“Seems as if our people are too comfortable in their authority.” Sage didn’t feel any better than she had before about ASSET. Maybe if she were working under a leader like Mark in Phoenix, but everything she’d been exposed to in the Las Vegas agency left a bad taste in her mouth.
“If the weapon was used by one of our own, then I would say so. But remember, we couldn’t have used it. Someone from one of the other races would’ve had to act as an accomplice.”
That mystery had them all stumped. Someone within the organization had allowed a magical weapon of immense power into enemy hands. “Anyone have a grudge against the vampires?” Sage asked, figuring that would be the place to start.
“Vampires are dubious by nature. There’s probably a line of people who’d love to take a swing at any one of them.” He led the way as they headed for the elevator. “But our first order of business is to make you look like the prodigal daughter. Ava will want to talk to you about your return.”
“I don’t want to talk to her,” Sage groaned.
“She runs this place. You have to follow protocol if you want to be taken back, even if it’s under false pretenses.”
Sage plastered a fake smile on her face and stepped into the elevator. At the top, the doors parted. She held her breath, expecting to smell the stench of death. The last time she’d been there, the carpet had run red with blood. But now, it showed no signs of the battle that had taken place. Everything had returned to business as usual. People milled around, walking between offices. Some were heading toward the back hallways.
Ava was walking out of her office as they headed toward the empty reception desk. She stopped dead and locked eyes with Sage. “You’re wasting your time with this one, Mr. Maddox.” A satisfied grin ticked the corners of her lips but when the amusement didn’t register in her voice.
“I’ve convinced her how dangerous it is to be alone out there,” Grey replied with a simpering I’m a good boy tone. He didn’t seem like a kiss ass, and if this was his way of acting, Ava would surely see right through it.
“I don’t need to deal with waffling newbies.” Ava speared her with a look of dominance. “You hear me, Ms. Cynwrig?”
She’d offer to remove the stick up Ava’s dark places, but doubted that would help their situation much. With all the self-restraint she could muster, Sage replied calmly, “You’ve given me no choice. Please understand what this has been like for me.”
“Understand?” Ava shot back at her, slamming a fist on the desk. “I have no fewer than ten dead agents to deal with and locate their next of kin to bring in and train before they too are turned dark. A vampire uprising to quash. Repairs to our facility to arrange. And not to mention all the day-to-day complaints of my staff, who think I’m their personal den mother. Understanding is the last thing I have time to do. I need agents who can do their job, so shit like this does not happen again. I’ll only ask you this one last time: are you prepared to do your duty? Because if not, we’ll locate your next of kin and make sure they are brought in after your death.”
“Great talking to you, as always.” Sage saluted and was about to turn on her heel when Grey snatched her by the arm.
“I’ll take personal charge of her training. Assign her as my partner, and she can learn on the job.”
“My two biggest troublemakers together.” Ava laughed, but failed to convey amusement. “Oh, this should be fun.” Her tone, married with that angry glare, was nothing short of menacing. “Fine. You’re assigned to North Town tonight.” Ava ripped a pencil from its perch at her ear and scrawled something down on a notepad. “I want you to see to the vampire covens personally. White flag and all, you let them know we are not assigning blame at this time. Truce. We were hit same as them. Licking our wounds and counting the dead. Make sure they understand, and try to get them to talk.”
Grey’s lip twitched. The look on his face was that of a man who wanted to protest but knew it wouldn’t do much good. “You sure that’s a good idea for a newbie?” He said the words casually, but there was definitely weight behind them.
“Did I stutter?” Ava barked, without so much as a second’s pause to consider what he’d said. “White flag. Truce. This is an easy one for a seasoned agent like you. Get to it!”
They were being sent into a warzone; Grey didn’t need to spell that fact out to her. Truce or not, anyone crossing enemy lines was at risk. And vampires? Weren’t they the ones who could actually hurt the Terras? Was Ava trying to get them both killed, or was this meant as trial by fire?
“I’ll have her suited up and ready to go out this evening,” Grey replied, and loosened his grip on Sage’s arm. He shook his head, a silent warning for her to not open her mouth and start an argument. She grudgingly agreed, biting her tongue.
“Ms. Cynwrig,” Ava called out before they’d had a chance to escape.
Sage looked over her shoulder at the director.
“You made the right choice coming back. Once you lose the chip on your shoulder, you’ll see.”
Sage smirked and turned to walk away with Grey. “That went well.”
“Better than expected.” His tone didn’t match the sentiment as he led her away from the main lobby.
“Is she always such a bitch?” Sage hadn’t meant to say that out loud, but the thought escaped from her mouth too fast to stop it. She looked back to make sure no one had heard.
Grey had. “She has a reputation for not allowing anyone to get to close to her. You should see how many assistants she’s burned through.”
“Seriously?” Sage nearly choked on her breath.
“If she could use magic, maybe. Ava’s a woman I wouldn’t want to cross on a bad day. Thank the gods for making her a Terra.” Grey chuckled.
“Were her assistants Terras? Or were they…” Sage wondered aloud.
“Ava’s… no, Rina is Terra. Executive assistant positions are held by our kind, for obvious reasons. Usually those who are not field capable. We have to keep our secrets,” he added, to make sure she understood. “Most of the un-agented positions are for specialists, like Devon, but some of the inactive magic races are clerical. Like the Trolls in our accounting department.”
“So then what’s our play? How do we figure out who could have had access to the” – Sage lowered her voice – “seed?”
“Play it cool for now. We need to make sure everyone sees you here as someone meant to be here. We don’t need someone raising an alarm if you’re spotted somewhere you shouldn’t be. We’re going to go through the motions and swear you into the order.”
That sounded suspiciously like a double-cross to Sage. She was supposed to appear to be an agent, not actually swear an oath. She opened her mouth to protest, but before the words made it out, Grey walked her into an office that looked more like a storage closet than an actual work place.
“Hey, Rina, I need to get this one in the system.”
From behind a large pile of folders, Rina poked her head out. “Sage! I’m so glad you came back. I was worried something I’d said had set you off. You should have seen how mad Ava was.” She rushed past the stacks and threw her arms around Sage. “But thank the Mother, right? I mean. You had to come back. You’re Terra. How could you not?”
Way too friendly for Sage’s liking, especially having only met this girl once before. They’d commiserated about lost parents over a cup of coffee, but did that really deserve this tight of a hug? Sage tried to pull away. After an awkward moment, Rina released her.
“Sorry. I’m a hugger. Especially when someone just saved my job.” She chuckled nervously.
“Ava was really that mad?” Sage asked.
Rina looked around. “Do you see my new office? You tell me.”
“Yay, we’re all excited for this happy reunion. Can we get to work now? Some of us have a patrol tonight, and I can’t wait around all day.” Grey’s interruption broke the awkwardness perfectly. Finally a good use of his turgid personality.
“New recruit p
aperwork. I’m on it!” Rina turned to a towering stack of files. As she lifted her arm to pull the file, Sage noticed the bracelet Rina wore, which covered the markings on her wrist. When she had time, she was going to hunt down one of her own. That would be easier than explaining her marking all the damn time. Though Rina was covered in tattoos; she probably never got a second look at her Terra brand. There was much nicer art on the other arm – a full sleeve with symbols of all manner of magic ran up from her wrist all the way to where the sleeve of her shirt fell.
Lost in thought, Sage failed to follow the conversation going on in front of her. And when silence accompanied two sets of curious eyes, she was left smiling stupidly, waiting for a verbal cue.
“We need a sample of your blood,” Grey said with annoyance. “Follow Rina.”
Sage did as she was told and walked through a doorway into a small infirmary.
Rina took a clipboard in hand and began rattling off questions about health and medicines, asking more personal questions than Sage cared to answer in the presence of a total stranger; or Grey, for that matter.
She finished the questions and then held out a tablet for Sage. “Fingerprints. Follow the instructions and let me know when you’re done.” Rina turned away the moment Sage took the tablet, and booted up a computer on the desk set along the wall.
“Seems like only yesterday I sat right there where you are,” Rina talked as she tapped the keys. “My father used to tell me all kinds of bedtime stories about shadow creatures and great giants. Dragons, too. When I found out they weren’t stories, I was beside myself.”
Grey excused himself for a moment, promising to return before they were done.
Sage listened to Rina talk, mumbling, “Mmm hmm,” whenever a natural pause in her conversation needed it.
“Well, the dragons have yet to be proven. But I still hold out hope,” Rina continued. “I love magic. It’s proof that the world is better than we had ever dreamed.”
Sage swiped each of her fingers multiple times on the tablet’s sensor and waited as it recorded all ten of her fingers. “Hmm…Right. Done.”
Rina turned and held her hand out to take back the tablet. “What sucks about it all is that despite the good being done to keep the peace, there are always those out there abusing magic.”
“That’s why we do what we do, right?” Sage asked.
“Unfortunately, yeah.” A tear glistened in Rina’s dusty blue eyes. “As much as I love magic, I would much rather have my father around. In a perfect world, ASSET wouldn’t be necessary.”
“Nothing is perfect. But I guess that’s the point really,” Sage agreed. “But if we do our job, we can help make it a little better, right?”
“You sound like you’ve seen the light.” Rina’s smile brightened. “Glad to have you on the team.”
“You printing her access card now?” Grey asked, surprising both girls with his sudden reappearance at the door.
Rina clacked away on the keyboard. “Just putting in the details. Let’s get the blood now, and we can finish the medical stuff. Hang on for the nurse.” She connected the tablet to the computer.
Grey smiled. “So you assign her rights to the building right here? Just a few clicks?” He leaned in close as if inspecting her handiwork. “We know who holds the true power here.”
Rina blushed and gave him a coquettish shrug. “I wish. But I’m just the paper pusher. Not qualified to fight, or so they say.”
“It’s not all it’s cracked up to be.” Gray nudged her with his shoulder. Sage had never seen him acting so friendly. Was he flirting? Just the thought made her sick to her stomach. She was never more thankful for the distraction of the nurse coming in to do her medical workup.
Sage turned her attention to the large beast of a man who’d strode towards her with a tray of syringes in hand. For a big guy, he had a surprisingly light touch. He didn’t say much save for a few words about soreness and to let her know she might feel a bit groggy after the shots. He drew blood and then injected her with a concoction of who knows what.
The nurse came and vanished like a ghost, moving so quickly that when he left, she couldn’t remember the look of him or what name he’d had written on his badge.
“All done,” Rina said triumphantly, and handed her a keycard on a chain. “Just need to be sworn in with Ava and you’re officially an agent, Sage Cyn….” She faltered with the last name.
“Thanks!” Sage took the badge and hung it from her neck.
“Off to wardrobe now.” Grey shuffled her toward the exit. “Thanks, Rina. We’ll tell Ava you took good care of us.”
“Please. Anything to get off the naughty list.” Rina waved them off.
“Do you know her well?” Sage asked, when they got out of earshot.
“Nope.”
“Then why were you so friendly? You’re never that friendly with me.”
“Jealous?” Grey waggled his eyebrows. “It pays to be nice to the right people.”
“Just blind flirting then?” Sage scoffed. Men were such pigs.
“Whatever it takes to make sure she wasn’t paying attention to the keys being clicked.” He quickened his pace, forcing Sage into a jog to keep up.
“We’re not heading to wardrobe, are we?”
“I didn’t take you for the uniform-wearing type,” Grey replied with a wink.
TWENTY-FIVE
Sage had always been ushered straight from the parking garage to the top floor, skipping everything in between. She’d almost forgotten there were other levels to the building. But when Grey pressed a different button, her interest was piqued.
“Oooh, Floor seven. Housewares.” Sage sniggered. “Ladies’ lingerie.”
He stared at her like she’d just spoken a foreign language.
She shrugged off his unspoken annoyance. “Elevator humor.”
“Wasn’t very funny.”
“Neither are you, most days,” Sage sniped at him. “You know, back there with the whole flirting espionage thing, I thought you might be lightening up.”
“You want funny or professional?”
He’ said it with such a straight face, but she couldn’t hold back the laughter at his statement. “You think you fit into either of those categories?”
“I do my job.” Grey puffed up defensively.
“So professionally, you hired a vampire to trick me into taking a midnight stroll.”
“And you fell for it,” Grey replied. “Who should be ashamed here?”
Sage refused to acknowledge that comment. He was an asshole, no matter how he tried to play the situation. Fake apology or not, Grey would do it again if given the chance. She had his number. Knowledge was power, and he’d given her enough education to make her wary of taking anyone at face value.
“Now, if you’re done playing around, swipe your card.” Grey pointed to the little blinking box next to the door.
Super special secret access to a place forbidden by most people – the excitement of a new adventure overtook her annoyance. She held her ID up to the scanner and swiped it. A green light flashed, and the elevator doors opened. Sage bristled with self-importance, beaming as she looked to her partner. Where she hoped to find him just as pleased, she found little more than mild interest in his expression. Suspicion replaced the momentary sense of accomplishment. He was playing her again. Dammit! “I thought you said all agents have access to the archives.”
“I did. We do.” Grey brushed past her through the gaping elevator doors. “But I still needed to see if your card worked.”
Could he be any more annoying? It was as if his mission in life was to piss her off. “You did that on purpose, didn’t you?”
“Made sure you had access to the building? Yes.” Grey continued down the hallway without so much as a glance over his shoulder. “Keep walking.”
The offices on the seventh floor were more like dungeons filled with prisoners chained to their in-boxes. Grey led them down one hallway that branched off at a T
and took the left path, though neither looked any different.
This part of the building had a very labyrinthine vibe working for it, and given the creatures she’d already run into, it wouldn’t have surprised her to see a talking worm meant to lead her down the wrong path. “The goblin king will be in the castle beyond the city,” she recited, more to amuse herself than to start up another conversation with Grey.
“And here’s the Bog of Eternal Stench.” Grey pointed to a bathroom door as they passed.
“I thought joking was unprofessional.” She wanted to laugh but wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.
He stopped short at a door with keycard entrance. “Care to do the honors?”
“By all means, don’t let me have all the fun.” Sage wasn’t about to let him play her again.
“This time you will need to.” Grey held his hand out.
Sage ran her new card through the scanner, and when the light turned green, she let out a nearly silent, “Yes!”
“Proud of yourself? Must be hard… sliding your card.”
“Shut up.” Teamwork, she reminded herself, taking her frustration out on the door, pushing harder than necessary to open it. Punching him in his annoying face won’t help our cause just yet. But when this is over…
Vastly different than anywhere she’d been before, the room held racks of computer towers all linked together by cables and wires. The air had changed as well, noticeably better smelling and cooler than in the hallway.
“Server room,” Grey answered her unasked question. “The best way for us to log into the database without drawing too much attention.”
“But won’t we be seen on cameras?” Sage asked.
“I’m giving you a tour of the facility,” he replied. “When trying to get away with something, it’s always best to act like you’re not doing anything wrong.” Grey headed toward a single computer station at the end of one of the many spider-webbed rows of cables and computer equipment. Tapping a few keys, he brought the screen of an old CRT monitor to life and began moving through files faster than Sage could keep up. She wondered how often he’d done this in the past. Only a practiced hand would know with such precision where to click and what codes to enter. Had he feigned not knowing about the weapon? Or was this the reason he’d been assigned newbie duty? Being nosey. If that were the case, Ava would already be aware of his computer-hacking capabilities. Sage’s nerves began to prickle with suspicion, and Grey had already given her reason not to trust him. But she did trust Devon and doubted he would send her on a mission alone with Grey if he suspected the arrogant agent of being corrupt.
A Weapon Of Magical Destruction Page 19
