by Ashley Shay
“If you don’t like my cologne, you should stay out of my suite.”
Talon swiped at his leaking eyes, still choking. Pansy.
“What the fuck are you doing in here anyway?”
“I needed to talk to you,” Talon said.
“Then pour yourself some coffee like a good little guest and let me get dressed.”
“It can’t wait.”
Viper slammed the cologne bottle back to the vanity and leaned on the counter, pushing his body toward the mirror. He curled his hands and stared at Talon in the mirror. “Are you planning to ruin my happy mood, Talon?” he ground out.
“I don’t have a choice,” Talon mumbled.
Viper palmed the cologne, drew back his arm, and pitched the bottle toward the mirror. The glass exploded, shattering into a million pieces that hurtled toward him like mini projectiles. Pointed shards rained all over the counter and pebbled the carpet. Talon was quick. He’d thrown his arm over his face and ducked, but Viper felt several pieces slice into his skin like the bite of a serpent. He didn’t care, not even when the blood started to trickle down his bare chest and arms.
“Fuck!” Talon tentatively raised his head, taking in the devastation around him. He grabbed a clean towel from the rack on the wall and stepped toward Viper. The glass crunched loudly under his boot. “Don’t move, sir.”
Viper watched in the mirror as his underling swept as many of the pieces under the counter as he could. Then he gingerly reached toward Viper and began plucking glass from his skin. When he’d finished, he pressed the towel against the biggest wound on Viper’s chest. Viper hissed. When Talon had finished wiping each wound, the towel came away bloodstained and soaked. He tossed it aside and wet a washcloth.
“I’m not a child,” Viper said, snatching the cloth out of his hand.
“No, sir.”
“Tell me.”
“I flew over a while ago,” Talon said. “Washburn must have gotten inside because there was chaos on the grounds. I saw the carcass of a cat, and I’m assuming he died from attacking the mouse.”
“Any human casualties?”
“I—” Talon swallowed hard. “Not that I’m aware of, sir. I saw no ambulances, and only one security guard, the man with the dead cat, left the grounds in an SUV. The rest of the guards are swarming the entire compound. I can only assume they’re looking for the entrance point.”
“A partial success,” Viper murmured.
“Sir?”
“Don’t you see, Talon? Our little mouse made it all the way to the house, and possibly even inside. She succumbed to a cat, something I’d not really considered. But we learn from our oversight, Talon. We do indeed learn.” He plucked at a piece of glass he saw buried in his upper arm. “Now, make us both a cup of coffee and you can give me more details. Plenty of cream in mine please.” He plucked another shard of glass from his lip. “I need something to get the taste of blood out of mouth.”
* * * *
Tyler leaned back in his chair and let his gaze linger on each of his brothers. When Dusty and Shane had come back from scouting and he’d seen the looks on their faces, he knew he had to give them as much as he could. He was doing no one any favors by keeping them in the dark. Besides, he might be alpha, but the Lucas brothers had always been a team.
“A decade ago, Homeland Security became aware of a new player. We discovered he had powerful magic and an even more powerful arsenal of biological weaponry at his disposal. It was a poison we’d never seen. It took years of analysis to pinpoint the source of the agent, and we were floored to discover it was actually a serpent’s venom.”
“An unknown serpent venom?” Shane asked.
“Exactly,” Tyler said. “It was a mutation that had occurred unnaturally, probably as a product of an experimental gene splice.”
“Where did Homeland get the samples?” Shane asked.
Tyler paused before answering, and Shane shifted uncomfortably. “From the dead. Fifteen men and six women over an eight-year span.”
Dusty gave a low whistle.
“Random victims or targeted specifically?” Cougar asked.
“It took us a while to determine that,” Tyler said. “The victims were spread throughout the country and all involved in different enterprises. Some were public servants, some in the private sector, and several were employed in education and media. One man was a member of the clergy—a priest—and one of the women was a child advocate in the legal field.”
“All across the spectrum,” Dusty said.
Tyler nodded. “Yes, but eventually we were able to determine their commonality.”
“Which was?” Shane asked.
“Each one had, at one point in time, been involved in”—he paused and wished Gabe was with him for backup—“Project Shimmer.”
“What the fuck does Project Shimmer have to do with anything?” Cougar asked. “And who the fuck would care about that bullshit?”
“Shimmer’s only eclipsed by Project Blue Book in societal scrutiny,” Tyler said. “In fact, if anything, I’d say there are more theories and rumors concerning Shimmer.”
Cougar nodded. “Yeah, but they’re both still a shitload of crap.”
Tyler rubbed between his eyes. “Not exactly.”
“What the hell does that mean?” Cougar asked.
“Look, my hands are tied here,” Tyler said. “I signed a nondisclosure agreement.”
“Come on, Ty,” Shane said. “We all know it’s supposedly some shadowy commission studying the existence and impact of paranormals in the US.”
Tyler stared at each of his brothers, hoping they wouldn’t force him out of his comfort zone on this.
But Cougar wouldn’t let it go. “What are you trying not to tell us? That it’s real?”
Gabe’s voice broke the silence. “Yes, it’s real.” They all turned toward the door as he continued. “They study all the paranormals, but their primary focus in the last few decades has been shifters.”
Carly and Gabe came into the room. Tyler couldn’t keep his eyes off Carly. She glowed with the satisfaction of a woman who’d been pleased more than once. He wished he could forget this entire conversation, lift her in his arms, and carry her up to her room. He’d give anything to spend the rest of this miserable day wrapped in her arms.
Gabe settled Carly on the sofa and leaned against the wall beside her,
“What’s the big deal? I mean we’re shifters.” Dusty spread his hands out to encompass everyone in the room. “It’s no big secret to us they exist.”
“No,” Gabe said, “but members of Project Shimmer categorize, research, and study paranormals.”
“By study,” Shane said, “you mean experiment on, don’t you?”
Gabe nodded.
“And these dead people…” Cougar said. “They’d all been involved in these so-called studies.”
“Yes,” Tyler said, “and they’d all resigned.”
Gabe glanced at each man. “There’s a real reason we sign nondisclosure agreements.”
“It’s starting to look that way,” Dusty said. “So they talked?”
“Not exactly,” Tyler said, “but at the time of their deaths, they were each involved to one extent or another in advocating exposing the existence of paranormals, shifters in particular.”
“Fuck,” Cougar said.
“Their advocacy never lasted long,” Gabe said. “For the record, we’ve never had any indication the orders were given by Shimmer. We think it was a rogue faction, possibly led by someone with a spy on the inside of the commission.”
“Fuck me,” Dusty said.
Tyler rubbed the bridge of his nose. “Fuck me is right. You’re not aware, but the power struggle between those who wish to keep our kind a secret and those who wish to expose it has been going on for nearly a century, probably longer. The government is very tight lipped about the issue and wishes it to be kept deep undercover. There are, however, many proponents that feel everyone is best served b
y just telling the whole story—that the paranormal world is far more real than anyone thinks and benefits and dangers exist with each truth out there.”
“These advocates,” Dusty said, “were they militant, a danger to anyone?”
Tyler shook his head. “No, as far as we know, they were working within their own worlds, trying to sway opinions and create support. We saw no evidence they were subverting the government’s policies in any way, and their efforts were all at the grassroots level. In fact, they’d barely created a blip on the radar yet, which is why it took so long to discover how everything fit together.”
“And once you did?” Shane asked.
“Once we determined the agent used in each of their deaths was a venom, we started watching the Serpent Society a bit more. There are a few serpents in Project Shimmer, but they’re only there because the commission functions rather like the UN. Each shifter faction is a permanent member unless transgression can be proven. They’d always been on our radar, mostly due to their involvement in drug trafficking, prostitution, white slavery, and gunrunning. It wasn’t a stretch to imagine they might have hired assassins as well, but we had no real proof. We infiltrated the society, sending agents in deep undercover, so deep we never heard from any of them again until their bodies were found.”
“Let me guess,” Dusty said. “Injected with some sort of manufactured venom.”
“Yes,” Tyler said. “The Serpent Society denied involvement, and without real evidence linking them, we were forced to accept their denial. Rogues exist in every shifter faction.”
“At the time of the initial investigations,” Gabe said, “we suspected the venom was naturally occurring, probably in the murderer, but we’ve changed our opinion since then.”
“You think someone is capable of producing this toxin now?” Cougar asked.
“I do,” Tyler said. “The widespread damage indicated a more synthetic toxin.”
“Damn, Ty,” Shane said, “when you tell a story, you really go all out.”
“I wish it were a story,” Tyler murmured.
Cougar leaned forward in his chair. “So why exactly do you think these people were killed if they weren’t causing any waves yet?”
“Precisely because they could cause waves,” Gabe said. “They were all in positions of authority or respect or power. If their causes spread, and word got out that paranormals exist, there would have been huge political backlash and the eyes of the entire world would have been on our kind.”
Dusty spread his hands. “We have nothing to hide. We’re honest, hardworking…and if I can just say it…rich and powerful people in this country. Why the fuck should we worry?”
“We might not,” Gabe said, “but others would.”
“It could be a fucking mess,” Cougar said. “Bigotry, hatred, fear, paranoia…Jesus, it would be a real-life X-Men comic.”
“Exactly,” Tyler said.
“And there are those who’d want to study all of us,” Shane said, “to find out exactly how much power paranormals actually have.”
Carly sat up straighter on the sofa. “They’d focus harder on the testing, wouldn’t they? Testing and prodding and cataloging all powers…keeping watch lists and profiling. No one would really be safe, would they? Not even the innocent.” She glanced up at Gabe with tears in her eyes.
“No, I’m afraid not,” Gabe said, rubbing her shoulder.
Tyler waited until her attention came back to him. “And this particular faction of the Serpent Society, the one that deals with assassination, has the most to lose. They use their powers to increase their advantage in just about everything they do. They can’t afford to be exposed.”
“Carly,” Gabe said softly. When she glanced back toward him, he continued. “We believe the senator targeted by your Mr. Haney was planning to expose some of the paranormal world. That doesn’t make him a bad man—not by a long shot—but it does make him a dangerous man.”
“And they’d want him dead,” Carly whispered.
“This assassin can’t afford to lose,” Tyler said.
Gabe shook his head. “And now that we have a physical description that matches one from a previous witness, he can’t afford to leave you alive.”
Dusty turned around in his chair. “Would you be able to recognize him again, Carly?”
She nodded slowly, a sick look on her face. Even with the distance between them, Tyler could smell the fear coming off her in waves. “Yes, I’d recognize him anywhere, but also…he felt…wrong, evil, ugly.”
“You can sense that?” Dusty asked.
“Yes,” Carly said with a shudder.
Shane glared at Tyler from the other side of the desk. “You didn’t tell us how bad this was, Tyler. I mean we’ve dealt with witness protection before, but it’s never been for this much shit.”
“No, and I apologize for holding information back.”
“So this Viper,” Shane said, “why did he come after Jillian? Because of you two?” His accusatory gaze swept between Tyler and Gabe.
“We don’t know the reason,” Gabe said. “It’s one of the missing pieces.”
“Will you be able to find him?” Carly asked softly.
“We have to,” Gabe said.
The room fell into silence, and when the phone rang, Carly nearly jumped out of her skin. Tyler picked it up and hit speakerphone.
* * * *
“Yes, Tomcat 8. Tyler Lucas here. What ya got?”
Carly leaned forward, wanting to hear every word.
“Mr. Lucas, sir.” Tomcat 8’s awe came through the telephone line. There was an audible swallow on the other end of the phone. When it continued, the voice that came out of the speaker sounded strained, obviously skimming a report. “The cat, I mean Tomás—no disrespect, sir—ingested a trace amount of an unknown venomous agent by mouth.”
Tyler drew back. “By mouth? That’s impossible. If a bite transferred the agent, that means it was inside the mouse. It would have never arrived with that much poison in its system, not as fast as Tomás died.”
“Not impossible,” Tomcat 8 said. “The tech said Tomás never actually bit the mouse. At least not hard enough to break the skin and ingest poison into his stomach. There was no blood in his mouth or teeth. It appears the contact with the fur alone spread the contaminant.” He paused for a moment, and Carly waited impatiently with the others while he skimmed the report to locate the information. “Tomás licked it or had just begun to capture the animal in his jaws when the transfer occurred. Analysis of the rodent body confirms trace amounts of dried venom hidden in her fur.”
“So that little rodent was out to kill us all,” Shane said.
“Kamikazi bitch,” Cougar said. “Tomcat 8, how much venom in all?”
“The tech found three pouches grafted surgically beneath the fur. One of those pouches held the substance, so he assumes each held the same amount. Due to the high toxicity of the poison, he believes there was enough to contaminate at least three dozen separate areas. With luck and time, and of course considering each victim would need approximately the same dosage, that’s the potential for thirty-six victims, though he doubts, considering the fast-acting powers of the venom, it would have come to that many. He estimates time constraints to place mortality levels at six or seven individuals.”
“Oh God,” Carly whispered.
“That’s six or seven too many,” Dusty said.
“Okay, Tomcat 8,” Cougar said. “Anything else?”
“That’s the gist, sir. I’ll bring the complete report back with me, and…” He paused for a moment then cleared his throat. “And the remains, sir? The technician has flushed out the agent and replaced all fluids. What should I, um, do with Tomás’s body?”
Carly slid forward on her seat. “We have to bring him home, Cougar. For Lucia.” She lifted her eyes to Tyler. “Please, Tyler.”
Tyler nodded. “Yes, she’s right,” he said softly. “Tomcat 8, bring Tomás home. He might have been a crazy cat
, but Lucia loved him. We’ll bury him out in the pet cemetery with the other family we’ve lost.”
“Will do, sir,” Tomcat 8 said. “ETA an hour.” He broke the connection.
“Thank you,” Carly said.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Tyler said. “I don’t know about the rest of you, but I could stand a cold Shiner.”
Dusty rose to his feet and stretched. “My thoughts exactly. I could actually do with more than one.”
The door burst open, and Suzie came running into the room. She stopped dead in the middle of the floor, her gaze traveling from one person to another, and frowned. She went around Tyler’s desk and leaned against his arm, though she kept her eyes trained on everyone else.
“What ya all doin’, Daddy?” she asked.
“Getting ready to order some dinner and take a swim,” he said.
“Good!” Suzie hopped up and down. “Lucia is up from her nap. And she’s smiling now.”
“I’m very glad to hear that,” Tyler said.
“She said Tomás is dead and in heaven now.”
“That’s true,” Tyler said, slipping his arm around the little girl’s waist.
“Lucia said she’s glad he’s in heaven, Daddy, so I’m glad too. He was a bastar…” She glanced at Carly, and Carly shook her head. “He was a nice cat.”
Tyler’s brows rose, and Carly could see him stifling a smile. “Yes, I guess he was.”
“But he’s gone, and that’s soooo sad, but…” Suzie stood up on tiptoes and gave him her prettiest smile, rocking forward while she held his shoulder.
“But?” Tyler asked.
“Can I get a kitty now?”
Everyone in the room burst out laughing, and Suzie looked around in confusion. Tyler pulled her in for a hug. “We might be able to arrange that, cub. Just give us a few days to clean up a mess, okay?”
“Okay, Daddy. What are we having for dinner? Pizza?”
When everyone nodded enthusiastically, Tyler said, “Sounds like a plan.”
