by Angel Lawson
“I don’t think it’s going to take much convincing to get you to do freaky shit anywhere, babe.” He rolls his eyes. “But no. I’m not about bartering for sexual favors. I want that shit to be real.”
“Then what?”
He shrugs. “I’ll let you know at the time.”
She’s not a fan of being in the dark, but she knew he’d be a hard sell on the project. Any concession is a good one, even if it means she’s on the hook for some kind of Owen whim in the future. “Fine, but don’t be a dick about it.”
He smiles and dips his head to hers, taking her mouth in hard, salty kiss. She doesn’t fight back because she loves this—loves the feel of him—and he deserves a reward for passing that test.
“What is that?” he asks, licking her lips. “Lemon?”
She laughs. “My new drink. I’m trying to appease Quinn.”
He grunts and reaches for her again; there’s no doubt from the shift under his shorts, he’s ready to take this further. She’s ready too and grips the hard muscle of his hips. The next kiss is stopped by the buzzer on her watch. “Fuuuuuck. What’s that about?”
“Meeting with Draco.”
He wrinkles his nose at the name. “Skip it.”
She shakes her head and gives an apologetic smile. “Can’t. It’s about Casper.”
Casper. The one thing they all agree on.
He kisses her once more. “Okay. Go. We’ll discuss these terms further later.”
“Got it.” She squeezes his hand with her gloved ones. “Thanks for joining the program. I really do appreciate it.”
“I know, and I’ll do my best.”
She has no doubt. They’re a team and working together is their biggest asset. Which is why she’s on her way to Draco’s. They need Casper back and whole. She’s just not sure how long it’s going to take.
Chapter Two
Astrid
She’s pulling out of the garage when the phone rings. It’s Jensen, and if she expected pleasantries, she’s not getting them.
“Can we meet?”
“Yeah,” she says, easing her Jeep into the street. “I just left the gym. I have a little bit of time before my next appointment.”
“Come to my office—it won’t take long.”
She stares at the phone after he hangs up and mutters to herself, “Yeah, this can’t be good.”
Jensen’s office is about twenty miles away, just outside the city. It’s a big building—governmental, boxy with few windows and non-descript. She and Atticus used to come out here to handle recruit details, but this is the first time since her mentor’s death and she’s uneasy.
The guard checks her ID and gives her a pass and she parks in the lot most familiar to her. At the front desk, she waits for Jensen to come out. She’s not sure who to expect; the man she’s known her whole life, or the director of the mayor’s task force. Relief washes over her when the former appears with a smile on his face and arms open for a hug.
“I think I know why you usually come to me,” she says, going through a second set of security. “This place is a pain in the ass to get into.”
“When you’re doing the kind of work we are, it pays to be safe.”
Astrid knows some of what happens in this building. The recruits that she trains at her gym end up here where they are pushed deeper, further into specialized training. Here, they learn how to use tactical weapons, explosives, and special skills to take down specific, dangerous groups of people. What she knows now is that she and her team are considered one of these groups. And although she and Jensen have danced around the obvious for weeks, if not months, it’s time to lay it all on the table.
His office is five levels up and through six more security guards. They pass a receptionist and enter the solid wood door that closes behind him. There are no windows and few decorations other than framed awards and certificates.
He directs her away from his desk to one of two cushiony chairs with a small table between them. On the table is a copy of the Crescent City Ledger, the city paper. The headline in bold: Can the Mayor’s Task Force Work?
Jensen nudges the paper with his hand. “Mayor Steed has some high demands.”
“I’m sure.”
He sits across from her. “Astrid there’s something we need to talk about. Just you and me. Clear the air.”
“Okay, I’ve been expecting this.”
“Atticus was my best friend. He was a powerful ally in the programs we have going at the agency. The recruits that come through Elite are some of the best agents in the world.”
“He was good at his job. He believed in it.”
“He did, and I believed in him, even when he started his side project—the one with you.” He gives her a tight grin. “I knew you back when you were a little runt in cat ears, rain boots, and gloves. I accepted Atticus’s explanation about sensory issues and PTSD from losing your parents. I supported his decision to help you by making you stronger—more confident and capable. I tried not to judge when he encouraged the crazy outfits and borderline vigilantism. Hell, you know me, I was part of it. I was there when you took down that building with the Pixie Dust. I’m complicit.”
“Get to the point, Jensen.”
“When it was just you out there I was okay with it. Atticus kept me close and we worked together, but since his death things have changed. You’ve cut me out and gained two more partners.” He eyes her carefully. “Dangerous partners.”
“They’re no more dangerous than I am.”
As far as Astrid knows, Jensen is unaware of the Project 12 side of Astrid’s background. He doesn’t know what Atticus and Holden had planned all along. The relationship with Casper and the building of a larger, more organized group. It was never her mentor’s intention for it just to be her out there. He’d planned for the day when they all would come together and combine their gifts and abilities.
“What can you tell me about Demetria Holmes?”
Is that what this is about? She doesn’t think so, but she plays along anyway.
“No more than you know.”
“She’s not a friend of yours? Because I saw you up on that float.”
“After the Gala, I became aware of the threat that Demetria posed on the community. I secured a spot on her float to keep an eye on her. I had no idea what she had planned.”
He nods. “How did she do that? Make the dragon?”
She shrugs. “I don’t know but I think she’s in the right place, a mental facility, and you’re definitely on target about something else: she’s incredibly dangerous.”
“But you don’t think your friends are dangerous? They show up and trouble seems to happen.”
“Atticus knew these people. He wanted them out there with me. Do you think he’d put me at risk?”
He knows the answer to that and it’s hard for him to swallow; even so, this doesn’t cut through the real reason she’s here: the Mayor and his Task Force.
“You’re an adult and I trust you to make your own decisions about who you bring into your life, but that’s personally. Professionally, I have to let you know that the Mayor is serious about this Task Force. Any and all vigilantism has to stop. I’m required to turn over anyone interfering with the police or anyone with suspicious behavior.” She understands his meaning. Anyone with unexplained skills or gifts.
“What if we stay out of the way?” After Blaze and Demetria, and frankly, even the appearance of Draco, she’s not willing to walk off the streets yet. What is his task force going to do if they come up against a man who can throw fire? Her recruits are good but they’re not supernatural. And that’s the difference.
Jensen rests his elbows on his thighs and looks her in the eye. “I’m telling you, it stops now.”
“Or what?”
“Or I can’t help you.” The look he gives her is kind. Empathetic. “Don’t make me come after you, Astrid. You’re my family. But I took an oath when I accepted this job. To take care of the people.”
“So you’re refusing?”
She shakes her head. “I’ll consider it, but I need something in return.”
“Go on.”
“One of my men, I know you’ve been watching him.”
He nods. “The drug dealer.”
She rolls her eyes. “He’s not a drug dealer. But yeah, take him off your list. It’s under control.”
“We think he may have murdered a woman.”
“He didn’t.” He gives her an uneasy, skeptical look. “Seriously, he didn’t. If you need to know the truth, whoever killed his aunt most likely also killed Atticus. You’re looking in the wrong direction.”
That news gets him to back off. “Okay, I’ll remove him from my official list of suspects, but you have to stay off the streets.”
“I’ll do what I can, but I won’t abandon the people in my community.” He sighs and she adds, “If something big happens, don’t expect me to stand back. You never would have stopped Demetria without us.”
The words hang in the room. The truth. Jensen may have manpower, weapons, and the backing of the city, but she and her team have something else—real power, and from the crease on his forehead, that’s exactly what he’s afraid of.
Chapter Three
Astrid
Draco’s office is unchanged since the last time she was there. The same photographs of his travels with his mentor. The huge screen behind the desk. The view of the city below the mansion takes up one wall of the room. One difference is the stack of papers on his desk. He’s taken over the CEO position at WIND-E, even if it’s just as a figurehead. Demetria trusted this man. That alone makes Astrid reconsider this arrangement.
“So,” she asks from her spot in the leather chair, “how’s the life of a CEO?”
“Not as interesting as you’d think,” he replies, smoothing his silk tie. His shirt is a crisp, starched white and contrasts nicely against his black pants that fit perfectly to his body.
His file back at the Lair describes his ability as Peak Human Condition. Basically, he’s strong, fast, and agile. He heals quickly and can take pounding by any enemy. He entered Project 12 as a perfect human specimen. Their medicine? It accentuated everything; his muscles, his bones, his extreme sense of morality. From all accounts, Draco is loyal, honest, and forthright.
Everything about him makes Astrid want to corrupt him. She’d like to drag him back to the Lair and dirty his hands with their fledgling superhero venture. Sully his face on a wanted sign by the police. Then she’d like to take him to bed and test what peak condition means in a dozen different positions.
It doesn’t matter if she takes off her gloves or not. Astrid knows Draco’s heart. He’s pure and he’s off limits. Not just because he’s so good, but because he’s good and tied up with Demetria, and it’s all just too confusing.
He looks at her from across the desk, assessing her with steel gray eyes, and she tries to keep her focus on why she’s there.
“I thought maybe we could go over Casper’s situation and then come up with a plan.” He speaks with authority and even with the distance she finds his presence intimidating. Not because of strength, but because of his good looks and undeniable confidence.
“What’s there to go over? Demetria kept him isolated for two years. Now he’s an unsocialized mess.”
“She didn’t force him, Astrid.” He always defends her, even now when she’s locked up in a sanitarium for her mental instability. “Casper’s mentor died and Demetria found him living in undesirable conditions. Like the rest of us, he didn’t grow up in a typical situation and his special abilities with computers made it easier for him to disconnect from the real world. He does have some friends—they’re just online—gaming mostly. He did have a relationship with Atticus and together they designed and created the tools, super suits, and equipment you use at Elite. And he reached out to you guys and helped you on your mission.”
All of that is true but it doesn’t help the fact that he’s lived alone for two years. She looks up at the screen and watches the real “goblin” tool around his high-tech workshop. Demetria spared no expense outfitting the facility. Like his cartoon avatar he’s Asian; his parents were Japanese, Draco told her. What’s surprising is his physique. Although there are dark circles under his eyes from lack of sleep and maybe daylight, he’s not small or emaciated. He looks strong—healthy. She mentions this to Draco.
“Demetria worried about his physical health and she insisted on healthy food and an exercise regimen. He’s not up to the standards of the athletes at your gym, but if he had to run, he could.”
“I’m impressed she got him to do that.”
Draco smiles. “People will do a lot of things when motivated. All we had to do was suggest he may want to be fit for the end of the world. The idea of outrunning zombies appealed to him.”
“And he doesn’t know about you or Demetria. He just thinks he’s here under some setup with his mentor.”
“That’s a little more complex. He and I have developed a relationship over the past few weeks, once it became clear to your group that I was a survivor too.”
She leans back in her seat and uses her abilities to search Draco’s echo. There’s a hint of a shadow over him. He doesn’t do deceit well. “So what else aren’t you telling me?”
“It’s going to take some work to get him out of there. I know he loves being part of your team, but for now you’re probably going to have to go to him instead of the other way around. People make him nervous. He’s seen some bad shit go down, like the rest of us, but he’s often the first to know it’s coming. He hangs around the dark web, messing in the kind of garbage that keeps a person up at night.”
“Okay. I don’t have a problem coming here.”
He taps his fingers on the desk. “But you’re right, there’s something else.”
And there it is. “Tell me.”
“It’s not a big deal but he’ll be embarrassed when you find out.”
“Embarrassed?” She gets an uneasy feeling, despite Draco’s assurances. She knows Casper is prone to watching them—watching her? Has he invaded her privacy? Is that what’s holding him back? She’s not prepared for what comes next.
“Casper alters his voice when he speaks to you over the coms and via video.”
“Wait, what?” Not what she expected. Thankfully.
“His voice. He alters it.”
“I’ve noticed that.” His voice has a tinny, unnatural ring to it at times. “Why?”
“He has a severe stutter. It makes him incredibly uncomfortable to speak to others. It’s one of the reasons he isolated himself at the group home.” He picks a folder up off the top of the stack. “We have a medical evaluation from his time with his mentor. He tried to get him into speech therapy and a few other resources. It seems like he was making progress until his mentor died, then he regressed.”
“Stuttering isn’t a big deal.”
“Not to you or me, but it is to him.”
He offers her the folder but she shakes her head. She already feels like she’s intruding on Casper’s private life too far. If she’s going to make any headway with him, it will have to be on their own terms.
“Okay,” she says, fussing with the edge of her gloves. “How do we want to do this?”
“I think I should talk to him.”
“And what about me?”
Draco shakes his head. “I want you to observe. I doubt he’ll be ready to face you yet, but you need to know what you’re getting into.”
“How much does he know so far?”
“He knows about Demetria and what happened to Kincade and Blaze. He watches the news. He doesn’t know that I told you about him.”
“Great, well, no time like the present, right?”
Draco moves to her side of the desk and sits in the chair next to hers. She catches a whiff of his ridiculous
scent, vanilla and sugar, because you know, he needs to be more enticing.
He uses the remote and switches from a live feed to one where he can speak to Casper.
“Casper,” he calls. The man looks at the nearest computer monitor and his face lights up.
“Draco! What’s up?”
“Just checking in with you. You’ve been busy.”
“Yeah,” he says. It’s interesting to see this side of things. “I’ve just created an awesome tool for Quinn. It’s a baton that he can charge with his own electricity and use it to zap people. This way he doesn’t have to use his hands and modulate the current. The baton will do it for him.”
“That sounds impressive. I think he’ll like that.”
“Yeah, it’s pretty badass.” He holds it up and plays around, mimicking some defensive moves. Astrid can’t help but smile.
“So, look,” Draco says in an incredibly calm voice. “I have something I need to share with you.”
“What’s that?” Casper doesn’t look up from whatever it is he’s started messing with on the table.
“I know you value your privacy but I want you to know that I’m aware of your location.”
Casper pauses but doesn’t look at the camera. “Not possible dude. I’m off the grid.”
“Casper,” he says, but the man ignores him. “Cedric.”
That gets his attention.
“I know where you are and our feed is live. I can see you.”
He flips a bird at the camera. “Did you see that?”
“Actually yes. You’re wearing a blue shirt with some kind moose logo on the front. You need a haircut and there are three, no four, open soda cans on your desk.”
“How did you find me.”
“You’re not the only one with resources and you can’t keep hiding. You’re going to have to face your team and they want you as a more visible member of their group.”
“I can’t do that.”
“Why not?”
He stares directly at Draco and now that it’s a real person and not a cartoon avatar, Astrid gets a good look at his face. He’s scared, there’s no doubt about that, but he’s also angry. “You know why. You’ve seen them—fuck, you’ve seen you. I can’t compete with all of that.”
