Web Master (#8 Shifter Squad)

by J. C. Diem

  He held his hand out to pull me to my feet. Instead of taking it, I smiled. “Don’t you remember what I said I was going to do to you?” His eyes widened and then I used my mouth on him as he’d done so many times for me.

  His hands tangled in my hair and he moaned in torment. He held on for as long as he could before he reached down and took me by the arms. Stripping me naked, he tossed me towards the bed. I landed facedown and didn’t get a chance to roll over before I was pinned down.

  Nudging my legs apart, he drove himself into me. I gave a cry of pleasure, thankful for the soundproofed walls. His hands slid beneath me to cup my breasts as he thrust into me hard and fast. Neither of us had the patience to draw this out. I was already panting in need. We’d been apart for too long and now that our bond was back, we were making up for lost time.

  Clutching the sheets tightly, I turned my head and watched him through a curtain of my hair. His face was a study of concentration as he drove us both towards the edge. He was so handsome that he made my heart ache. How could someone so beautiful possibly want me?

  You are my soulmate, he reminded me. Fate brought us together and only death will ever tear us apart again.

  Pulling away, he flipped me over onto my back and speared himself into me again. If I’d been human, it would have been painful. Since I was far stronger and more durable than a human, it was glorious. Face to face, chest to chest, we moved together in a dance as old as time. Our eyes locked and our minds melded until I couldn’t tell my pleasure apart from his.

  Our fangs descended when I began to clench around him in orgasm. Placing our mouths over the marks we’d given each other so many months ago, we bit down and blood flooded into our mouths. Pleasure like we’d never felt before flowed through us as we drank. He pumped his hips and I drove myself onto him until we reached the peak and fell over it together.

  Rolling onto his side, Reece tucked me against him and grinned in contentment. “I can’t imagine sex could ever be better than that.”

  “You don’t think it would have been as good with Gloria?” I asked slyly.

  He made a face. “Never. Fate and my mother fabricated my feelings for her. Even with them controlling me, I couldn’t bring myself to kiss her.”

  I was quiet for a few moments while I thought over everything that had happened to us since we’d met. “It was a rocky road and we both suffered horrible torment, but I’m not sure that I would have changed anything.”

  My admission shocked him. “I broke your heart and hurt you in the worst kind of way.”

  “Hearts mend,” I said. “Besides, it wasn’t your choice to leave me. That was Fate, with the help of your psycho mother, of course.”

  “Still,” he protested, “wouldn’t you have preferred for us to have been together this whole time?”

  “Of course, but that’s not what I’m talking about.” He could have read the thoughts directly from me, but he let me talk it out. “Fate intended me to learn the skills that I’ll need to become her champion. Instead of being just a werewolf, I’m now also part vampire and part necromancer.”

  “You were born a necromancer,” he reminded me. “But you weren’t supposed to face Katrina alone and become part vampire.”

  “I know, but I think turning partially undead was the only thing that could have stopped me from becoming evil.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “It’s a known fact that all necromancers turn to the dark side. I think my wolf and vampire had to band together so they could weaken the necromancer side of me. When she rises and tries to take over, they work together to keep her under control. If I’d just had my werewolf to battle her, I don’t think I would have had much hope.”

  “So, even though it was a mistake for you to confront your mother alone, it worked out for the best in the end?”

  “Yeah. Now I can turn into a werewolf whenever I want, I’m stronger and faster and I can raise corpses without the overwhelming need to form an army and take over the world.”

  He went silent as he mulled this over. “I see your point,” he conceded at last. “But I still wish Fate hadn’t used me as her plaything to do it.”

  “You’re my plaything now,” I said and shrieked when he tickled my ribs.

  “We’re both alphas, but I think it’s time we decide who is dominant in the bedroom,” he said. I was pretty sure we’d already established that a few minutes ago, but I was willing to let him demonstrate his supremacy again.

  A couple of hours later, we were roused from sleep by what sounded like the voice of God. “Reece, Lexi,” I clapped my hands over my ears at the thunderous noise. “We’ll be leaving in half an hour.” Realizing it wasn’t God and that it was just Mark talking through the speaker system, I groaned in disappointment that our fun was already over. At least I now knew why he rarely used the speakers. It had been loud enough to give me a momentary headache.

  “I’ll see you downstairs,” Reece said. He gave me a quick kiss then left for his bedroom.

  I took a shower and put my hair up in a ponytail. It always made me look about fifteen, but keeping my hair out of my eyes during a mission was more important than looking my age.

  I dressed in all black and donned my holster. My Beretta was fully loaded and I had spare ammo in my pockets. It was too cold for humans to forego a jacket and I didn’t want to raise the O Squad’s suspicions any more than they already were. I chose my red leather jacket this time. It wasn’t black, but it was dark enough not to reflect light easily.

  Joining the others downstairs, I gulped down the mug of coffee that Kala had kindly made for me. “You’re a treasure,” I said to her.

  “I know,” was her immodest reply. “I know you well enough to supply you with caffeine before a battle.” She was exactly the same as me in that department, hence her ability to anticipate my needs.

  We headed to the SUV and Mark used his remote control device to open the garage door. Zeus bounded inside, excited to be coming with us. He eagerly leaped into the back of the vehicle, stepping over the gear that was stored inside. Mark had been busy while Reece and I had been romping in bed. He’d loaded the vehicle with assault rifles and backpacks full of ammo. The O Squad would be leading the assault rather than us, but it paid to be prepared.

  Leaving the compound, we sped through the darkness. We were scheduled to meet Kendricks and his men at three am. We made it to the rendezvous point with fifteen minutes to spare and climbed out to wait for our reluctant allies to arrive.

  Headlights appeared a few minutes later and a menacing black armored truck pulled to a stop next to us. Kendricks was once again behind the wheel. He opened the door, jumped to the ground and turned to examine us. His face was expressionless, but I felt hostility coming off him in waves. He was still furious at losing so many of his men during our mission in Texas.

  “Thank you for bringing your team to assist us,” Mark said politely. He didn’t offer his hand, sensing that it would be ignored.

  “I was ordered to assist you,” Kendricks said coldly. Tall, blond and handsome, he raked his eyes over us. They stopped briefly on Reece before coming to rest on me. Reece hadn’t been with us during the mission to rescue Flynn. Mark didn’t bother to introduce the two men. He didn’t have our finely tuned senses, but Kendricks wasn’t hiding his anger very well.

  If possible, Kendricks’ blue eyes turned even icier as he studied me. He still blamed me for the death of his sniper. Cortez had seen me fall from a height of twenty feet without sustaining an injury. He’d guessed that I wasn’t human. If the hydra hadn’t killed him, I would have. Keeping our true natures a secret was more important than one man’s life.

  Cortez had tried to tell his boss that I wasn’t human, but he’d died before he’d had the chance to rat me out. Kendricks knew there was something off about us, but he didn’t have any concrete evidence of what it was. If he learned about our real identities, I doubted that he’d hesitate to pull the trigger on us.

&
nbsp; Kendricks’ men climbed out of the back of the truck and lined up behind him. He’d recruited more men and his numbers were back up to twenty again. They were dressed identically in black tactical gear, bullet proof vests and helmets. All were armed with assault rifles just like ours. Two of the men also carried sniper rifles over their shoulders.

  “We’re roughly two miles away from the compound,” Mark said. “Feel free to lead the way, since you don’t require our assistance.” His tone was carefully neutral.

  Kendricks nodded without breaking eye contact with me. “Move out,” he said then turned and broke into a jog. He didn’t ask for directions, which meant he knew exactly where he was going. It made sense that they would have researched the compound. His team were usually the ones who destroyed EERI facilities. The Board must have supplied him with the same information they’d given to us. He would have studied the reports and maps of the area so he’d know what he was in for.

  Mark wore one of his usual dark suits and black dress shoes. It wasn’t the most suitable outfit for running through a forest. He was fit for his age and easily kept up with us. Breaking through the trees, we saw the lights of the base about another mile away. Blazing brightly, they were a beacon in the otherwise dark landscape.

  We remained about three hundred yards behind the O Squad as they closed in on the property. At Kendricks’ signal, the two snipers split apart. They moved to places where they could choose their victims at will. Another agent took a device out of his backpack and cut the power to the fence. A fourth man snuck up to the fence to cut a hole in the wire.

  During our last mission together, we’d been in the thick of the fight. This time, we were mere spectators as the first shot rang out. An EERI guard went down and was quickly followed by more. Twenty-four guards fell before more men came boiling out from inside the building. Another fifteen went down before silence reigned.

  “I’m starting to wonder if the VIP that you saw really is the boss of EERI after all,” Mark said quietly enough so only we could hear him. We were standing a short distance away from the O Squad where we wouldn’t get in their way.

  “There weren’t enough guards,” Flynn said in agreement.

  We exchanged worried looks, but we couldn’t back out now. The man who was pretending to be a VIP was no doubt cowering inside the building. Once he was in our custody, he was going to tell us everything he knew about his real boss. One way or another, we were going to find him and take him down.

  Kendricks waited for a couple of minutes. When no other guards appeared, he motioned his men into action. They remained on high alert as they jogged towards the hole in the fence. We followed them into the yard, keeping some distance between our two groups. We trusted them about as much as they trusted us; not at all.

  ₪₪₪

  Chapter Thirty-One

  Kendricks and his men reloaded their weapons as we made our way across the expanse of neatly trimmed grass. Once they’d realized they were under attack, the guards had panicked. Ten of them had banded together into a tight group. That had offered them no protection at all and had only ensured that they were gunned down together. Their equipment was slightly different from the other guards. These ones wore black backpacks.

  We walked past them and Kala’s head snapped around when she saw movement. “One of them is still alive,” she said and pulled the Colt that was strapped to her right thigh.

  “I’ll take care of it,” one of Kendricks’ men said and motioned for her to keep moving. He doubled back, fired his assault rifle and we heard a strangled moan.

  Staying close to me, Zeus looked around warily. The gunfire had been deafening, but that wasn’t what was bothering him. Something felt off to me as well, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it. Kendricks and his men slowed down, allowing us to catch up until the gap between us had almost disappeared.

  We were almost past the dead guards when Flynn realized what we’d all missed. “Their hearts are still beating,” he said and we came to a dead stop. Now that he’d mentioned it, I hadn’t seen or smelled any blood either.

  I saw understanding dawn on Mark, but it didn’t hit me that this was a trap until Kendricks turned and grabbed our boss. He spun Mark around so his back was to him and pointed his gun at his temple. “Move and I’ll blow his head off,” he said coldly when we all went for our guns. Reece and I were fast, but I wasn’t sure if we’d be able to save Mark before the bullet entered his brain. Neither of us was willing to take the risk.

  All of the men who had been pretending to be dead scrambled to their feet and pointed their guns at us. Five men stepped forward to strip our weapons away then hurriedly stepped back again. They had us surrounded, but were keeping their distance. Clearly, they knew we were dangerous. The ten who had been clustered together took their backpacks off.

  Mark shook his head at us in warning, knowing us well enough to realize we weren’t going to go down without a fight. Zeus bared his teeth at the leader of the O Squad, but I mentally told him not to attack. Kendricks was coiled for violence and it wouldn’t take much to set him off.

  Kendricks saw the glance that Reece and I shared and accurately guessed that we were going to try to save Mark. “Don’t do anything stupid, or Agent Steel won’t be the only one to die tonight.”

  At his nod, one of his men jogged over to the building. He knocked on the door and it opened immediately. Even from several hundred yards away, I recognized the man who was escorted out under armed guard. Shock held me still for a moment, then I took a step forward.

  “Go ahead and take another step,” one of the guards who was watching me said in a deadly tone. “Give me an excuse to kill you.”

  Bruised and bloody, my father gave me an apologetic look as he limped closer.

  “If you resist, both Mark and your father will die, Agent Levine,” Kendricks said. “Although, Major Levine isn’t really your father at all, is he? Viktor D’Ath has that dubious honor.” It hit me then. They knew who and what we really were. “Secure them,” he ordered and the ten guards drew shiny metal nets out of their backpacks.

  “Silver mesh,” Reece said bleakly. We stood there helplessly as the nets were tossed over us. If we did anything to aggravate Kendricks, Mark and my father would pay with their lives.

  My wolf howled and my vampire hissed the moment the two mesh nets landed on me. My clothes were no barrier and agony seared my flesh. Any exposed skin turned red and blistered. Pain thundered through me, making it hard to think. Only the necromancer inside of me was unaffected by silver.

  Kala screeched obscenities as six men rushed forward to pin her to the ground. I couldn’t help but fight them even knowing that it would end in catastrophe. Barking savagely, Zeus bit one of the men. He turned his gun on him and I lunged forward, dragging six men with me. I punched the agent hard enough to cave his skull in. Oozing blood and brains, he dropped to the ground.

  A shot rang out and pain exploded in my left thigh. “Silver bullets,” Kendricks said with a cold smile. “If you continue to resist, the next one will go through your father’s eye.”

  Being held by the arms by two men, my dad stared at Kendricks with chilly intent as he was forced to walk over to him. He didn’t flinch as the barrel of the gun shifted away from Mark and came to rest an inch away from his face.

  Filled with despair, I didn’t resist as I was thrown to the ground. The mesh covered me from my head to my toes. I turned my head in time to see silver spikes driven into the earth. They pulled both mesh nets tight and forced my face into the grass.

  I wasn’t the only one who was trapped. Reece, Kala and Flynn were all pinned down as well. Steam rose from our boiling flesh. Their faces and hands were crisscrossed with red welts and I assumed mine was the same.

  Lying beside me, Reece was filled with pain and rage. He’d already been caged by his family and now he was being held against his will again. His wolf tried to surge to the fore, but he forced it down. He had enough presence of mind to know t
hat one wrong move would end with us all dying.

  “I knew you were a cold bastard, Kendricks,” Mark said. “But I didn’t take you for a traitor.”

  “I’m not,” Kendricks said. “I don’t work for EERI. Cromby ordered me to take your squad into custody and I was only too happy to comply.” His tight grin didn’t reach his eyes.

  “Why?” Mark was truly bewildered by their betrayal.

  “Did you really think they believed that crap you told them? That Fate was guiding Agent Levine?” He gave a mirthless laugh. “They fed you that cock and bull story about a psychic predicting that the end was coming to lull you into a false sense of security. They don’t know what your plan is, but now they know your agent is a necromancer, they’re not going to take any chances. Viktor D’Ath escaped only minutes after Alexis visited him. We can only assume that you were all behind it and that you’re working with him.”

  Mark shook his head wearily, but he didn’t bother to try to convince Kendricks that he was wrong. He was just a lackey following the orders of his supervisors. “What now?” he asked. “Are you going to kill us all?”

  “Not all of you,” Kendricks replied. “Just you and the Major. The rest of your team will be taken in for testing. The scientists are very eager to see how Alexis and Reece work now that they’ve become hybrids.” His sneer raked over me again.

  With my face pressed against the grass and the burning silver nets over me, I felt more helpless than I ever had in my entire life. I knew with utter certainty that I was about to witness two of the people I loved being murdered right in front of me.

  Kala moaned in anguish and Flynn was cursing in a low, but steady stream in three different languages. Reece’s rage was almost at the point where he was going to lose control.

  Zeus noticed something strange occurring behind Kendricks. I sensed his fright and confusion and tried to block my anguish. I looked past Kendricks as a circle of fire appeared in the grass. About ten feet across, it was perfectly round and seemed to be forming from out of thin air.