Tried & True

by Charlie Cochet

  The smile dropped from Winters’s face. “When I was infected by the virus, I thought I was going to die, and after I was given the vaccine, when I shifted, I believed I had been cursed. I was treated like a rabid animal. Shunned by my family, friends, and peers. It was a dark, painful time in my life. Then I was approached by the THIRDS, and the thought of working with others like me, in a healing capacity, was enough to give me purpose. That’s where I met General Moros. We became very good friends, and I realized I wasn’t alone. He taught me I shouldn’t be ashamed of what I was, that I wasn’t cursed but blessed. That we had evolved past Humans, were better in every way, and why should we allow ourselves to be branded and spit on by a species weaker than us?”

  Winters turned his back, and Dex cast Sloane a glance, thankful to find Sloane had his head turned in his direction, watching him. Discreetly, Dex lifted his gaze to his hand and stretched out his clawed finger. He moved his index finger before tucking it back against the restraint. When he lowered his gaze back to Sloane, Sloane’s eyes were closed, and he winced in a way that was all too familiar to Dex.

  That’s it, baby. You can do it. Stay with me.

  Dex turned his attention back to Winters just as the man returned to the tray. What the hell did Winters plan on doing? Actually, he didn’t want to know. “So, if you’re TIN, why didn’t Sparks know?”

  Winters moved the tray closer to Dex and lined up several syringes filled with foggy liquids. One of his cronies wheeled over a gurney with numerous straps hanging off the sides. “What happened to the boring monologue and charades?”

  Dex glared at Winters, and Winters laughed.

  “Now who’s being a spoilsport? Sparks doesn’t know I’m TIN because my clearance level is higher than hers.”

  Fuck. “How much higher?”

  Winters met Dex’s gaze. “There are five high-ranking officials with national security clearance higher than even that of the POTUS. They run TIN. I’m one of them.”

  No wonder Sparks didn’t know.

  “No one knows my identity as Dr. Winters other than my four colleagues, and none of them know I’m the Chairman. After Moros and I formed the Makhai, I was made an offer by TIN. I accepted immediately. Moros and I needed to know what we were up against, and it was worse than we thought. TIN didn’t want to put Therians in power. They wanted to ensure equality between Humans and Therians. They wanted to make certain Therians didn’t abuse their power. The absolute gall.

  “We couldn’t have that, so I spent years moving up the ranks, keeping the Makhai informed and one step ahead of TIN. My hope was that one day the Makhai would be strong enough to overpower TIN, and TIN operatives could be convinced to join our fight.” Winters shook his head. “But soon it became apparent the disease within TIN had spread far and wide, taking hold of exceptionally talented Therians. Certain operatives had to be taught a lesson. When Sonya and her team got too close, we made an example out of them.”

  “You were behind the ambush that killed Tucker?”

  Winters smiled. “Yes. Wolf—Fang at the time—was too much of a threat, too good an operative. I needed to act quickly. Operatives can’t afford to form attachments, or someone will try to exploit it. I knew what Tucker meant to him. Wolf made it so simple. I had hoped Sonya would meet her demise along with Tucker, but unfortunately Wolf intervened. A minor setback. Sonya made the same mistake as Wolf. She truly believed we would never find out about her little secret family. I put an end to that quite quickly. She arrived in time to watch her home explode with her husband and child inside. It was a shame about the child. I do dislike extinguishing Therian life, but the Human mate had to go.”

  Oh God. A husband. That’s what Winters had meant when he said history repeating itself. Dex thought he was going to be sick. The only thing keeping his dinner in his stomach was the fact that Sparks’s daughter was safe, thanks to Wolf. As long as the Makhai believed she’d died in that explosion, she’d be safe. How could Winters justify what he’d done? How many had he killed to pave the way for the Makhai?

  “You can only hide the truth from them for so long,” Dex said, feeling the leather cuff tear. If his claws could pierce aluminum, they could sure as shit cut through leather.

  Winters tapped at the syringe before turning to Dex with a grin. “By the time my colleagues discover the truth, it’ll be too late. Are you done trying to buy yourself more time? I’m a little disappointed in you, Dexter. Surely you don’t think I’m that much of an amateur. We have all the time in the world to chat. By the time your friends discover where you are, they’ll arrive to find nothing but an empty lot. I never spend longer than I have to in one place, so my men are making arrangements to move us as we speak. Now this will hurt quite a bit. It’s a little concoction that will paralyze you but keep you awake while I slice into you.” He called for a couple of his men and motioned to Sloane. “It’s time.”

  The lion Therian who’d been shocking Sloane turned the setting up on the machine. What did it take to be that coldhearted? Did the Makhai pay that well?

  Dex glared at the lion Therian. “You’re an asshole.”

  The guy arched an eyebrow at him before turning his attention to Sloane, who started murmuring something.

  “What’s he saying?” Winters asked, frowning.

  The guy leaned in, and Sloane slammed his head so hard against the Therian’s face, Dex heard bone cracking. The guy let out a howl and went stumbling against the equipment, everything going down with him as he hit the floor, tearing the wires attached to Sloane right off his body. Using the distraction, Dex jerked at the cuffs he’d been cutting away at, and they tore the rest of the way. He dropped to his feet and rolled as Winters lunged to stab Dex with a needle. Popping up, Dex swiped a sharp surgical knife from the tray before he could achieve his goal and swung it at Winters, who jumped out of the way, the knife slicing through his suit jacket like butter.

  Winters shouted for backup, and next to Dex, Sloane had managed to slice through one of his straps, his left arm now free.

  “You’re not getting out of here alive,” Winters snarled, grabbing one of the knives, the syringe still in his other hand. He lunged at Dex just as Dex snatched the tray, sending everything on it flying before the tray collided with the side of Winters’s head, momentarily stunning him and throwing him off-balance.

  Dex bolted toward Sloane and managed to slice through the strap restraining Sloane’s right wrist. He handed Sloane the knife, then darted off to draw the guards away from Sloane. He swiped the tray as Winters shouted at his men.

  “What are you waiting for? Get him!”

  Dex hurled the tray at one of the guards, striking him in the neck. He choked and gurgled, grabbing on to his neck and dropping his rifle. Dex made a dive for it, snatched it up, and rolled onto his back. He shot at the guards charging toward him. While Winters wanted Dex alive to perform his little experiment, they had a fighting chance. Three guards went down and the others scattered, including Winters, who ducked behind a refrigerator that looked like it belonged in some fallout bunker. Dex scrambled to his feet as one of Winters’s men charged Sloane, who was busy cutting at the strap around his chest. Dex blocked the guard’s path, claws unsheathed and fangs extended. His blood boiled, his pulse quickened, and his muscles pulled tight. His vision grew sharp, and his senses were heightened as he hissed at anyone stupid enough to come between him and Sloane.

  “Restrain him!”

  “I got this,” Sloane told Dex as he stood, his knees buckling. Dex caught him and shook his head.

  “We need to get you to a hospital.”

  Sloane breathed in deep, rounded his shoulders, and straightened, his amber eyes ablaze. He stepped away from Dex, the calm fury coming off him in waves. Dex sniffed the air and grinned. His partner’s feral half was mighty pissed, and anyone who knew anything about Felid Therians knew you didn’t want to incur the wrath of a jaguar Therian.

  The room wasn’t a room, but what looked like…. Shit
. Dex stepped closer to Sloane. “I think we’re in a shipment container.” That would explain the lack of windows and just the one exit.

  Sloane nodded. “That means there’s only one way out.”

  The way out was currently open on one side as several armed Therians hurried inside. There was no telling where they were or how many more of the Makhai’s goons were out there.

  The men charged, and Dex turned to his training and the fighting techniques he’d learned, along with some good old Human-Therian hybrid slashing the shit out of anyone who got close enough.

  “The hell with this,” Winters snarled. “Just kill them!”

  Shit. They needed to think fast. Turning the gurney Winters had planned to dissect Dex on onto its side, they lifted it, and tossed it at an approaching group of guards, knocking them off their feet. A rifle skidded past Sloane, and he dove for it and picked it up as he rolled to his feet.

  “The crates!” Dex motioned behind them, and they fired at the group of guards as they made a break for the stack of armored crates. The shipping container filled with the sound of bullets hitting the crates and aluminum walls. Dex peered out around the side of the crates, and fired, while Sloane did the same on his side, shooting any and everything that moved. Several of the guards rushed back out, using the doors of the container to shield themselves since there was nowhere else for them to take cover inside. Well, there was one place, and it was currently occupied by Dex and Sloane. Dex set his sights on Winters, who was walking briskly toward the end of the container toward the doors. He was talking into his cell phone.

  Shit. They couldn’t let that son of a bitch get away.

  “Sloane, Winters.”

  “Go! I got this!” Sloane provided cover while Dex made a break for it. Sloane could handle himself, and Dex trusted his partner to get the job done and survive. Judging by the way Sloane came at Winters’s men, his money was on Sloane.

  Dex fired at the guards behind the left door as he slammed into the right door with all his strength, sending the guards on the other side flying. Between him and Sloane, they took out the guards, leaving the ones in the container and anymore that might show up. Dex took off after Winters, who turned, saw him, and bolted into a run, dropping his cell phone in the process. Dex swiped it up, dialed a code sequence, and put it to his ear as he sped after Winters. He’d been right. They were in a shipping yard. Outside it was bright, which meant they’d been in there for hours. The line rang once, and a somber voice picked up.

  “Identify yourself.”

  “Sparks, it’s me!”

  “Dex? Where are you?”

  “With the Makhai, chasing after Winters in a shipping yard. We need backup. Can you trace the phone?”

  “We’re on our way.”

  “Sloane’s inside one of the containers with these assholes. I’m going to get Winters.” He left the phone on and shoved it into his pocket. Fucker was fast, but Dex was part Felid now, so he was faster. He pushed himself and started closing in until Winters made a sharp left, then a right, tearing down the dock where several boats were anchored, including a speedboat. The bastard had been prepared.

  Dex lunged at Winters and tackled him to the ground. Winters rolled onto his back, kicked at Dex, and landed a blow to Dex’s chest that sent him rolling, his back hitting one of the pier’s iron bollards. Pain rippled through Dex’s back, but he quickly pushed to his feet. Winters came at him fast and hard. The guy might have been playing doctor, but he was clearly trained. Dex had to push himself to keep up with Winters’s moves.

  In the distance, Dex could hear a speedboat. They were coming for Winters. There was no fucking way Dex was letting him walk away.

  “Don’t fight this, Dex,” Winters growled, producing a knife from inside his sleeve and catching Dex off guard. He sliced at Dex’s thigh, and Dex momentarily faltered. It had been a split second, but was enough for Winters to get the upper hand. “Just think of it like this. You’ll be joining dear Mom and Dad.”

  Winters kicked at Dex, and Dex’s back hit another bollard, knocking the wind out of him. Winters sliced at him again, but Dex managed to grab his wrist and knock the knife out of his hand. It bounced on the rickety dock and plunged into the water. Winters was relentless. He threw an arm around Dex’s neck and put him in a choke hold, his knee pressing into Dex’s groin. Throwing a hand back, Dex grabbed the thick rope hanging from the bollard, quickly loosened it, and tossed it around Winters’s neck. With a fierce roar, Dex jerked the rope, and Winters choked, his fingers clutching the rope around his neck as Dex spun him, and kicked at the back of Winters’s legs, forcing him to his knees.

  Gunfire erupted around the docks, and Dex pushed Winters down onto his stomach, kneeling on his back and pulling on the thick rope, tightening it around his neck. The speedboat that had been heading toward the dock made a sharp turn and headed in the opposite direction. Dex turned toward the lot of shipping containers he’d come from, and his heart swelled when he saw Destructive Delta sweeping through, rifles in hand as they moved in on Winters’s men.

  Dex leaned in, snarling in Winters’s ear, “I should snap your neck.”

  “Then do it,” Winters growled. “That way I won’t have to listen to any more of your mommy and daddy issues.”

  Dex gritted his teeth and pulled on the rope, Winters gagging and gasping for breath under him. All he had to do was twist the rope, and it would be done. The man beneath him had caused so much pain. So much suffering. He’d had Dex’s parents killed. He tried to take Tony from him. Had sent a killer to torture him.

  “You don’t deserve mercy,” Dex ground out through his teeth. He wanted to do it. God, he wanted to do it so bad.

  “Dex.”

  Dex looked up, surprised to find Sparks standing there. He hadn’t even seen her approach.

  “Give me a good reason I shouldn’t end him right now.”

  Sparks’s blue eyes moved from Dex to Winters, the black spreading until only a sliver of blue remained.

  “Because death is too good for him.”

  Dex considered her words. “Meaning?”

  “Meaning I’m going to put him in the deepest, darkest, filthiest pit of hell, where he’s going to be made to suffer every hour of every day, but first he’s going to give up his operatives inside TIN before any more lives are lost.”

  Winters let out a harsh laugh. “You stupid, deluded little girl. My people will find me.”

  Sparks put her heel to Winters’s temple and leaned in. He hissed at the pain. “Your people are already bailing on you. How long do you think before they all jump ship to save their own hides? Especially since I let my superiors know we’ve detained you? Also, I may have alluded to your cooperation.”

  Winters glared at her as he spat, “No one will believe that.”

  “Thanks to your people, who are now turning traitor on you, TIN is moving in on your organization. Intel says the US branch of the Makhai is done.”

  Winters went still. Guess they had their answer. Dex hauled Winters to his feet, and Sparks clamped black cuffs around his wrists and another around Winters’s neck. A row of red lights turned on, glowing on each device, accompanied by a brief high-pitched beep.

  “I control these cuffs. One command, and enough electricity will go through your system to fry your insides.”

  Dex smirked as he dropped the rope to the ground. “Talk about irony.” He turned to Sparks. “What about Wolf? How are you going to keep him from killing Winters?”

  “I don’t need to.”

  “I don’t understand.”

  The coldness in Sparks’s eyes sent a chill through Dex.

  “I’ve already made a deal with Wolf. I get Winters first. And when I’m done with him, he’s all Wolf’s.”

  Dex patted Winters’s shoulder. “I wish I could say it was nice knowing you, but I hope you rot in hell.”

  TIN operatives flooded the scene, and they escorted Winters toward an unmarked armored car. Dex hoped Winters suck
ed in as much of the sun as he could, because the asshole wasn’t going to be seeing the light of day any time soon. Whatever Sparks had in store for him, there was Wolf waiting at the other end.

  Sloane hurried toward him, looking a little worse for wear. His arm was bloodied, and he held on to his side, but he gave Dex a reassuring grin. Destructive Delta jogged behind him, helmets on, full tactical gear and rifles in hand, all ready to kick some more ass. Dex stood there a moment, just taking in the sight, unable to keep from puffing up his chest a little bit. This was his team. His family. Even with Dex and Sloane heading for new adventures, their family was always going to be there to back them up.

  When Sloane reached him, he threw his arms around Dex. “Thank God you’re okay.” Sloane held him close, his hand cradling Dex’s head.

  “I’m okay.” He pulled back and looked Sloane over. “What about you? Are you hurt?”

  “You mean besides feeling like I’ve been struck by lightning? I’m good. Just a few grazes.”

  “I’m a little confused,” Ash said, coming to stand beside them. “Winters is alive. How is he alive after all the shit he put us through?”

  Dex nodded. “Winters killed Sparks’s husband, he’s the reason she can’t see her daughter, and he’s responsible for Tucker’s death. If there’s anything left of the guy when Sparks is done with him, she’s promised him to Wolf after.”

  “Fuck.” Ash shook his head. “Yeah, he’s going to wish you’d killed him.”

  “I can’t believe he was lying to us this whole time,” Calvin said, shaking his head, his eyes glassy. “He fucking sat there in front of me, acting like he cared, when really he hated me and what I was.”

  Dex opened his mouth, but then Hobbs pushed past them, heading down the pier. Calvin was going to follow, but Dex stopped him. “Let me have a word with him. Please.”

  Calvin nodded.

  Dex left his team and headed down the pier. Hobbs had stopped to one side, his back turned to Dex as he gazed out at the water.

  “Hey, big guy.”

  The tears that Hobbs wiped from his cheeks broke Dex’s heart. Out of all of them, Dex understood how Winters’s betrayal had crushed Hobbs the most. Although Hobbs never talked to Winters using words, he still communicated with him often because he’d trusted Winters.