“I do not. I have gargoyle arms.” Azrael flexed his mighty muscles and even Lamb was impressed.
“Okay, Schwarzenegger. Quit showing off for the ladies.” Lamb pulled a Barrett .50 caliber rifle from the weapons locker and handed it to him. “Try this on for size.”
Azrael hefted the weapon and nodded. “This feels more appropriate. But this part is still too short.” He pointed to the stock.
Lamb shrugged. “Try to make do until we can get you a custom stock made. Can you fit your finger in the guard here?”
Azrael wiggled his trigger finger into the guard, but it was too tight. “No.” He handed the weapon back.
Lamb laid the weapon down and scratched at his head. “Maybe we’ll just have to have one custom made for you.”
“Try the M2.” Major Tufo stepped closer to the railing and nodded over their heads. “You’ll have to pull one from the stocks. He can hook an ammo can to his belt or wrap a few bandoliers across his chest.” Mark shot a cheesy grin to the crew. “Those ginormous meat hooks of his should be able to hold and operate one of those.”
Lamb snapped his fingers and smiled. “And as big as you are, the recoil shouldn’t be a problem.”
“What is recoil?” Azrael gave him a quizzical look.
“It’s when the gun kicks you.” Lamb turned and trotted off for the weapons supply.
Azrael turned to Brooke. “Then I shall kick it back.”
Brooke patted his large shoulder. “You do that, big guy. You just do that.”
Jacobs sat on the ground and tried to figure out how to make any of their weapons work with Gnat’s stubby little hands. He threw his hands in the air and shook his head. “Major, none of our weapons will fit him. I’m sure he’s stout enough to handle the FiveseveN, but the grip is too wide. He can’t wrap his hand around it.”
“Did you try the MP7?” Mark asked from the balcony overlooking the training area.
“Affirmative, sir. The grip is too wide. He can’t get his thumb and trigger finger to wrap around…” Jacobs paused and stared at the little Gnome. “What about a .22, sir?”
“We have no silver ammunition that will work for a caliber that small.”
“Never mind, Ing.” Jack stepped into the training area and crossed his arms, his eyes scanning his ‘team’. He turned to Kalen, “You’ll never guess who just contacted me.”
Kalen shrugged. “I have no idea, Chief Jack.” He swallowed hard, hoping that Azrael said nothing to him about Brooke.
“Loren.” Jack shook his head. “Apparently our weapons are not the order of the day. She’s been in contact with…I dunno, somebody. There are supposedly special weapons that we need to pick up.”
Lamb stepped back in lugging the M2. “What do you mean, special, Chief?”
“I mean, not human. She didn’t go into detail. All I know is that we’re wasting our time here.” He cast a disapproving look to Kalen. “How I’m supposed to train you guys without having all the facts is beyond me.”
“I’m sorry, Chief Jack, I did not—”
“Save it.” Jack turned for the door. “For now, run them through the drills using their own weaponry. I have no clue what the special stuff is supposed to be, there’s no sense in risking their lives with stuff they don’t know. Just get them working together tight. As a team.”
“Got it, Chief.” Lamb dropped the M2 and stepped toward the door of the trainer. “Grab your gear and get ready to run the gauntlet.”
Azrael perked up. “The gauntlet? I enjoy gauntlets.”
“Sorry to disappoint, big guy. It’s just an expression.” Brooke patted his shoulder again as she walked by.
Azrael’s shoulders slumped and his face fell before he turned to retrieve his own weapons.
*****
Matt wasn’t sure how he ended up back at Jenny’s quarters but he was just about to turn and try to walk away when she opened the door and leaned against the doorjamb. “Are you going to keep pacing out there all evening or are you going to knock?”
“I was…I mean, I…” He glanced first one way, then the other. “I have no idea how I even got here.”
“Join the club.” She stepped away from the doorjamb, inviting him inside when he noticed that she wore only boxer briefs and a thin t-shirt. He swallowed hard and found that his feet were moving him inside on auto-pilot.
She shut the door behind him and turned to find him looming over her. “I can’t stop thinking of you.” His voice was low and breathy, and she felt chill bumps break out over her skin. A shiver ran up her spin as his hands reached out and grasped her gently by the elbows. “Why can’t I get you out of my mind?”
She leaned into him and inhaled deeply, doing her best to imprint his scent in her mind. She slowly opened her eyes and stared at him. “I don’t know. I’ve had the same problem since I…since we…I mean, since our wolves…”
He leaned down and kissed her, pulling her up and closer to him. She stood on the tips of her toes, placing her hands against his wide chest and pulling herself higher to better reach him. She barely realized that his hands had slid down and cupped her bottom until he lifted her effortlessly and held her against him. She groaned in his mouth and wrapped her arms around his neck, pulling him to her.
He turned slowly and placed her gently on the narrow bed. She wrapped her legs around him more tightly and squeezed, holding him close to her. Matt pulled his mouth from hers only long enough to draw in a gasp of breath before she pulled his mouth back to her own.
He turned them both and sat on her bed, the springs creaking under his weight. She slid further up in his lap and wrapped her legs tighter around him, struggling to keep her grip on him. He ran his hands up her back and soon found them sliding under the thin material of her t-shirt. Without trying, he had the shirt pulled to her neck and slid his mouth from hers long enough to pull the shirt off and toss it to the corner of the room. She was back on him before he could speak and his hands slid slowly across the silky smoothness of her bare skin.
She moaned as he pulled his calloused hands to her front and cupped her bare breasts, his fingers brushing her sensitive spots. He slowly kissed his way to her neck, pausing only a moment to tug and nip at her earlobe before kissing his way to her chest. She threw her head back and bit back a scream as he deftly took each bud in his mouth and sucked at her, nipping her gently with his teeth, his whiskers rasping her tender flesh with each brush.
She threw herself forward, her arms wrapped around his neck once more, pulling herself up and tighter to him. “If you don’t fix this soon, I’m going to go crazy.”
He gave her a confused and half-dazed stare. “Fix what?”
“This.” She leaned back and thrust her breasts into his face. “Get your clothes off now before I rip them off!” she growled from low in her throat.
He felt a chill run up his back and settle in the base of his neck. He knew that her voice had stirred his wolf, and he was quickly pulling at his uniform, tossing pieces aside as quickly as he could remove them.
His hands slid into the waistband of her boxer briefs and slide them off her hips, his roughened hands scratching at her legs as he tugged them off. He paused only a moment as he stared at her beauty then lifted her gently in the air and settled her on him. Her eyes went wide just before he entered her, and she placed both hands on his shoulders. “This is forever you know.”
His eyes darkened and he smiled at her knowingly. “I know.” He pulled her close and sucked her tongue into his mouth just as she relaxed her thighs and allowed herself to lower onto him.
*****
“What kind of trap can we set that will draw them out?” Lilith paced in the confined area of her office/bedroom.
Samael hunkered in a dark corner, his mind wondering about that very same problem. “Perhaps we need to draw them out by sticking to the plan? Use our demons to stir up the humans and when they come out and offer the cache to help, we strike.”
“Who would they offer th
em to…” She snapped her fingers. “The hunters.”
“The hunters.” Samael stood and leaned against the support column. “We will need eyes on the hunters.”
“Easy enough. There are humans all around them according to Damien.”
Samael shuddered. “Do not speak that name any longer.”
“Why, lover? Surely that flesh no longer remembers being him. It surely looks nothing like him any longer.” She ran a long and pointed finger across his chest.
“The fact that you allowed that dead flesh to touch you…” he trailed off.
“No, lover. I allowed it to touch a borrowed body.” She shuddered as she remembered the buxom redhead. “One that almost corrupted my mind.”
“Regardless, that name is dead to us.” Samael snapped as he pushed away from the column. “Now, let us check with our legion and see if the preparations have been made.”
Lilith held the door for him as he ducked and walked outside. As soon as his presence was noted, the demons rushed to form up once more. “Commanders!” he barked. “Do you have your supplies?”
“Yes, m’lord.” The company commanders stepped forward and marched toward him.
The lead commander spoke first. “We have those with the technical knowledge creating the devices now.”
“Very well. How much more time is needed?”
The commander turned and looked to the others who gave a slight shrug. “A day, two at the most.”
Lilith held up a white ball. “And these will do the trick?”
“According to the host, yes, my queen. Those are ceramic and will not be detected by metal detectors.”
“Damn the technology,” Samael growled as he snatched the white sphere from her hand. “And what of the rest of it?”
“Fiber optics instead of wires. Two part explosives, virtually undetectable by most of their scanning machines. Even the canines they use are not trained for this.”
Samael nodded as he tried to crush the white sphere. It seemed as solid as the steel he wanted to use. “And the triggering devices?”
The commander held up a cell phone. “Everybody has one these days.” He turned to another of the lesser unit commanders. “Retrieve one of the devices.” They watched as he ran to the far side of the warehouse then jogged back carrying the vest. “They are lightweight, easily concealable, the explosives are layered in as a paste and it takes very little. The ceramic spheres will act as mortars once the device goes off. Everything within two hundred yards will be decimated.” He smiled as he held the device up.
“And how many are there now?” Lilith asked as she handed the ceramic sphere back.
“Somewhere between five and six thousand. Each of us should be able to suicide our host, return with a new one and be back out in a matter of days.”
Samael nodded. “How many total will there be once all of the materials are used?”
The commander did some quick calculating in his head. “I’d estimate perhaps seventy-five hundred. Perhaps even eight thousand. It just depends on how frugal we are with the spheres.”
Samael turned to Lilith and smiled. “Commander, I do not care about being frugal. We want maximum carnage.”
“Understood, sir.” The commander retrieved the vest from him and handed it back to the sub-commander. “And once we have brought them to their knees?”
Samael sighed heavily. He extended his wings. “Our intent was to have me pose as a Heavenly being and assign our queen as guardian. Obviously that isn’t possible now.”
“Perhaps you can still be of service, sir.” The commander raised a brow, his eyes twinkling with mischief.
“What are your thoughts, Commander?” Lilith asked, stepping between the fallen angel and the Roman.
“Who says the angel that appears has to be ‘heavenly’? What if an angel from the Fallen appeared…and took credit? Then our queen steps in and saves the day?”
Samael gave Lilith a sidelong glance and smiled knowingly. “You’ll need to watch this Roman, my love. I am beginning to think he is far too smart for his own good.”
6
Matt lay on the floor of the cramped room with Jenny curled beside him. The room was a shambles, the desk and chair knocked over, the mattress from the small bed now acting as a pillow against the wall, and sheets and blankets scattered everywhere. His chest rose and fell quickly as he tried to slow his breathing, sweat running down his sides and soaking the blanket underneath them.
“That was…” He trailed off, unable to find the words.
“Incredible.” Jenny nuzzled him and draped a leg over him. “When I think of the time I spent running when we could have been doing this?” She giggled at herself, drunk on the emotional high she was feeling.
Mitchell wrapped a protective arm around her and pulled her closer to him. “I never knew it could be like that.” Her hair tickled his chin and nose as he whispered to her.
She smiled and bit at her lower lip. “Me either. I guess those Fates get some things right.”
Mitchell stared at her leg draped over him and his face became solemn. “I guess it’s done now…isn’t it? I mean, we’re sealed now, right? Connected?”
She nodded almost imperceptibly. “Yes.” She turned her face to his and studied him. The way his eyes took in every little detail, the dimple in his chin, the ridge of his nose, somehow he just oozed masculinity. “Are you okay with it?”
He gave her a slight smile and pulled her tighter to him. “Yeah, I am. I didn’t know if I would be, but I am. Somehow this just feels right.”
She relaxed and exhaled deeply. Her body seemed to melt against his and she laid her head against his chest. “Good, because there’s no going back now.”
“For better or worse. Right?”
“Something like that. Definitely ‘til death do us part.”
Matt stared off into the shadows of her room, his eyes focusing on the future. He nodded more to himself than to her. “I can live with that.”
*****
“Major!” Jack trotted to his side, waving for the man to slow down. “Spare a minute?”
“Make it quick.” Major Tufo spun and headed back to his office with a stack of papers under his arm.
“I need another favor.”
“Why am I not surprised.”
“I got word from the Wyldwood and we have traveling to do. I could use some transportation.” Jack kept his voice low while they walked.
“Can’t your elf open doorways to just about anywhere?” Mark gave him a sideways look.
“Yes, sir, but…” Jack trailed off then pulled him to a stop. “We’re supposed to retrieve a weapons cache. Possibly more than we can carry.”
Mark shrugged. “So make two trips, Chief. I really don’t have transportation that I can legally lend to you. Technically, you’re a civilian.”
Jack gave him a cockeyed stare. “Really, Major? Don’t go down that alley.”
Mark raised a brow. “That a threat, Chief?”
Jack grunted a laugh. “Hardly.” He pointed to the wall behind him. “Mitchell has his new girlfriend here, we have a vampire on staff that’s supposed to be dead, our own men were infected with…”
“Point taken, Chief.” Mark huffed and glanced around. “What kind of transport are we talking here? Humvee, truck, plane, chopper? What?”
Jack shrugged. “I’m not sure yet. I want to take my guys there and check it out, then we’ll radio for support. But only if it’s needed.”
“What kind of weapons are we talking here, Chief?” Mark turned and headed to his office again.
“To be honest, I’m not sure. The Wyldwood hasn’t been very forthcoming with her information. She knows that there is another big threat coming, but she can’t pinpoint exactly what. She knows that we’ll need these weapons and these particular fighters will be key…somehow. But she doesn’t say exactly how.”
Mark turned a curious eye to him as he opened the door to his office. “She doesn’t say a lot of stu
ff, does she?”
“Tell me about it. It’s really starting to get under my skin.” Jack entered and fell into a chair
“Yeah, just make yourself comfortable.” Mark smirked as he dropped the pile of papers on his desk. “So, it’s some kind of special weaponry that will be key to taking out a big unknown threat.” Mark scratched at his chin and reclined in his chair. “Funny thing is, we haven’t got anything on the leaderboards. No hits, no tags, not a whisper of anything brewing out there.”
“Believe me, there’s times I want to tell her to deal with it herself, but I owe her. We all do. And she hasn’t been wrong before, so…”
“So…better safe than sorry.” Mark sighed and rubbed at his eyes. “Okay, fine. You check out her story on the weapons depot. If it pans out and you need help, radio and we’ll send support.”
“Thank you, Major.”
“Don’t thank me yet. There’s still a chance you’ll get to wherever she sends you and there’s nothing there.” He shot Jack a cautious glance. “If that happens, I’ll try not to say ‘I toldja so’.”
“Copy that, sir.”
*****
Laura pulled her Jeep into the driveway of her father’s house. She sat in the vehicle and stared at the house that she and her brothers had called home; the place that they had grown up and shared so many memories. She remembered the last time she was here, her father was so proud of her. The work that she had been doing, that she had been involved in, it was so important in his mind. He couldn’t understand how she could leave the Company to become a contractor for the military.
She opened the door and stepped from the car, her feet crunching the gravel under her boots. She inhaled deeply and smiled as the pine scented air filled her lungs. She had always loved the mountains and her father’s house sat at the foothills of the Zuni Mountain range near Gallup.
She walked slowly toward the front door and pushed it open, reminding herself that she was ‘home’. The fears and trepidation she felt at entering her childhood home left the moment she stepped inside and saw things exactly the way she remembered them. She smiled inwardly as she walked past the trophy case that contained the majority of her family’s athletic trophies. She ran a hand slowly across the glass and remembered how proudly her father would include each new addition. “I’m going to have to build a bigger case if you don’t slow down, Peanut.”
Obsessions: A Monster Squad Novel 7 Page 8
