Which was precisely why he’d fled Liberty’s home when the blonde had woken.
He wasn’t a fool.
The blonde, who was named after some flower, was deadly. Of course, he’d never divulged the truth to Olga, that she had a sister. She was simply too volatile to trust with the knowledge. Besides, Olga had a deep-seated hate for her sister as it was—even without knowing the truth of who the woman was to her.
Pavel had noticed the hatred the second he’d met her when she was little. She loathed her sister and any other girl who had been close to her sister. That anger had only grown as she did.
Fortunately, most of the children Olga had been raised with were immune to what she could do. Some partially, some fully. It was as if Mother Nature put a failsafe in the others, making sure her gift couldn’t be weaponized against them.
Pavel had conducted his fair share of tests upon some of the children. Back then, he’d not realized who or what Olga was to him. That she was his mate. That was something he learned later when they’d crossed paths once more.
When he’d seen Olga again, nearly fifteen years after the experiments, everything on him had come to life. It didn’t matter how broken his body was or how much damage he’d done performing tests upon himself and exposing himself to lethal levels of radiation. His body had recognized its mate and sparks had flown instantly between them.
She was perfect in every way.
Especially considering the fact she’d been willing to join him on his quest for revenge. In fact, she’d thought up most of the plan.
Reaching up, he cupped her breast through her shirt with his free hand while he continued to finger her with his other. “I missed you. I don’t like that you’ve been gone so long.”
She purred slightly, skimming her lips over his. “I’m here now, baby. And it’s all lining up perfectly.”
“You’re diabolical,” he said, squeezing her breast as he rammed a finger into her.
She bit at his lower lip. “Mmm, thank you.”
He yanked her onto his lap, forcing her to straddle his waist.
She chuckled and wrapped her arms around his neck. “Are you excited?”
“Yes.” He extended a claw from his forefinger and made a move to cut the buttons from her shirt.
She shook her head and undid them herself in a quick manner.
Hunger burned in him as she freed her breasts. He moaned.
She laughed again and glanced at the door. “Someone could walk in.”
“Let them,” he said.
“Won’t they frown on a professor getting laid in his classroom?” she asked.
He didn’t care. His entire reason for being at the university had been because The Corporation had ordered it. But they’d gotten nearly everything they needed by way of information and scientists versed in their area of interest. Soon enough, they’d have three more of their test subjects back in their grasp to do with as they may. And Pavel would have his revenge. “I don’t care. Take off your clothes.”
She kissed him and bit his lip hard enough to draw blood.
He growled, his bear pushing upward, wanting out. His mate was something indeed. She was fierce and craved violence as much as, if not more than, he did. He’d seen her torture others for the sheer fun of it. She also got off on it all.
He had to admit, seeing her do her thing was a major turn-on for him. “Are you excited this is nearly over?”
She nodded. “I am. The bitches deserve whatever they get.”
“I’m sensing the love, really, I am,” he teased. “You grew up with them. They should feel like family to you.”
“I wasn’t close to them. They didn’t let me in their little circle,” she said, grinding on his lap as she pushed her bare breasts into his face. “They’ll regret that soon enough.”
“I love you,” he said, growling.
She smiled and licked her lips. “I know.”
Chapter Fourteen
Liberty rifled through her bag for her keys as she stood outside Dr. Pasternak’s classroom. She was already flustered from having to walk to campus since Isobel still hadn’t gotten home from running Daisy to the airport and stopping at the store. Leaving the keys to the classroom at home would be the topper on an already crazy day.
She took a calming breath. “I brought them. I had to lock the house with them.”
She continued to rummage around in her bag for her keys. In her other arm she held all the printed papers she’d graded as well as a summary of each. All she’d wanted to write was “boring” on each, but she’d behaved herself and done her job. A few of the papers came just shy of all but agreeing with her—the topic was boring.
The assignment felt a lot like Dr. Pasternak had given it already knowing as much—like the man got off on making others miserable. She hadn’t been his teaching assistant long, but it was enough time to know there was certainly something off about him. Not that she’d admit as much to Daisy or Isobel. They worried enough as it was.
Over the past two weeks she’d grown accustomed to the schedule of the classes in the surrounding rooms. If she was right, the other classes would be letting out soon with no others to follow for the remainder of the day. It wasn’t ideal but since she’d overslept and had a rather eventful day already so far, it would have to do.
She didn’t really want to be alone with Dr. Pasternak for any length of time. The door to his classroom was locked, which meant there was a high chance he was gone for the day.
Perfect.
She just needed to get the papers onto Dr. Pasternak’s desk before three o’clock, in case he wasn’t gone for the day. From there she could head home to overthink and obsess about the hot guy across the street. She could re-run the scenario from when she’d kissed Rurik through her head again and again—much like she’d been doing since it happened, feeling mortified every time.
If she had a time machine, she’d play it cool and aloof, like she had something that could even masquerade as self-control around him.
She snorted. I’d totally kiss him again. I’m not fooling anyone, least of all myself.
Never before had a man reduced her to this—a worried, embarrassed, sex-starved fool—but Rurik had checked all those boxes and more for her. If only the walk to campus had helped to burn off some of the nervous energy she had from her impromptu make-out session with the Russian.
A smile tugged at her face.
Rurik.
The man was an enigma, wrapped in a snug-fitting T-shirt, dunked in jeans that fit just right. Her lips began to tingle as she thought back to the kiss. That feeling quickly gave way to her neck and cheeks warming from embarrassment. She’d laid one on a perfect stranger and then had the audacity to steal the man’s birthday present.
Her fingers eased over the toy bear in her bag. She’d had every intention of placing the bear on Rurik’s porch and running away before heading to the campus but didn’t like the idea of parting with the item or facing him. Strangely, the bear was fast becoming as important to her as the one she’d been carting around for as long as she could remember.
Too bad she’d have to part with it.
With a long groan, she continued digging through her bag for her keys, needing them to access Dr. Pasternak’s classroom and office. Just then, the handle of the door jiggled but it wasn’t her doing. She’d not made contact with it.
Wonderful, Pasternak is not gone for the day.
Stepping back, Liberty watched as the door flung open, revealing the reporter who had interviewed her, Isobel, and Daisy about the missing scientists.
The woman’s blonde hair was disheveled as she buttoned her pink blouse. She smoothed down the sides of her skirt before noticing Liberty standing there. Her lips curved into something close to a smile but landed in more of a sneer, which was odd.
The same disconcerting vibe that Liberty had gotten around the woman the last time they’d met returned.
Liberty stared past her into the classroom, wonder
ing why it was the woman was there at all let alone with the door locked. “Uh, Professor, are you in there?”
The woman blinked, the smile taking more shape but lacking warmth. “He’s in his office. I was just, um, interviewing him.”
“For the story that still hasn’t run?” asked Liberty, wanting to step back though she wasn’t sure why. Space seemed to be in order. She towered over the woman and there was no reason to be put off by her—yet the need to distance herself was great.
“I’m still fact-checking. Everyone should verify everything they’re told, if they’re smart,” returned the woman, before walking off down the hall. Her hips swayed as her heels clicked in the hallway.
Liberty watched as the woman disappeared around the corner.
“Higher learning my ass!” shouted a familiar voice from the other direction. “The entire system is run by soul-sucking demons. They’re bleeding you young folks dry all to send you out into the world unprepared. Want to know what will really get you ready for adulting? The military! Join up. Fight for your country. Explore exotic locations. Ride mechanical elephants.”
Ride what?
Liberty twisted around to find Bill and Gus strolling down the hallway, right toward her. Gus was still dressed like Abraham Lincoln—minus the helmet and mannequin head. Bill appeared to be freshly showered and was wearing a T-shirt with a huge American flag on it. It was not flattering on Bill’s body, yet still managed to be better than the Uncle Sam outfit with the questionable stains on the backside.
Bill spotted her and beamed. “Liberty Bell!”
And just like that, she’d gone from worried about the low number of people in the hallway that time of day to wishing the place was totally empty. The few students who were there all whipped out their phones, no doubt trying to capture the moment on video for social media later. Laughter bubbled up from several of them, irking Liberty instantly.
Bill and Gus were odd, yes, and rather eccentric, but they were nice. They didn’t deserve to be the butt of someone’s online video joke or a meme. Not that anyone ever really deserved such treatment. People were cruel and tended to get a lot of enjoyment out of another’s pain—right up until they found themselves on the receiving end. Then miraculous changes of heart always seemed to follow.
The students whispered to one another, laughing as they continued to record. Gus was oblivious but Bill smiled and waved at a few. Did he know they were mocking him? Did he care?
She did.
Narrowing her gaze on the people with phones out, Liberty focused and instantly felt a tingling deep inside. As she registered what that sensation was and what it meant, she considered pulling back, keeping her power locked down. Seeing the others snicker at Bill and Gus did something to her. It made her not care if she let out the darkness that lived in her. A tiny piece of her hoped she tossed one or two of the entitled douchebags around.
In the blink of an eye, anyone holding a phone out to record found their mobile devices being ripped from their hands by an unseen force. The phones fell to the floor in unison. It looked a lot like they’d coordinated dropping their phones at the same time.
Each scrambled to retrieve their devices, appearing confused, no longer paying attention to Bill or Gus.
Bill chuckled as he tugged at the T-shirt he was wearing. “That’s right, folks. Got me an attack Liberty Bell.”
She tensed. Did he know the truth? That she’d caused the event to occur?
A large hand fell upon her shoulder, cutting through the tingling sensation like a knife. Suddenly, her mind filled with broken memories. Flashes of a man with dark, close-cut hair, and green eyes with flecks of orange in them, hit her hard. Her vocal cords seemed paralyzed by fear as the images in her mind continued to assail her, firing rapidly.
She saw the stranger snarling before lifting his hand. Huge claws emerged from the ends of his fingertips. He opened his mouth. His smile changed from lecherous to downright terrifying as his teeth took on the shape of an animal’s—not a human.
In the blink of an eye, he was part-man, part-monster.
He slashed out at her, catching her cheek, ripping it wide open in the process.
Liberty found herself being yanked backward with a hard jerk. The jolt chased away the horrifying memory. She wasn’t sure if she was screaming outwardly or if it was all on the inside. Phantom pain lingered where her scars were, as if the wound were fresh rather than twenty years old.
“Liberty Bell,” said Bill, and she realized he’d been the one to pull her backward. He planted himself in her path, blocking the doorway to the classroom. Reaching up, he eased the stack of graded papers from her and spun around. “Here.”
It was then Liberty saw Dr. Pasternak standing there, in front of Bill, grabbing for the research papers before they could fall.
Had Dr. Pasternak’s touch brought on a memory of how her face had come to be scarred? Surely not. She’d been his teacher’s assistant for weeks now. Why now?
As she thought harder on it, she realized they hadn’t touched at all until today. In fact, he generally kept a few feet between them, which was totally fine with her.
Liberty’s chest tightened as she noticed his eyes were the same as the man from her memory. The more she stared at him, the more she began to see other similarities. Shaving twenty years from Dr. Pasternak would leave him looking a great deal like the monster who had hurt her. If she didn’t know better, she’d have sworn it was him, but that couldn’t be. The odds of him being a professor at her college, and her being his teaching assistant, were too high. Not to mention, Dr. Pasternak was off-putting—yes—but an all-out monster, no.
He taught Russian literature. He could bore her to death, but sprout claws and suddenly have animal teeth?
More importantly, how did anyone have claws and animal teeth?
Instantly, she thought about Daisy, and the man she’d mentioned who had been near campus and claimed to have seen a man turn into a bear. Daisy said the man had ended up being admitted for inpatient care because of his state of mind.
Had that really happened, or was her imagination getting away from her? She could move things with nothing more than a thought and Isobel was able to start fires with her mind. Was there a chance that men who turned partially into animals were a real thing too?
Liberty collected herself. “Dr. Pasternak, that’s everything you needed graded.”
His gaze slid to Bill and hardened. “Who are you?”
“I’m Liberty Bell’s attack Bill,” he warned as he snapped his jaw at the professor.
Dr. Pasternak’s green gaze took on a somewhat sinister vibe, instantly making Liberty think about the flashes of impression about the man with the clawed hand. The one who had harmed her. It was absurd to lump Dr. Pasternak in with a monster just because they shared the same eye color and similar facial features. She knew that, yet she found herself backing up more.
She bumped into something solid and twisted around to find Gus there, focusing intensely on Dr. Pasternak.
She’d thought Dr. Pasternak looked menacing at the moment. Next to Gus, Dr. Pasternak seemed downright docile.
With a clearing of his throat, Dr. Pasternak squeezed around Bill and would have brushed past Liberty as well had Gus not pulled her back abruptly. Dr. Pasternak headed down the hall in the same direction the reporter had gone, clutching the graded papers, leaving Liberty with Bill and Gus.
“You all right, Liberty Bell?” asked Bill, facing her.
She took a few deep breaths and inclined her head slightly, having difficulty forming a response. A mix of excitement and horror still had a firm grasp on her.
Bill took her hand in his with the greatest of care, compassion showing on his face. “We came to take you to lunch, or early dinner if you ask Gus, but whatever. We’re gonna get milkshakes. They fix everything. Come on. I left the SUV parked in a no-parking zone. Gotta get a move on before the campus-coppers get me or Sput-Rurik realizes where we went.”
&
nbsp; That jarred Liberty to the here and now, forcing her to concentrate and clear the fog in her head from the memories she’d had. “Rurik doesn’t know you’re here?”
“He knows we’re gone,” said Bill, smiling widely as he continued to hold her hand as if she was a child. “We left him a note. He was in the shower. He went in the bathroom after me. Bitched about the ring of dirt I left in the tub. There is no pleasing him. He demands I get clean and then complains when I do. Russians.”
“We should probably call him and tell him where you both are and that you’re okay,” she said.
Bill snorted. “Don’t bother. He’s shit at answering his phone. It was ringing nearly nonstop when Gus and me left. The commie just glared at his phone and went on about his business. He hates technology. Heard he’s kind of shit at it too. Might be why he hates it so much.”
She glanced at Gus to find he was staring off into space again. It was as if no one was home anymore.
“How about we go back to the house and check in with him in person?” asked Liberty. “Or better yet, we go home, and you check in with your son while I run away and hide.”
“You embarrassed about kissing him?” asked Bill as he started to guide her toward the main entrance that she’d come in from to start with. “Don’t be. He was over the moon. Bet he wishes you did more than kiss him. He likes you. A lot. And, Liberty Bell, the Russian doesn’t like many people.”
She’d gotten that impression from Rurik—that he wasn’t exactly a people person. As Bill opened the door for her, she paused. “How did you know where to find me and why did you come?”
Bill grinned. “Gus told me you’d be here. And it was his idea we take you for something to eat and a milkshake. Would you please tell him lunch can be whenever the damn well we have it?”
“Gus knew I’d be here? How did he know I’d be—” The words died on her lips as she spotted Rurik’s SUV parked haphazardly on the lawn of the university with students gathered around, yet again with cell phones out.
They were recording as campus police, in combination with local police, stood there, each looking as baffled as the next. Bill hadn’t been joking when he’d said he’d parked in a no-parking zone. Though he had left off the fact he’d used the lawn as a parking area.
Act of Surveillance: Paranormal Security and Intelligence® an Immortal Ops® World Novel (PSI-Ops/Immortal Ops Book 7) Page 14