by Amelia Jade
It wasn’t a fair fight at all. Ten seconds later and the last of them collapsed to the ground.
“Bravo, report.” Alpha’s voice echoed sharply down the alleyway.
He looked around quickly. “Six Agents accounted for. No casualties.”
“We have six too. Let’s go.”
Connor nodded, ushering their man into the SUV that was idling at the alley entrance. They had to step carefully over the six bodies lying in various positions on the ground.
Twelve men was a standard Agency attack team. They had thought it was ten initially, but events had proven them wrong.
“That wasn’t even a fight,” their charge whispered as they backed out of the dark alleyway and took off into the city, trying to put as much distance between them as they could.
“No, it wasn’t,” Connor confirmed, sitting back into his seat as he tried to calm his stomach. “Be thankful for it.”
It had been a slaughter. He felt his gorge rise at the idea of being thankful that they had only been up against humans. He hated to be glad that they were easy to kill, but he was.
The alternative was far less savory.
Connor closed his eyes, the rest of their journey to the train yard and the final escape of their charge no more than a blur. The only thing that he remembered was that this time it was Alpha’s turn to play escort. That meant their leader would accompany the unnamed man all the way to Genesis Valley before he returned.
In the meantime, Connor was in charge.
Oh dear.
***
“Connor.”
“Yessir?” he said, slurring his words as he tried to step in time with his compatriots.
Delta—no, Josh, he corrected—snorted haughtily at the reply. They were out in public. He needed to refer to them as their real names, even though they were still on a mission.
Such was his life lately. Missions are missions. Connor didn’t mind; it was what he had signed up for. He hadn’t expected this to be his first assignment away from Genesis Valley, but when Valen, the owner of the company he worked for, had asked for volunteers, Connor hadn’t hesitated. He was blessed with a natural inclination toward the skills necessary for this type of work. It wouldn’t have been right of him to refuse to provide help for those who needed it.
Besides, right now he got to feign being riotously drunk while his friends hauled him along the streets.
“You’re an ass,” Josh replied, digging his shoulder into his friend’s side.
Connor laughed, his hands hanging lazily around his friends’ necks while they carried him. His head lolled back and forth as passersby gave the three of them incredulous looks. He shook it off. What was wrong with being drunk by six? It wasn’t like it was still the morning!
What they didn’t notice, however, was the way he surveyed the street and nearby buildings through eyes narrowed into slits. If they had, it would have given his act away immediately, because no one could mistake the intelligence and purpose in that stare.
“Noww, my good man,” he replied. “That, from an upstanding gentledick like yourself, is completely expected.” He turned his head, ostensibly to stare at Justin, who was holding up his left side. “Now this man, he, he, he, he’s a goooood man,” Connor crooned.
The pair of them shook with laughter, the movement bouncing Connor up and down slightly, forcing him to focus slightly more on the building across the street from them.
It was a shorter building than the one from two days prior, thank goodness. Five stories of thirty-year-old gothic architecture. Swooping arches around the windows, spires on every corner of the roof, and gargoyles worked into the concrete façade of the building. The bland beige coloring did nothing to help with the slightly dilapidated feel of the building. But the windows were new, and fresh, with bright flags hung over the lobby, which also was kept clean and in good condition.
Connor’s eyes lingered on a window on the fourth floor, second from the left. The curtains were open, but he couldn’t see inside. According to the floorplan of the building, that was the room of their next target.
Maybe “target” isn’t the right word. The thought echoed through his head as they continued along the sidewalk. They weren’t trying to hurt anyone. In fact, they were doing just the opposite. His team’s mission was to find shifters that were at risk, and to get them to safety outside of the city. He resolved to find a better word for them to use.
“You put on some weight or something?” Justin asked, adjusting his position.
“I had pancakes for breakfast,” Connor replied happily, skipping for a step or two before tripping and using his friends to help him stay on his feet while he laughed.
“You’re abusing this,” Josh complained, though he didn’t break stride.
Connor didn’t reply, looking around while blinking rapidly, taking in the various shops, alleys and streets. Although they needed to survey the building, as their last extraction had proven, knowing the area around the building was just as important.
Especially if they manage to get the drop on us. Again.
That was becoming more of a problem lately. The Agency teams—which seemed to be endless in number—were conducting ambushes like the one the night before with increasing frequency. Connor had a few theories on that, but he hadn’t voiced them to anyone yet. No point in causing problems where there might not be any. Whatever the Agency was, they were good.
Connor’s eyes surveyed the streets around them, looking for any potential problems, or things to be aware of. Things such as fire routes, where no parking was allowed. They were perfect places for getaway cars to pull up close to the curb. At the same time, if they had them memorized, they could see when vehicles were parked in them that shouldn’t be. The part of town they were in was very busy, riding a recent wave of popularity with the young adults of the city. Parking was hard to come by. A big SUV or truck in a no-parking zone would be a huge indicator, but only if they knew where to look.
His eyes browsed the crowd, searching for anyone that stuck out. He was hoping they had gotten the advantage on the Agency this time, but he wasn’t sure.
He tripped, stumbling awkwardly.
“What the fuck?” Josh said angrily.
But Connor wasn’t paying attention. His vision was still filled with the image of a short-haired blonde with the most stunning brown eyes he’d ever seen.
“Connor,” Justin hissed, yanking his arm, hauling him to his feet.
His shoulder screamed in protest, and Connor fought to regain control of his act.
She’s gorgeous.
The thought echoed through his head over and over again. He tried to focus, but his gaze strayed back her way. He needed to see her again.
His eyes moved of their own accord, trying to pick her out of the crowd. He came to a halt sharply.
She was staring right at him!
Connor worked his jaw nervously as he stared back at her, unable to recover his composure.
After a lingering moment, the women’s face scrunched up in disgust. She looked away, turning to go the opposite direction, her jaw-length blonde hair bobbing fiercely as she strode away with determined steps.
“What the fuck was that all about?” Justin whispered in his ear as Connor watched her disappear into the crowd.
“I don’t know,” he said, his voice an equal mixture of wonder and surprise. “I don’t know,” he repeated softly.
“Can we get back on track?” Justin asked sharply.
“I think we need to split up,” Connor said as he saw something else. “Justin, inside quickly, Josh, tie your shoe.”
The others didn’t ask, responding instantly. Justin, who was on his right-hand side, ducked into the nearby shop, while Josh dropped to one knee, his size hidden now by the passerby. Connor was the only one who was visible now to the Agent that walked purposefully down the street on the far side. Connor continued to walk slowly down the sidewalk, purposefully ignoring the Agent until he had passed him.
Then he moved to the side, up against the nearest building. He watched the Agent take a long look at the building he had been scoping out moments earlier, before the man disappeared down the street.
“Not good,” he said as the pair rejoined him a minute later.
“Yeah, no kidding. I guess we’re moving tonight, aren’t we?” Justin asked.
“Yep.”
They had planned to move the next night. By then Jared, or Alpha on their missions, would have arrived at Genesis Valley and hopefully on the next train back to King City.
“Time to head back and prepare,” Connor said, his mind already thinking ahead to their planned extraction for that night.
His mind might have been focused on the mission, but his bear was active inside of him. It had only one focus.
The girl with the brown eyes.
Who was she?
Chapter Two
Madison
Shivers ran down her spine.
Maddy could feel his eyes on her still. It wasn’t until she rounded the corner that the feeling stopped. She paused there, back against the wall, feeling the rough concrete through her vest and shirt. It was cool to the touch, despite the warmth in the air. The sun set on the far side of the building, so this wall wouldn’t have received its touch for a number of hours now.
People continued to stream by her. Most of them were young, her age or within a few years of her. The area was popular, and though Maddy didn’t participate in much of the activities others her age did, she liked the busyness of it all. She could window shop all she wanted and not feel guilty for not buying anything, because plenty of others were doing so.
No, it was only her own lack of ability to buy... well, anything... that bothered her.
“Oh that’s pretty,” she said to herself as she turned around, admiring a nice shawl draped over the mannequin in the window.
Her heart stopped at the price tag. She would never be able to afford eighty dollars. Upscale boutique or not, Maddy couldn’t afford her own cell phone bill, let alone new clothing. She angrily shoved that thought from her mind, as well as purging any lingering feeling of disgust over being stared at.
The man had been so brazen about it, just looking at her through the crowd as if he had a claim on her. Men didn’t stare at her like that. Not while she was looking back at them, at least. She could see his eyes even now, the blue orbs laser-focused on her. Goose bumps broke out across her skin in response to just her memories of him.
Why had he been staring at her like that? Did she know him? Maddy didn’t think so. Someone of that size and stature was rather hard to forget. The man had been a giant, well over six feet tall, with muscles to make a Greek god jealous. If it hadn’t been for the intensity of the way he looked at her, he might have even been attractive. She wasn’t normally attracted to that type—
You don’t even have a type.
That was true. Mostly. She liked men, and had several crushes as well. But ever since she got her growth spurt, boys and men had mostly found her intimidating. She was tall, almost six feet in height, and she wasn’t a stick figure model either. She was strong, having played rugby in college for several years, though she didn’t work out much lately. The gym cost money, and school had taken all of her money in and spit it out in the form of an extremely expensive piece of paper that was now tucked away in a box somewhere in her bedroom. Her childhood bedroom.
Maddy still lived at home, and she loathed herself for it.
Blinking, she realized she was still staring at the same deep violet shawl in the window. With one last wistful stare she pulled herself away from the window, trying to lose herself in the constant stream of foot traffic up and down the sidewalk at this time of day. The longer she could delay her arrival back home, the better.
It wouldn’t stop the questions, but she was used to that by now. Her dad would ask how her day had gone, and if she had gotten a job, or even an interview yet. She snickered at his outdated thinking and the advice he had given her when she came home from college with her tail between her legs, no jobs or even prospects on the horizon, and out of money.
“Madison, my dear, you need to get out there, to pound the pavement. Just walk in there, ask to speak to the manager, and shake his hand firmly. Trust me, managers notice that kind of thing. Then you tell them you’re ready to work, and you hand them your resume.”
Her dad worked for the city. It had been decades since he had needed to look for a job. Maddy tried telling him that things just didn’t work that way anymore, but he hadn’t listened to her.
So Maddy ignored him, and pretended she was out walking around every day handing out resumes, instead of sitting in front of a computer at the local library and filling out endless personality quiz surveys.
Now there was a useless and extremely annoying aspect of job hunting. That and the part where a company’s online application form made someone upload their resume, and then fill out forms stating the same information!
She snorted to herself, ignoring the looks several passersby shot her.
Maybe she was just a bit jaded with the way things were going for her recently. Between crushing student debt and a useless degree, Maddy’s prospects in life weren’t exactly helping with that feeling.
The time came to head home. Her footsteps carried her through the streets.
“Hello Charles,” she said cheerfully to the doorman.
“Evening Miss Madison,” the portly old man replied, holding the door for her with a smile. “Have a good day?”
“Of course!” she said, half turning as she walked toward the elevator. “And yourself? What kind of craziness did you get up to today?”
The doorman chuckled. “Twenty-four years now, Miss Madison. You should know that I’m not much for craziness.”
She smiled.
“Same old, same old,” they chorused together.
Maddy looked at him for a moment, then they burst into laughter.
“I’ll see you tomorrow Charles,” she said brightly as the elevator dinged its arrival, the dual doors splitting down the middle to admit her into the steel enclosure.
“I look forward to it,” he replied, giving her a wave.
The elevator chimed past each floor as they ascended, and each time the musical noise went off, Maddy felt her mood go one floor in the opposite direction. She seemed to leave all of her happiness there on the ground floor. By the time she reached her destination, only four floors above, she was on edge, gritting her teeth against the coming conversation with her father.
The silver key in her hand paused mere inches away from the gold of the lock as she hesitated. Perhaps she should could back out and wander around for a few more hours? He might go to bed in that time frame.
He might also magically forget, but don’t count on it.
Maddy sighed and jammed the key in, opening the door.
“Madison!” her father said happily, rising swiftly from his desk in the common room, where he had been doing something on his laptop.
She smiled and let herself be wrapped up in a hug. Her dad, despite his never-ending prying into her life, loved her fiercely, of that she would never be in doubt. Despite it all, she felt herself hugging him back.
“Hi Daddy,” she said.
Her father was a tall man, though not as big as the man who had looked at her so eerily on the street earlier. She idly wondered if the other man was perhaps a shifter as well. He certainly had the same muscular build that her father did. She wondered how he managed to maintain that figure.
Must be the genes. She knew her dad didn’t work out. He worked for the city management, and spent his days behind a desk as far as she knew.
“Okay, time to let me in,” she said, breaking free of the hug and sliding off her backpack, using that motion to grab the door behind her and let it close.
“Right,” he said, stepping back.
Their apartment was a small rectangle, with the door halfway through one of the long sides. It opene
d up right into the middle of their common area, which contained the work desk to the right, a TV on the left, and a couch and several chairs down the middle. Hallways to her right and left led to the bedrooms and kitchen respectively. It wasn’t much, but it was, and had always been, home.
“So, what’s for dinner?” she asked, trying to identify the aroma she had been smelling since she walked in.
“I actually already ate,” he admitted sheepishly. “You’re out later than expected today.”
Maddy nodded, images of the man who had spooked her off from coming straight home flashing through her mind. Why her? Couldn’t he have found someone a little more conventionally beautiful to stare at?
“But,” her father was still speaking, “I did keep it warming for you. How does baked chicken with stuffed peppers sound?”
Her mouth instantly watered.
“That sounds absolutely delicious,” she said, making a beeline for the kitchen to serve some.
“No no,” her dad said with a wave, stepping in the way. “Go take a seat, I’ll serve you.”
“Dad, I’m not six anymore,” she complained, though not very hard. “I can serve myself you know!
“Yes I’m well aware of how grown up you’re becoming,” he teased. “But let a father do it while he still can, okay?”
She smiled. “Okay,” she relented, taking a seat at the dining table tucked away into the back right corner of the apartment.
“Besides, while I’m doing this, you can tell me all about your day. Why were you out so late? Did you have an interview perhaps? Or did you run into someone? A boy maybe?”
Once again the strange, tall man appeared in her head, his blue eyes so captivating she lost herself in them.
“Well?” her father asked, returning to the table with a portion for her, and a bit of seconds for himself.
“Sorry,” she apologized with a shake of her head. “No, nothing today, Daddy. Maybe tomorrow though.”
