Immortal Ops: New & Lengthened 2016 Anniversary Edition

by Mandy M. Roth

  Lukian took his bottle, nodded a thanks to the bartender, and did the same. The liquid tickled the back of his throat on the way down, helping him to gain something close to control over his beast once more. As shifters, the men had metabolisms that were vastly different from a human’s. A bottle of whiskey wouldn’t get them drunk. It would take the edge off their moods, but it wouldn’t get them shit-faced by any means.

  Roi clutched his bottle. “This is so fucked up, isn’t it?”

  Lukian wanted to disagree, but knew better than to try. Roi was right. This mission was all kinds of fucked up. The plan had been a simple one. Lure the women to them at the bar, slip into the girls’ world undetected, and eliminate the target and then vanish, never to be seen by any of these people again. Peren would hardly be the first person the government had sent him to eliminate. Yes, she was the first female, but that didn’t explain the feelings he was having for her. And it didn’t explain away why every ounce of his being wanted to scratch the mission and wrap her in his arms.

  Focus on the mission.

  “Alpha, this is Bravo. Do you read?” He touched his earpiece and spoke softly, looking at Roi in the process who had resorted to chugging his bottle of whiskey.

  The rest of the team confirmed their locations, each one responding in his earpiece. Everything was going according to plan, yet it seemed off. Too easy even. Contact information had been handed to his team, as had information on setting up a meeting with the women under the guise of dates. The more Lukian thought on it, the more it twisted at his gut.

  “Brother,” said Roi, reaching for Lukian’s bottle, his own empty. “I might need yours.”

  Lukian handed it over, his gaze moving in Peren’s direction. She had a fake smile plastered to her face, her eyes screaming in pain. She was hurting inside but putting on a brave face.

  Roi set the bottle on the bar. “Lukian, look at me.”

  Confused, Lukian tipped his head, glancing at Roi.

  Roi bent, putting his body between Lukian’s and everyone else. “Your eyes shifted colors.”

  “Shit.”

  “Yeah, shit is right.”

  Concentrating, Lukian caged his inner beast, thankful Roi was with him. He had no natural-born brothers and Roi had filled that void. Now, they were brothers in every sense of the word. The DNA manipulation had finally been successful and without any ill-timed side effects as had plagued the Immortal Ops program for years prior to Lukian signing on to help. Lukian’s assistance and the tireless efforts of several scientists who had been newer to the experiments and who had hated what they saw happening, changed the program for the better. Lukian had even befriended a few of the humans who had helped to turn it all around. Though, he’d lost contact with them nearly twenty or so years ago.

  He regretted that. Regretted letting the few human relationships he had developed go by the wayside, but seeing them had served as a reminder of the program’s failures—both those prior to his arrival and the ones that happened after he’d signed on. The failures that had resulted in broken leftovers. The men who didn’t take fully to the supernatural DNA that had been introduced to them. The Outcasts as they’d been named. And there had been many.

  A pang of guilt washed over Lukian. Prior to his full cooperation in the experiments, and before he permitted the government to draw samples from him and use them in the stabilization of the compounds given to the men, so many had either died or been left in conditions where death was often preferable. Some managed to make it out the other side somewhat whole and sane. Though the government hadn’t agreed. They thought the men too broken to go on. The Outcasts had been gathered and put in central living quarters for their own good. At least, that was the bullshit line he’d been fed. Lukian had a lot of regrets, most notably that he was now and would forever be a pawn, a killing machine, the government’s play toy. Had he really helped mankind by sharing his secret? He wasn’t sure yet.

  “You going to be all right?” asked Roi.

  With a shaky breath, Lukian responded, “Yes.”

  “Then should we get this show on the road?”

  “Move in, Lance. It’s time we learned more about these young ladies,” he said slowly into his comm unit. “No harm to any of them yet, understood?”

  “Roger that, Captain.”

  “I’m serious. Do not test me on this.”

  Lance snorted. “I never would, sir.”

  Chapter Seven

  “Where are they?” Melanie asked, tapping her long, painted, pink nails on the table. There wasn’t a time Peren could remember that Melanie had a hair out of place, and they’d known one another for years.

  Often, Peren felt that she was barely keeping her own shit together and didn’t have time to worry about things such as manicures and pedicures.

  Missy shrugged and looked around the bar. “I don’t know. When did they say they’d be here?”

  “They should already be here,” responded Melanie.

  Great. They were up to something.

  Missy glanced over Peren’s shoulder and smiled wildly. “I spy something blond and sexy with my little brown eyes.”

  Both Peren and Melanie turned to see a tall, buzz-cut blond coming toward their table. The man had a certain Nordic appeal to him. He reminded Peren of a god of old or mythical being. Not some random guy frequenting a tiny roadside bar that seemed to be held together by dirt and who knew what else. There was something about the man. Something that made her take more notice than she normally would. The feeling of unease returned, this time making the tiny hairs on her arms rise. The urge to flee the area, and to waste no time doing it, hit her hard, setting her even more on edge.

  Not that she needed any help.

  “You Melanie?” the blond man asked.

  Melanie nodded. A Cheshire cat smile crept over her face as she stood and offered him her hand. “You must be Lance. I was starting to think you weren’t coming,” she said, her lip puckered out in a semi-pout. She did a very on-purpose yet casual toss of her white-blonde locks over her shoulder. And just like that the blond god named Lance fell for the blonde supermodel, hook, line, and sinker.

  She does it to the best of ’em, buddy.

  Mel had a way of getting men to eat out of her hand. Peren wasn’t sure if it was Mel’s demeanor or if it was because she really did look like a supermodel.

  Ah, to be five-ten and blonde…

  “I thought you said you were bringing friends?” Melanie’s voice managed to be accusatory and sexy all in one fell swoop. It was an art that Peren had started to pick up on though she lacked the skills to pull it off.

  Lance kissed Melanie’s hand gently. “They’re at the bar. What would everyone like to drink?” His light-blue gaze came to Peren. It turned cold and icy—making fear creep up her spine. She sat back in her seat from the weight of his stare.

  “Nothing…water,” she managed, suddenly uneasy but unsure why.

  “I’ll have a Long Island Iced Tea and Missy will take a beer. She’s hardcore like that. Thanks, Lance,” said Melanie, as sultry as ever. “Hurry back.”

  The man was only a few feet from their table when Melanie giggled. “I am so taking a ride on that dick tonight.”

  Missy snorted and rolled her eyes. “What a shocker.”

  Peren even had to laugh a little. “Tell me you’re not expecting Missy and me to ride his friends.”

  “I would tell you that,” said Melanie with a wink. “But that would be a lie.”

  Chapter Eight

  Lukian waited as Lance walked toward them. The guy was focused, no surprise there. Lance was the go-to boy. Lance nodded at them, but Lukian waited for him to get closer before acknowledging him.

  “Confirmation on the target, sir, and the women don’t suspect anything,” Lance said, but something in his voice hitched. “Sir. If I may.”

  “Go ahead,” said Lukian, his gut churning at the idea the mission was unfolding. “Speak your mind.”

  “Somet
hing seem off to you too, Captain?” asked Lance, eyeing him carefully. “When do we follow through on the original order? When do we eliminate the target?”

  Lukian’s stomach dropped. When he sensed something was wrong, that generally meant they had a problem. A big one.

  He looked to Lance. “Something is totally off with this.”

  Lance nodded, paling slightly. “My spider senses are all over the place.”

  “Spider senses? You’re a cat shifter, not a spider shifter.”

  Roi shook his head. “Old-timer.”

  Putting his hand out, Lukian caught his best friend by the arm. “Roi, abort the operation,” he said, his breathing becoming erratic. “Tell the rest of the men and meet me at the table in five minutes. We need to know more about the target. This doesn’t feel right at all.”

  “Really?” Roi’s eyes widened. He felt it too, Lukian was sure of it. “Bravo, this is Alpha-Dog-Two. Abort mission and stand down,” said Roi, into his comm unit, relief shining on his face.

  Lance moved alongside Lukian as he made his way to the table. The closer Lukian got to the target, the harder it was to breathe. His heart felt as though it would beat out of his chest. What the hell was wrong with him? Why was this woman having this effect on him? She was hardly the first pretty girl he’d been around in his long life. She wouldn’t be the last.

  So why her?

  Why now?

  Why this mission?

  So many questions, and the only answer he had was that she was not to be harmed. Fuck orders.

  Chapter Nine

  “Yummy,” Melanie said as she watched Lance returning to the table with his tall, dark, and handsome friend in tow. Each man had drinks in their hands.

  The way the newcomer stared at Peren left little room for doubt. He was the guy they were hoping to fix her up with. And his expression said he wouldn’t take no for an answer. The man screamed alpha male. Every step he took reaffirmed his dominance.

  Emotions welled and seemed at odds with one another as one part of her brain said go for it, he’s hot, and the other screamed her heart wasn’t ready yet. And all the while her instincts kept pushing her to run—to get away from the area, that danger was close.

  Was it the men she was afraid of?

  No.

  Something else.

  Buried memories of a past she’d wanted to keep tucked away began to creep in on her. She thought of her time with a fortune-teller, on her tenth birthday, when her father had rented a circus for her and only her. On that night and that night alone, no other patrons had been there. Only Peren, her mother, and Peren’s nanny. Oh, the fun they’d first had, riding rides, eating junk food, and laughing together. When Peren’s mother decided to visit the fortune-teller’s tent, Peren’s gut had twisted and she’d felt the urge to flee—to get far from the area. She’d ignored that push then. That inner alarm sounding and telling her something was wrong and off.

  She’d regretted ignoring it every day since.

  The same feeling of unease she’d felt that long-ago day moved over her now. She wanted to run. To get away. But no, that couldn’t happen again—could it? Everyone had told her she’d imagined all of it. That seeing a man turn into a wolf wasn’t possible—that watching the people she loved die in front of her had caused hallucinations, caused her mind to break under the weight of it all.

  She’d not imagined the look of horror on the fortune-teller’s face when she’d touched Peren or the horrible words she’d shouted, about Peren being an abomination. She hadn’t imagined fleeing from the tent, a scared, impulsive ten-year-old girl, running out into the night, wanting to be away from the horrid things the woman had continued to yell.

  And no matter what anyone had said, she had not imagined the beast that came out of the darkness, in the woods surrounding the circus, its mouth full of blood, smelling of death. There had been no child’s play at hand when it had caught her by the ankle and sunk its teeth into her leg, tearing at her flesh, making her scream. No play of light when she’d felt a surge of cold, hard energy lash out of her, hitting the creature with such force that it flew off her. And later, after she’d woken in the hospital, her father at her bedside and the police nearby, everyone’s faces aghast, she had not imagined overhearing their hushed whispers as they spoke of the mutilated bodies of the circus workers, the fortune-teller, and Peren’s mother and nanny being discovered. They could call it anything they wanted—a pack of wild animals attacking, a fluke of nature—but she knew the truth. Whatever had attacked them wasn’t natural, and it wasn’t simply an animal.

  It was so much more.

  Wild animals didn’t morph into people. She knew what she’d seen back then, and she would never forget how she’d felt before it all happened.

  The same way she felt now.

  The men continued to approach, and she thought she’d actually get up and run, but as the man with the blond guy moved in closer, Peren realized it wasn’t him she was afraid of. He radiated something that almost pushed away the worry and dread that was assailing her. But if it wasn’t him, then what was causing her unease, her fear?

  “Where’d the other guy go?” Missy asked, glancing right past the man with Lance.

  “What other guy?” asked Peren, having seen just two men.

  Missy kept staring off into the distance toward the entrance of the bar. “The other guy with black hair. He was with them near the bar.”

  Peren couldn’t focus fully as she looked around, trying hard to figure out what was causing the extreme anxiety settling over her. This was far more than nerves over a blind date ambush. She’d experienced true fear and horror, and she knew it wasn’t far from her now.

  Lance and the newcomer came to a stop before the table of girls and began to hand out drinks. The tall, dark and clearly-in-charge male handed Peren her drink. The second their fingers brushed, heat rushed over her, taking her already erratic emotional state and pushing it over the edge. She needed air. Needed space. Needed to get away from the man’s piercing gaze.

  Standing, she drew Missy’s attention. Her friend grabbed her hand. “You okay?”

  “No,” whispered Peren, her gaze locking on the man. As his tongue darted out and over his lip, the apex of her thighs pooled with moisture. There were too many conflicting emotions hitting her at once. Annoyance with her friends for clearly going against her wishes and trying to set her up, frustration for being sexually attracted to the man they’d brought, and fear of something—she just wasn’t sure what. It all bubbled over into an irrational outburst.

  “What’s wrong?” asked Missy.

  “What’s wrong?” repeated Peren. “I’ll tell you what’s wrong. You two can’t seem to stop meddling in things you don’t understand. I don’t want to be here. I don’t want to be fixed up with another one of your ideas of the perfect man. Contrary to popular belief, we all don’t want to get fucked by the first thing that shows any interest in us. Besides, testosterone-driven sex machines with little to no brains do not appeal to me.”

  “Now that’s a shame. For a minute there, I thought I actually had a shot. But I can’t do much about the testosterone thing. Sort of comes with the territory when you’re dealing with me, sweetheart. As for showing an interest in you…that shouldn’t be too hard. I should take offense that you think all men with muscles have no brains. I should, but I won’t.”

  Peren turned to see who had spoken to her. Her gaze fell on the tall man who stood with Lance. As much as she hated to admit it, he was breathtaking, with his wide shoulders and head of shoulder-length black hair. Its waviness rivaled her own, although her hair was at least a foot longer than his. She noticed right off the bat that he had a tiny scar above his right eyebrow and that his eyelashes were blacker than hers. The thick lashes drew attention to his royal blue gaze. The blue was so intense that it couldn’t be natural. She was sure they were contacts.

  You’re sensing danger and focusing on some guy’s eyes. Ohmygod, you’re now a bra
inless dumbass too, she thought, and then took a deep, calming breath. There is nothing to be scared of. Your nerves are just shot. Go home and rest.

  The beginning of a five o’clock shadow softened what could easily be taken as too masculine a face. His jaw tightened as she took a step back. He wasn’t pleased that she hadn’t taken an instant interest in him. Oh well. It wasn’t like she hadn’t given any thought to having sex with him

  I’m grieving, not dead. And I’m also leaving.

  Peren turned and went quickly toward the club door. She heard her friends calling out to her but didn’t turn to them. They could busy themselves with their new finds all night. She hoped they’d be too sore to walk after spending the night getting ridden hard. It’d serve them right. No fear of that for her. No, she’d be sleeping alone again, because she was going home. Mr. Tall-Dark-and-Sexy would have to be reserved only for her dreams.

  Thankfully, I’ve got fingers. And, if need be, the will to use them.

  Chapter Ten

  “Shit,” the tall blonde girl said as she watched the target leave. She turned to run after her but found Lance holding her arm like a good soldier, making sure the woman stayed in place. Having the other woman running out while there was a target painted on her back wasn’t good at all.

  “Peren,” said the blonde woman, looking worried.

  It wouldn’t do any of them any good if all the women were scattered to the winds. No. His men could watch over these two while he went after the one who made his dick hard enough to hammer nails with.

  “I’ll go. Maybe I could throw up a white flag or something,” Lukian said, smiling widely at the girls. Not wanting to alarm them, though he knew the situation was serious. If a kill order was on Peren, there was a reason for it. That meant she wasn’t safe. Didn’t help that he wanted to bed her in a way he’d never done another. And that meant she really wasn’t safe at all.