Wrecked Intel (Immortal Outcasts®): An Immortal Ops® World Novel

by Mandy M. Roth

  Nodding, the bartender went back to mixing drinks. “All is good.”

  Cody wished he had the gift of mesmerizing like Wheeler did. It would come in handy. Especially with convincing Gena he was totally and completely fine, and that the night didn’t need to be cut short for him to get medical attention.

  Gena kept her hands around the towel, meaning she was left standing toe-to-toe with Cody.

  That was nice.

  Better than nice.

  The smell of the ocean filled him once again, and he lowered his head, inhaling deep near her hair.

  She stilled. “Um, what are you doing?”

  He tensed. “Sorry. I should probably lie and tell you nothing, but the truth is, I was smelling you.”

  “Oh, that isn’t off-putting in the least,” said Wheeler, returning to his post near the bottle of tequila. “Tell her you live in your mother’s basement or something. You know, really drive home the ick factor.”

  Do something, pushed Cody with his mind at Wheeler. Make her forget I cut myself and that I was smelling her.

  You want me to mind-meld your date? asked Wheeler via their mental pathway.

  Cody was about to point out that Gena wasn’t technically his date when he decided it didn’t matter what she was. Yes. Make her forget. I don’t want to freak her out.

  Fine, but you owe me.

  Wheeler smiled and touched Gena’s shoulder lightly.

  The act set Cody’s shark on edge once more. It didn’t like an unmated male making contact with his woman.

  My woman?

  Wheeler glanced at him. “What?”

  “He didn’t say anything,” said Gena, appearing confused.

  Dude, did you just call her your woman? asked Wheeler.

  Cody’s mind raced. Had he?

  He thought on it more and the panic set in.

  He had.

  “Guys?” asked Gena.

  “Right,” offered Wheeler, keeping his hand on her shoulder. “Cody didn’t cut himself. It just looked like he did. Everything is fine here.”

  Gena stared at Wheeler for what felt like forever before she slid her gaze over to Cody, very slowly. “Does he actually believe what he just said? Of course you cut yourself. I dug glass out of your bloody palm.”

  I told you to do your mind thing on her, snapped Cody.

  Wheeler paled considerably. I did.

  Well, do it again, but this time do it right. Tell me you haven’t suddenly lost your touch.

  Wheeler spun around and motioned for the bartender. When the man arrived, Wheeler stared into his eyes. “Take this lovely young lady into the back and get her your first-aid kit. You have one of those here, right?”

  “Yes,” said the bartender before focusing on Gena. “Come with me, and I’ll get you our first-aid kit.”

  Gena hurried around and behind the bar, disappearing into the back.

  Wheeler faced Cody. “Dude, I still got it. It just didn’t work on her. She’s immune.”

  “Immune,” snorted Cody. “Don’t be ridiculous. You can do it to any human.”

  Wheeler did a long blink.

  Cody’s mouth went dry at the implication. Gena wasn’t human?

  “No,” whispered Cody. “You think?”

  Wheeler eyed him. “The last time the mind-meld didn’t work was when I tried it on Nicolette. I’m not saying that means she’s a supernatural. All I’m saying is the last time my gig didn’t work on someone, they weren’t human. Take that as you may.”

  Cody had known Nicolette wasn’t human long before Nicolette knew. But he’d never thought to tell Wheeler as much when he’d asked the man to look in on the women whenever Cody couldn’t be in town.

  While Wheeler was right—the fact he couldn’t mind-meld Nicolette was not definitive proof that Gena was also a supernatural—it did lend credence to the theory.

  Wheeler grunted. “It would have been great if you’d have given me a heads-up that Nicolette wasn’t human. I tried to make her want to go home and away from danger, but she was immune. I thought it was weird too since no human I’ve ever met has been able to resist obeying me. Turns out, she wasn’t human—again—thanks for the notice on that ahead of time. My gut is telling me this is like that. In related news, Garth was a hot mess when dealing with her too—like you are with Gena. He did a lot of stupid shit too. Like you.”

  “I’d smell it on her. So would you.” Cody attempted to wrap his mind around his friend’s words. “What are the odds I’d be in the park with you at the same second a woman who makes little shark stand at attention appears? And that woman just happens to be immune to your influence?”

  Wheeler pursed his lips. “Oh, so you can call it little shark, but I can’t?”

  “It’s my dick,” Cody grunted. “Back to the actual subject.”

  “You mean the subject of Gus telling you to meet me about a mermaid, only for you to go ga-ga over Gena when you saw her? Then, while standing here, you break a bottle when you hear her mention mermaids and sharks in tanks? Or the part about her being immune to my mental push? Or the bit about you telling me she’s your woman? Enlighten me. What subject are we getting back to?”

  “When you put it that way, I’d rather talk about my dick,” said Cody.

  “I’m sure you would,” said Wheeler, pouring himself another shot.

  Gena came out from the back of the bar with the world’s smallest first-aid kit and a disgruntled look on her face. She was back to Cody quickly and set the kit on the bar top. The angle that she was at as she leaned for supplies from the kit gifted Cody a glimpse straight down the top of her dress.

  Little shark picked then to twitch, and Cody winced, worried he’d lose his shit even more than he had and come in his jeans. He was having that kind of day.

  Gena looked up at him, frowning. “You’re in pain. Please let me take you over to get it cleaned and stitched.”

  Wheeler fake coughed. “Pretty sure that’s not what’s bothering him.”

  “Asshole,” spat Cody before thinking better of saying it in front of Gena.

  She lifted her brows. “You two sound like my brothers. They go at it like this. But don’t dare come between them or there will be heck to pay.”

  Wheeler gave him a stern look.

  Cody was lost.

  Livingston, talk to her. Ask about her brothers. It’s an opening to having a real conversation with her, pushed Wheeler down their mental path.

  Cody nodded. “Right. Brothers. You have them?”

  Smooth.

  He grunted as he looked at Wheeler.

  Gena giggled and the sound made his chest flutter. “Brothers. Yes. I have two. You?”

  “Hundreds if you’re counting the men I served with. None if you mean biological,” said Cody, surprised he’d volunteered that much about himself.

  “You served?” asked Gena, giving him a smile that made him want to kiss her again.

  “I did,” he replied.

  “With Wheeler?” she questioned.

  “Yes,” said Cody, fixated on her lips.

  I can’t watch this train wreck, said Wheeler. Remember when you could just glance at a woman and she’d toss her panties at you and you actually knew what to do with said panties? Those days are long, long gone. You’re like a born-again virgin, but with even less game.

  “Bite me,” snapped Cody.

  Gena stiffened. “Uh, okay?”

  He cringed. “Not you. I mean, you can bite me if you want… No, I don’t mean that. Wait. I do. Never mind. Ouch, uh, my hand. So much pain. I probably need to be looked at.”

  Wheeler turned around, faced the bar, lowered his head and proceeded to laugh to the point he stopped making any sound.

  Gena exhaled slowly. “Am I the only one feeling tongue-tied and like I’m saying all the wrong things?”

  “No!” shouted Cody before he gathered something that he thought might be control. He wasn’t sure since he’d had very little of it since seeing Gena. He a
lso seemed to be missing his dignity. That had abandoned him at first glance of her as well. He cleared his throat. “You’re not the only one. I feel like I’m having an evening full of opening my mouth and having stupid fall out.”

  Wheeler pressed to his side. “Because you are having an evening of opening your mouth and having stupid fall out.”

  Cody groaned and found Gena smiling as she watched them both. “We still remind you of your brothers?”

  She beamed. “You do. And like the two of you, they’re not technically biological. None of my siblings are. We’re all adopted, but we’re family regardless.”

  “How many of you are there?” asked Cody, proud of himself for getting out at least one sentence that wasn’t off-the-cuff or nonsensical. Maybe a conversation wasn’t completely out of the realm of reason.

  “Four in total. Two boys and two girls,” she said.

  “Bet that kept your parents busy.” Cody wanted to keep her talking. If she was conversing with him, she was close, and he liked having her close.

  She wrapped her hands around the towel on his hand and Cody found himself placing his free hand over hers. “They went from having no children to getting four in one day. They did okay with us all though. My childhood was spent outdoors for the most part, learning, exploring, burning off excess energy. For the best really. If you ever met my brothers, you’d realize just how important it was they burned off energy.”

  Cody smiled. “They have a lot of it?”

  “And then some,” she said. “My sister and I weren’t quite as high-strung. But don’t let that fool you. We were still a handful. But my parents never batted an eye at the challenge. They opened their hearts and their home to us.”

  “Sounds nice,” he said.

  “What about you? Are you close to your parents?” she asked.

  Cody stiffened. He didn’t want to get into his personal life. Lying to her felt wrong, but telling her his parents had passed away decades before she was even born wasn’t exactly an option either. “Not anymore. They’re both gone now.”

  Sadness touched her eyes as she eased closer to him. “I’m sorry.”

  Nodding, he stared down at her, wanting more contact with her than he was currently getting. Her lips called to him, tempting him in a way that left him teetering on the edge of kissing her again.

  Gena ran her hand over his forearm, stopping just shy of his bandaged hand. “Does it hurt?”

  “No,” he said, before the edges of his lips began to pull up. “Unless it will get me sympathy from you then yes, ouch, horrible pain.”

  She snorted and eased against him, her forehead finding his chest as she proceeded to laugh. The act was one a couple who had been together a long time and felt comfortable with one another did. Not two people who had only just met. It meant she felt a connection to him as well. That made him even happier.

  She was more at ease near him.

  That was a good thing.

  His free hand found her cheek. He ran his hand over her smooth skin before pushing his hand through her hair and cupping her head to his chest. It was gutsy and he knew it, but he had to have her closer to him.

  She didn’t pull away.

  Instead, she pressed against him fully, her arms easing around his waist.

  They stood there, neither saying a word as they held one another. It should have been odd. It wasn’t. It felt right. Like the woman before him had been made to fit against him, made to be held by him. She fit perfectly to his size and shape, and no adjusting needed to be done.

  Chapter Fourteen

  Closing his eyes, Cody savored having Gena in his arms. He couldn’t recall a time in his immortally long life that he’d ever really and truly held a woman, just for the sake of keeping her close to him. He’d never had the desire to do so before. But now, he wanted to keep his arms wrapped around her forever.

  If he was holding her, she was with him.

  And that’s what he wanted.

  Her, with him always.

  It took him a second to realize he was starting to growl. The noise had been automatic and as possessive as he felt. Like his shifter side was completely on board with the idea of keeping Gena for all eternity.

  He’d have explored it all more, but a woman who’d had a bit too much to drink bumped into Cody.

  Gena reached out fast, steadying the woman with one hand while giving her a firm look.

  The woman ignored her and set her sights on Cody. “Well, hello there, big boy.”

  Wheeler tried to play interference.

  Gena, who was a few inches shorter than the woman, put her hands on her hips and proceeded to rake her gaze over the newcomer. “Do you mind?”

  Bonnie and Rene approached and artfully positioned themselves between Gena and the drunk woman.

  Rene took note of Gena’s stance. “Everything okay?”

  The tipsy woman laughed and bit at her lower lip, still staring at Cody. “Mmm, yes. He’s yummy. Oh, so is he,” she said, pointing to Wheeler.

  Wheeler waggled his brows. “Thanks.”

  Bonnie launched into action. “Okay, let’s find who it is you’re with and let them know you need coffee, not more to drink.”

  The woman jerked away from Bonnie and nearly tripped over her own two feet. “They’re hot.”

  She then stumbled slightly and pointed somewhere in the vicinity of Wheeler and Cody as if she might be seeing double. “I’m going to touch them. See if they’re as hard as they look.”

  Wheeler couldn’t have looked happier if he tried. “I love Stanley’s.”

  Gena planted herself in front of Cody. “Make a move to grope my man and you’re going to have me to deal with. I’m scrappier than I look. Ask Bonnie.”

  Wheeler slapped Cody’s arm so hard it actually hurt. “Did she just call you her…?”

  Bonnie and Rene were staring at Gena with dual shocked expressions.

  “Did she call him her man?” asked Rene.

  Gena shook her head. “What? No. Why would I say that? I just met him. A bit early to be calling him mine. You two are so weird.”

  Rene glanced at Cody. “Yeah, weird.”

  Bonnie nodded before clearing her throat. “Okay, lady-who-needs-caffeine-not more-to-drink, let’s go. You do not want to take on Gena.”

  It took Rene and Bonnie to steer the woman away, but they finally managed, leaving Gena alone with Wheeler and Cody.

  She turned to face Cody but didn’t exactly talk to him so much as she talked at him while she opened the first-aid kit and began pulling out things to clean his nonexistent injury.

  “Thinking he doesn’t need looked at,” mumbled Gena to herself as she fumbled with a sealed roll of gauze. “Fool.”

  She dropped it and then bent to retrieve it.

  While she was getting the gauze, Cody stared desperately at his friend.

  The cut is healed, said Cody mentally to Wheeler.

  Wheeler grabbed for Cody’s hand, yanked open the towel and, in the next second, let a nail lengthen, slicing him open again.

  Asshole, snapped Cody.

  Hey, I’m a helper, added Wheeler.

  Cody winced but said nothing as Gena stood with the still-sealed roll in her hand. She looked at his bloody hand and shook her head. “Seriously, that needs checked and possibly stitched.”

  He held it up and offered a pouty face, hoping she’d simply take pity on him and stop scolding him.

  Her expression softened, and she set about cleaning the fresh wound and then wrapping it in gauze. Before she had the bandage taped, Cody could feel his skin healing over. Thankfully, it happened under the cover of the gauze where Gena couldn’t see.

  Explaining that away would be difficult, especially since she was apparently immune to Wheeler’s compulsion.

  She put her hand over his injured one gently. “There. It’s not perfect but it’s better than nothing. If it keeps bleeding, you’re getting it looked at. Understand me?”

  “Domineering,�
�� said Wheeler, waggling his brows. “I like it. If you spank him, can I watch?”

  A second before Cody was about to give Wheeler a piece of his mind, he caught the faint scent of shifter and Fae and stiffened. He grabbed for Gena, pulling her against the security of his body as he stared around, trying to find the source of the smell.

  She winced.

  He released her quickly. “Sorry.”

  Gena glanced up at him. “Don’t be. Just try not to hug so firm next time. I might pop.”

  Wheeler snickered and nudged Cody once more. “So might he. Different way though.”

  Cody ignored the sexual innuendo and scanned the bar for signs of the supernatural he’d caught the faint scent of. Since the place was so crowded, it was difficult to pinpoint the exact location it was emanating from. It didn’t help that the bar smelled heavily of sweat, perfume, body lotions, and cologne. More so than normal due to the sheer number of patrons as well as the heat that was blanketing Savannah.

  Then there was the obvious distraction to his senses. The one scent that continued to supersede all others.

  Gena’s.

  And it was the embodiment of perfection. A distracting embodiment, but one all the same.

  Wheeler stiffened and stood up straight, shoving the half-empty bottle of tequila behind him more on the bar before facing forward, trying to look semi-respectable.

  “Wheeler?” asked Cody. The man wasn’t exactly known for his abundance of concern over what others thought of him. If he was taking a second to get his shit together, something was certainly going on.

  Just like that, Cody’s brain connected the dots between the scent of the supernatural that had found him, and who said supernatural was.

  A young woman he’d come to know well over the past few years. One he considered a friend.

  Clara.

  She was best friends with Nicolette, the woman Cody had attempted to date, but had found little shark wasn’t on board with the idea of having sex or anything that resembled as much—at least not with her. It was all for something more with Gena though.

  Clara had been part of The Corporation’s twisted scheme to create a master race of supernaturals, as had Nicolette. Both women had been tested on in horrific lab settings as small children.