by J. C. Diem
Plucking a dishtowel from a hook on the wall, he took the bowl from me and began drying it. “We captured three of the perverts and took them to the cells in our base to question them.” It was news to me that our compounds contained cells. It just showed how little I still knew about our bases.
“Kala made her captive crack far faster than the rest of us,” he continued and shook his head at the memory. I winced when he inadvertently sent me an image of a broken, bleeding human. “She has an aptitude for causing just enough pain to make someone tell her everything she wants to know.”
“Why was the TAK Squad sent after a group of pedophiles?” We didn’t usually track down monsters of their type. They were undoubtedly evil, but of a different kind than we usually handled.
“It was a favor for one of Mark’s superiors.” He shrugged to indicate that he hadn’t questioned his boss about the matter.
“I take it you found the ring leader?”
“Of course,” he said with a small smile. “We’re the ultimate hunters. No one can hide from us for long.”
That was true. We had the means to find anyone no matter how hard or fast they ran. Mark’s technological skills, coupled with our supernatural abilities, made us a formidable team. I almost pitied the creatures we were sent to hunt down and eradicate. Then again, they deserved everything they had coming to them.
With the kitchen put back to rights, we returned to the parlor. Margaret had taken a seat on the lounge next to my father. He looked far more relaxed than usual, but he was still alert and ready for action. At six foot four, he towered over our hostess even when sitting. She was captivated by his charm and looks. He had blond hair that was graying at the temples and light blue eyes. I could see nothing of him in myself at all. The only thing I’d inherited from him was my stubbornness and my prowess with firearms.
Flynn took a deep breath with his mouth open slightly, surreptitiously tasting the air. “The cake smells good,” he noted. His eyes strayed towards the door, as if he was longing to sneak to the kitchen and gobble it down before it was even finished cooking.
“Of course it’s going to be good,” Reece said in a mock affronted tone.
Kala sneered from her seat next to the birthday boy. “I’ll be the judge of that.”
“Would you like tea or coffee, dear?” Margaret asked me. She leaned forward, ready to serve me from the selection she’d put on the coffee table.
“Coffee, please.” That would always be my first preference. Reece indicated he’d like the same. With our hostess in attendance, we had to stick to topics that wouldn’t make her run screaming in horror. It was a relief when the cake timer finally went off after nearly an hour of excruciatingly boring conversation.
“Are you going to supervise the icing of the cake?” Reece asked me.
I could have kissed him right in front of everyone for giving me an excuse to leave the room. I was willing to do almost anything to escape by then. Margaret, Mark and my father were discussing politics, which was the swiftest way to put me to sleep.
“I’ll help,” Kala said and surged to her feet. She was even more bored than I was.
“I call dibs on the bowl,” Flynn called to her back.
“I’ll fight you for it,” she grinned over her shoulder.
“Oh dear,” Margaret said and wrung her hands in distress. “I hope they don’t break anything.”
“I’m sure they’ll be careful,” Mark told her as Reece and I loped after the other two.
We arrived just in time to see Kala removing the cake from the oven. She placed it on the counter and scowled down at it. My mouth was already watering at the chocolaty scent that permeated the room. “It’s perfect,” she said in a flat tone and shot him an accusing glare. “How come yours looks like this and mine looked like something a dog crapped out?”
“Because I followed the recipe,” he replied with a shrug. We’d bought a premade frosting rather than attempting to make one ourselves. All he had to do now was wait for the cake to cool then smear it over the top.
Unwilling to wait any longer than he absolutely had to, Flynn tipped the cake out onto a plate then put it in the fridge so it would cool faster. I washed the cake tin while the others chatted quietly about our mission.
“I hate this part of our job,” Kala complained. “Waiting around with nothing to do always gets to me.” It was going to be extremely boring until Beatrice turned up and we could continue on with the mission.
“It wouldn’t be so bad if there was a gym nearby,” Flynn said. “What are we going to do for the next couple of days?”
“There must be something interesting to see in the area,” I ventured and received three incredulous stares. “Don’t you ever do any sightseeing?” I asked in exasperation.
Reece lifted a shoulder then let it fall. “We’re usually too focused on the job to think about anything else.”
It made me a little sad that they didn’t take the time to enjoy life. They spent all of their time either hunting the bad guys down or training. Only Kala was interested in watching TV. Flynn sometimes watched a movie with us, but none of the agents had any hobbies or interests. If I didn’t have my books or the archives to read in my downtime, I’d have been bored out of my mind.
Mark wandered into the kitchen a few minutes later, presumably to check up on us and to make sure we weren’t fighting over the cake. “What’s the verdict?” he asked. He was only showing a slight case of nerves. He was a brave man, but facing another disaster like the cake Kala had baked for me would make anyone flinch.
“It looks pretty good,” Flynn replied and removed the cake from the fridge. It was now cool enough for Reece to frost it.
We watched him carefully smear the chocolate mixture over the top. The finished product looked like it could have graced the front page of a food magazine. “Is there anything you can’t do?” I asked him in mock disgust.
“Not that I know of,” he said with a small grin.
Kala rolled her eyes and pulled a knife out of the block sitting on the counter. “Let’s see if it tastes as good as it looks.” She handed the knife to Mark. “You can do the honors, since it’s your birthday.” It was gracious of her to let him cut his own cake.
Mark cut into it and Flynn leaned forward to breathe in the scent of the still slightly warm center. Margaret and my father appeared and our hostess handed out plates to everyone. She was almost as fastidious about keeping the kitchen clean as Mark was.
“My goodness, that is a beautiful cake,” she beamed at Reece. He took his plate with a modest smile, which deepened Kala’s scowl.
Since it was Mark’s birthday, he took the first bite. He made a sound of pure enjoyment and flicked an apologetic glance at Kala. “It’s really, really good,” he said with his mouth full. He lifted his plate just in time to catch a few crumbs.
“Jeez, Mark, I thought you had better manners than that,” Kala said facetiously. She bit into her cake almost savagely. She chewed, swallowed and shot a sour look at Reece. He raised his eyebrows in innocent enquiry. “It’s edible, I suppose,” she said grudgingly.
Flynn took a bite, closed his eyes and chewed slowly. “I don’t even have words to describe how good this is,” he said sincerely when his mouth was empty.
Reece and I both took a bite at the same time. The cake was moist, fluffy and damn near perfect. Margaret also had a piece and looked at Reece in surprise. “This is a very good cake, young man. Have you ever thought about entering a baking competition?”
Stuffing the last piece of her cake into her mouth, Kala muttered something and stalked off. Her mouth was too full to be able to understand her, which was probably a good thing.
My father ate his cake in silence. A single nod at Reece was his only acknowledgement that he liked it. For him, it was high praise.
Once everyone dispersed, I cleaned up the mess. To my surprise, Reece lingered to help me. “Is that the first cake you’ve ever baked?” I asked.
He nodded and reached up to put the plates back in the cupboard above the sink. A flash of tanned stomach showed and I clenched my fists to stop myself from reaching out and touching him. “Being the only female, Kala always felt like she had to prove herself to us,” he explained. “It’s a real blow to her ego that she can’t cook.”
“Do you think she’d let me give her some lessons?”
“I’m not sure,” he shrugged. “It’s hard to say with Kala. Her moods can be pretty changeable.”
That was the cougar in her. One minute she could be playful and affectionate, then she could be moody and want to be alone. I’d try to catch her in one of her better moods and ask her if she’d like my assistance. I’d have to wait until we were back at one of our compounds before I made the offer. I doubted that Margaret would be very happy if Kala destroyed her kitchen.
₪₪₪
Chapter Twenty-Seven
We spent the next couple of days playing board games in the parlor. Margaret had kept them even after her kids had outgrown the games. Both of her daughters were now married with children. They lived in nearby towns, but not in Bradbury itself. I didn’t know them, but I was glad they hadn’t been caught up in the coven’s spells and hexes.
I wasn’t at all surprised to find that Reece, Kala and Flynn were highly competitive. I was just as bad. None of us liked to lose and our games tended to get quite heated. If Mark and my father hadn’t been there to act as referees, we’d have probably come to blows a few times. At least we weren’t bored while we were squabbling.
After dark, we spent a few hours scouting Bradbury from afar. My father had suggested to Mark that we keep our eye on the town to make sure the coven wasn’t planning anything.
The night before Beatrice was scheduled to arrive, I paired up with my father to patrol. We circled the town on foot, being careful to stay outside the wards. Now that I was aware of them, I recognized the faint shimmer in the air that was invisible to humans. It was apparently also undetectable to other shifters. I was the only one who could see it and I kept the ability from the others. It was just one more strange thing about me that made me different from everyone else.
“How are things between you and Agent Garrett?” my father asked, startling me with the unexpected question.
I could have fabricated a lie, but I’d always been honest with him. I wasn’t about to start telling him untruths now. “Kind of awkward most of the time,” I replied. “The bond is holding us both prisoner and neither of us is happy about it.”
He studied me as best as he could in the darkness. “I wouldn’t say that he’s unhappy about being bonded to you,” he said mildly. “He seems very protective.” Reece had been hovering close to me ever since my father had arrived.
“It’s an alpha thing,” I explained. “He feels a sense of ownership over me. He doesn’t like anyone else encroaching on his turf, not even if that someone is my father.”
He laughed quietly. “That isn’t just an alpha thing, honey. All men feel that way when their girl’s attention is taken away from them.”
I goggled at his description. “I’m not Reece’s girl!” I said it a little too loudly. A dog barked in warning and I sent it calming thoughts. It quietened immediately with a submissive whine.
“Lexi, like it or not, you’re bound to Reece.” His tone was stoic, but I sensed his unhappiness. “You two are going to be together until death, or so Mark believes.”
A small shudder wracked me. He slid his arm over my shoulder and hugged me to his side. “Sometimes, I almost wish I’d never gone to Colorado with Mark,” I said. “I should have been enlisted in the Army by now. Instead of being a soldier, I’m a secret agent for an organization no one has ever heard of.”
He squeezed my shoulder comfortingly. “Life doesn’t always go the way we plan it, sweetheart. Sometimes it throws us for a loop. We either have to go with it, or let it overwhelm us.”
He’d been thrown one hell of a loop when my mother had been turned into a bloodsucker. He hadn’t let that tragedy ruin our lives. My dad had done his best to provide me with a stable and loving home. I could either spend my free time whining and being miserable, or I could suck it up and attempt to be the adult I was supposed to be. “You’re right,” I said. “I need to make the best of this situation.”
I might not be a soldier, but I was still saving lives and taking down the bad guys. If it also meant that I occasionally had to share Reece’s bed, then so be it. It wasn’t like I didn’t enjoy it when we were naked together. On the contrary, I enjoyed that part very much.
“Do I even want to know what you’re thinking about?” my father said dryly. “I don’t think I’ve ever seen you smile quite like that before.”
I made my smug, self-satisfied grin disappear and replaced it with an innocent look. Or as innocent as I could make it.
As we skirted the edge of town, I sensed a dog approaching and grabbed my father’s arm to stop him. He became alert and drew his gun. “What’s wrong?” His eyes probed the shadows, searching for a target.
“Nothing’s wrong. We’re just about to have some company and I didn’t want you to be startled.”
The Rottweiler who had broken free from his yard to come to my rescue emerged from the shadows. He trotted over and sat at my feet. He’d lost weight and his ribs were showing.
“What are you doing here, boy?” I asked and hunkered down to pat him. He whined and licked my hand. His collar was gone and I wondered if he’d run away from home. Delving into his mind, I found that he’d been searching for me. It seemed that he’d switched his loyalties from his previous owners to me. “Uh oh,” I said and stood.
“Is this one of the dogs who saved you from the witch?” my father asked as he slipped his gun into the small of his back again. A holster would be a dead giveaway that he was armed in the off chance that we were spotted creeping around the edge of town by anyone.
“Yep. He led the pack.”
He knelt and offered the animal his hand. After a suspicious sniff, the dog licked his fingers. “Good boy.” My dad thumped him on the flank a few times and the Rottweiler’s tongue lolled in happiness. “You should send him back to his owners before they miss him,” he suggested.
“That’s the thing,” I said uneasily. “He thinks I’m his owner now.”
Looking up at me in surprise, he rose to his feet. “Are you saying that you can read his mind?”
“Sort of,” I shrugged. “I can pick up the sense that he left his home to search for me. Now that’s he’s found me, he has no intention of leaving.”
Putting his hand on my shoulder, he smiled widely. “Congratulations, Lexi. You’re the proud new owner of a Rottweiler. You finally have the puppy that you’ve always wanted.”
We both looked down at the ‘puppy’. When standing, his head came to my waist. He probably weighed more than I did.
We’d walked our section of the perimeter of town with the dog following at my heels. He passed through the magical barrier without setting it off or suffering any ill effects. I could sense Reece on patrol a short distance away. I had the feeling he wasn’t going to be happy with this new addition to our team.
“What are you going to call him?” my dad asked.
I scanned the dog for his name and came up empty. With his collar missing, I had no idea what his former owners had called him. “Zeus,” I decided. It seemed to suit him with his size and overall menacing appearance.
We continued our circuit until it was time to call it a night. Reece and Flynn were waiting for us at the appointed meeting place. Reece looked at the animal that was trotting along happily at my side. “Do I even want to know why that dog is following you?” he asked with his hands on his hips and his eyebrows raised. Flynn was just as surprised and eyed the dog warily.
Zeus growled low in his throat, knowing that neither of the men was human. They hadn’t exactly had a chance to become acquainted after Talitha had tried to kill me. I stroked the Rottweiler’
s head to calm him. He was so big that I didn’t even need to bend down to reach him. “Zeus decided that he belongs to me now,” I explained.
Reece rolled his eyes, but he didn’t bother to argue. Even with both of us clamping down on the bond, he could read enough of my emotions to know that it was a done deal. “I’m sure Mark is going to be ecstatic about this,” he muttered. “We’ve never had a pet before.”
Zeus was far more than a mere pet, he was also my guardian. He was already a loyal companion and he’d only been with me for a couple of hours.
Dawn was nearing and it was time to head back to our base. We met up with Mark and Kala at the SUV where it was parked a short distance from the edge of town. We hadn’t spied any of the coven members during our patrol. As far as we could tell, they hadn’t set any traps for us. Hopefully, Beatrice would be able to tell for sure.
Kala smelled Zeus before he trotted into view and she sent me an accusing stare. While she could tolerate werewolves, she really didn’t like dogs. Dogs liked her even less. My new friend’s hackles rose as he pinned her with his stare.
“Why is that dog with you?” Mark asked.
“Zeus is mine now,” I said simply. “He refused to return home even when I ordered him to.”
Instead of being angry, he was thoughtful. “Is he likely to attack any of us?”
“He’s not too thrilled with Kala,” I said, “but he won’t attack unless I tell him to.”
Kala was glowering at the animal in annoyance. “Can you tell him to stop growling at me?”
Zeus’s upper lip was curled back, baring his teeth. His whole body vibrated with a nearly inaudible growl. “Sit,” I said and he complied. “Kala is a friend,” I said both with my mouth and with my mind. The dog whined and looked up at me in confusion. I sent him a picture of a human, three dogs, a snake and a cat living together. He didn’t like the idea at all. In his mind, all felines were enemies. He was even less sure about adding a snake to the picture.
