by Alisa Woods
Okay, definitely flattering her into something. “I just wish I’d seen Violet coming sooner.” Was that it? Were they going to pressure her for not using her Talent to stop Violet? She flicked a look at Swift standing silently by her side, but his face was inscrutable. He was reading every emotion in the room, including hers, but he was giving nothing away.
“None of us saw that coming.” Burrows was an older witch with piercing blue eyes and striking black hair with white streaks. Her suit was impeccably tailored but plain in design—she and Dalvi both wore black leather, but their fashion statements were opposites in every way. “We believe Violet enhanced her Talents.”
“They were definitely military grade,” Swift offered up.
Dalvi gave him a short nod. “We believe Tobin used the drugs he and Violet developed to enhance their magick.” She set her screen on her desk and raised her thin-fingered hand to start counting off points. “Enhanced Talents. Tobin is dead. His drugs are missing. No sign of a production facility. Violet is in the wind.” She lowered her hand. “And Eliphas Storm is at the middle of the vortex, claiming to be the Resurrectionist… and yet when we questioned him, he said he was merely using a ‘turn of phrase.’” The glower on Dalvi’s face said what she thought of that.
“Something turned our Talents off,” Mercy protested, anger creeping into her voice. “And back on again. And that something is Eliphas Storm.”
SAIC Burrows inclined her head to Mercy. “Agreed. Although we have no proof. Which is why we want your help in going after him.”
Mercy’s eyes went wide. She flicked a look at Swift, but he seemed surprised too. “In what way?” she asked Burrows. Would it be that easy? Would they let her off the hook—let her research go, let her illegal Talent pass—if she just helped out with the case? Because she would do that in a heartbeat anyway. She wanted all these people behind bars.
Burrows folded her arms. “We don’t know how or when people were exposed to these drugs—it wasn’t just the attendees. I lost a lot of good agents that day.”
Mercy frowned. “To reliably get that many people from that many different sources and dose them with the drugs…” Her brain was churning now. “People flew in from all over the country for that conference. The food and water were screened, so that means… the airport? The taxis? How do you dose everyone at a specific conference on a specific day, including the FBI agents you didn’t even know were coming?” But the answer came to her as soon as the words were out of her mouth. “Oh, God.”
Burrows nodded. “We think the exposure is much broader than the conference. We figured Tobin Raine for funding the research and producing the drugs. We assumed the slow, mocking trickle of bodies and then the bus full of victims were a distraction. But what if it was really a delay.”
“He was buying time to distribute the drugs,” Swift said.
“Among other things,” Dalvi said coolly to Mercy, “we’d like you to develop a test to measure if someone has been exposed.”
Among other things. “I can do that.” She waited to hear the rest.
“And there’s the fact that Tobin is dead,” Burrows said. “I don’t think he planned to be so.”
Swift narrowed his eyes. “How did he expect to survive this? I mean, he was broadcasting from right there in the hotel.”
Burrows was nodding, like Swift was asking the right question. “He obviously wanted to take credit for everything that’s unfolded. He thought he could give his grand speech, do his demonstration, and then walk away.”
“He didn’t count on the FBI being there,” Mercy pointed out.
“He’s been baiting us all along.” Dalvi picked up the tablet off her desk and tapped it again. “He had to know we’d catch up. After all, we confiscated his stash and destroyed his drug cartel distribution network. But what if his plan, all along, was to go wide with this? That conference has been on the books for a year, the same as the free jumper’s competition. The reports showed he had this all planned out.” She looked up and turned the tablet to face them. It had Violet’s face on it, with her blond-hair-and-makeup disguise. “But what if Tobin was never the mastermind behind any of it? What if Violet Thorn was the brains of the operation… and she decided it was time to cut him out?”
“She’s definitely the research Talent,” Mercy offered. The woman may be mental, but she was smart.
“I don’t see her as the ring leader here,” Swift objected.
Mercy gave him a pinched look. “Why?”
“She’s capable of it, no doubt,” he rushed to say. “But trust me—when I was undercover with her, she was very easy to manipulate.”
Dalvi narrowed her eyes. “She could have been playing you.”
“I don’t think so,” Swift said. “She had an extreme need to have a dominant telling her what to do. A charismatic man could…” He stalled out, eyes going wide.
But Mercy was right there with him. “Eliphas has practically weaponized his charisma.”
Swift nodded rapidly. “He has some kind of low-grade emotion-mancing Talent. Not even sure he’s using it intentionally, but he definitely would have sway over someone like Violet.” He gave Mercy a sideways look—and someone like her sister, Verity, he seemed to be saying.
Which was entirely possible.
“We have nothing to hold Eliphas Storm,” Dalvi said crisply. “And we need more to bring him in.”
“Even more,” Burrows added, “we need to know how he managed to flip off the Talents of a couple hundred people at once. And where the drugs are being manufactured. And how much of the city he’s exposed, and to what end. In short, we need someone on the inside with this.”
Mercy frowned. “He already knows Swift is part of the bureau. And he knows I’m… um… associated with him.” Swift had posed as her fiancé then, and that lie was even closer to the truth now. But it was doubtful SAIC Burrows knew that.
“Which is why,” Dalvi said, straightening and giving her a piercing look, “we want your sister to get us the information we need.”
“Verity?” Mercy’s voice hiked up.
“She is involved in Eliphas’s cult, is she not?” Dalvi asked archly.
“Yes… but…” Mercy stalled out. What in the world? “She thinks Eliphas is some kind of prophet.”
“Then you will have to change her mind.” Dalvi’s stare was cool. This was it—this was the thing they would make her do.
“I mean, I can talk to her—”
“We have a registry,” Dalvi cut her off. Her eyes glittered with some pleasure she was taking in this part. “One where we track people who have illegal Talents.”
“Is that right?” Heat was rushing to Mercy’s face.
“We have you on tape, Ms. Strange.” Dalvi lifted her chin. “Committing a Class Two Felony.”
“Go ahead and prosecute me, then,” Mercy said, barely containing her anger. “And while you’re doing that, I’ll be telling the world about the PsyOps division in the FBI making illegal use of illegal Talents.”
“Every Talent use here is approved by judicial order,” Burrows said stiffly.
“I’m sure that will be very reassuring to the public.”
Swift was darting looks at her, but she was pissed. They were not going to bully her into this. She had her backup plan, and they could go fuck themselves with their threats.
“Or you could turn over all your analysis to us,” Dalvi said with a false sweetness that made Mercy’s stomach turn, “and walk away from this.”
“My analysis belongs to me,” Mercy said. “You have all the data. Find your own mad scientists to decode it.”
Burrows sighed. “We could confiscate everything you have, Ms. Strange—”
“You could try.” She met the older woman’s stare. Did she seriously think Mercy would walk in here without a plan to burn it all down at a moment’s notice? Half of it was in her head, anyway, but the rest was one remote button-click away from complete erasure.
Dalvi looked
like she was ready to breathe fire. “Don’t you want to stop this mass murderer, a man who is using your technology to destroy people’s lives and threaten your city?”
It wasn’t her technology—not specifically—but she knew what Dalvi meant. And in truth, she did want him to pay. Severely. “Yes, I want him stopped.” Mercy folded her arms. “Especially if my sister is hip-deep in his crazy cult. So, yes, I will talk to Verity. And yes, she will get you the information you need. But the rest of it is off the table. And if you so much as threaten me…” And then she gave Swift a pointed look. “Or anyone I love, with any of this nonsense, you’re going to have a serious public relations nightmare on your hands. I hope the bureau has good lawyers because my family has the best in the country.”
Dalvi looked like she might blow, but Burrows raised a finger and somehow that contained her. “You’ll get Verity on board. She’ll work with us to infiltrate Eliphas’s organization.”
“Yes.” Holy mother of magick, what was she doing, making a promise like that? But the truth was that her sister was in trouble, and Mercy would do anything to get her out of it.
“Then we have an understanding.” Burrows tipped her head to Mercy and flicked a look at Swift. “Good day, Ms. Strange.”
She knew when she was being dismissed. Mercy pivoted on her heel to leave. Swift beat her to the door to open it. Once they were out in the hallway, he let out a long, low breath. “Damn, woman. I have never seen Dalvi with her hair on fire like that.”
Mercy just shook her head. What an amazingly fucked up mess.
“And for the record,” Swift added quietly as they passed the offices of other agents on the floor. “Anytime you’re ready to go on the run, I’ll be packing the bags.”
She dashed a look to him and nearly smiled. He had thought this through… and come up with the same plan. “Good to know.” They’d reached the elevator that would take them back down to the parking garage. She waited until they’d stepped inside and the doors had closed to add, “But my sister really is in a hot mess.” She slipped her hand in his, and he immediately held it firm. She peered up at him. “I’m not going to leave and make her fight her way out of it alone.”
“Understood.” And she knew he did—about all of it. Her love of her sister. Her love of him. Her complete determination to keep Dalvi’s hands off her research and her life.
She faced forward again. Helping her sister out of trouble was a grand and noble-sounding thing, but what it really meant was much uglier. She had to convince Verity to betray the man she thought was a god. If she didn’t, people would almost certainly die. Verity might be one of them. And if Mercy did convince her to spy on the monk she thought was the salvation of the world…
Her sister would hate her forever.
Mercy and Swift have found their HEA, but the story of the Strange sisters continues with Verity.
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Of Bards and Witches
London, The Year of Our Lord 1600
Leonidas is a dragon shifter, a century into his allotted five, and he’s entranced by Master Shakespeare’s theatre and the comely and lusty women of London’s bankside. But when he finds a witch in the practice of her art in clear view of the stage, he must act… for dragons are the keepers of the peace between the mortal and immortal realms. But never has duty been so sweetly sexy and delicious to the touch as a witch whose very skin sparks pleasure. He becomes lost in his bed, breaking his own cardinal rule—never seduce a woman for more than a night. As one pleasure-drenched night bleeds into the next, he runs afoul of a danger he ought already know… never cross a witch.
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Hot shifters. Military heroes. Sexy witches. Jaxson has to claim a mate or step down as alpha—but his dark secret will kill any mate he claims. Olivia’s a half-witch with a secret of her own. Wolves and witches mix like matches and TNT… and their secrets could destroy them both.
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Lucian is a Dragon Prince of the House of Smoke...and he’s dying. He has to spawn a dragonling or face the death of another mate. When he rescues a beautiful woman, he has to seduce her without losing his heart, and before he turns feral forever.
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Check out all of Alisa’s bestselling Paranormal Romance...
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READING ORDER
Dot Com Wolves
* * *
Claiming Mia (Book 1)
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Saving Arianna (Book 2)
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A Christmas Wish (Book 3)
Riverwise Private Security
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Jaxson (Book 1)
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Jace (Book 2)
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Jared (Book 3)
Wilding Pack Wolves
* * *
Wild Game (Book 1)
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Wild Love (Book 2)
* * *
Wild Heat (Book 3)
* * *
Wild One (Book 4)
* * *
Wild Fire (Book 5)
* * *
Wild Magic (Book 6)
Fallen Immortals
* * *
Kiss of a Dragon (Book 1)
* * *
Heart of a Dragon (Book 2)
* * *
Fire of a Dragon (Book 3)
* * *
Chosen by a Dragon (Book 4)
* * *
Seduced by a Dragon (Book 5)
* * *
Touched by a Dragon (Book 6)
* * *
Loved by a Dragon (Book 7)
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Marked by a Dragon (Book 8)
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Claimed by a Dragon (Book 9)
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Of Bards and Witches: Leonidas’s Story (Book 10)
Fallen Angels
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Tajael (Book 1)
* * *
Oriel (Book 2)
* * *
Asa (Book 3)
* * *
Razael (Book 4)
* * *
Micah (Book 5)
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Tempted: Tajael’s Story (Book 6)
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Kiss of an Angel: A Christmas Story (Book 7)
Legal Magick
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Ever Strange (Book 1)
* * *
Mercy Strange (Book 2)
* * *
Verity Strange (Book 3)
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About the Author
Alisa Woods lives in the Midwest with her husband and family, but her heart will always belong to the beaches and mountains where she grew up. She writes sexy paranormal romances about complicated men and the strong women who love them. Her books explore the struggles we all have, where we resist—and succumb to—our most tempting vices as well as our greatest desires. No matter the challen
ge, Alisa firmly believes that hearts can mend and love will triumph over all.
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