The human fell onto his side from the power of Harper’s kick. Pain flashed across the human’s face followed by anger. The human’s eyes glowed red.
William smiled. Excellent.
The human bared his teeth at Harper as animal instinct began to take shape. Yet the human did not transform as a shifter would normally do. He had been given the version of the drug that came from a shifter donor.
William gave a nod to Harper. “Again.”
The look on Harper’s face was vicious as he began to kick the human a second time. Rick snarled and faster than William had expected, the human grabbed Harper’s leg and pulled his feet out from under him.
Coarse black and brown hair sprouted from the human’s naked body and his features began shifting. His head changed shape, his eyes glowing a brilliant red before they darkened.
A huge Rottweiler stood over Harper, fangs bared as it gave an ominous growl. It had happened so quickly that Harper hadn’t had a chance to recover.
Just as the Rottweiler went for Harper’s throat, Richmond cast a net of power over the beast. The massive dog yelped and tumbled onto its side as the witch yanked it away from Harper, who scrambled to his feet, an expression of relief on his thin face. The net sizzled and the smell of burning dog hair carried on the air.
The dog yelped as it struggled to get up but its paws were tangled in the magic netting. It whined as the magic burned him. Harper drew a knife from his pocket, his face red with fury that the animal had almost killed him.
William made a sign for Harper to put away the knife and stay where he was then walked to where the animal lay and looked down at it. The Rottweiler snarled but froze when William raised his hand.
“You will be obedient to me or you will die.” William’s voice was cold and filled with death as he stared down the Rottweiler.
Slowly the fury faded from the animal’s eyes to be replaced by fear as it shifted back into its human form. And then Rick was cowering inside the net of magic, red marks lining his naked body where the net had burned his skin.
William nodded to Richmond who released his hold on Rick, drawing his magic back.
“Stand,” William commanded the human.
Rick visibly trembled as he got to his feet, his skin slashed with red as if he’d been whipped.
“How do you feel?” William paced around the human.
Rick hesitated. “Good.” The human sounded surprised as he stuttered over the word. He looked down at his body as the red marks faded as if they had never been in the first place. He met William’s gaze. “I actually feel great. Like I have so much energy I could run for miles. Like I could fuck a dozen women in one night. Like I’m powerful. I’ve never felt this damn good in my life.”
“Excellent.” William studied the human whose erection made it clear just how excited he was. “Now you will do as I tell you if you wish to ever take the drug again.” He knew his voice sounded cruel as he said the next words. “And if you wish to live.”
The human took a step back and shuddered as if a wave of cold air had brushed his naked flesh. His erection withered. “Yes, sir.”
“Now go with Richmond.” William gestured toward the doorway where Richmond waited to escort the human from the control room to the training center.
William nodded to Harper. “Bring me the next human.”
He recognized Todd when Harper escorted him in. The human was shaking, his eyes red as he approached William.
First and second time users were brought directly to William. Once he felt comfortable with the subject, he allowed the drug to be administered in Samuel’s home in Phoenix. Driving so many users out to Fountain Hills was impractical. Once they’d been managed and William had total control, it was much easier to have Samuel tend to their drug needs from his location.
“I need more.” The man dug into the pocket of his slacks and pulled out a wad of bills.
William gave a nod toward Harper who snatched the cash from Todd and started to count out the money.
When Harper said, “It’s all there,” William gave the human the signal to remove his clothing.
Without hesitation, Todd stripped off his shoes, shirt, slacks, socks, and boxers. The muscular, well-endowed male appeared primed and ready. He willingly climbed into the chair and waited as he was strapped down.
An excited light was in his eyes. It was not an uncommon look for humans hooked on Propara. It was probably the most addictive drug ever created—and it was William’s to control.
Clearly attempting to remain still, Todd watched as Samuel filled the syringe with the drug. This time the bottle had a yellow label indicating the donor had been a werewolf.
Samuel injected Propara into Todd’s vein. Almost instantly, the human’s face contorted as he ground his teeth and sweat broke out on his skin. He managed to hold back screams of pain this time, but it was clearly a monumental effort.
The human’s body eventually relaxed and Harper freed the male who was breathing hard. Todd stumbled from the chair, a glazed look in his eyes that rapidly cleared. He straightened and slowly smiled as he flexed his muscles that seemed even larger than before.
“Damn but that shit is good.” Todd lowered himself on all fours and shifted into wolf form.
The human paused a moment to howl, the sound echoing through the control room. He padded to where Carson waited to take him to the control room. Once the humans grew accustomed to the drug and were trained, they became quite docile and obedient when required.
William nodded to Harper to bring the next human in.
Chapter 8
The night was dark, moonlight obliterated by heavy clouds, unusual for the Phoenix area. With his shifter sight, Alec had no problem seeing the Deer Valley warehouse from across the street. All of the Enforcers had enhanced sight—it was part of the job requirement. Only the best of the best were Enforcers.
And then there was Loni. He glanced at her as she looked through night vision goggles. He had wanted to leave her behind, concerned that something might happen to her, but Selena had insisted that Loni go along.
Loni’s light brown hair was pulled back in a ponytail that swung when she looked at Alec. She did look hot in the black leather that Petra had outfitted her in. “What are we looking for?” she whispered.
“Don’t worry about that.” Alec kept his voice low as he studied the warehouse. “Just make sure you stay close to me. I will protect you.”
“What Selena told you about me having some kind of paranormal talent makes no sense.” She turned her attention to the warehouse. “How can I help?”
Earlier, before leaving for the warehouse, he had gone over specifics for the operation, including the location, layout, and other details that would be important for tonight. The op was well planned and well organized, and they’d planned for every possible variance they could, but something could always go wrong.
He frowned at the quietness of the night, touched his finger to his earpiece, and spoke into the communicator. “Anyone else see any activity?”
“Zero,” Jazz said from her position and the others responded in the negative as well.
“I’m going in.” Alec shifted his position. “Either our intelligence is wrong or something’s not right. Team one—Petra, Rider, and Lyle, I want you to go in through the exits you’re watching if they’re clear. The rest of you stay put and cover our backs.”
“You’ve got it,” Strike said in his low drawl. “Just kicking back and enjoying the view.”
Dani, who was in her wolf form gave a low growl. The only time she could be out of her wheelchair was as a werewolf. She couldn’t wear an earpiece but her hearing and senses were so acute that she didn’t need to.
“Let’s go, team.” Alec glanced at Loni, hesitated, then drew his dagger from its sheath and extended it to her, hilt first. “Just in case.”
She reached for it and wrapped her fingers around the grip, even as she frowned.
“Stay close to me.” He
moved forward through the night toward the warehouse.
From behind him, he heard her say, “You were right. I did say that I wanted adventure.”
Damn but he didn’t like the idea of her going in with him—she could get hurt. If Selena hadn’t… He gritted his teeth.
Loni stayed with him as he slipped through the night. It surprised him that she was actually silent as she followed, as if she were an Enforcer. Of course that meant nothing, just that she knew how to be quiet.
The fact that Loni was with him was a distraction he truly couldn’t afford. He had to trust that Selena was right and that Loni would be okay.
When he reached the door to the left of the huge closed bays, he paused to listen. Silence.
He drew his sword then grasped the doorknob and it turned easily in his hand. “Going in,” he said in a low voice into his earpiece.
The feeling that something was wrong was stronger than ever. When he opened the door, the smell of death hit him. He felt Loni tense behind him but she didn’t make a sound.
His heart rate kicked up a notch as he eased forward. The warehouse was dark. The room he’d entered was an office and he slipped past the chairs in front of a desk and on past a file cabinet to an open door at the other end.
The smell of death grew stronger as he advanced through the office. He pressed up against the wall beside the door. Next to him was a panel for the lights. Loni moved beside him, her back to the wall. He peered through the entrance. Clear.
He slipped around the door and into the warehouse and got a good view of a clear space amongst heavy machinery.
Bodies were scattered across the huge bays.
“Are you seeing what I’m seeing?” came Petra’s voice over the earpiece.
“Afraid so.” He sucked in his breath. “Check your areas for company. When it’s clear, I’ve got the lights.”
He looked over his shoulder. She was right behind him, still holding the dagger in one hand.
“Throw the lights when I tell you,” he said. “Make sure you take off your night vision goggles.”
She nodded and gave him a thumbs up.
When he’d cleared his area and heard back from the other Enforcers, he said, “Now, Loni.”
Lights blared and he narrowed his gaze for a couple of moments as his eyes adjusted to the brightness. He counted nine bodies. He touched his earpiece. “Team two, we’ve got a mess in here. Maintain position until we get reinforcements.”
Petra frowned as she appeared out from behind a forklift. “No drug deal, but we’ve got dead paranorms.”
“Damn.” Alec sheathed his sword and took the dagger that Loni extended to him and slipped it into its sheath, too. “What happened here?”
Rider knelt beside one of the dead paranorms and adjusted the head so that they could see the hole in the skull, the same hole found in every dead paranorm over the past two months. It was a clean hole, no blood, like it had been drilled into and cauterized.
He glanced at Loni and saw her face, pale in the bright light of the warehouse. “You okay?” he asked.
She pursed her lips in a tight line before she said, “It’s the first time I’ve seen anyone dead. Much less nine people.”
He wanted to comfort her but he said instead, “Are you going to be all right?”
She nodded and he turned back to the dead paranorm at his feet. He crouched beside the body and checked the skull. “It’s the same here.” He shook his head. “Hole exactly like the others.”
“What the hell is going on?” Erick growled as he and Rider checked the other bodies.
“Wish I knew.” Petra shook her head.
“Petra, you call the task force,” Alec drew his cell phone from its holster on his weapons belt. “I’ve got Max.”
“On it.” She took her own phone from her weapons belt and pressed a speed dial number.
“What you got?” Max’s good ol’ boy voice came over the line. Many a paranorm had underestimated the Chief Enforcer but that was a mistake Alec had never made. Max was one of the sharpest paranorms Alec had ever met.
He explained the situation to Max. “I’ll give Devora a shout,” Max said, talking about the chief of the other team of Phoenix Enforcers. “She’ll want to see this. You should expect her.”
“Faster than I can blink, I’m sure,” Alec said as he disconnected the call.
Not two minutes later the air shimmered a few feet from him and Devora appeared. She wore a floor-length sparkling silver evening dress and carried a matching purse. Her long silver hair was arranged in a twist on top of her head, showing her elegant neck. Diamonds glittered at her ears, throat, and wrists.
The beautiful paranorm female swept her gaze over the bodies then looked at Alec, her green eyes sharp. “What do you know about this, Page?” she asked Alec without any greeting. One tough female, Devora didn’t mess around with preliminaries when on the job.
“Our intelligence indicated that Dawson was supposed to be here tonight and a drug deal going down.” Alec gestured toward the bodies. “This is what we found instead.”
Devora’s gaze rested on Loni. “Who’s this human?”
“Loni Stanfield.” Alec felt a nudge of irritation at Devora’s abruptness. “Selena sent her.”
Devora studied Loni then turned her attention back to Alec. “Has the task force been notified?”
“At the same time I contacted Max.” Sirens sounded in the distance. Task force sirens had a different sound than those used by human emergency vehicles. “Sounds like they’re almost here.”
Devora nodded. “I need to change my clothing. Don’t let anyone touch a thing.”
Alec saluted as she shimmered and he saw the faint outline of a frown before she was gone.
“Who was that?” Loni stepped close to him. “And what’s this all about? What happened to these poor people?”
“They’re all paranorms.” Alec frowned. “Scenes like this have been discovered several times now. Devora’s team has been on it, too, so we bring her in when we run across dead paranorms and Max visits any scenes they find. However, neither team has discovered why the paranorms have been murdered and why holes have been drilled into their skulls.” His gaze moved to the dead paranorm closest to him. “The only thing we’ve learned is that the pituitary gland has been removed.”
Her brows knitted together. “The pituitary gland?”
He nodded. “A human pituitary gland is about the size of a pea and consists of two segments. A paranorm pituitary is slightly larger than a human’s and has three segments.”
She tilted her head slightly. “Why is a paranorm’s different?”
“Our researchers believe it has something to do with paranormal talents,” Alec said. “At least in part.”
“That’s odd.” She frowned. “And you have no idea who’s behind this?”
“Every scene that’s been discovered has been like this one.” Anger grew hot in his belly. “Dead paranorms with no clues left behind.”
The task force arrived and Devora returned. During the exhaustive investigation, Alec pulled out part of his team because the city still needed protection. Most of them were not required to assist once the task force had arrived and had taken over.
His phone vibrated as he walked out into the night with Loni at his side. The other members of his team had already left to patrol. He checked the display. Max.
Alec unholstered his phone and answered, “Page here.”
“We’ve got a big problem.” Max said. “Y’all need to head on over there and see what in the hell is going on.” He gave directions to the scene, which was only two blocks over.
“Got it.” Alec holstered his phone and turned to Lyle who was standing next to him. His arm bumped Lyle’s and he felt his powers shift. “Looks like we’ve got some out of control paranorms or some humans who have developed paranorm powers and are causing havoc. I want you to take charge here.”
Lyle gave a nod. “You’ve got it.”
> Alec grabbed Loni by her hand, and started in the direction of the disturbance.
Chapter 9
“There’s a problem,” Alec told Loni. “According to Max, there are paranorms gone rogue or humans suddenly in possession of paranorm powers. See if you can keep up.”
Normally he would have used his natural speed to arrive faster, but he had to keep Loni close. He ran slower than normal and Loni managed to keep up with him. He increased his speed and she didn’t fall behind, which surprised him.
He heard the humans even before he reached their location. He stopped at the corner of the street, the sounds of small explosions and flashes of colored lights telling him he was where he needed to be. He peered around the corner and saw the humans or paranorms grinning as they used their paranorm powers to cause destruction.
“I need you to stay within sight of me, but off their radar,” he said over his shoulder to Loni. “Stand in a doorway or the stairwell a few doors down.”
She nodded.
Alec took a moment to assess the situation. A short, blond male was throwing fireballs and causing garbage barrels, meters, neon signs, and light fixtures to explode up and down the street. Another human had shifted into a lion and was currently chasing a cat that barely escaped the lion’s claws.
Alec called Petra—he would need her witch talents and she could get here the fastest of all of the Enforcers on his team. A few moments later, Petra appeared beside him, much like Devora had done at the warehouse. As a witch, Petra could travel by invoking a spell. It was different for Devora, but Alec wasn’t sure exactly why or how.
“Nasty.” Petra pretended to roll up sleeves even though she was wearing a leather corset for a top with inch-wide straps over each shoulder holding it in place. “Ready?”
He nodded. They rounded the corner and the males continued to laugh and shout and destroy their surroundings. There was no crowd, as most humans couldn’t see paranormal powers much less paranorms. However they could see the things being blown up and hear it when they did. Likely they would believe that troublemakers were destroying property but would stay clear after calling 9-1-1 to avoid getting in the middle of it.
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