time it would take to narrow down potential suspects and objects of attack, then crossreference agendas within the agency would be weeks, if not months. Dark didn’t have that sort of time. Even though Jaime had promised to listen in on any conversations he could, they had learned nothing new. Besides, Jaime shouldn’t be involved at all. He was a civilian.

  Something odd in the files he was perusing leapt out at him. Frowning, Dark traced his steps back, pulling up a random sampling of cases he’d been on over the last few months. Faintly disbelieving, he went back another year and repeated the trick. An uneasy feeling roiled in his stomach. All the files had been examined, and the examiner had erased their identity, like a thief using gloves. The chance that two random samplings just happened to have been looked over was infinitesimal.

  Pullingback fromthe system, Dark looked quickly around the room. Mindful of the security cameras covering his room, he moved slowly, as though he were just drifting. He went to the window and looked out. Nothing. Casually, he closed the curtains. Yawning, he stretched and lay down on the couch. He faked tossing and turning, double-checking that all his weapons were inplace. Thenhe laystill.

  For five minutes, Dark breathed deeply, feigning sleep. He relaxed each muscle, mentally preparing for an attack. He used his nose and ears to monitor the room, confident he would hear anyone entering in time. After he was done, he rose and went to the bathroom, doing a visual sweep and splashing water on his face. Under the covering sounds of the water, he chanted the words the shaman had used two decades ago while inscribing the runes on his arm. Perhaps they were protection. Perhaps they were another sign battle was coming.

  He could have gone down to the securi
ty station, but it seemed more prudent to stay in his room. In his heightened state, it took less time than he’d previously estimated to hack into the hotel’s visuals and alter them. Anyone looking now would see Dark innocently taking a nap, the same five minutes looping until he overrode them.

  His mind whirring, he quicklywent downthe list of what needed to be done. He sent a file to the Commander first, explaining his actions and the situation, warning against a traitor within the ranks. He then sent the same information to Julius, in case something happened before they were able to communicate. Hoping Julius would have more information, he returned to the possible routes and locations ofEPS weapons storage.

  JULIUS’Sknock almost got him shot. If it hadn’t come

  in the quick, staccato rhythm that meant “ally,” Dark might wellhave shot straight throughthe door. He stood to the side, gunout, and eased it open. Julius took in his tense stance, raised an eyebrow, and slipped into the room, movingto clear Dark’s line ofsight.

  “It’s Richards,” Julius said once the door was safelyshut.

  Head Agent Richards, in charge of the research team. As unlikely as the slightly overweight, middleaged man seemed, Dark knew Julius wouldn’t have spoken unless he was certain. “Why?” Dark gestured Julius to the room’s only chair, sitting across from him onthe couch.

  Julius sat carefully, hand drifting down. Dark eyed the thigh holster with interest. Unless he was mistaken, that was the newest heat-locking gun Julius had strapped to him. Dark followed the movements of Julius’s slender hands as they were carefully folded in his lap.

  “Three years ago, Richards’s partner at the time, Keyna, was shot down while visiting a supposedly friendly mixed band of goblins and fairies. He finished the case, but his superiors were concerned about his emotional state. There were whispers at the time that he’d used inappropriate force during the follow-up, thoughno charges were brought against him.”

  Dark hissed indispleasure.

  Julius held up a hand to signal he was not finished. “An isolationist by the name of Raich, apparently acting as part of a series of connected cells, contacted Richards shortly after that. I don’t know all the details, but Richards was collaborating with themby the end of the year.”

  Dark felt his eyebrows coming down in an angry frown. “We’ve missed this for two-and-a-halfyears?”