by Amelia Jade
“That’s the Institute I’ve heard rumblings about, right?”
“Right.”
They were nearing the embassy, the houses and residential neighborhoods they’d been jogging through giving way to shops and older businesses lining a wider road. Noah made an attempt to memorize everything as best he could, but his attention was on Hector. He needed to learn everything he could about his new position if he was to succeed here.
“The Institute, which is a shortened form of some monstrosity of a name, was hell-bent on eliminating us, without making it look like a genocide. They knew they couldn’t get away with that. Anyway, they started a breeding program, trying to infuse plain humans with our DNA. They wanted half-breeds.”
Noah frowned at that. Half-breeds were the result of a human/shifter pairing, where the child was born with some enhanced physical traits, but without the full ability to manifest themselves into an animal form.
“So these women,” he said slowly, coming to the logical conclusion, “are they the result of this breeding program?”
“Precisely,” Hector said in clipped tones. “They were duped by the Institute into thinking they were actually helping us, when in reality they were just breeding stock to help fulfill the Institute’s ultimate agenda.” He practically spat the last few words.
“No wonder we’re helping them,” Noah said softly as he understood.
“We built them all those buildings at the complex to give them a place to live, and we’re also providing a monthly stipend for them to live off of, along with medical care and the like. It’s a big expense, but they deserve it.”
Noah nodded. “I get it.”
“We also run patrols through the complex from time to time, and try our best to just generally be available if they need help.”
“Makes sense. How is that going so far?”
Hector shrugged. “Mostly good. There’s a lot of backlash against it from within Cadia itself, but out here, besides the odd renegade who wants to make life difficult, we’re managing.”
They slowed to a walk as the embassy loomed up in front of them. Another shifter was waiting just inside, who Noah didn’t recognize.
“Ah, perfect.” Hector said, striding forward. “Gray, this is Noah, senior-most of the new guards. Noah, this is Gray, your boss.”
The tall shifter with the single moniker extended his hand. The two shook, neither trying to overpower the other, but providing a firm grip nonetheless.
“Good to meet you, sir,” Noah said.
“Ugh, no. Please. Drop the Sir bullshit,” Gray complained in an exasperated tone. “This is not the military. We’re not in the Green Bearets out here. I may be the boss, but we’re more of a family.”
“Got it,” he said immediately, trying not to break out into a smile.
Noah had heard some things about the shifters who worked in Cloud Lake, most of them unkind. But the more he interacted with them, the more he found he liked them. He was more determined than ever to prove himself to Gray and the others, so that perhaps they would see him as worthy of sticking around.
“You’re with me tonight I take it,” Gray said, motioning for him to follow.
Behind them Hector went up the stairs, probably to his room.
“That’s what I was told.”
“Awesome. Well, we’re on duty in half an hour. Let’s get some food, and then we’ll settle in and start going over things. There’s a lot to learn, but it’s also mostly stuff that will come with experience. Only a little bit can I actually teach you. But, and this is probably nothing new, lesson number one is: Don’t go to work on an empty stomach.”
Noah grinned. “I’ll try my hardest to remember that one, but I might need some reminders.”
Gray laughed loudly. “Perfect.”
***
Properly fed and rid of any stomach distractions, the pair sat down in the front lobby.
“Okay, so here’s the deal. The biggest thing you need to do is memorize parts of town.”
He frowned. “Only parts?”
Gray nodded. “The rest will come in time as you work at it. But right away, there’s a few things you should learn. Main streets, main trouble spots, and the embassy, all in location to one another. It happens rarely, but it’s not uncommon that you’ll respond to one location, deal with a problem, and then have to hit up another one right away.”
Noah watched as his boss half-shuddered. “Which is why you need to carry this.” He slid a black object across to Noah.
“A cell phone?”
“Unfortunately. I’m not a big fan, but we need them. That one’s yours. The phone number is taped to it. Get used to it. Anyone who can help will help. We’re in this together.”
He smiled. Shifters were not exactly technological geniuses. Most of them were like him, and vehemently against its use. But if it was necessary for work, then he would do what was required of him.
“Got it. First step, memorize map. Second, learn how to use this thing.” He gave the phone a shake. “Where can I do step one?”
Gray hiked a thumb over his shoulder. “Wall. Map. Big. Easy to read. Enjoy.”
Noah glanced in the direction and saw that the wall underneath the right-hand staircase was covered in a giant map labeled Cloud Lake at the top.
“Perfect,” he muttered, resolving to spend a lot of time studying it.
They had barely begun to talk about life as a guard in Cloud Lake when the phone rang. Gray snatched it up before the first ring had stopped echoing in the lobby and spoke quickly into it. Noah didn’t bother trying to listen. He knew Gray would explain if he needed to know anything. By listening in there was a good chance he would get a mixed or even incorrect message.
“Let’s go,” Gray said before the phone was even back on the receiver.
Noah was on his feet, headed for the door when he realized that Gray was charging up the stairs. Skidding to a halt, he reversed direction and took the stairs in two quick bounds to catch up, clearing seven or eight steps at a time.
“First thing you do when responding to a call,” Gray said as he stopped at a specific door, “is rouse the on-call guard.” He hammered on the door. “You’re up.”
Someone replied from inside and then Gray was gone, headed for the stairs. “Faster to do it that way than call the room,” he muttered as they rushed out the front doors and into the cold winter night.
The sun was gone from the sky and the stars would be out overhead if they weren’t obscured by cloud cover that had moved in at some point. Noah wondered if they were going to get hit with a storm at some point.
“We’re going to one of the gentlemen’s clubs,” Gray said, preempting the question he was about to ask. “Where someone isn’t acting like a gentleman.”
“I take it that would be a shifter. I’m assuming we don’t handle human issues?”
“Not unless it concerns us, the women in their complex, or—” Gray cut off abruptly. “Yeah. If it doesn’t concern either of those, then no, we let local security or the police deal with it.”
Noah nodded to himself as they ran, taking mental notes. They raced down one main street until they hit the downtown strip. Gray took them on to one side street where they came to a halt in front of a club that was lit up with signs in red lettering and yellowish-gold decorations. It was a garish, cheap look, but it proclaimed dancing girls, adult entertainment and the like.
It was also busy.
“Classy establishment,” he said as Gray pulled open the front door and they headed inside.
“Not even close,” his new boss said angrily.
They went through the second set of solid doors, designed to keep daylight from revealing the true quality of the club, and came to a halt.
“Just watch my back and stay clear this time,” Gray said before he plunged into the crowd. “I’m not used to working with a partner, and I don’t want to screw this up worse. Eyes only, make sure nobody slugs me in the back of the head.”
Noah jerked a nod and then moved parallel with Gray into the crowd, keeping some distance. He was one of the tallest people in the club, so he kind of stood out, but it didn’t matter. Six feet in front of them the crowd thinned and came to a stop. It became abruptly clear to him why there was such a press of bodies near the door and around the edge of the huge room.
In the center stood an angry shifter, with two women in various states of undress on the floor by his legs. He noted a third one nearby, but she appeared to have fainted. A security guard was standing between the enraged shifter and several more scantily clad women.
Noah had to clamp down on his instinctive urge to let a growl fill the room as fury rose up within him at the sight of the women being threatened by one of his kind. It took him a second then to realize that the noise that did cut through the buzz of the crowd wasn’t coming from him. It was coming from Gray.
“What do you think you’re doing, Rook?”
The angry shifter’s head snapped around to focus on Gray. “Back off buddy-cop. This don’t have nothing to do with you.”
Gray bared his teeth while Noah watched. “You’re going to pay for that remark. But first, let’s go. Outside. You’re done for the night.”
Rook shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. They’re going to give me what I want. What they promised.”
Noah’s jaw dropped open as Gray rolled his eyes, pointed behind Rook at the security guard, and nodded. “Okay, give him what he wants. It’s fine.”
Rook turned to look at the security guard, a triumphant gloating grin splayed wide on his face. It stayed there too as Gray calmly walked up behind Rook, wrapped his arm under the shifter’s chin, and started to choke him into submission. Rook went ballistic, but Gray was huge even for a shifter, and he bore the other man to the ground. Noah watched as Rook’s face went red and he began to struggle to breathe.
Something clunked and he turned to see a second shifter emerge from the crowd and go for Gray, a metal pole or pipe of some kind held in a firm two-handed grip.
Shit. Gray had said to let him act on his own, but also to watch his back. Noah knew if Gray turned to try and stop the newcomer that Rook would recover and then he’d be up against the two. So without waiting for confirmation he pushed through the crowd and approached the other shifter from the side, tapping him on the shoulder.
“Hi,” he said politely, then smashed his head into the man’s face.
While the other shifter reeled Noah reached out, grasped his hands, planted his leg, and swung the other man around, lining him up with the doors. The crowd seemed to sense what was coming and parted like he was Moses at the Red Sea.
“Bye,” Noah said, and used his booted foot to kick the stunned shifter twenty feet through the air and out the doors. Metal screeched and one of the doors ripped from its hinges under the impact, but the outer door was open and the shifter bounced on the sidewalk and into the road where a car slammed to a halt, its front bumper crumpling ever so slightly around the unlucky shifter.
Noah darted outside, checking on the occupant. but the man was fine, waving him off.
“Let’s go, punk,” he growled and yanked the other shifter to his feet, throwing him up against the exterior wall.
The shifter tried to fight back, throwing an elbow behind him aimed at Noah’s head. So he snatched the forearm up, straightened the arm, and snapped it backward over his shoulder. His foe howled in pain and tried to strike him with this other arm, but Noah dropped him with a short but powerful jab to the nose as he spun. Bone broke again and blood began to pour down his face.
“Try it again, I dare you,” Noah said as he picked the man up and slammed him into the wall, brick façade breaking and crumbling down around him. But the shifter had had enough and just stood there breathing hard and bleeding.
“What the hell?!”
Noah looked over as Gray came out the entrance, hauling an unconscious Rook behind him.
“What are you doing, Noah?”
He frowned. “You said watch your back. He came at you with a metal pole.”
“I didn’t say wreck the place while you were at it. Didn’t you see anything from how I dealt with this idiot? Quietly, with as little collateral damage as possible.” His eyes narrowed, glinting with steel. “Kicking him through the door into traffic, and then busting down a wall doesn’t quite qualify.”
Noah had to force himself not to wilt under the barrage. He had screwed up. Royally, and Gray was making sure he was aware of it. This wasn’t Cadia where he could just pound on his victim as he chose. They were among humans, and he would need to learn that through to his core, so that his instinctive actions would reflect it.
“Sorry,” he said, pulling the unnamed shifter away from the wall.
More brick fell to the ground in a pile.
Gray frowned. “Bill the Cadian embassy,” he said.
Noah looked over his shoulder to see him talking to the driver of the vehicle who had stopped and gotten out.
“Will do, Gray. Thanks.”
“No problem,” Gray said and waved the older man on his way. Then he turned to the security guard who had come outside as well. “Same deal. Bill us. Sorry Jeremy, he’s new.”
“Sorry,” Noah said, not wanting to stand around and be chastised. “I’ll come help you replace it if you want.”
“Sure, that’d be great,” Jeremy said, nodding at them and heading inside.
Noah looked over at Gray, only to find himself being studied by the senior embassy guard. Nothing was said, but his boss’s head swiveled to the shifter in front of him. “You were going to hit me over the head with a metal pole, Manny? Seriously?”
Manny looked away and spat blood, refusing to answer.
Gray laughed. “Oh you two are so, so fucked. Idiots. Come on, back to the embassy with you.” He started to walk, still dragging Rook behind him.
Noah pushed Manny ahead of him, forcing the injured shifter to start walking.
“It’s not always like this,” Gray said as they walked at a much slower pace now thanks to their cargo. “But every two weeks we get a new batch of vacationers, and there’s almost always an idiot among them. This week it turns out there were two. Lucky us.”
Noah just nodded in agreement, not wanting to say anything more that might make Gray angry with him.
“By the way,” Gray said after some time. “Thanks for having my back.”
“Anytime,” he replied, knowing he was still in trouble, but appreciative of Gray acknowledging his help.
Maybe things could still be salvaged after all.
Chapter Four
Angela
“Come in!” she called toward the door.
It opened to admit Rachel and a carrier full of a giggling, happy baby. Angela eyed Cooper and wondered if Rachel’s child ever cried.
“Does Karlie ever cry?” she asked, not bothering to hide her current mood.
Rachel grinned. “Ah, had a rough morning have we?”
“Ugh, night and morning,” she complained. “Cooper’s asleep now, but oh my goodness. Generally Cooper is pretty good. I know I’ve been blessed. Last night was not one of those nights, however.”
Rachel came over, gave her a hug and bent down to look at Cooper. “So cute,” she said quietly.
“They really are, aren’t they? Some days that’s the only thing that keeps me from snapping on them,” she said as they retired to the couch nearby.
“Tell me about it,” Rachel agreed. “I feel guilty about it, but sometimes I wish they were old enough so I could yell at them and make them understand that they’re being little shits.”
Angela giggled. “Me too! I always feel super guilty when I have that urge, but oh my goodness it can be frustrating!”
They continued to commiserate on the lows of parenting for a few minutes, having a much-needed venting session. Angela loved her child, but that didn’t mean Cooper was perfect. Not even close, she thought with a smile.
�
��You showered today?” Rachel asked abruptly.
“Uh, yes? Thank you for checking on my hygiene,” she replied, confused. “Do I really seem that out of it?”
“No,” her friend said with a laugh. “Just checking. Go get changed into something nicer. Not like, formal or anything, but like, where I won’t be embarrassed to be seen in public with you.”
Angela leveled her gaze upon Rachel. “What’s that supposed to mean?” she asked with mock ire, though the huge grin on her face gave it away. “And why?”
“I said so. Come on, move it.”
“I wasn’t planning on going anywhere today…”
Rachel nodded forcefully. “I know. But we are. Now move it, let’s go. Chop chop. Hurry up now! I’ll watch Cooper, you go change.”
She glared at her, but Rachel was unrepentant, and didn’t seem to be interested in revealing anything further.
“I can’t believe I’m letting you talk me into this,” she said, getting changed and re-emerging into the main room of her little unit. A purple long-sleeved V-neck with a gold pattern on it had replaced the gray sweatshirt, and loose-fitting black pants were now in place instead of the mismatched sweatpants.
“Looks good. Put your hair in a pony and let’s roll.”
Angela made to say something, then looked at herself in the mirror and decided that a ponytail probably was the best solution for her hair.
“Are we walking?” she asked, gathering up Cooper’s bag of stuff and looking at her stroller.
“Nope, just the carrier will do today,” Rachel said, lifting her child and moving back to the door where she slipped into her boots and stood waiting.
“We better be going for a surprise all-you-can-eat buffet or something,” she muttered as they got everything needed to take care of their kids and loaded themselves for bear.
“Oooh, good idea,” Rachel said. “I’m starved.”
Frowning at her friend’s cryptic nature, she followed her out the path, glad not to be living on the second floor of the buildings the shifters had built for them. It seemed ungrateful, perhaps, but not having to take the stairs outside while carrying child and bag was a blessing, there was no doubt.
