by M. D. Grimm
Shannon continued to talk to Genii late into the night, reassuring Genii that she was the only one in Haven. At some point, she realized she didn’t want to be a Knight any longer. And she began to realize how fearful she’d been of the very people she thought were her family. The things Genii told her about the Knights didn’t end this fear—they only enhanced it.
“I can’t just… quit?” she said.
Genii touched her hand as they sat on the bench. “You will be protected, but only if you are sincere in your conviction.”
“I am!” Shannon said, gripping Genii’s hand. “I swear.”
Genii nodded with a kind, but cautious, smile.
“Genii,” Shannon said after a short pause.
“Yes?”
“What if they come for me? I’ve been in telepathic communication with my commander and—I’ve told him everything.”
She felt guilty and frightened for the citizens of Haven. Then she almost laughed. Imagine, her scared for the safety of shifters!
Amazing.
“I see.” Genii narrowed her eyes and looked away. “Would they rescue you?”
“Yes,” Shannon said. She was certain of that. “They wouldn’t want me to tell you what I know about them.”
Genii nodded. “I would imagine not.” She stood. “You need to stay here. You will be safe, but I need to talk to the pack leaders about this.”
Shannon frowned but nodded. Genii took out a glove from her pocket and slipped it on her hand before walking out of the cell. She shut the iron door, gave Shannon a significant look, then turned, and walked up the basement stairs.
Jena looked up as Agent Genii shut the door to the basement. Well, finally. How long did they really need to talk?
“Well?” Jena asked as the agent came toward her.
“She seems repentant,” Agent Genii said, stroking her chin. “You need to relock the door, however. We will have to have Agent Oenghus come and look into her heart.”
Jena blinked. Who? It didn’t matter. She’d turned off the speaker when her brother left to chase after that cougar of his. She still couldn’t believe he chose a cougar as a mate. She liked Travis, sure, but—a cougar, a blind cougar, for a mate? She’d always known her brother was the odd wolf in the pack, but—this was beyond anything she would have ever dreamed he might do.
“You need to call your pack to a meeting,” Agent Genii said, bringing Jena’s attention back to the matter at hand.
“Why? What’d the knight say?”
“Just get your pack gathered,” Agent Genii said again. “And lock that cell door.” Then she walked out of the building to her car.
Thankfully, Rae was enclosed in dispatch and Bao and the other deputies were still on patrol, so no one witnessed the interaction. Jena wrinkled her nose at the order, but she grabbed her phone anyway. Great, it wasn’t just her pack and sheriff brother she had to take orders from, now she had a damned agent on her case as well. She was getting tired of being submissive to everybody. Her wolf growled. But it didn’t seem inclined to do anything about her current position.
“Damn help you are,” she murmured to her wolf as she phoned her father. After the call, she stomped down to the basement and gave Shannon a nasty look as she relocked the cell door. Shannon simply sat on the bench, her eyes unfocused. Jena stared at her a moment before turning and walking upstairs.
Twenty minutes later, Jena sat in the living room of her childhood home, the rest of the pack around her. Notable in his absence, however, was her brother. Jack had been out of cell phone range, and that could only mean he was in the mountains—playing with that cougar, no doubt.
Some sheriff he is, she thought bitterly.
“What has the knight revealed?” Jeffrey asked the agent.
Jena pulled herself out of her dark thoughts to listen. Agent Genii, who was way too damn gorgeous, stood, easily gaining everyone’s attention.
“She has confirmed that she was sent her alone. However, I would like the patrol to continue for the time being, just to be sure others weren’t sent without her knowing. I have convinced her that shifters are not her enemies. I believe she is sincere in her repentance, though I will have another agent, who is a great empath, talk with her. But the most distressing thing I discovered is that she has been in telepathic communication with her commander.”
Whispers filled the room.
“Silence!” Jeffrey barked. Quiet fell immediately.
“She believes they will rescue her,” Genii said. “But I think they will come to assassinate her. She is a liability now and, as she said herself, they will not want her telling the Knights’ secrets to the Agency or shifters. But she doesn’t know who or how many will come.”
“Why not just let them kill her?” a voice from the back said. “What use is she?”
Before Genii could answer, Jeffrey whipped around, his sharp eyes ablaze, glaring in the direction of the speaker.
“She knows the Knights,” Jeffrey said, his voice wintry cold. “And she will be a great asset if her allegiance has turned to the Agency. We must keep her alive. And, in case all of you have forgotten, we are not the monsters from nightmares. We do not shed blood unless in defense of our home. We protect and we defend. We do not murder.”
His word was final, and any other objection was quelled under his stare. He turned back to Genii, and the agent inclined her head to him.
“It is correct that she could provide valuable information. I do not know when the assassins will come, but we must be prepared. They probably won’t send many, wanting to keep the act simple and under the radar. But she will have to be monitored 24/7.”
“She must stay in the cell,” Jeffrey said after a moment of silence. “They will come for her, and they will not expect her to have told us about them. They will expect her to be in the cell.”
“Agreed.” Genii nodded. “I arrived at our temp substation with two other agents. They should be here shortly.”
He nodded, his dark eyes blank, but Jena could read the concern in his face and the tense stance of his body. He was worried, and that made her worried.
“Jager,” Jeffrey said, turning to his son. “Organize the packs, send word to the council. Insist that the young and elderly adjourn to Sanctuary until this is over. I don’t want casualties. I don’t think Nordik would mind a few extra shifters in his forests.”
Genii’s eyes widened, and she moved closer to Jeffrey. “You know Master Shifter Nordik?” Genii asked, her voice hushed.
Jeffrey raised an eyebrow. “No one knows him, Agent,” he said quietly. “But if Haven’s shifters are in trouble, he won’t mind lending Sanctuary to us for a day or so.”
Genii nodded, but Jena noticed her considering, and she wasn’t sure she liked the look in the agent’s eye. Did that agent really think she could communicate with Nordik when not even the elder shifters could find him? If Nordik didn’t want to be found, he wouldn’t be found, period.
“Jena.” Her father turned to her, and she stood. “Find Jack. Alert him about what’s happened.”
She barely resisted making a grimace. “Yes, Father.”
She would have liked Jager’s job better. Shoulders hunched, she left the meeting and got into her own car to drive toward Glacier Park.
Chapter Thirteen
Travis realized he’d fallen asleep when he felt Jack shaking his shoulder. He grunted and curled tighter against his mate. Jack chuckled but continued to shake him.
“Jack,” Travis said, moaning.
“Travis,” Jack said in the same tone. “We need to head home. It’s getting cold.”
“No, it’s not.” There was an extra blanket in the cab of the truck, and they had wrapped themselves in it. Travis was nicely warm and was loathe to leave his cocoon.
“We need to get back, anyway.” Jack sighed and got to his feet. Travis followed Jack and got out of the back. But when his feet touched the ground, his senses came alive. The hair on the back of his neck rose, and his
cougar roused, hissing at impending danger.
He sensed them being watched, and the danger was coming from the watchers. He grabbed Jack and threw them both to the ground. They landed hard just before the distinctive sound of a bullet shot through glass. Jack rolled over on top of Travis, protecting him. Travis heard the click of a hammer. Jack had pulled out his pistol. As Travis tightened his arms around Jack, he realized his nightmare had come true. He had always feared, in his darkest moments, the Knights would come for him. They would come to finish what they had started. And now they were here, and Jack would be killed because of him. He would lose the love he had so recently found. No. Never!
Travis grabbed Jack’s head and hissed in his ear, “I’m going to shift. I can see better as a cougar, even in the dark.”
He felt Jack nod. Jack slid off him, and Travis shifted without a sound. He shook off his clothes. It took a moment for his eyes to adjust to the dim light, and he could soon make out shapes, the visual information coupled with his other senses. Instinct had him jerking to his left, just in time to avoid a shot that would have hit his shoulder. Jack fired in that direction, not wildly, but with precise, controlled shots.
“Dammit, they must have night vision,” he muttered. “Well, hell, so do I.”
Jack’s presence and smell changed. Jack was now a wolf, with better night vision than any human. They both slipped around the truck, silent and focused.
How many shooters? Where are they? Travis quickly discerned the direction from which the shots had sounded. Now he focused all his senses on finding the would-be assassins, his heart pounding rapidly. His only comfort was that Jack, who had the advantage of clear sight, was by his side.
Headlights suddenly flashed in the night, and a car came roaring into view. Travis smelled Jena. The assassins suddenly shot at her, and Travis could hear the cracking of her windshield. The car squealed to a halt near them and crunched on the dirt. Then Travis heard the sounds of return fire. Jena had her gun with her.
“Jack! Travis!” she screamed. Jack nipped Travis’s neck to urge him toward the car. Travis ran beside him, but when he felt Jack jump into the car, Travis veered aside and ran back into the forest. If the assassins were focused on him, they would follow him. He had to get them away from his loved ones.
Jack howled behind him.
Travis used his senses and memory of the forest to find his way deeper among the trees. He saw outlines of trees and rocks, of bushes and tangled branches. He leaped and dove, his long legs stretching, propelling his powerful body forward. Sticks and rocks scraped against the pads of his paws and the wind whistled past his ears.
Don’t follow me, Jack, he pleaded in his mind. Don’t follow me.
Shots whizzed past his head. He snarled and sped up, barely dodging everything. Damn, they were good shots. He only hoped they were human, which would mean they couldn’t move as agilely as he could. And they didn’t know this forest like he did. If they didn’t have special abilities, that made guns their only advantage.
And night vision.
All he could do was run. So that was exactly what he did.
Jack was terrified. He clawed at the car doors, but Jena had locked them. He howled and gnawed and tried to break the windows, but his sister was pulling away from the scene with the shooter or shooters still peppering them with bullets.
“Stop it, Jack! It’s too late. We can’t go after him!” Jena shouted, driving in reverse. “I don’t know how many are out there. You’ll get yourself killed!”
He didn’t care. Why should he care? His mate was in trouble! His mate could die if he didn’t help him!
Jack placed his paws on the dashboard, his claws digging into the plastic, and gave a piercing howl of agony and frustration that echoed through the night, over the gunfire, and caused the forest to come alive with howls and yips from sleeping animals.
Though he didn’t know it, his howl also awakened another creature, one who was very old, nigh immortal, and the self-proclaimed guardian of Sanctuary.
Shannon paced the cell, wondering what she was going to do. Oddly, she was feeling a giddy freedom she’d never known before. Though she wasn’t free yet, a weight had been lifted from her shoulders. This made her realize, and finally understand, how much all that hate had been dragging her down, and how much enjoyment in life it had taken away. She found herself thinking of the good times she’d had with her parents instead of the night their lives had come to an end. Perhaps it was better to base her life on their memories rather than the cruelty of their deaths.
The sound of heavy footsteps descending the stairs alerted her. She whirled around and wondered if it was Genii. Shannon walked to her cell door, standing as close to it as she dared. But her visitor was a stocky man dressed in all black, wearing a ski mask. And holding an AK-47.
She gasped and backed away before stumbling into the bench. She was trapped. Her mind whirled with panic and disbelief. She knew what this man was, why he was here. Two such men had come to the substation she’d been stationed at, and her commander had given them their orders. They’d worn the same black clothing, the same masks, and had held the same guns. The man, the assassin, reached the bottom of the steps, but he didn’t come any closer. Why should he? He had a clear shot from where he stood.
This couldn’t be. The Knights had sent an assassin after her!
“Y-you… you’re not here to rescue me?” she squeaked. Wouldn’t they want to rescue her and—but Shannon couldn’t finish the thought. She knew the Knights and realized how foolish she’d been. They didn’t leave loose ends.
In answer, the assassin lifted his rifle and pointed it at her. Shannon shook violently and her stomach lurched, feeling as though it had fallen to her feet.
Then, out of nowhere, Genii appeared and tackled the man from behind. They both crashed to the floor, and the assassin’s gun skidded away from him. Genii straddled the assassin, and twisted his neck while he tried to reach for something at his waist. But Genii managed to get him in a headlock. The assassin still squirmed and grunted, his arms flailing and trying to grab any piece of Genii he could find. She kept him pinned to the floor, but her heavy panting indicated her struggle to stay in control.
Somehow Genii managed to get a hand loose and tossed something at Shannon. A ring of keys skidded near the cell and Shannon knelt down. She cringed and her heart pounded as she carefully slipped her arm between the iron bars, and her fingertips touched the ring.
“Hurry!” Genii said. She and the assassin struggled over the floor, and Shannon trembled violently. Her fear for Genii’s safety amazed her but it also made her struggle harder and work faster. She strained and twisted her body, sweat forming on her brow. Her fingers managed to pull the keys closer, and when she gripped them with her full hand, she let out a relieved breath. She quickly stood and once again slipped her arm through the bars, struggling to find which key would fit. It seemed to take forever before the lock clicked open. Shannon grabbed the blanket and used it to push open the iron door.
“Grab the gun!” Genii said, panting, her eyes blue flames.
When Shannon didn’t move, Genii screamed her name. Shannon jerked and stumbled forward, surprised her legs held her at all. She grabbed the weapon and held it awkwardly. She hadn’t been trained how to use such powerful firearms.
“Hit him in the head with the butt,” Genii said.
“Wh-what?” Shannon said.
“Hit him!” Genii said, jerking her head up and glaring at Shannon. “I can’t hold him, he’s a fighter. Hit him!”
Shannon cringed and held the rifle in shaky hands. She took a deep breath and brought the butt down on the assassin’s head. The impact sent a shudder up her arms, and the cracking sound had her cringing. His face smashed into the floor by the force of her blow and then he was still.
“Now,” Genii said, panting. “There are handcuffs attached to my belt. Grab them and give them to me.”
Shannon leaned the rifle against the wall a
nd did as instructed. Genii handcuffed the man and blew out a deep breath, then grabbed a length of rope off the wall and hogtied him.
“These are tricky bastards,” she said, grabbing Shannon’s arm. “They can wiggle out of almost anything. Now, take the gun upstairs and wait for me. Stay away from the windows and doors. Okay?”
Shannon nodded jerkily and staggered up the stairs. She looked back only once, to see Genii dragging the assassin toward the now unoccupied cell.
The agent muttered, “Where’s Poe when you need him?”
Still uncertain what to think or feel, Shannon staggered through the doorway at the top of the stairs. She set the rifle against the wall and turned around. Another man, all in black and wearing a ski mask, stood staring at her, his rifle aimed at her head. Shannon screamed.
Even as the other assassin squeezed the trigger, someone grabbed Shannon and yanked her to one side, out of the line of fire. Another man, who seemed to materialize out of nowhere, appeared behind the assassin, gripped his head, and with a single jerk, snapped his neck.
The assassin fell with a thud to the floor. With wide eyes and clammy skin, Shannon stared at her rescuer as he stood over the dead man, not sure whether she should be grateful or still afraid. He was nearly seven feet tall, thickly muscled and bald with black eyes. He looked down at the dead man on the floor with disdain, and then his gaze moved to her. His eyes were so intense, she cringed. The tall man raised an eyebrow.
“You are safe now,” a kind voice said from behind her. The voice belonged to the hands still holding her up. Shannon flinched and jerked away from the grasp. The hands let her go. She turned. A blond man of medium height stood there, slightly on the skinny side, with heavy-lidded blue eyes.
“Get him?” Genii appeared beside Shannon. She fell into Genii’s arms, needing their familiar and comforting warmth.
