Rurik had gained the upper hand. He’d then proceeded to nearly kill him. A man Pavel had once seen as a brother had openly turned on him, nearly being his end. And he’d left Pavel with the scars to prove as much. He’d also stained Pavel’s reputation with those he served—The Corporation.
Absently, Pavel reached up and rubbed his chest through his shirt, feeling one of the many reminders of that day Rurik had left him living with. The scars beneath the material of Pavel’s shirt were still gruesome to look upon. It hadn’t mattered that decades had passed.
Pavel had thought organizing a remote research facility would see him back in his employer’s good graces. The facility was devoted to testing on children in what was often referred to as The Asia Project. It would have been perfect. But fucking PSI had interfered. They’d left Pavel looking like a weak fool to The Corporation, not the soldier they’d invested so much time and money in.
Now, Pavel was sitting in his own version of Siberian hell—fucking America. Stuck pretending to be a professor of literature, wearing clothing he hated, all to avoid drawing attention to himself.
Revenge was within his grasp. Rurik wouldn’t be so high and mighty when Pavel was done with him.
He stopped rubbing the scar through his shirt and went back to enlarging the surveillance photo on his phone screen. Zooming in, he looked for signs of injury on Rurik, but saw none.
Pavel’s brows drew together. He’d been there for the attack on Rurik in Savannah two weeks prior. He’d watched from a rooftop, hoping to see the man’s downfall. With calculated precision, Pavel had lured Rurik from the safety of the clinic. The scent of his mate had been far too much for Rurik to resist.
Just as Pavel had suspected.
Liberty Mansfield was the woman who had quite literally been created for Rurik. Engineered by The Corporation—like so many others—to be a perfect match for supernaturals that they had genetic sequencing on. Rurik was one of those supernaturals. One they had a special interest in drawing back to the fold. They’d had the foresight to know the quickest way to get what they wanted was to use someone Rurik couldn’t resist. Someone his bear and his human side would do anything for.
His mate.
Pavel had been in Liberty’s orbit since she’d been born and always intended to use her against Rurik in some way. He saw her multiple times a week and was in and out of her home often, without her knowledge.
It was almost too easy really.
For as book smart as she was, the bitch was clueless to the number of times he’d been in her home with her there. Hell, he’d shuffled things around on purpose, hoping she’d notice. She didn’t. He’d even gone so far as to leave a bag of pistachio nuts in her kitchen, knowing she didn’t like them. She was as oblivious to what was really going on in the world as humans were.
Having moles within PSI had also proven helpful. After learning about Rurik being in Savannah a few weeks back, embroiled in the middle of a situation involving The Corporation, he’d launched into action. He’d entered Liberty’s house while she and her roommates were asleep and took several items from her dirty clothes hamper that held her scent the most.
He’d bagged the items and then stood in her room, watching her sleep, his hand itching to shift form and finish what he’d started years ago. He’d wanted to forever scar her. To leave Rurik an ever-present reminder of what he’d done to Pavel.
When Pavel had clawed open Liberty’s face when she was a child, he’d thought for sure the wounds would remain obvious. That hadn’t been the case. They were barely noticeable.
He’d been in her home more times than he could count, fighting the urge to kill her and send her body to Rurik in a gift-wrapped box. He’d stood over her bed, fixated on her face—on the area he’d clawed twenty years prior. The urge to slash her face open once again had beat at him from within.
Such easy prey, he thought with a wicked smile.
If the fucking blonde woman she lived with hadn’t woken, Pavel would have lost the battle with his willpower and attacked. But the blonde bitch had not only woken, she’d then headed for Liberty’s room in the dead of night, forcing Pavel to make a quick exit through the window. He didn’t want to take on the blonde. While she appeared mild-mannered, he more than knew what she was really capable of.
He’d seen her in action as a small child. Plus, if she was anything like her sister, she was an extreme threat.
The team of men tasked with keeping watch over the women had seen Pavel jumping out the upper-level window with a bag of women’s clothing. He’d heard their mocking laughs and whispers from the van they’d been stationed in, parked down the street.
They’d already seen him as weak.
The incident hadn’t helped.
Pavel had made sure the bagged items he’d taken from Liberty’s hamper accompanied him to Savannah, where he’d met up with the strike team The Corporation had deployed to the area. Then, Pavel had used Liberty’s scent to lure Rurik from a small clinic he’d been holed up in.
It had worked brilliantly.
His rival had stepped out from the clinic, sniffing the air, looking curious and then confused.
Pavel had ordered the hybrids that had been along with him to do their worst. To attack without mercy and to eliminate the bastard once and for all—or at the very least, leave Rurik as scarred and broken as Pavel.
Of course, the orders had been in direct opposition to that of The Corporation. They wanted their asset—Rurik—back in one piece. Mentally broken, but physically pristine.
The hybrids had failed.
Rurik had managed to cut through a large number of them on his own and then a fucking human had shown up to lend a hand. Pavel still had no idea how the old man had taken down one hybrid, let alone more than one.
Rurik survived the attack but had needed to go through extensive surgeries and rehabilitation. When Pavel learned Rurik was being eyed for light duty, he’d created the perfect situation for him to be sent to.
Rurik wasn’t at full strength.
He was beatable.
And here he was—in Durham, face-to-face with his mate.
If Pavel got his way, Rurik would be dead before nightfall.
Fuck The Corporation.
They’d forgive him. They’d see him as a valued member once more even if they did lose their precious Rurik in the process. They’d understand how little they really needed Rurik. Then Pavel would be returned to what he did best—heading experiments and labs.
There were countless testing facilities operating around the world. If Pavel played his cards right, he could end up at another that tested on children. They were the best subjects.
He just needed Rurik out of the way—for good.
They were on opposite sides of a war that had been going on forever and a day. It wasn’t a war between Russia and America as most would assume.
No.
It was one between The Corporation and mankind.
Rurik was backing the wrong horse; he just didn’t know it yet.
He was about to learn. When the lesson was handed to him, Pavel would be there to see it happen. And he’d sure as hell add his thoughts on all the ways Rurik had fucked things up—all the ways Rurik could have prevented it. Just like Rurik had done to him thirty-five years ago. Then Rurik could see what it was like to wish resetting time was a thing. Not that it would work.
No.
Rurik would be forced to live with regret.
Just like Pavel had to do.
A mix of anger and adrenaline shot through Pavel and his eyes began to burn.
“Baby, you’re doing it again,” said Olga, the hot blonde. “Your eyes are glowing orange.”
Pavel set the phone on the top of his desk and raked his gaze over the woman. She’d thankfully changed out of the clothes she’d first arrived in and was currently wearing a short skirt and a low-cut, button-up pink silk blouse.
He loved it when she wore pink and when she went without a bra or panti
es. He knew the absence of the articles of intimate wear was for his benefit, and that turned him on more.
From the outline of her nipples, she was giving him what he wanted—no bra.
She ran her hand over his shoulder and up his neck to his jawline. “We have time to sneak in a quickie, right?”
He wanted sex, but he wanted details on Rurik first.
“How long did it take Romanov to react to his mate? Does he know who she is to him yet?” he asked, already knowing but wanting confirmation. Hell, Pavel was the reason the women were even in Durham and that Rurik had been called in. Everything was going according to plan.
Olga pouted. “I want some attention.”
He pushed her onto the desk and then shoved apart her legs.
She squealed in delight.
He took a deep breath and his cock jerked to life with the scent of her sex. “You didn’t answer my question.”
She sighed. “It didn’t take Romanov long to have his mouth on hers. It’s unclear if he’s figured out who she is to him yet or not.”
As a reward for answering the question, he slid a hand up her inner thigh and then between her legs. Like a good girl, she wasn’t wearing panties. He spread the lips of her pussy and thrust a finger into her, causing her to squirm on his desktop.
He grinned more. “And you’re sure no one followed you on your way back to town?”
She whimpered and then bit on her lower lip, trying to ride his hand more.
He stopped and gave her a cross look. “Answer me. Were you followed?”
“No one suspected a thing,” she said, writhing on his hand. “Fuck me.”
“In a minute,” he returned, noticing his accent working its way back into his speech. He’d worked hard to minimize it over the last two decades. Doing so helped him blend more and made it easy enough for him to lie about his origin. Most Americans believed what they were told, never noticing the slight variations in accents from certain regions. Their ignorance worked in his favor.
He’d found himself on PSI’s most wanted list for twenty years now. In the beginning, it had been difficult to stay ahead of them even with the assistance of his backers. But as time went on it got easier.
It helped that while under his new alias, he’d switched up professions. Literature held little interest to him. It just so happened he’d lived through most of the times the Russian greats wrote about and had been familiar with their work all his life. Coming up with a rock-solid paper trail that proved his credentials had been the easiest part of it all. Of course, he’d never given up his passion—science and the advancement of supernaturals.
When he’d learned that several of his university colleagues had gotten too close to projects Pavel had ties to, he’d acted, removing them from the equation. They weren’t dead—though that had been his preference—but they were tucked away in a spot no one would ever find them. While there, they could serve the greater good and help to usher in a new era of supernaturals. Their skill sets were the only reason they were still alive, especially with how much they’d already learned.
“Pavel,” whispered Olga. “More.”
His gaze narrowed and he withdrew his finger from her. “I told you not to call me that here.”
She glanced around. “It’s just us right now. No one can hear.”
His jaw set. “You don’t know that. What if PSI or the Para-Regs dispatched someone to have a closer look at the university?”
She rolled her eyes. “They only sent Romanov. He can’t be in two places at once. He’s at the house that you promised to keep empty for me to watch the bitches. And even if someone did overhear us right now, we both know I can make them forget. I can make them do whatever I want them to do. Their will is mine to bend.”
He nearly smiled, knowing how much she hated a certain group of young women. “Having Romanov placed before his mate was more important than you spending your nights glaring across the street.”
Her temper showed more. “You spend more time there than me. Don’t think for a second that I don’t know you were there again—in that house—in that bitch’s room. You want her, don’t you?”
“I only want you. You know that,” he said, enjoying seeing her jealous even though she had nothing to be jealous about.
She grunted. “You should have let me kill them.”
“Now, now,” he soothed. “You know very well that they’re important to those in charge.”
“Swear to me that The Corporation is planning to make them lab rats again,” she demanded.
He squeezed her thigh to the point she winced. “Keep running your mouth and you’ll be the next one returned to the testing pool.”
She pried his fingers from her thigh and rubbed the area. “You wouldn’t really let that happen. You’d miss me too much and who would you fuck then? Remember that your dick only works for me.”
He chuckled. “Oh, I’m well aware, Olga. And who said I would stop fucking you if I handed you to the higher-ups to finish what they started when you were little?”
Anger lit in her gaze. “I’m valuable. I helped set up this move against Romanov. Without me, you wouldn’t have even known he was showing up in Durham today. I provided that intel.”
“Yes,” he said, skimming his hand up her inner thigh once again. “You did. What else did you do while you were helping to set this into motion?”
She stiffened and lowered her gaze. “You said I could.”
“I told you that you could find someone to play with after this was done,” he reminded. “Not before. But what did you do?”
“Killed a woman,” she confessed before her gaze snapped back to his. “But PSI doesn’t know. The human authorities don’t either.”
“Lucky for you,” he said, inserting his finger into her again.
She squirmed more.
“Tell me something, Olga,” he coaxed. “Did you make the woman suffer?”
A glint of excitement filled her gaze. “I did.”
“Did you push your will on her?” he asked, knowing the answer.
She squealed. “Yes. I made her tell me everything about herself and her job. She didn’t want to, but I didn’t give her a choice. Humans are so weak.”
He added another finger. “And did she beg for mercy?”
Olga nodded.
He winked. “Did you record it all?”
Again, she nodded. “And I journaled about it. I know how you like to read about what I do later.”
“Mmm, good girl. Once I’m done with Romanov, we can watch the video,” he supplied.
She licked her lower lip. “While we have sex?”
“Of course,” he assured, turned on by just how sadistic her nature was. He loved that about her. Loved how her mind worked. Loved how twisted her desires ran.
She complemented him in every way possible. She was right, he wouldn’t really hand her over willingly for further testing. The key word was “willingly” because some things were out of his hands when it came to The Corporation. They’d already issued more than one warning about the trail of bodies she tended to leave in her wake.
Often Pavel was required to risk his cover as a mild-mannered professor to dispose of the bodies and reach out to nefarious characters he’d had contact with in the past. He’d no doubt need to do the same to handle whatever it was she’d done while dispatched on her undercover mission.
He bent in the chair and kissed her knee, inhaling the smell of her sex.
She laughed softly, her hand finding the top of his head. She then ran her hand through his hair in a loving manner. Their relationship wasn’t easily explained to others, so they never tried.
For many years he’d thought the testing he’d done on himself had left him impotent—that his cock had stopped working for good. Thankfully, that had ended when he’d met Olga.
By chance, Pavel’s burning thirst for revenge against Rurik had left him getting involved in some of the genetic testing programs The Corporation had been in
volved in. Those in charge had known the perfect way to lure him to the testing. They’d told Pavel they had Rurik’s mate in the program.
Pavel hadn’t needed to hear anything more.
He’d joined at once and had tried to accelerate the results.
Of course, there had been some side effects of his attempts to decrease the original timeline. That was to be expected. After a number of the test subjects had expired because of what he’d done, those in charge had yanked his approval on working with any type of radioactive material with the children.
Disheartened but not discouraged, Pavel had simply begun testing on himself. He was a supernatural, so he made the perfect specimen and didn’t require The Corporation’s approval. They’d not been pleased, but they had permitted him to carry on—within reason.
The opportunity and testing on himself had given him a shot of strength, which had been invigorating but had come with a price. When he was worked up, his eyes would now glow with a bright orange. It used to hurt when it happened, but he was used to it now.
Another side effect of the testing was lasting damage to his ability to heal and regenerate cells at the same rate most supernaturals could, as well as a few other odd things. That meant he’d begun to age, slightly faster than even a human would.
When he looked in the mirror, he saw an old man. But he still felt the same inside.
The experiments conducted by The Corporation had yielded fruit but not in the way Pavel had expected. Sure, they had given him direct access to the child thought to be Rurik’s mate, but more than that, they had introduced him to Olga. She had been part of The Asia Project as a child.
Pavel had been present for all the testing that was done upon her and the other children involved in the program. He’d been there when the scientists altered Olga’s DNA to the point that she too had orange, glowing eyes when her emotions were high. Though she was capable of far more than that.
She’d been born with the gift of influencing others. Able to push her will onto them. Make them do as she pleased. Make them see and hear what she wanted them to. She wasn’t the only one of the children with the gift. Her biological sister possessed it as well—but was even more powerful than Olga.
Act of Surveillance: Paranormal Security and Intelligence® an Immortal Ops® World Novel (PSI-Ops/Immortal Ops Book 7) Page 13