by J. C. Diem
Zeus whined anxiously and followed us to the center of the park. It was fully dark now and the area was deserted. We wrestled the ghoul to the ground and I sat on her legs while Flynn crouched behind her with his arm still around her throat. He tightened his grip and her eyes bulged as he cut off her air. She was far stronger than a human and she wasn’t going to die quickly or easily.
Her eyes latched onto mine and she spoke in a faltering, rusty voice. “You are just like us.”
“I am nothing like you,” I said, appalled by her accusation.
“You lie,” she hissed then clawed at Flynn’s arm. Something crunched inside her throat and she became desperate and reverted to instinct.
I felt what she was about to do and let go of her. I grabbed Flynn as she began to sink beneath the ground. Zeus lunged forward and sank his teeth into her calf. He was doing his best to stop her from escaping.
“What the hell?” Flynn shouted as he was pulled down with her. His arms and head went into the soil, but I didn’t let him go. He sank down to his shoulders and he thrashed in alarm.
“Let her go!” I shouted to both Flynn and Zeus. Zeus immediately unclenched his jaws and winced at the acrid taste of ghoul blood. Flynn released her as well and I yanked him out of the ground a moment before it closed over.
Gasping for air, covered in dirt, his face was as white as his skin could allow him to turn. He coughed up soil and heaved a few times. His phone rang and he fumbled it out of his pocket and handed it to me.
“Hi, Mark,” I said after seeing his name displayed.
“Where are you?” he asked. “Are you alright?”
“We’re still at the park. We just had an encounter with a ghoul, but we’re okay. We’re heading back now.”
“I’ll see you soon.” His tone was less than impressed, but I didn’t think he was angry with us. He wasn’t happy that we’d been in danger.
We hung up and I handed Flynn back his phone. His hands were shaky as he slid it into his pocket. “She was a lot stronger than I thought she’d be,” he rasped. He could have walked unaided, but I put my arm around his waist anyway. He’d just been through a traumatic experience and I figured he needed the moral support.
“Now you know what it feels like to move through the ground like a zombie,” I said brightly. “Mark really wants to experience that for himself and you’ve just beaten him to it.”
He gave me a sardonic look. “I could have done without the demonstration.”
The others were waiting for us in the backyard. I felt a brief flare of jealousy from Reece when he saw us with our arms around each other. He knew shifters weren’t usually interested in inter-species dating, but he couldn’t control his emotions. He might regret being bonded to me, but I still belonged to him in his eyes. He didn’t like to see me with another man.
“You look like crap,” Kala said to Flynn with her usual lack of tact. “What happened?”
“We caught a ghoul who was about to kidnap a baby,” I explained. “We grabbed her and took her to the park. Flynn was strangling her and he didn’t let go when she began to sink into the ground. She took him down with her.”
“Why didn’t you just let her go?” she asked.
“It didn’t occur to me.” His reply was sheepish.
“Idiot,” she declared. “Do you want coffee?”
“God, yes. I think I swallowed a worm while she was dragging me down.”
“What’s wrong with that? I thought reptiles like eating bugs,” she threw back over her shoulder innocently as she headed towards the kitchen.
“Very funny,” he muttered. We might enjoy eating strange and disgusting things when we turned, but in our human forms we ate normal food.
Flynn headed upstairs for a quick shower and to change into fresh clothes. He returned a few minutes later and sank down onto the couch. He took a huge swallow of coffee when Kala handed him a mug.
“The curse of Lexi strikes again,” Kala said when she took a seat beside him.
I was instantly miffed by her pronouncement. “How was any of that my fault?”
“I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t have happened if Flynn had been with anyone else,” she reasoned. “Face it, you’re a monster magnet as well as a psycho magnet.” She took a sip of coffee as I searched for something to say in my defense. “Look on the bright side,” she said cheerfully. “If we ever get bored, we just need to go for a walk with you and we’re bound to run into something that needs killing.”
“Thanks, Kala. That’s really comforting.”
Ignoring my sarcasm, she raised her mug to me in a salute. “You’re welcome.”
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Three
Keeping Mark’s request to watch Kala in mind, my sleep was shallow when we turned in. Just as he’d predicted, I heard the covers slide back a couple of hours later and she stealthily climbed out of bed. Kala dressed as quietly as possible and snatched looks at me to make sure I was still asleep. Keeping my eyes mostly closed so she didn’t know I was watching her, I allowed her to get halfway across the room before I sent a silent command to Zeus.
Moving to stand in front of the door, he growled low in his throat, warning her not to come any closer.
“Move you stupid dog,” she whispered. “I need to go to the bathroom!”
“Really?” I said and sat up. “You got fully dressed, shoes and all, just so you can pee?” My tone was heavy on the sarcasm.
Blowing out a sigh and knowing she was busted, she retreated to her bed and sat down. “This sucks,” she pouted. “No matter how hard I try, I can’t get Cole out of my head.”
I knew how she felt and I couldn’t help but commiserate with her. Sex with an alpha was unforgettable, not that I had anything to compare the experience to. “At least you don’t have to live with him. You don’t have to see him every day and to be so close to him, yet not be allowed to touch him,” I said in a low voice.
Instantly contrite, she crossed the floor and sat down beside me. She put her arm around my shoulder and rested her head against mine. “Why does life have to be so complicated?”
It was ironic that someone three years older than me was asking me such a profound question. “I guess it keeps things interesting,” I said lamely.
Snorting out a laugh, she stood long enough to strip down to her t-shirt. “I want to sleep with someone and you’re going to have to do,” she said and climbed into bed with me.
I pulled the sheet up to my chin in alarm. “What?” It came out as a high pitched squeak.
Giggling at my instant horror, she put her hand over her mouth to muffle the noise. “I don’t want to have sex with you,” she said when she regained control of herself. “I don’t do girls. I just want to be close to someone.”
“Oh.” Mollified, I allowed her to put her arms around me. I’d never shared my bed with a girl before. I imagined this was what having a sister or a best friend would feel like then I realized that she was both.
“Thank you for rescuing me from the pride,” she said. “I might not ever have mind-blowing sex like that again, but at least I still have my wits.”
“What was it like being beneath Cole’s control?” I asked hesitantly. “Couldn’t you think at all?”
She was silent for a moment before she tried to explain. “I only had one thought and one goal; to please the Rex.”
“You don’t mean Cole as a person, but the Rex of the pride?” It was fascinating to talk about something that I knew so little about. That had to be Mark’s influence. His inquisitive nature and need to know more about us was rubbing off on me.
“Once he took over my mind, there was nothing else but my need to fulfil his every desire.”
I wrinkled my nose at that. “You obviously must have gotten something out of it.”
“Pleasing him was my reward.”
I mulled that over and shook my head. “I don’t get it.”
“His orgasm would trigger mine,” she explained, to my
intense embarrassment. “We’re talking multiple, intense, life-changing orgasms.”
That was how I felt every time Reece and I slept together, but I hadn’t become mindlessly addicted to the sensation. I missed it, but I was pretty sure I could live without it. “I don’t think alphas should sleep with anyone who isn’t their equivalent,” I said.
“Why not?”
“Look what happened to you and all the other women Cole has in his harem. It isn’t right that he should enslave you so completely. It isn’t like that between two alphas. Reece hasn’t turned me into his sex slave.”
“I bet he could if he wanted to,” she said slyly.
“No, he couldn’t,” I argued. “We’re equals. He might be stronger physically, but he can’t dominate me mentally. Not if I don’t want him to.”
“I seem to remember when he ordered you to make him a cup of coffee and you almost obeyed him.”
“He seduced me into it,” I said crankily, remembering the incident well. His eyes had turned to liquid gold and I’d fallen beneath his charm. “I snapped out of it quickly enough,” I reminded her.
“I wish I was an alpha,” she said wistfully. “I don’t ever want to be controlled like that again.”
“I won’t let that happen,” I promised her. “I’ll keep you safe.”
Her laugh sounded a trifle teary. “Great, I’m being protected by an eighteen year old werewolf. I should be the one protecting you.”
“You protect me every time we’re on a mission,” I told her. “How about we continue to look out for each other? We can pretend to be sisters and watch each other’s backs.”
“You are my sister, Lexi. Maybe not by blood, but that doesn’t mean much in the Shifter Squad. You’re part of our family now.”
Feeling left out, Zeus put his head on her arm and whined. Kala heaved a quiet sigh and gave him a pat. “Fine. You’re part of the family, too, fleabag.”
Feeling included again, he lay down on the floor and promptly went to sleep. Kala soon followed him into oblivion, but it took a long time for me to grow weary enough to sleep.
Kala was already up when I woke. It wasn’t hard to guess where she was. The first one to rise, she was attempting to make breakfast despite her cooking ban. Smelling toast burning, I hurriedly dressed and rushed downstairs. I tried to remember if there was a fire extinguisher anywhere in the house.
I was relieved to see there was no actual fire when I entered the kitchen. Kala looked at me sheepishly and shrugged at the mess that she’d made. Hearing footsteps rapidly approaching, I turned as Mark appeared in the doorway. He took in the smoke issuing from several blackened lumps of bread that lay on a plate and gave Kala a disapproving frown. “I thought we had a deal.”
“I know, I know,” she said morosely and dumped the charred toast into the trash. “I’m banned from kitchen duty.”
“How do you do it?” I asked in true wonder. “How can you turn the simple act of toasting bread into a fire hazard?” I checked the toaster and saw that she’d turned it up as high as it would go.
“I was hungry,” she said with a shrug. “I thought it would be more economical if I cooked it faster.”
I cut a look at Mark to see him shaking his head at me. He’d lived with her for a lot longer than I had. If he thought it was useless trying to explain how a toaster worked to her then I’d follow his lead. “Why don’t I take over making breakfast?” I suggested.
Grumbling beneath her breath, she switched to the only task we’d allow her to do in the kitchen; making coffee.
We heard movement in the boys’ bedroom upstairs. Flynn sucked in a breath and coughed it out again. “Kala’s been cooking,” he said not quite quietly enough.
“She’ll kill us all one day,” Reece replied morosely. “We’ll wake up to find ourselves engulfed in flames.”
I bit my lips to stop myself from laughing. Kala speared me with a glare, daring me to say anything. Oblivious to the byplay, Mark took his coffee and sat at the dining table. Unlike us, he was dressed in one of his usual suits. Casual clothing didn’t suit him. He’d been an agent of one kind or another for over twenty years. It wasn’t in his DNA to wear jeans.
I spent the morning watching TV with Kala, growing increasingly bored by the second. I didn’t dare leave the house now that it was apparent that I’d probably stumble over a psychotic human, a ghoul or something worse. Knowing my luck, Satan himself might come knocking on the door at any moment.
Seconds after that thought, a car pulled up outside. Kala bounded to her feet, drew her gun and crossed to the window. “Mark,” she called after a few seconds of scrutiny. “Our weapons have arrived.”
I joined her at the window to see a standard UPS van parked outside. The driver climbed out and rounded the vehicle to open the backdoor. Opening a metal box that was secured to the wall, she took out a small package. Moving slowly and carefully, she carried it to the door. It was obviously dangerous and I wondered what was inside.
Mark opened the door just as she was about to knock. The delivery woman didn’t have any paperwork for him, which was a sure sign that she wasn’t a real UPS courier.
“It’s good to see you again, Agent Steel.” She smiled at Mark widely as she handed him the package. Kala and I exchanged a look at her flirtatious tone. “I’ll need some help with the rest of your delivery.” She was in her early forties and had dark brown shoulder length hair and brown eyes. Her face was pretty enough, but it was worn and her voice was rough. She both sounded and smelled like a heavy smoker.
“Reece and Flynn, I could use your help!” Mark called loudly. He cradled the package as gingerly as the delivery woman had.
Reece and Flynn jogged into view from around the side of the house. They’d been sparring in the backyard and were wearing cutoff jeans and tank tops. Mark’s contact grinned at them in open appreciation. “I knew you guys would grow into handsome young men, but I wasn’t expecting you to achieve this level of hotness.”
“Have we met before?” Flynn asked in confusion.
“It was a long time ago. You were just kids back then,” she explained as she led them back to the van. “Be careful, it’s heavier than it looks,” she said as they grabbed an item from the van. It was long and narrow and was made of shiny silvery metal that thankfully wasn’t actual silver. They carried it inside then returned for a second box.
“Long time no see, Mark,” she said when they were alone again.
Kala raised her eyebrows as we continued to spy on them through the window. Flynn crowded in between us so he could peek as well. Only Reece was disinterested in getting the gossip on our boss. He took a seat on the couch and shook his head at us.
“How have you been, Fran?” Mark asked politely.
“Lonely,” she laughed. “I split up with my husband a couple of years ago and I’ve been single ever since.” She was clearly giving him an opening, but he wasn’t biting.
“I’m sorry to hear that. Divorce can be rough.”
She shrugged his sympathy away, taking the hint that he wasn’t interested. “I’ll live.” Still, her expression was regretful. “It was nice to see you again. Take care of the kids. They look like they’re a handful.” She pointed at us and we jerked back out of sight.
Kala giggled at being caught snooping as we fled to the couches. We looked up innocently when Mark entered and he watched us through suspiciously narrowed eyes.
“So,” Flynn ventured. “How do you know Fran?”
“She watched you three for a while shortly after I found you,” he explained. “Don’t you remember her?”
“That was eighteen years ago,” Reece said from his seat on the lone armchair. “We were just toddlers.”
“I thought you might remember her scent.”
“I vaguely remember her,” Kala said with a disapproving frown. “She smoked the entire time she was watching us.”
A year older than the others, she would have been three when Mark rescued her and Flynn.
He must have found Reece around the same time that he’d taken the other two from the organization known as EERI. The Extraordinary Entities Research Institute was the evil equivalent to the PIA. Instead of eradicating monsters, it seemed that they captured them and studied them. I still had no idea what their true purpose was. My classification level was too low for me to be trusted with that information.
“I hope she doesn’t have any kids of her own,” I said. “No one should smoke around children.”
Mark shook his head and gingerly placed the package on the coffee table. “She doesn’t, but it wasn’t for lack of trying. She and her husband were unable to conceive.”
Now I felt bad for Fran. Kala did as well and she shifted uncomfortably. “What’s in the boxes?” she asked to change the topic.
“Open them up and see.”
As excited as a kid at Christmas, she knelt beside one of the containers. Popping the locks, she flipped the lid open and pulled out an assault rifle. “Now these should come in handy!” she said with a grin.
“Now we’re talking,” Flynn breathed when he opened the second box and pulled out a flamethrower. “Will these work on ghouls?”
Mark shrugged. “I imagine so. I’m sure we’ll find out soon enough.”
“What’s in that box?” I asked and pointed at the package that he’d placed on the coffee table.
Opening it carefully, he lifted the lid and showed me half a dozen grenades. “These have been modified to be far more powerful than normal,” he said and closed the lid again. “We’ll only use them in the event of dire need.”
A normal grenade could devastate a small group of enemies. I was almost afraid to ask what kind of destruction these ones were capable of.
“Okay, we have the firepower we need,” Reece said. “Now how are we going to get into the tunnels?”
It was a question that I hadn’t even contemplated. In my short time wandering beneath the cemetery, I hadn’t seen any way to get back to the surface. It was doubtful the team would want ghouls to pop up and drag them down like they’d done to me.