Whisper in the Dark

by Charlene Perry

  “Welcome.” The friendly greeting comes from the tallest of the three men. He’s built lean, with hair falling in greasy tendrils past his shoulders.

  “Cam, show your new roommate around.” The third man speaks with more authority in his voice, and definitely no hint of friendliness.

  “Yes, Archer.” Camilla’s voice is firm but soft. She seems confident and comfortable even as she jumps to obey the order.

  She keeps her eyes on mine as she rounds the table. Archer gives her ass a firm squeeze as she passes, not earning so much as a flinch. She walks past me, her shoulder bumping mine with a clear message. She’s showing me where she fits in the chain of command, and where I fit.

  “Follow me,” she says without bothering to check if I do.

  She stops outside the bathroom, planting her hands on her hips.

  “This is the ladies’ room. There’s a shelf with your name on it that has the basics; hairbrush, toothbrush, soap and so on. Use it wisely, you won’t get replacements while you’re here.”

  “No one’s asked me my name,” I say in a quiet voice, wrapping my arms around my waist.

  She looks at me with a blank expression, then rolls her eyes. “I take it Darrel didn’t bother to tell you anything.”

  “I don’t know...”

  “Whatever. Look, whoever you were yesterday, forget about it. Why they chose you doesn’t matter, and there’s no going back. Just accept that and skip the part where you whine and cry about how unfair it is. Okay? Your name is...” She pauses to lean into the bathroom, squinting at the masking tape labels on four narrow shelves. “... Hanna. Don’t bother telling me the name you had yesterday, because it’s dead. Your bedroom is in there.” She points up the hall to the room I woke up in. “Behave yourself, and you’ll get more comforts. Be a little bitch, and you’ll lose what you have. Got it? Rules are simple. Do what you’re told, when you’re told, and don’t ever ask questions.”

  “Why am I here?”

  She glares at me, and I’m expecting a lecture about how I was just told not to ask questions. Instead, she takes a deep breath and rolls her eyes again.

  “I don’t know you, and I don’t plan to get to know you. You’re here because you’re weak, alone, and sufficiently fuckable. You’re not a person anymore, you’re property. A pet at best. Prove you’re compliant, trainable and smart enough to keep your mouth shut unless you’re told otherwise, and maybe you’ll get yourself purchased by a kind, rich old man who just wants something pretty to look at. Be difficult, and you’ll be broken by less humane methods and sold to someone who knows how to keep you on your knees. Understand?”

  Holy shit. I don’t need to fake my expression as I feel the blood drain from my face. I’m not really here. I’m not this victim she’s describing. I’m undercover and I’ll be leaving very soon. I have to remind myself of that, because her speech has left me feeling pretty damn bleak. How many girls have gone through here? How many have heard these words and gone on to live through that fate?

  “Is Cam your real name?”

  “I kept my name, because they knew it when they took me. I was chosen, not picked up because I had nowhere else to go.”

  “Why are you helping them?”

  “That mouth is going to get you into a heap of trouble, Hanna.”

  “Yours seems to be serving you just fine.”

  A smile cracks her stern features for just a moment before she turns to retrieve a folded cloth from a bathroom drawer.

  “Put this on before you come back to the kitchen.”

  It’s the same gauzy material I’ve seen on the other girls. I stand in place, reviewing everything she’s told me and finding it hard to take my eyes off the dusty shelf with my new name on it. The label is wilted around the edges, the soap far from new. I’m not the first Hanna, and I won’t be the last.

  “Is it just the seven of us here?”

  “What?”

  “Is there anyone else in or around this house, Camilla?”

  Her eyes fly open as she sucks in a breath. She’s smart. Smart enough to get herself under the protection of the house leader, and I can only imagine what that took. She did what she had to do to survive. I would bet she did it knowing that her best chance was to stay as close as possible to where she was taken from. Most of these girls would have no one looking for them, but she had her uncle Gideon.

  “No, it’s just us.”

  “Tell Archer I’m refusing the dress.” I snatch it out of her hands as she gets dangerously close to hyperventilating. I grab my toothbrush. “You waited here for him, right? Because you knew he would come for you?”

  Her eyes well up with tears, but she nods her head.

  “Don’t fuck it up then, okay?”

  She nods again, wiping her eyes before heading back to the kitchen.

  I step into my room and slam the door behind me. With the toothbrush gripped firmly in my right hand, I stand facing away from the door. I took the abuse and bullshit from my brothers for years, because I didn’t know another way. I did what I had to do to survive, and it made me who I am today. If I could go back and give myself some advice, I’d tell that scared little girl to kill the fuckers in their sleep and burn it to the ground.

  I’m not a little girl anymore. I don’t have to wait for them to be asleep.

  The door swings open and a baritone laugh fills the small space. “Sounds like someone needs to learn their place.”

  One hand grabs a fistful of my hair as the other grips the waist of my pants. It doesn’t give me a lot of maneuverability, but the element of surprise and the wall to boost off of are just enough that I can kick off, twist, and plant the toothbrush through his eye and half-way to the back of his skull.

  His death is quicker than he deserved.

  I struggle to guide his heavy carcass quietly down to the mattress without getting any blood on myself. One down, two to go. I’m high on the adrenaline rush. Fuck, I love this feeling.

  I give him a bit of a pat down, and damn if I don’t find a sweet little pistol tucked in the back of his jeans. Thank you very much. A quick check confirms it seems to be in working order with three rounds to play with.

  When I enter the kitchen, tall and greasy is leaning into the fridge. Copper beard is still sitting at the table, eating what’s left of his bacon. Camilla is back in her seat at the table, her expression mostly neutral as her wide eyes look past me. The other two girls have moved to the sitting room.

  I’ll only get one of them by surprise, and if it comes down to a struggle, I have better chances against greasy. I walk past where he’s now prying the top off a beer, and he’s momentarily confused as he turns his head to the side, looking for Archer, I assume.

  On second thought, he’s a little too alert for comfort. I pull the pistol from behind my back and put a bullet in his face.

  “What the fuck!” Copper beard knocks his chair over as he jumps to his feet.

  “Don’t move, asshole.”

  Camilla is pressed against the wall, tears streaking down her face. She inches her way along the cupboards, heading for a safer position off to my side. The initial screaming that came from the sitting room has stopped, thankfully. I just hope those girls have the sense to keep back.

  I could squeeze the trigger now, but I can’t resist drawing it out just a little.

  “You’re a bit pale, little mouse.”

  “Who are you?” he stammers, and I delight in the last of the color draining from his face as I peel the tiny screen off my neck.

  “My name is Agent Whisper. Now, how about you tell me where I can find your boss?”

  “Archer, he’s...”

  “Not the corpse in my room. Who do you work for?”

  “I... I can’t. They’ll kill me.”

  “I was hoping you’d say that.” I pull the trigger to the sound of a new chorus of screams. “Ready to go home, Camilla?”

  Promotion

  The massive, domed Atrium at the top of HQ
is, in my opinion, a bit on the theatrical side. It’s kind of what I pictured the Elder’s chamber looking like, though part of me thought it would just be an ordinary office once I finally got here.

  Damon stands at my right, his shoulder touching my hip. He’s been attached to me since I got back, though he’s barely said a word. I have a feeling it’ll be hard to convince him to let me out of his sight ever again.

  When the dust settled and the paperwork was done, I returned home to find him asleep on the couch in his human form. I was too tired to think straight, and thankfully he didn’t pressure me for details. He simply switched to his panther form and kept me warm while I slept.

  The next morning, I woke to Gideon pounding on my door. A hasty dragon flight and a whirlwind of last-minute debriefing... and here we all are.

  Gideon stands at my left now. He’s back to his usual confident, controlled self. It’s a far stretch from the blackmailing traitor I got acquainted with just twenty-four hours ago. And an even farther stretch from the loving, emotional uncle I watched fall to pieces as he was reunited with his niece.

  Whatever he did, however he used me, I can’t fault him one bit. I just can’t. Such love and devotion in a family isn’t something I understood, but I think I get it now. He would have done anything for her; sacrificed anything and anyone.

  “And do you, Elite Gideon, vouch for Agent Jane “Whisper” Anderson’s fitness and suitability for a place as your equal?” As Elder Marcus speaks, all in attendance look to Gideon.

  The room is filled with people I don’t know. Politicians, military, reporters, and residents of Solar One; all gathered to watch the first woman ever to be granted the title of Elite. It’s a bit intimidating, to say the least. It all happened so fast that I really didn’t expect so much fuss. I kind of figured they’d go out of their way to draw as little attention as possible to the whole thing.

  I look up at Gideon, and his pale green eyes meet mine. He holds my future in his grasp at this very moment, his next words sealing my fate. Maybe that’s the catch. Get me here, as visible and public as possible, just to have him announce that I’ll never be good enough.

  Charles’s words echo through my mind; What did you think would happen? Did you think you’d be allowed to continue?

  I hold my breath, imagining all the things Gideon could say now that would send me back to the ground. Back to nothing.

  “I would be honored to have Agent Whisper at my side as I defend this administration. I would consider myself fortunate if she were to have my back should we go to war. I vouch for her fitness and suitability for the role of Elite. I accept full responsibility should my words prove false.”

  Holy fuck. That was it. Those were the words I’ve heard recited at every Elite’s induction I’ve ever watched onscreen. I look away from him, up at the clear sky beyond the glass dome of the Atrium. The Elders are all watching me now, dressed in identical black robes as they sit on thier high-backed oak chairs.

  “Welcome, Elite Whisper. It is an honor to be the first to congratulate you on this occasion.”

  I dip my head, crossing my right arm over my chest to make a fist over my heart. “Thank you, Elders. The honor is mine.”

  Holy fuck, Damon, we did it!

  He starts to purr, a sound I rarely hear him make outside of our bed. It’s all so surreal, like a dream. Just too good to be...

  “Of course, there are no open active positions at the moment,” Elder Marcus adds, and a few of the other Elders nod their agreement.

  I look up at Gideon, but his expression is unchanged. What the hell?

  “I don’t understand,” I say, to him or to the Elders. Whoever will fill me in.

  “We can grant you the title today, Elite Whisper,” Elder... I can’t remember which one he is... fills me in, a bit of color rising in his cheeks as he makes up the lie as he goes. “But we are not in need of another active Elite at this time, so you will return to your previous post until we have need of your services.”

  What. The. Fuck.

  Easy, little one.

  I reach to bury my fingers in Damon’s fur, grounding myself to keep from saying something that will make this worse. I can’t go back to my previous post. Title or no title, I have nothing to go back to.

  “I have need of an Elite.” A female voice cuts through the charged silence, and I catch the flash of irritation on Elder Marcus’s face before I turn toward the source.

  Tanya. No, Tanikka. The wealthy woman I met briefly when I first came to HQ.

  “My name is Tanikka Durant. Wife of Isaac Durant. Daughter-in-Law of Elder Marcus. I have been in need of a personal guard for some time, but I have yet to find an Elite who suits me. Elite Whisper has the qualities I am searching for, and I would be pleased to hire her. Effective immediately.”

  My eyes must be ten times their usual size as I struggle to keep my jaw from hitting the floor. The man beside her grasps her arm, tight enough to make her flinch, and whispers something in her ear.

  “Very well.” Elder Tobias nods his head in approval, though I’m almost certain he receives a bit of a salty side-eye from Elder Marcus. “Elite Whisper, you have your posting.”

  With that, the ten Elders stand as one and begin to file out of the room. The crowd, which seems to have doubled in size during the proceedings, hums with conversation.

  Warm breath caresses my ear, as Gideon’s low voice speaks just for me, “Congratulations, Whisper. You deserve this.”

  I turn to thank him, but he’s already making his way through the crowd. A gentle hand on my arm makes me jump, and I turn to see Tanikka’s honey-brown eyes and crimson smile.

  “Tanikka, I... thank you.”

  “I’m sorry to spring that on you. I didn’t get a chance to pull you aside earlier, but when they said they were sending you back, well, I just couldn’t let that happen. I hope I didn’t overstep. You can certainly decline the job offer, if you would prefer.”

  “No, I’m... thank you. I would be happy to work for you.”

  “Oh, wonderful!”

  She loops an arm through mine and leads me through the crowd. Questions are being thrown at me from all directions; about my past, my time at the Academy, my work as an Agent, and even my sex life. Tanikka’s a pro at dodging them all, and I’m more than happy to avoid the spotlight. My goal was to get to the top, not to be any sort of celebrity or public figure.

  We pass out of the glass dome and into an elevator. Although there is plenty of room, no one steps forward to join us. The doors slide closed and Tanikka lets out a soft chuckle.

  I look at her, and she blushes.

  “I’m sorry. Your Shifter is quite intimidating. I can see why people give you a wide berth.” Her expression grows a shade more serious. “I can see by the way he clings to your side that you have a strong bond. His eyes never stray from you for long. It’s the second reason I wanted you so badly for this job.”

  I laugh at the way Damon stiffens at her words. He moves a few inches away, as if he’s embarrassed by her observation.

  “And what was the first reason?”

  She smiles, her red lip stain framing brilliantly white teeth, “That you don’t have a penis, of course.”

  I choke on my laugh, which produces a ridiculous snorting sound.

  “I’m sorry,” she bites her lower lip, fighting her smile. “That was a bit crude. I’m just tired of being surrounded by these alpha-male types. And the women up here; like pampered pure-bred lapdogs, devoted to their husbands as long as they get to keep spending their credits while contributing nothing to society.” She blushes again, as if she’s embarrassed by her own rant. “I’m no better, I suppose, but you... you are a woman I want to get to know.”

  I consider her descriptions, and her confessions. What a roller coaster of a day. I went from being held captive by human smugglers, to being promoted to Elite, to being sent back to ground. Now here I am, hired to guard someone I could actually give a shit about.

&n
bsp; “Of course, as an Elite you don’t really work for anyone in particular. You answer to the Elders directly, and no one else can control your actions. If you agree to this contract with me, it would be honorable to give me sufficient notice should you choose to move on to another post. However, you are in no way bound or obligated to follow anyone’s orders, save for the Elders themselves. You do understand that?”

  “Yes, thank you.” I understand that perfectly clearly. Charles and whoever he really works for can’t touch me here. “Do you even need a personal guard?” I’m almost afraid to hear her answer. I can’t refuse the job, but the thought of it being a fake post just to satisfy her own curiosity...

  “Yes, I do.” Her answer is immediate, her gaze dropping to the floor. “My husband’s job calls him away a lot, and when he is home there are strangers in and out at all hours. It’s not that there has been any specific threat, but I just haven’t felt safe. You know? It’s not going to be a taxing position for you, but I would feel more comfortable knowing that someone like you, with your skill, were nearby should anything happen. Does that seem silly?”

  “No, not at all,” I assure her. Though, really, it kind of does. How much danger could possibly lurk in her mansion in the Solars? She has no idea what it’s like to live under constant threat, knowing that falling asleep in your own bed is a dangerous prospect. “Damon and I have seen plenty of excitement. We’d be happy with a quiet post for a change.”

  “Lovely! Oh, and you must tell me some of your stories. I bet you have some good ones!”

  Luckily the elevator doors open at the main lobby, and I don’t get the chance to regale her with any of those stories.

  I don’t even feel the pressure of the usual stares as we cross the lobby, though I do crane my neck to get a glimpse of the blue-haired Dawn. She’s already looking my way, from her post behind the reception desk. She throws me two thumbs-up and a smile that lights up the room.