It was a true gift.
When no one was immediately maimed, Roi relaxed. Though the idea of getting a few good punches in on Wilson did sound like fun, but that always sounded like a great idea and could wait until a better time. He’d always seen Wilson as something of a pesky little brother, despite the fact they were in no way biologically related.
The colonel ignored Wilson’s comments and hit the light switch, bathing the room in artificial light. Since a laptop sat near the projection screen, that meant the colonel had plans to show them something that would require the room to be dark. Flipping on the lights meant the colonel just wanted to be a dick. The lights wouldn’t be needed.
Jon groaned and shielded his amber eyes, no doubt hungover again. He’d taken the loss of their fellow I-Ops teammate, Lance Toov, the hardest. The two had been close friends, and Roi wasn’t sure that Jon would be able to pull out of his funk. So far it seemed as if the only sort of help Jon was after was found at the bottom of a bottle. The only people he had to confide in were the other Immortal Ops (I-Ops), his team members. It wasn’t like Jon could parade into any old shrink’s office, rambling on about losing his best friend of the past several decades, who never aged a day in all that time and who also happened to have been able to shape-shift into a panther. Yeah, a confession like that would have Jon locked up in Bellevue in two-point-two seconds.
Too bad Wilson wasn’t prone to pouring out his heart. Seeing him in a straitjacket would be priceless. Roi suppressed a grin at the thought.
Roi tipped his head and then directed his attention to the colonel. “If you don’t mind me asking, sir, why did you call us in here today? We’ve already debriefed you on the events surrounding Lance’s death, and Parker has been eliminated. Please don’t tell me there’s another leftover insane team member on the prowl. I’m not sure my nerves can take that today.”
Truth be told, his nerves couldn’t ever handle that again. They’d had to kill a fellow op. Sure, Parker’s mind had broken long ago from all the testing, but that didn’t change the fact he was one of them. He was a brother-in-arms, an Immortal Op. Fuck the government and their Outcast term for the men who didn’t come out of the I-Ops testing and DNA manipulations perfect and fully functioning as per government requirements.
Killing a fellow brother was hard, and he didn’t want to have to do it again. He didn’t blame the broken men; he blamed the scientists who had God complexes and he blamed the assholes forking out large sums of money to back the program.
“Call me Nervous Nelly, but I can’t handle that shit either,” Wilson said with a derisive laugh.
A cold smile spread over Roi’s face as he kept his feet on the table. The colonel glanced at Roi’s feet and lifted a brow. Ticking off the colonel was his favorite pastime. Well, that and sex, but since there weren’t any eligible hotties around, he’d have to just settle for harassing the colonel.
I give and I give.
The colonel flipped the lights off once more and Jon let out a long sigh of relief. Yep. As suspected, Brooks was just being a dick. The lights were not needed. The overhead projector came on and an image of Benjamin Parker flashed up. He was the former-I-Ops agent, who had been labeled an Outcast and who had gone AWOL, later killing one of their own. Parker had lost it shortly after Lukian’s natural-born wolf-shifter DNA had been introduced to him. The testing and Parker’s breakdown had happened decades ago. The man had escaped one of the facilities the government liked to hold the Outcasts in, and had long since been assumed dead until he’d shown up a little over a week ago, trying to not only kill the I-Ops but Lukian’s mate, Peren, as well.
He’d nearly accomplished taking out everyone. And he’d done a hell of a job mind-fucking them all. He’d let them think he was dead and lost, only to show up and play the long con. He’d orchestrated a well-thought-out deception that had drawn Lukian to his mate, made sure the rest of the Ops team would be near, and ultimately, nearly kill them all. He’d been successful in ending Lance’s life. That was a loss Roi wasn’t sure the men would ever recover from. Lance was like family to them all, and they’d spent decades fighting the good fight together. His absence was still fresh and noticeably missed.
Lukian sat up straight in his chair as images of Parker flashed by on the screen. Seeing the pictures even made Roi uncomfortable. Part of him wanted to mourn the loss of Parker, and the other part wanted to bring him back to life so he could kill him for what he’d done. He couldn’t even begin to imagine the range of emotions Lukian was going through.
Colonel Brooks glanced up at the screen, not seeming to notice Lukian’s obvious discomfort with the situation. That or he was ignoring it. “Intel just sent these. Here you’ll see Parker in Munich with Gisbert Krauss.”
“Krauss?” Green asked from the other side of the table. Green was their resident scientist who had a handy werepanther gene. Sad thing was that Green actually looked tougher than he was—despite Lukian swearing the guy could kick ass. He was as tall as Roi with a head of deep red hair and a set of biceps that rivaled any other I-Op, but Green had never taken to the beast side of his shifter abilities. Rather, he submersed himself in books and research, vowing to make headway in the safe creation of more I-Ops teams.
When Green had a question, they all listened. He was the smartest man they’d ever known, and considering the room’s combined age, they’d been around long enough to know a whole lot of people.
“Yes, Krauss,” Brooks said, flipping to the next image, this one showing Parker standing again with the short, balding Gisbert Krauss. The old man didn’t look like much of a threat. “How much do you know about him?”
Green shifted in his seat a bit and shrugged. “Just that he’s big in the field of genetic research. Big enough that I’ve seen his name in a number of related publications. They’re claiming he’s on the verge of some sort of breakthrough. He’s also well backed financially from what I’ve been able to discern. I saved all references to him. I can get them if you’d like.”
“Why am I not surprised that you have that all at the ready?” Wilson asked and glanced at Roi. “They’re probably filed next to the pile of ‘things he does instead of date’ collection.”
“If you’re done,” Colonel Brooks said, staring at Wilson, appearing annoyed.
“He’s done,” Lukian said sternly. No one dared to question him. One, they respected him. Two, he’d rip their heads off and spit down their necks before they had a chance to blink. He wasn’t like the rest of the team. Lukian was born a shifter, a lycan. His strength was unrivaled and he had other perks as well, like being king of the North American Lycans.
“Tell us why Parker was meeting with Krauss.” Lukian leaned forward in his seat, a keen interest on his face. “I think we all know that it wasn’t for an in-depth look into the life of a cell.”
Colonel Brooks ran a hand through his salt-and-pepper hair before pointing at the image. “We’ve had our eye on Krauss for a while now. We found out that he had a hand in an underground paranormal website that talked about DNA manipulation, human-animal hybrids, and the making of super humans with the potential to be used as weapons for the highest-paying bidders.”
The men all shared a concerned look at one another before each one began paying more attention to what Brooks had to say.
Brooks advanced the image and the next one showed Krauss standing with Parker near I-Ops Headquarters. The room went silent. That was a little too close to home for their liking. They glanced at one another nervously.
Clearing his throat, Brooks continued, “We think Parker may have sold secrets to Krauss, led him straight to us and, worse yet, participated in human studies.”
Green shot out of his seat. “Studies? What the hell do you mean by studies? Mixing straight shifter DNA with a normal human has a one hundred percent fatality rate. If they’ve been sacrificing men to serve their purpose then—”
Brooks put his hand up and interrupted Green. “Not just men, women and child
ren too. At least that’s what Intel’s come back with.”
Roi’s stomach tightened. “Why in the hell is ‘Intel’ just getting this information to us now? Christ, if we were that slow, half the country would be dead or vampires by now.”
“Same difference,” Wilson said, snickering. Everyone ignored him.
Colonel Brooks shook his head slightly. “Intel is not flawless. You know that. We do what we can with the information they’re able to retrieve. Have you ever asked yourself how many men died for what you’re seeing now?”
Roi snorted. “What I’m asking myself is how many fucking women and children died, sir.”
“What else do we have on him?” Lukian asked, raking his fingers over the table and ignoring Roi’s outburst. “Do we know how many children they’ve killed?”
“No. But we know for certain that a large group of children were assembled in Asia from around the world and experimented on in utero. We also know that the mothers disappeared once the children were born and the only reason they stopped the experiments was because we got a little too close to discovering them. They spread the children who survived out to orphanages and stopped for a bit. At least we hoped they did.”
“How long ago are we talking about?” Jon asked, concern evident in his voice.
Colonel Brooks turned the lights on. “The thick of their experiments on fetuses and newborns were conducted between twenty and thirty years ago—or around then. We can only guess what they were doing off-site though. They most likely still are doing this. My guess would be they’re keeping the numbers smaller now. The Asia project was massive. If these children managed to survive, they’re adults now. Imagine what it would be like to have enhanced abilities all your life and not understand why. Or worse yet, turn into an animal or a vampire without warning.”
Lukian looked like he was about to be sick. “If they physically survived the change without guidance, they could very well have ended up like Parker.”
“Great, just what the world needs. More superhuman sickos.” Wilson’s comment was more on the mark than any of them wanted to admit.
“Do we have any data on the children? Any idea what orphanages they went to?” Green asked his voice low.
Roi put his hand up, snorting. “Let me guess. Intel has a rough idea, but they only just found out about it. That or they just now felt it pertinent to share the news with us. Why the Intelligence community doesn’t gather their covert agents up and shoot them one by one is beyond me. They are inefficient bastards who let innocents die.”
Brooks cast him an angry look and Roi stuck his middle finger up. Everyone knew the I-Ops were basically their own bosses. Brooks was acutely aware of this, but they often afforded him every opportunity to appear as though he was in charge. It kept the higher-ups in the government happy, believing the I-Ops could be controlled, and it seemed to make Brooks pretty damned content as well. Roi had never been much of one to play the game, so no one expected him to.
“Could you pass this salute on to Intel for me, sir? Thanks!” Having had more than his fill of fun Intel factoids, Roi stood up to leave. Lukian would brief him, as he always did. Right now, he needed a fuck, a shower, some food, and some sleep. Didn’t matter what order he got them in. He wasn’t picky.
“Majors, are you going somewhere?” Brooks asked, arching a brow.
Roi smiled as he walked past him. “Yes, sir, to get laid. You could ask Intel if they have any idea who the lucky lady will be though, if you’d like. Heads up, I’ll be long done with her before they even hint at it and I’m not one who is disposed to to finishing early.”
Chapter Two
“Missy, you coming?” Melanie Daly asked as she brought a tray of food over to their table. The array of burgers, fries, and pizza smelled delicious.
Missy Carter shook her head slightly as she watched her friend with the body of a supermodel slide into the booth across from her. “Tell me again why you’re waiting on us.”
“Because her family owns the place,” Peren said, laughing softly.
Peren Matthews and Melanie had been Missy’s best friends for as long as she could remember. Missy grinned. “Oh yeah, get me another drink, will ya, server wench?”
Melanie tossed a stack of napkins at her and rolled her blue eyes. Lifting a plate of fries from the tray, she wrinkled her nose. “Ugh, I don’t think I can eat this.”
“If you aren’t eating the food here then I’m not either. Wouldn’t want to be poisoned or anything.” Missy smiled wide, letting Melanie know she was just joking.
“Missy!” Peren scolded her.
She shrugged and laughed. “What? I’ve eaten here almost every day since I was little. I love it. You know that. We’d hang here every night if Melanie’s dad and brother would stop chasing me away from her. Okay, change of subject, and for the love of big dicks don’t let it be about Lukian.”
“What? Are you saying that I talk about Lukian too much?” asked Peren, her eyes widening.
Missy glanced at Melanie and they both burst out laughing. “Yeah, you could say that. I mean, you’ve known the guy for like two weeks and you’re acting as if you’re practically married.”
“I guess we do act like that. Sorry.” A knowing look passed over Peren’s face and Missy couldn’t help but wonder if there was more to the story than Peren let on. Her friend had been so damn secretive since Lukian had come into the picture. Now that Missy was between assignments, she planned on looking into Lukian. In fact, she planned on investigating the entire team of operatives he ran with.
“You know that you can tell us anything. We know that something is different with them all. I did some nosing around in my father’s files and—”
Peren just about shot out of her seat. Missy simply stared at her. “Missy, you cannot let on about them. I’ve explained that to the rest of the world they don’t exist. They’re a special team of men. Think of them as the CIA. Your dad’s a lieutenant general. It’s not like he’ll leave well enough alone, Mis.”
Missy’s father was far more than just a lieutenant general, but Missy couldn’t reveal that. Just like Melanie’s father was far more than simply the owner of the bar they were in. There was much about herself and her family that she couldn’t tell Peren or Melanie. There were times it felt as if all she did was lie to her friends. Times that she sensed something was different with her friends, but she didn’t dare bring it up, because the life she led was dangerous and they didn’t need to be a part of it.
It had been all she could do to refrain from talking about the Fae and what the group of magiks could do with Melanie. Missy knew Melanie was Fae. She knew that Melanie was aware of what she was, but she could never discuss it with Melanie. There was a reason Melanie’s father had insisted Melanie not be brought fully into the world of the supernaturals. Missy wasn’t sure what the reason was; she only knew it was vitally important to Mr. Daly that Melanie be left in the dark as much as possible. Missy had always honored his wishes.
“At no point did I say I told my father about Lukian and his buddies. I just said that I nosed around a bit. I can’t help it.” Missy gave Peren an innocent smile. The lies simply rolled off her tongue. “I make my living as a system analyst. I look at things from every angle—it’s what I do.” That was putting it mildly, but that was all Peren could know at the moment. The idea of withholding all of the truth from her best friends never appealed to her, but when it was a matter of life and death, she made an exception to the “best friend bonds.”
Peren sighed. “What did you find?”
Missy’s brow furrowed as she pushed a fry around her plate. If her suspicions were right, then Peren already knew the truth of what Missy had found. That would mean Peren was in danger as well. “Umm, actually I found mention of your dad’s name, Peren. And here’s the weird thing, Dr. Lakeland Matthews’s contact information had been given to my father five months after I was adopted.”
And a month before Peren was conceived. Missy left that
part out for now. If what she’d always suspected about Peren was true, then this information explained a lot. Missy understood she was different—that she was more than human and more than simply a standard, everyday, run-of-the-mill supernatural. Who better to sort out what she was than one of the world’s leading geneticists? “I wouldn’t have thought much of it, except the letter was in the folder with my adoption records. Why would someone refer my father to a geneticist?”
Peren shook her head slightly. “I don’t know, hon. I’ll ask my dad and see why. Clearly, your father contacted mine because we’ve known each other since we were itty-bitty. I met Melanie at the same time.”
Melanie shrugged. “That’s not really shocking. You already know that my dad and Missy’s go way back. Before my dad got out of the Corp, he served right under Missy’s dad. They still talk at least four times a week. I think we should just tell everyone we’re sisters. We’ve known each other that long. Of course, Missy would be the old hag sister. What are you now, Missy, one hundred and two?”
Missy snorted and tossed a fry at Melanie. “I’m twenty-six, at least for the next four months. Leave me alone. I can’t help you’re both babies. Besides, everyone always thinks I’m the youngest of us.”
“Because you’re five three and tiny as hell. Plus, you barely look legal. I love that you get carded everywhere.” Peren grinned from ear to ear.
Melanie pushed her food away from her and groaned. “Uh, well, I for one still can’t get over the fact that we know,” she leaned in closer to them and glanced around wildly, “secret operatives.”
“Pfft, like that’s a big deal.” Missy’s eyes widened as she heard the words come from her mouth. Knowing special agents wasn’t a big deal to her because of her profession and her father. Desperately needing to change the subject, Missy snorted. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I’ve got to wonder how they do anything ‘secretive.’ I mean, think about it. They all look like Greek gods. Don’t you think people are bound to notice a group of six hotties running around?”
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