Switch (New World Series)

by Janelle Stalder

  “Next time,” Trent said low enough just for him to see, “you deal with personal shit after. Got it?”

  Pete turned to meet his brother’s gaze, all humour gone. “I’m here. Everything is fine. Get off my back.” They stared at each other tensely for a moment before Trent looked away. He might be older, but they both knew who was giving orders around here, and it wasn’t him.

  “Come on boys,” Seamus said, lightening the mood. “The night is still young, and we got a whole lot of fun ahead of us. Let’s not ruin it, yeah?”

  “Yeah,” Pete nodded, shifting in his chair.

  “Have you spoken to the General?” Garrett asked. Pete nodded once. “He still coming?”

  “He’ll be here,” was all he said. More guys came to join their table and soon the conversations turned to regular things. Trent even seemed to lighten up as he laughed at some ridiculous story Seamus was telling, which Pete knew for a fact was a complete lie. His best friend was notorious for stretching the truth.

  “That’s bullocks,” Garrett accused, laughing.

  “You think?” Seamus shot back, sitting up straighter.

  “Absolutely. There’s no way your measly little arms could lift a car all on their own,” his brother argued.

  “Measly?” Seamus gasped. “I’m telling you the truth. The girl was pinned under there and I lifted the damn thing right up.”

  “Sure you did,” Trent said, chuckling.

  “It can happen,” he said. “They say even women can do it when their kids are trapped.”

  “That’s not the same thing,” Trent argued.

  “Why isn’t it?” Seamus waved him off. “You guys don’t know what you’re talking about. McKay believes me, don’t you, McKay?”

  Pete shook his head with a laugh. “Seamus, you couldn’t even beat me in an arm wrestle if I challenged you. There is no way you picked up a bloody car.”

  Seamus sat back, affronted. “You don’t think I could beat you in an arm wrestle? I could win in less than ten seconds.”

  Laughter broke out around them. Pete kept his gaze on his best friend, fighting back his own laugh. “Oy! You reckon?”

  “I’m sure of it.”

  “Then it’s settled,” Garrett said happily. “The two of you, right now, right here. Arm wrestle challenge. Seamus has exactly ten seconds to beat you, or we get to beat him.”

  Seamus groaned. “It’s only fair,” Trent added. “Everyone gets a shot if you lose.”

  “Fine,” he said, conceding. “But no hits to the face.”

  “It might do you some good,” Garrett pointed out. Seamus leaned over and punched him in the arm. Pete shucked off his jacket, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt. They placed their elbows on the table, Trent holding their hands together.

  “Alright boys. On three,” he said. It was on. Pete wanted to laugh as Seamus struggled to pin his arm. Around them, the others called out numbers loudly, counting down the ten seconds. Just as they yelled out eight, the front door to the pub flew open, crashing against the wall. Pete wouldn’t have thought much of it, but the entire place instantly went silent. He saw Seamus’ face tighten as he looked over his shoulder. They broke apart and Pete turned to see what was going on.

  Shit.

  At least fifteen New World army soldiers stepped in, their boots loud on the old, worn floors. But that wasn’t what had him concerned. It was the last two people to follow them in. Roman bloody Adamson and Weapon X.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  The noise stopped as soon as they entered. People froze, glasses halfway to their mouths. It was almost comical, Dinah thought. She looked around slowly, taking in the unpleasant smell and feel of the place. It was a dump. How could anyone want to drink here? She doubted the glasses were even cleaned properly. She looked distastefully at the stained floor and bar, deciding it was probably better not to touch anything. It didn’t look sanitary in the least, even though she was wearing gloves.

  She kept her mind closed off for the time being. It was never smart to walk into a room with this many people with her senses open. She would be hit so hard with the thoughts of everyone at once, she’d likely get a migraine. She looked over them slowly. No one met her gaze. Each and every one of them looked down, their faces blank. But she knew they were terrified. She could practically taste their fear.

  “Good evening, gentlemen,” Roman said casually, walking further into the room. His boots echoed off the floorboards. “I hope we’re not interrupting anything.”

  “Not at all, mate,” someone spoke up. “What can we do for you?”

  Dinah followed the voice to its owner and stilled. Her breath caught in her chest as she looked at him. Dear God, she thought, he was gorgeous. Sleeves rolled up to reveal more tattoos than she could decipher, and eyes greener than any she’d ever seen, set in a chiselled face wearing a tight smile that did not reach his eyes. His hair was buzzed short, and yet she had an unnatural urge to run her hands over it. What the heck was her problem?

  To her surprise, the guy glanced her way, their eyes locking. She watched as his widened a bit as they stared at one another. She felt fidgety all of a sudden under his gaze. It was making her hot for some reason, and for the first time in a long time, she wished she could take her damn mask off so cool air could hit her face.

  “We were just in the neighbourhood,” Roman replied, grabbing the guy’s attention again. Dinah let out her breath, grateful for the interruption.

  “Not really your kind of neighbourhood, wouldn’t you say?” the guy said, turning slowly back toward Roman.

  Roman laughed. “No, I suppose it isn’t. And yet, here we are. I wonder why that is?”

  The guy looked around at his friends who were suddenly on their feet around him. Dinah sensed trouble. “I wouldn’t know, mate,” he said calmly.

  “Shall I tell you? It is because we recently heard word of a meeting taking place here tonight, at midnight.”

  “The only thing happening here is drinking and a poor game of arm wrestling.”

  Roman and the guy stared off. For some reason she had the urge to step between them, but she remained by the front door. Roman had given her strict instructions to stay out of the way as much as possible. He wouldn’t be able to concentrate properly if he was worried about her safety. Still, the urge was there and it bothered her.

  “I doubt that,” Roman said, no longer smiling.

  “It’s just our regular hang out,” he held.

  Roman tilted his head. “Well then you won’t mind if my colleague here has a look around, metaphorically speaking of course,” he said, donning a wolfish grin. “X!”

  Dinah moved forward, letting her mind open up. It was a good thing she did, otherwise she wouldn’t have heard his intention in time. The bartender reached for the shot gun hidden underneath the bar, pointing it in her direction just as she reached for the gun at her hip. Dinah quickly pulled it and aimed, firing right at his head. The bullet entered his skull in the middle of his forehead before he could even get his finger on the trigger. The shotgun fell with a bang just as the man hit the back wall, sliding down to the floor out of sight. The soldiers around her drew their weapons, levelling them at the rest of the patrons.

  Roman moved into action immediately, walking back behind the bar to retrieve the shotgun. His face was flushed with anger.

  “Anyone else feel like doing something stupid?” he growled. Dinah didn’t wait to see what anyone else had planned, knowing that all of them were too scared to even move. She approached the guy as she placed her gun back in its holster. The men surrounding him looked at the floor. She stopped just in front of him. He was a lot taller than her so she had to look up to meet his eyes.

  Two bright green orbs looked back at her, narrowed in suspicion. She didn’t like the funny way he was staring at her, or the way her pulse had picked up. His eyes dropped down the front of her and very slowly rose back up. Dinah’s face burned behind her mask. When they reached her face again he was lo
oking at her knowingly. It took her a second to figure out what his problem was, but then she realized – he knew. No one else had ever figured it out, but this guy had. The problem with knowledge was that sometimes it could get you in a lot of trouble. And in this case, it would get him killed.

  She pushed her senses toward him, searching. What she found there made her even more worried than the fact that he was on to her. She pushed harder. Turning her attention to the others around him, she focused on a larger guy, not as tall as the one in front of her, but thicker in the shoulders. His hair was a dark shade of blonde, reaching just below his ears in waves. They looked similar, and she wondered if perhaps the two were related. He was older though. She could tell from the lines in his face. Not by much, probably early thirties. He didn’t meet her eyes, but when she searched him the same thing happened.

  Dinah cursed inwardly, moving on to the next guy. He was skinnier and a bit shorter than the green eyed guy. His hair was a reddish brown, with light freckles across his nose. His eyes were a light blue. Not as vibrant as hers, but more like the sky on a clear day. They were focused on the table before him. She pushed, gaining a bit more distance than the other two, but still coming up against the same thing. One word came through though, ‘general’. It would have to do, she decided. Dinah looked back to the green eyed boy and saw a smug smirk on his face. She narrowed her eyes, staring at him for a second before walking toward Roman. She motioned for him to follow her a little distance away from everyone.

  “Well?” he said.

  “Ask them about the General,” she whispered, keeping her voice low enough so no one would hear her. “Let’s see what reaction you get. I’m thinking I should search the chatty one alone. Less people around will help me concentrate more.”

  Roman nodded. “Okay. We’ll take him to the bathroom then.” Dinah agreed and they both turned to face the room again. Roman walked slowly up to the guy, the shotgun held casually at his side. “Tell me,” he said. “Who is the General?”

  “Shit,” someone whispered close to where she stood. Dinah grinned. The guy’s eyes widened only a fraction but she caught it. They glanced over to her. She couldn’t help herself after his smug little smirk before, she winked at him and watched as he clenched his teeth. Oh yes, she thought triumphantly, they definitely have something.

  He was a she. Pete was still trying to wrap his head around that realization as he tried to keep up with the developments happening in the room. Poor Glenn was dead behind the bar and Pete wanted to make sure no one else followed. He had to put this to bed – now. The council was going to have his head.

  He thought about Garrett in the washroom. When they all stood they had purposely hidden him so he could make an escape. Pete had discreetly passed him the cell, knowing he’d know what to do with it. Hopefully by now the General would know what was happening and not come here.

  When Weapon X had approached him and he was able to get a closer look, he knew his suspicions were correct. How was it that he’d never noticed before? How did no one else notice? He looked around and realized that everyone else was looking down and away. So that’s how, he decided. If no one looked closely enough, they wouldn’t be able to see all the slight differences that gave her away. Well Pete noticed. He looked her over again as her attention turned to his brother and friends. There was no mistaking it.

  First of all, she was tiny. Way too tiny to be a guy. But despite that, she still had curves that no man could have. The slight flare of her hips, the curve of her thighs. She wasn’t exceptionally endowed in the chest, but he could see the telltale curves there too. Weapon X was a woman. Huh, who would have thought? He almost wanted to laugh. He watched her eyes, those eyes that had caught him the second he made contact. A blue that was a shade he’d never seen before. He always thought Bridge had nice eyes, but this girl’s were amazing.

  He watched as they narrowed and he wanted to shout for joy as he read the confusion and frustration in them. He couldn’t help the grin on his face when she finally looked back at him. Perhaps they’d get out of this unscathed. He was feeling pretty confident up until Roman asked him about the General. They were in deep shit.

  “General?” he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “No idea what you’re referring to, mate. Isn’t that a military term?”

  Roman Adamson was not impressed. Pete hated the guy and would give anything to get him in a one-on-one fight. He’d tear the bastard to shreds.

  “It is. I do wonder, though, which military you are referring to? Certainly not mine.”

  Pete shrugged indifferently. “No idea. We’re all just having a pint after a hard day’s work, like us lower folk do. There ain’t no rebels here.”

  Roman leaned in close. It took every ounce of will power not to slam his fist into that smug face. “Well you’ll excuse me if I don’t believe you. My colleague will have to confirm that statement.”

  Pete raised his eyebrows, crossing his arms over his chest. The whole bar was so silent you could almost hear the dust settling. The two of them stared down each other before Roman stepped back.

  “Bring him to the bathroom. I want the rest of you out here with weapons ready. No one is to leave or move. Got it?”

  Two soldiers stepped forward, each grabbing one of his arms.

  “Don’t fight,” Trent whispered. Pete rolled his eyes. Like he was going to. He might be impulsive and reckless sometimes, but he certainly didn’t have a death wish. They ushered him into the washroom to find Garrett there taking a piss.

  “Get out,” one of them ordered.

  Pete wanted to laugh at the expression on his brother’s face. If he didn’t know any better he would have believed the scared look there, but his brother was a little shit who didn’t scare easily. He mumbled incoherently and scurried out quickly. Pete breathed a sigh of relief that they hadn’t thought to search him first. If he was smart, that cell would be tucked inside his boot where no one would think to look.

  The two soldiers pushed him inside and left without a word. A second later Roman and Weapon X walked in. The door slammed shut behind them.

  “Let’s try this again,” Roman started. “Who or what is the General?”

  Pete splayed his hands in front of him. “I already told you, mate. I’ve got no idea.”

  Roman stepped forward but stopped when the girl put her hand on his arm. He looked back at her, eyebrows furrowed in question. She moved so her back was to Pete, her head close to Roman’s. Pete couldn’t hear what she said, but whatever it was, Roman didn’t like it. His jaw worked as he stared down at her like he wanted to argue. Resigned, he nodded once before looking back at Pete.

  “Any trouble and I’ll be back in a second, and you, mate, will be dead. Understand? X, keep your gun ready.”

  Pete just looked at him, unmoving. Weapon X reached for one of her pistols holstered beneath her arm, clicking off the safety loudly in the small space. Then Ludwig’s second in command turned sharply and left, leaving the two of them alone. Pete watched her back as she seemed to take a moment to collect herself. Then she turned to face him with those eyes. He opened his mouth to speak, but stopped as she held up a hand.

  “Don’t,” she said. Her voice was soft and musical. Completely at odds with her appearance, and reputation. “If you tell anyone what you know,” she continued, “you’ll die. Do you understand me? If not by my hand, by another’s. This isn’t a game. There are consequences for those who know too much, and I really don’t think you’d like them.”

  Pete laughed. “I get it,” he said. “Just tell me, how do you do it? I’ve never heard one rumour about you being a girl.”

  “That’s because those who know, who shouldn’t know, are disposed of. It would be smart of you to remember that.”

  “Noted,” he replied dryly.

  She narrowed her gaze at him, silent for a moment before saying, “tell me how you’re doing it.”

  “Doing what?” he asked.

  She took a step close
r, the hand holding the gun twitching at her side. “You know what,” she said. “Tell me how you’re doing it.”

  He didn’t think about his next move, he just did it. Overthinking these things sometimes complicated it, so instead he acted on impulse. One second they were glaring at each other, and the next he had her pinned to the ground beneath him, her gun skidding across the floor. His hand instantly moved to cover her mouth as he used his bodyweight to restrain her. There was no way someone as small as she was could over power him.

  “You’re not so big and bad when you don’t have your little ability, are you?” he said in her ear. He pulled back, her eyes burning into him with rage. “How easily the infamous Weapon X is taken down, and there’s no one here to save her.” He reached down with his other hand, quickly robbing her of the rest of her weapons. “No more blowing off people’s heads today.”

  She struggled under him, but he just pushed her harder into the tile floor. He slid the guns to the far wall, well out of reach. “That’s better,” he said. He looked down at her furious, blue eyes and chuckled. Lifting his chest up a bit, he looked her over until he saw what he wanted. With one fast move, he ripped her hood off. She sucked in air, but his hand was covering her mouth again before she could get out a scream.

  Bloody hell. She was beautiful.

  He’d seen a lot of pretty girls in his life. Bridgette was often called beautiful by all the boys, and even Danielle was attractive. But this girl…she was quite possibly the most gorgeous girl he’d ever seen. Long, black hair fanned out around her head. Her skin was smooth, pale porcelain. Dark lashes framed those eyes set beneath perfectly arched brows. Pete realized he was staring at her like an idiot, mouth open and everything, as she seethed beneath him.