by Sarah Noffke
Sophia could tell by the tension pinning Hiker’s shoulders up high it was difficult for him to trust the cyborgs so soon after battling them on the Expanse at the Gullington. However, Sophia trusted Trin Currante. The cyborg’s leader had worked behind the scenes to invade the Gullington and steal dragon eggs, but her reasons made sense. Unlike Mika Lenna, she wasn’t an evil entity with a greedy agenda. She was trying to fix herself and undo what had been done to her against her will. Sophia couldn’t argue with that.
When the five dragons had landed, Sophia slid off Lunis and came around to join Hiker. She might have spearheaded this mission, but he was still the leader of the Dragon Elite, and this was his show. Sophia also believed he needed to take the reins on things to prove to himself that he could despite his past and many obvious regrets.
Hiker stepped forward to meet Trin Currante between the riders and the cyborgs.
She nodded respectfully to him in greeting, before her eyes slid to Sophia at his back. “I’ve found the location of Mika Lenna and the Saverus,” she stated when her attention returned to Hiker.
“And that is?” he asked with authority in his voice.
She pointed north toward the city. “Just over that ridge about two miles. It’s a generic warehouse, but I’ve deduced it is without a doubt the new headquarters.”
Hiker nodded. “Good work. We need to get in there and secure the research.”
Trin Currante’s cyborg eyes slid around before focusing back on the Viking. “I was hoping the dragonriders would take the lead. Maybe go in there undercover. For obvious reasons, we can’t.” She looked back at her men, who even with magical disguises would be hard to pass off as anything but cyborgs.
“Of course,” Hiker agreed, glancing at his riders. “Sophia, Evan, and Wilder, you three will infiltrate the headquarters undercover. You can be scientists or something. You’ll decide once you get in there.”
The three nodded.
“Mahkah and I will stay with the cyborgs,” Hiker continued. “We’ll wait for your signal that you’ve secured the research from Saverus. Once you have, we will storm the location and take Mika Lenna and his lemmings.” He glanced at Trin Currante with conviction in his eyes. “This ends tonight. Soon Mika Lenna will be no more.”
The smile on her face was full of long-awaited anticipation. “If it’s okay with you when it’s time, I’d like to be the one to finish that man.”
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Two
“When you’re right, you’re right, Sophia,” Evan said, holding out his arms and modeling his white lab coat. “I look damn good in white.”
The three dragonriders had watched the warehouse for roughly half an hour before they abducted three scientists leaving the facility. They never knew what hit them. Literally. It was a dragonrider’s fists. Sophia, Wilder, and Evan dragged the passed-out scientists behind a dumpster after binding and gagging them and removing their white lab coats and security badges.
“That’s not what I said,” Sophia argued, finding her lab coat a smidge big.
“You thought it,” Evan said proudly.
“You don’t want to know what I think of you most of the time,” she fired back.
Evan glanced at Wilder, who did look quite nice in his lab coat. “Get a handle on your girlfriend.”
“Can’t,” Wilder stated simply and winked at her.
“All right, when we head in there,” Sophia began, looking between the two guys, “I need you to be observant, but more than anything, you have to keep your mouth shut.”
“Why did you just look at me?” Evan asked, offended.
“Oh, I wonder,” Wilder mused with a laugh.
“We don’t know how many employees there are,” Sophia continued. “They might recognize us as intruders immediately. So keep your head down and mouth shut so we don’t give away anything that will set us apart.”
“Okay, and while we’re being your amazing lackeys, what are you going to be doing?” Evan questioned.
“We need to access the system.” She held up her badge. “Thankfully, Victoria Clearbeam is the head scientist and should have the credentials to get into the right files.”
“Aren’t you going to need a password to get into the system, though?” Wilder wanted to know.
She nodded and held up a magitech device Alicia had outfitted her with that gave her access to things password protected. “I’m good to go. We just need to breeze in there, grab the files, and then call in the reinforcements.”
All three of the dragonriders looked in the direction of the olive grove where Hiker and Mahkah, the dragons and the cyborgs were stationed, ready to get word it was their turn to take over. Then it would really be go time.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Three
The happy detectives strode into the Saverus Corporation, acting as casual as possible. Evan whistled like he didn’t have a care in the world. Wilder waved at the security guard, although Sophia had told them not to draw attention to themselves. She kept her head low and didn’t make eye contact. Ironically that’s what made her stand out.
“Miss, I’m going to need to see your identification,” the security guard stated, waving her over to his station.
Just before entering the warehouse, Sophia had glamoured herself and the guys to look like the scientists they were impersonating. Victoria Clearbeam had curly brown hair and a pale complexion.
Dutifully she held up the security ID, flashing it at the guard. He narrowed his eyes at her badge and then her face.
“You look different today, Victoria,” he observed. “You feeling okay?”
She nodded, trying to avoid saying anything.
“Well, what is it? Did one of those genetically mutated cats get your tongue?” The guard laughed.
Sophia grimaced at the idea of the animal testing that no doubt went on inside Saverus. “Just tired, that’s all.”
“So tired you lost your Australian accent,” the guard said with surprise.
Oh, hell, Sophia thought, cutting her eyes at Evan and Wilder and spying them both wearing amused expressions. Of course they were. This just got a ton more entertaining for them.
“Oh, well, mate, you know how you Americans have been rubbing off on me,” she said in her best Australian accent.
The guard nodded. “Yeah, when I was over in the UK for a bit, I picked up their accents. It’s contagious, am I right?” He glanced at Evan and Wilder, who both had thick Scottish accents. It was Sophia’s turn to torture them, although she should be hurrying them off on the mission.
“Yeah, isn’t that right, Bill and Ted?” Sophia asked, again employing her Australian accent.
“For sure, dude.” Evan sounded like a nineties movie star.
“Yes,” Wilder said carefully. “That is true. I think that every time I get into my Prius or use my credit card.”
Sophia glared at Wilder, not appreciating the joke as much as she should. He always teased her that all Americans drove sporty Priuses and were obsessed with using their credit cards.
“Well, we better get to work, mates,” Sophia said and waved them toward the security door.
Her badge beeped when she slid it against the security device. The locked door clicked, allowing her and the guys entry. She pulled it back, preparing herself for the next part of the mission.
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Four
Jj-126: that was the office that belonged to Victoria Clearbeam, according to her security badge.
Unfortunately, it seemed the office wasn’t near the front entrance, and they’d have to travel through a long portion of Saverus headquarters to get there, increasing the chances of them getting caught.
Sophia couldn’t stand the idea they might fail before even getting started, so she pushed the insecurity out of her head.
“Look who almost got us caught with their ‘head down and mouth shut’ approach,” Evan teased, sidling up beside her. “You’ve got to learn to be natural when on these missions.”
> “Nice American accent,” Sophia muttered, looking into various labs through the glass windows as they passed. She immediately regretted it after seeing the experiments in cages—things she wouldn’t be able to unsee later.
“It was a lot better than that Australian accent you tried to pull off,” Evan remarked.
“I wonder if punching you in the teeth will improve your American accent,” Sophia pretended to ponder.
He shook his head, mocking seriousness. “I don’t see how that could. Poor reasons, Pink Princess.”
“Are you guys seeing this?” Wilder asked, his tone grave.
Sophia knew he was referring to the things they saw in the labs as they passed. She nodded. “Yeah. We’ll deal with it later. First we need to get to my office.”
To Sophia’s relief, she spotted the J offices up ahead. A tall man in a silver suit stepped out of a lab ahead of them. He was distinguished in a way Sophia had rarely seen. Handsome, no doubt, and certainly possessing a fair bit of power.
“John, what are you doing down here?” the man asked, narrowing his eyes at them.
The three halted, staring at the man. No one said a word.
John was the scientist Wilder was impersonating. She desperately hoped he remembered that much.
Evan coughed, cutting his eyes at Wilder.
“Oh, right,” Wilder said abruptly. “I was just going to meet with these two for a moment.”
The man marched forward, his snakeskin shoes making a loud clapping noise on the tiled floor. “Remember that you are to always address me as ‘sir’ or ‘master.’ You don’t have to be painfully reminded of that again, do you?” The man twisted his head to the side, a strange expression in his dark eyes that chilled Sophia to the core.
Without knowing for sure, she felt deep inside that this man was Mika Lenna. Never before had she felt such evilness oozing off a person. His sinister nature wasn’t easily dismissed. This man was purely wicked.
“Yes, sir,” Wilder said, again employing his American accent.
“You don’t work on the vampiri project like these two,” Mika Lenna continued, pointing ahead. “You’re down in animal testing and will remain there until you prove you’re competent for more advanced projects.”
“Yes, sir,” Wilder stated again, nodding. Without hesitating, he turned on his heels and retreated in the direction of the labs with the animals they’d passed. Sophia felt incredibly sorry for him since she wouldn’t want to see what was in those rooms up close.
“As for you two,” Mika Lenna said, focusing on Sophia and Evan. “I want an update on the vampiri project.”
Sophia didn’t say anything, thinking he wasn’t done talking. He was going to say, “In an hour” or “a week.” When he didn’t, she swallowed hard and nodded.
“Now, sir?” she asked.
“Yes, now! Do you think I employ you to sit around and take lunch breaks?”
Sophia shook her head. “Of course, sir. I just need to get my notes.”
“Very well,” he told her skeptically. “I expect you in my office in three minutes.”
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Five
“Batten down the hatches,” Evan said when Mika Lenna was gone and they had locked themselves in Victoria Clearbeam’s office. “We’ve got no time now.”
Sophia nodded. She went straight to work typing at the computer station and using the magitech device to break into the files. “Three minutes isn’t enough.”
“Well, then we are just going to have to be late,” Evan stated, standing over her.
She waved him back. “Go watch the door or something. Get out of my space. That was Mika Lenna. I don’t think we want to make the boss wait.”
“Yeah, but if we have to give him an update, things are going to get awkward fast,” Evan retorted. “I don’t know anything about the vampiri project. Do you?” He laughed. “And you were worried our cover would get blown if we talked too much. How ironic.”
“Shut it,” Sophia warned, typing furiously to find the research they needed to fix the cyborgs. There was so much information. “On the long list of problems, we don’t know where Mika Lenna’s office is, so I think we are obligated to stay here anyway.”
“I’m certain that guy will come looking for us in a minute or two.” Evan poked his head out the door. “Did you see how creepy he is? What was that business about a painful reminder for Wilder? Poor guy is now separated from us.”
Sophia nodded. Things were going to get even more chaotic when everything came to a head. The cyborgs would be storming in, and Wilder would be elsewhere. She hoped he took off his glamour so they didn’t try to kill him. Hiker had asked that they take the employees hostage, but everyone knew the cyborgs were out for blood after what had been done to them, and she couldn’t blame them.
Again Evan stuck his head out the door, but this time he sucked in a breath and threw the door shut.
“What?” Sophia asked.
“He’s coming…”
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Six
“Lifeboats,” Evan said in a rush. “We need lifeboats.”
Sophia’s heart raced.
“We need a way to save ourselves,” Evan stated urgently, snapping at her. “Message Trin. Tell her to storm the place.”
“No,” Sophia argued. “As soon as she does, they are going to lock up the research, and we’ll lose our chance again. You’re going to have to stall for me. I just need another few minutes.”
Evan’s eyes widened with horror. “Have you seen that man? He would scare Hitler, who I’ve heard was awful. I’ve only recently been brushing up on history since I was locked in the Gullington at the time and had no idea World War II was going on. Otherwise, the Dragon Elite could have—”
“Seriously, Evan,” Sophia interrupted. “Right now isn’t share time. Get out there and make up a reason that I need more time.”
Reluctantly, he opened the door, apparently nearly running into Mika Lenna given the exclamation he made. “Hey, sir. Victoria will be with us in a moment.”
“Why?” Mika Lenna asked simply, his voice brimming with hostility.
“She’s having a female moment,” Sophia heard Evan explain. “You know, being hormonal? She needs some time to get herself together. Women, am I right?”
Sophia rolled her eyes. Only Evan would turn a high-octane do-or-die moment into something so ridiculous.
She was sifting through files slower than she would have liked, her nerves getting the best of her. There were so many of them on Victoria Clearbeam’s computer.
Sophia kept opening windows, searching.
“Enough with the excuses,” Mika Lenna yelled from the other side of the door.
Sophia flinched from the sudden rise in his voice. This was a man who needed a giant gold harp.
Her eyes darted to a folder. “Project Cyborg.”
“Bingo,” she whispered and starting to copy the files. Simultaneously, she pulled out her phone and typed a quick message to Trin Currante. Sophia waited until the files had completely copied before she removed the drive from the computer and sent the message to Trin.
Seconds later, Mika Lenna stormed into the office and bore down on her, his eyes narrowed. “I want answers, and I want them now!”
Chapter One Hundred Thirty-Seven
“Hollow as I am,” Trin Currante said to Hiker, having a real conversation with him about being a cyborg, “I’m still a person at my core, and I want to be seen as one.”
He nodded. He was feeling a weird sympathy for her and the men around her that was unusual for him. Maybe it was the gold harp doing it, but something was making…sense. Hiker wasn’t sure if he liked that. He’d always had a strong emotional compass but was never affected by the emotions of others. He needed to stay objective as the leader of the Dragon Elite. However, something was shifting in him.
“We just want to be normal again,” Trin continued when he’d remained quiet. “I don’t expect to ever be what I once was,
but it would be nice to be seen as I used to be. To be loved as a person and not as a machine.”
He didn’t know what to say. Thankfully he didn’t have to reply because they were interrupted by a message on Trin’s phone.
Hiker didn’t approve of the devices for the guys and only allowed Sophia to have one because she was from the modern world, but he was glad Sophia could communicate with Trin so quickly. It did make things easier. Otherwise, it would have been passing messages between dragons, which was fine, but this seemed a bit more direct.
Trin glanced up, vengeance in her eyes. “They have the research. Now it’s our turn. Time to storm Saverus.”
Wilder had a hard time keeping his face neutral as he pretended to work in the animal lab. The creatures in the cages weren’t natural. Things had been done to them. Things he didn’t think could be undone.
To his further disgust, the other scientists in the lab worked casually, filling up test tubes or recording information, as though it was perfectly acceptable to see mutant creatures beating at their cages, their fangs bared and their once normal eyes red with rage.
He had no way to communicate with Evan and Sophia and desperately wondered if they had been successful in getting the records. He would find out soon enough when the alarms went off, or he was caught for insubordination.
Wilder didn’t know what to do and found himself idly staring at a wall. That was easier than looking at the row of cages at his back.
Several times he’d reached out to Simi to see if he could communicate indirectly with the others, but something was preventing the communication. It probably had to do with the magitech filling Saverus, or it was the security system.
All he could do was bide his time and hope he was released from this torment soon. He glanced over his shoulder, wondering if when the action started, the animals could help him somehow. He concluded that of anyone, they would want revenge on the scientists in this lab. He’d just have to remove his glamour and white coat so they didn’t think he was one of them. There was no way Wilder was getting punished for something animal abusers did.
