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

by Mandy M. Roth

  Cody’s eyes widened for a split second before he schooled his expression. His face was suddenly an even façade. “Are you going to tell me why you’re scared of me?”

  Despite all her knowledge, and all her training, every ounce of her said he very much had read her mind. Not once, but twice.

  She stared harder at him, wondering if she was right or not.

  Shit. Shit. Shit. How in the hell do I explain this to her?

  Gena managed to avoid an outright scream of shock at the sound of Cody’s voice in her head. Instead, she managed to hold it together and just stand there, staring at him more, as if she were having a contest for dominance over an animal in the wild.

  That or a seagull. She’d recently read an article that said if one stared into the eyes of the bird, it would make them back down and go away.

  Picture him like a seagull. You got this. Just a bird wanting to steal a fry. Just a bird.

  She hoped the rationale would calm her some.

  Cody huffed. “I’m a lot of things. A seagull isn’t one of them.”

  She pointed at him and leapt back, shaking her head as she did. “Get out! No way! You…no freaking way. Stop. Hold on. How? Do it again.”

  He blinked several times before lifting his hands very slowly, as if to keep from making any sudden movements and spooking her. “Which do you want, baby? Me to do it again or to stop? In the interest of no longer lying to you, it should be noted I can’t control it right now. It’s too new and I’m not sure it’s something that can be shut off between a mated pair.”

  She narrowed her gaze on him.

  Gena, baby, I would never ever hurt you.

  There was no denying what she’d just heard in her head. Launching into hysterics was an option, but she was too much of a scientist to pass on the moment to learn something new. Instead of backing away from him more, she went at him fast, grabbing his hands in hers. “How can this be? Do it again.”

  His lips twitched a second before he started to laugh. “I was worried you’d take off running from me and never stop. This is an interesting twist.”

  Gena released his hands and grabbed his face, pulling downward, making him bend his head as she went to work inspecting him.

  He laughed more. “What are you looking for?”

  “I don’t know,” she said, her mind spinning with all the possibilities. Another thought occurred to her. He’d referred to them as being a mated pair. “What does mated mean to you, in the context of us, in relation to what is happening?”

  He licked his lower lip. “My woman is super smart and that is wicked hot.”

  She snapped her fingers in front of his face. “Focus. How is this happening and what do you mean by mated pair?”

  He chuckled and kissed her fingers quickly before taking her hands in his and drawing her closer. “Baby, this is what I wanted to talk to you about. In private. It’s a conversation best had when we’re totally alone. Not standing out here where anyone can see and hear us.”

  He was right.

  “Okay, but if I take you back to my boat and you turn out to be some mind-reading murderer, I’m going to be really mad. And really disappointed I handed you my virginity,” she said, a teasing note to her voice.

  He grinned and kissed her forehead. “Understood. I have a lot I need to tell you. Some of it you may want Clara and Nicolette there for. They might make you feel more at ease near me. I don’t want you scared of me. In fact, that is the last thing I want.”

  “This is something they know about?” she asked.

  He nodded. “Nicolette is mated to my friend Garth.”

  Still attempting to process everything coming at her, she focused on him in an intense manner. “And that means?”

  He sighed. “For all intents and purposes, they’re married, baby. In the eyes of our kind, they are husband and wife. The bond is unbreakable and for life. No divorce. No out clause. Just forever together.”

  “Okay,” she said as her mind raced. “They’re mated and you’re saying it’s for life. Husband and wife deal. But you said we’re mated. That would imply you and I are married in the eyes of…wait…what kind? Who, or what, are we talking about here, Cody?”

  For the longest time he said nothing, and she feared that was the end of his open line of communication. He took a deep breath. “It wasn’t an implication. It was a fact. When I bit you, after saying ‘mine’ and while coming in you, I claimed you. You claimed me back. I don’t know why it is you didn’t need to bite me, but every type of supernatural is different, and your mix of DNA obviously didn’t require that step to make the claiming official. And before you ask how I know it was legit, I felt the threads of the bonding weaving between us in that restroom. And the fact we can read each other’s thoughts is proof positive it worked.”

  Her entire body numbed at his words. “I’m sorry, but did you just say supernatural?”

  “I did.”

  “I’m torn between freaking out in a bad way and freaking out in a scientific way,” she confessed.

  “I vote for option two,” he said before tensing and pulling her close to him. It wasn’t in a way that left him holding her so much as in a way that was protective. When he outright moved her behind him, she felt it then—his fierce need to keep her safe.

  “Cody?”

  “Come out,” he said toward a darkened corner of the street. “I smell you there. And I know it was you I heard a little bit ago.”

  Much to Gena’s amazement, Ernest stepped out and into the glow of the streetlight.

  “Ernest?” she asked, surprised to see him before she wondered how long he’d been there, following them. Had he seen them having sex?

  Cody glanced back at her. “You know him?”

  “Kind of,” she admitted. “He works for Helmuth.”

  Cody whipped around to face Ernest, bent slightly, put his arms out to each side and snarled. Nothing about the noise sounded human.

  Her gaze slid down the length of his arms and she watched with nothing short of wonder as his bandage seemed to tear away on its own. It was then she realized his hand had gotten bigger and long, sharp, dagger-like claws had emerged from his fingertips.

  “Your hand isn’t hurt anymore,” she said, her voice barely there. She knew what she sounded like and that it was from shock. But that didn’t make the events process any faster for her.

  “Come near her and I’ll tear your fucking head off,” growled Cody.

  Ernest lifted his hands. “Helmuth doesn’t know I’m here. I came to warn her and you.”

  “Keep talking,” snapped Cody.

  Ernest was sweating profusely, and Gena didn’t think it was from the heat. “The second Helmuth got off the phone with Dr. Fowler and found out Gena canceled their lunch date for tomorrow, he lost it. He’s moving up his plan. He’s going to make a play for her tonight. She’s not safe. Neither are you.”

  “Lunch date for tomorrow?” asked Cody, this time rounding on her. Horror-filled eyes greeted her. “You’re fucking dating him? What is this? Are you bait? Is that it? Did he send you to retrieve me? Did he figure out who you are to me and then, what, you two sat around having a good laugh at my expense? Make me see you, instantly fall in love with you, and then watch you turn on me?”

  Gena gasped as his eyes began to glow slightly with a vibrant blue in place of his normal already striking blue color. “C-Cody?”

  He took a step in her direction and she backed up fast, fear slamming through her as she took it all in. His eyes. His hands. His healed hand. His mind-reading. His comment on being supernatural.

  Tears welled in her eyes as fear caused her heart to feel as though it was going to thump clean out of her chest.

  “Livingston!” shouted Ernest, sounding much closer than he had been. “Stop. She has no idea who he really is. To her he’s simply the man funding the research center she works for. She is not part of the nefarious actions of The Corporation. Neither are her friends. They’re simply pawn
s Helmuth used to get to her, and in turn, to get to you. He wants you for all the reasons you already know. But he wants her for far, far worse. He thinks she’s a mermaid. That he can manipulate her DNA to make her mate material for him. He doesn’t care how willing she is.”

  Gena backed up more from Cody, fear still coursing through her veins. She barely registered what Ernest was saying.

  Cody’s brows met. “You didn’t know?”

  “No,” said Ernest, even closer than before. “She didn’t. Look at her. She’s terrified of you, Livingston. This is all new to her. I’ve heard Helmuth planning this all. I know she’s unaware of it all. When I met her today, there was an innocence to her. One I knew I couldn’t let be destroyed by the likes of that madman. I’ve been forced to stand by and watch him and his despicable acts for far too long. I may not be able to stand against him in a fight. But I can warn you both. Go far from here. Quickly. Savannah is not safe for either of you. Especially her.”

  “Now, Ernest. I thought I knew you better than that,” said Helmuth, strolling out from the darkness as well. “Rushing off to tattle on me? Really? How completely cowardly of you.”

  Cody’s eyes widened and she felt his fear as if it were her own. But his fear wasn’t for himself. It was for her.

  Run, baby!

  She nearly did as he said but stopped. Whatever was going on, she understood enough to know Cody was the good guy and Helmuth wasn’t. He’d given her bad vibes from the start.

  One moment Helmuth was thirty or so feet away and the next he was to Ernest who was only several feet from them. Gena watched in disbelief as Helmuth punched his hand through Ernest’s back. It came out the other side of the man and in it was Ernest’s heart. It gave three more beats before it stopped completely.

  She wanted to scream. But no sound came from her.

  It was as if her mind and her mouth had a distinct disconnect.

  Cody snarled and went at Helmuth.

  Gena stood paralyzed with fear and shock as Helmuth kicked Ernest’s dead body from his arm and tossed the heart. He then leapt up and slammed into Cody head-on, the force of which made the ground around them shake.

  Strong arms wrapped around her, encasing her fully from behind. Whoever grabbed her lifted her high off the ground. The shock wore off fast and she acted on pure and completely instinct as she lifted a foot and brought it back fast, her heel connecting with a very masculine groin.

  The person holding her dropped her at once.

  Gena fell to one knee and ignored the bite of pain, pushing up and twisting to see who had grabbed her. She found Kahale there, nursing his groin.

  “Bitch,” he spat before lunging at her. He struck her with so much force that everything around her went dark a second before she saw nearly twenty men swarming Cody.

  Chapter Twenty

  Wheeler walked down the center of the one-way street, whistling as he did. He had his guitar case in one hand, having just played a bit near one of the many park areas. It was sort of his thing. No one paid any mind to the street performer. Some would toss money into his open guitar case when he played, and Wheeler always gave whatever tips he was given to the homeless folks he’d come to know and care about.

  His reasons for performing on street corners in downtown Savannah had nothing to do with earning money. His job, which was questionable ethically, left him taking big risks but for even bigger payouts. He didn’t have to take many jobs and in truth he probably could retire, but it kept him busy. Plus, it kept his skills honed.

  Still, a gun for hire wasn’t something one could put on a resume.

  Then again neither was the fact he was something close to a vampire after failed government experiments or that he was immortal. Needless to say, playing it straight with a legitimate profession wasn’t in the cards for him and never would be.

  The last year or so had seen some positive changes happening in his life.

  For one, he wasn’t having to look over his shoulder nonstop to see if his own government had managed to find him to finish what they started—ending him. For another, he’d started to reconnect with men he’d known from his Immortal Ops days.

  There had been some PSI operatives he’d always remained close to even after the attempted wipeout of the Outcasts. Those were few and far between.

  Kaiko had been one, and losing him had been a hard blow to both him and Cody. But they’d managed. They always did.

  And he’d had a large number of Outcasts over the years whom he kept in contact with. None as much as Cody though. The guilt Wheeler held over not looking for Cody after Cost Rica was something he’d never be rid of. Not that he wanted to be. It was important he never make the same mistake again.

  The lapse in judgment had cost him Kaiko and nearly cost him Cody as well.

  Letting history repeat itself again wasn’t an option.

  Yet, a sinking feeling had settled over him just before dawn’s light. He’d gotten the sense that Cody was in danger. That history, in fact, was going to repeat itself, but he didn’t know how or when. All he did know was that the feeling had been strong enough to leave him shaken for the entirety of the day.

  Had he not known Cody was out on a boat with Gena, having the time of his life, Wheeler would have sounded the panic alarm and called in every guy he knew. But his friend was technically on his honeymoon.

  No alarm needed.

  Wheeler kept walking and paused in his step as he glanced across the street. There was a tall, skinny man with brown hair, dressed in full snorkel gear (including flippers on his feet) and a pair of blow-up children’s arm floaties. The man was staring out from a face mask, his eyes bulging, while his lips were wrapped around the mouthpiece of the air tube.

  Oddly enough, very few people were giving him or the guy next to him a second look.

  Which was saying something since the guy next to Snorkel-Guy was in a pair of shorter-than-short swim trunks with the American flag on them—kind of, since a lot of the flag was covered by the man’s stomach as it hung over the short top. With the trunks he had on black socks and water shoes. The shirt he wore was one he’d seen before on another operative. However it actually fit that operative. Unlike the way it was pulling hard at the small, older man’s stomach, riding up some.

  “I don’t see no dead wheel,” said the short man to Snorkel-Guy. “You sure you got the right spot?”

  Snorkel-Guy flapped his arms in the air in a dramatic fashion while he turned to face a brick retaining wall.

  Flag-Dude grunted loudly. “I hate it when you get in one of your moods. I swear. Pre-menstrual syndrome ain’t got nothing on you, Gus.”

  Gus?

  No.

  They couldn’t possibly be the two humans Cody had told him of. The ones who were supposed to be with the PSI-Ops.

  Wheeler watched the men closely.

  As two women walked by, they smiled at the men and Snorkel-Guy practically leapt in the other direction as if he was allergic to hot chicks. Flag-Dude puffed out his stomach of all things, patted it, and lifted one of his bushy brows.

  “Why hello, ladies. Can I interest you in a ride on Bill’s Love Train? It departs every two hours,” he said, holding up three fingers. “Even sooner when I take one of them little blue pill things.”

  The women laughed and stepped closer to him as if they were actually interested.

  Wheeler was so stunned by the fact the women were suddenly very into the guy that he nearly missed what the man had said.

  Bill’s Love Train?

  “Shit,” said Wheeler softly.

  Bill and Gus were most certainly the names of the humans who belonged to Casey and if they were wandering around unattended, something was up.

  Snorkel-Guy took off doing something that looked slightly like a run, but with the flippers on it was anything but fast or practical. Mostly it was a lot of fast high-stepping.

  “Gus, get back here!” shouted the small man.

  Groaning, Wheeler took off ac
ross the street in the direction of Gus. He was nearly to him when he found himself being tackled from the side by Flag-Dude of all people. The man was small and clearly out of shape, but that didn’t stop him from knocking Wheeler off balance enough to send him tumbling to the ground.

  Flag-Dude fell on top of him with a harrumph.

  “What the hell?” demanded Wheeler.

  Flag-Dude, whose face was now planted squarely in Wheeler’s lap, stared up at him with something that was supposed to look like a threatening look. “Nobody touches Gus. Got it?”

  Wheeler rolled his eyes. “Get off me.”

  “Och, Wheeler, I dinnae know you were into that kind of sex play,” said a voice with a thick Scottish accent.

  Looking up, Wheeler found two men standing there, side by side, grinning from ear to ear. The matching pair began to laugh before the one on the left noticed the hot chicks.

  “What do we have here? Yer bonnie lasses, are you nae?” asked Car of the women.

  The women didn’t appear very interested in the shifter-male. They did seem very concerned for Flag-Dude.

  They rushed past the twins and bent near Flag-Dude.

  One touched his back. “Are you okay? I can’t believe he attacked you like that.”

  “Wait. What?” asked Wheeler, still flat on his back with Flag-Dude’s head near his crotch. “He tackled me!”

  “You’re half his age,” snapped the other woman. “Have you no shame?”

  The twins rolled their eyes and came in for the assist.

  Mac bent and it was then Wheeler realized the man was holding a football helmet in one hand that had a head in it. “Ladies, if you do nae mind, we’ll take it from here. He’s with us.”

  The women didn’t look so sure, but they did finally back away before leaving.

  Mac and Car hoisted Flag-Dude off Wheeler.

  “Bill, we told you to wait in the car,” said Car. “I know you heard us. You do nae listen for shit.”

  Mac nodded. “Agreed. I want to know how yer here. I do nae think Armand would let you roam freely.”

  Car glanced at his brother. “Want to bet Armand is either tied up or unconscious because of something Bill did?”