Burned In Shadows (Shadow Unit) (4 page)

The door banged open and a dark figure in black fatigues had a dead weighted Marcus over his shoulder barreling through the door, knocking Jes down. He railroaded Bells into a side wall and kept going.

“Stop!” Jes yelled. She jumped to her feet and made a beeline for the stairs. Bells got to her feet and went after her in pursuit. This day just kept getting better and better.

Chapter 3

A
drenaline pumped viciously through her body as Jes took the stairs three at a time. Marcus was escaping, it didn’t matter that he was on the shoulder of a man dressed in black. And how very bad-guy of him to have a mask over his face, and what the fuck for? Keeping his identify must have been key for this little mission he was on. She shouldn’t be surprised; the leader of the Red Sun Organization obviously wanted his puppet back. She was gaining on the masked man, and he didn’t seem to mind. The Cocky bastard! Just because she was a female, men felt she was weaker, inferior to their intelligence and strength. Well wasn’t he in for a surprise. Her legs pumped harder as they both reached the top of the landing at the same time. The door wasn’t a pull but a push.
Dummy.
Guess he thought he’d be able to pull it open and instead pulled the door off its hinges.

Jes used his fumble to her advantage and kicked out with her foot and pushed him, Marcus and the door forward into the hall. His head made a silent thump against the metal. What a fucking douche! He didn’t drop Marcus either. Neanderthal was going to try and take her down with one arm. Did he think he would best her just because she was a girl, and he was a man? Bring it! Jes thought to herself. She didn’t give him time to think, she reached forward with her right hand while thrusting him in the chest with her open palmed left hand. He shot backwards again, and she yanked with her right clasping onto Marcus’ dead weight body. The intruder must have knocked him out because Marcus wasn’t moving. With her new found strength, she was able to yank him from the other guys grasp. The man clad in black was quick to recover. He was up and in her face seconds after she knocked him back. He reached out and grabbed her by the throat pressing inward. This did nothing but piss her off more. Why did it seem like she was always fighting for her life? He brought her closer as he tried to choke the life from her. Her skin tingled with power and her canines elongated.
Canines?
When the fuck did she get Dracula teeth? No time to figure that out now. Darkness was threatening to cloud Jes’ brain, but there was also that buzzing noise in the back her head. Something was happening, and she didn’t know what it was. So many changes had already taken hold of her physically and mentally, it was hard to keep up at times.

Everything was still brand new to her, some days she knew herself other days she didn’t. It
was the days she didn’t that scared her. Tonight was one of those days as her mouth filled with teeth she’d never had before. The mood changing eyes she’d dealt with, the inhuman super strength, no problem, but fangs? Fangs were not on her list of fashionable attributes to have. The intruder currently trying to squeeze the life out of her, stilled. The air was agitated with his aggressiveness, but beneath it was doubt.
Doubt?
He doubted himself, and she was going to exploit his weakness to her advantage. Jes brought her hands up between his arms and pushed down with all her strength. It loosened his grip on her neck and she backed up, taking large gulps of air. His head tilted to the side, and he examined her. She boldly met his eyes and stared into eyes that looked identical to Oliver’s eyes when they’d gone black.

Great she was dealing with one of those strong-psycho-killing-silent types. Those estranged men who never had the pleasure of sleeping with a woman or being around one for that matter. She hated she even had time to acknowledge that. Ronin said never le
t her guard down. Not now, not ever again. Her scars may have been physically gone, erased from her body, but the memories lingered. She was still a damaged fucked up shell of a woman, more now than before with the loss of her mate Draven.

A flash of green caught her eyes as the masked man stared at her for long moments. He was walking closer, one hand outstretched as if he would help her. His body language said he was sorry, but the air in the room was still filled with male testosterone and the anger that clung to it. Who was this man? As he reached slowly toward her, Jes took her chance. She reached forward as if to take his hand.
Closer.....Closer......
Contact! She pulled him down to the concrete floor and put her boot to his throat and pressed. He struggled, grabbed at her boot and twisted. Pain exploded in her ankle and spread up her leg, but she quickly recovered and fell full straddle on top of him. Squeezing hard with her thighs, she latched onto his side and began to choke him. The masked man struggled and coughed, wrestling his head back and forth for what seemed like hours. When his body went lax beneath her thighs, she loosened.

Deep breaths sustained her shaking body. She was so amped up on adrenaline she didn’t think she’d come down. Her fangs were still making their debut appearance when Bells finally made it to the top of the landing. She was doubled over and trying to catch her breath. Damn had she gotten faster? What seemed like minutes must have happened in a shorter span of time.

“Dude, you fucking have fangs now?” Bells questioned breathlessly.

“Um, yeah. I guess I do now.”

“Is he dead?”

“No he’s out… I think.” She was about to get off the body, but she wanted to see who the intruder was. He was large, but she was used to seeing large men, she sparred with two giants every day. She bent forward and pulled off the m
ask and froze. The shock of what she discovered hit her full force. All the air from her body dissipated in a cloud of heartfelt confusion and sadness. She’d had dreams about this moment, nightmares even. Every single time the outcome had always been the same. Even in her nightmares the ending was what she wanted. Something was seriously wrong with this picture, and from the loud explosion of breath that Bells let rip from her chest, Jes knew she wasn’t dreaming.

Why? Why would he do this to her? Where had he been for the past six weeks? They’d looked for him, the entire team had searched that warehouse from top to bottom and found nothing. Not even a body. She wanted to shout with victory and scream in agony, all in the same breath, but nothing came out. Exposed, powerful emotions bombarded her senses. She was shaking and her vision blurred. The sound that left her throat was loud and laced with pain and fury. Fury at herself, fury at him. She felt foolish and elated at the same time. Why was he here, and like this?

Draven, it was Draven underneath the mask. Her hesitation and confusion cost her. Black eyes flashed open and turned forest green before turning back to the inky black. He pushed up and grabbed her by the arms and flung her into the wall. Her body hit with a sickening thud. He’d thrown her, but why? Did he not want her anymore? All her natural defenses shut down, opening her to a flood of overwhelming anguish. The pain was too much for her to do anything but lay broken against the wall. Was this all her fault? Had her rejection and not being able to tell him how she genuinely felt caused this? Blood filled her throat and over flowed into her mouth, seeping out at the corners. Her body was slowly repairing itself. She didn’t try to move, but watched as he quickly righted himself.

He dragged an unconscious Marcus out the opening of the door without even a backward glance. She’d come face to face with the only man she’d ever truly wanted and he’d walked out of her life again, for the third time.

# # #

Mr. Black placed his unconscious cargo in the back seat of the car that was parked right in front of the station. The witches had been right when they said no one would be able to detect him. It’d lasted until he had the traitor in his grasp and that was fine, as long as he accomplished his assignment. He started up the car and rubbed the back of his neck. He had
two more session and then the remaining memories would be gone. Memories he didn’t want to keep, memories that weren’t real. Dr. Grayson explained that the Agency had tampered with his memory and given him false ones. But that woman back there, she was real, and he clearly remembered her face. Or maybe it was the eyes. In his dream, he’d never actually seen her face. He’d been able to feel her long, soft curls in his hand, see those golden honey eyes. But never in his dreams did her eyes change color, nor a mouth filled with fangs.

Black looked in the backseat at the traitor Marcus. The Agency had him locked up pretty solid, and he didn’t see why the master needed to retrieve him, but orders were orders. Marcus had taken one look at Black and knew who sent him. At one time, his eyes were green, but that was in the past. Now they were black, an emotionless windows to his already dead soul, compliments of the Red Sun.

War was never easy, and that’s what the Agency had declared on Immortals. People handled things differently during war, and in order to win, one had to cut out all of the emotional strings that came with it. It didn’t matter if you were a man, woman or child in war, you either were, or you weren’t on the right side. Dr. Grayson had explained he’d gone missing six weeks prior, and they had to re-assimilate him. He didn’t remember much in that first week, but he did know with each session he was getting stronger, better, and ready for the dark days to come. Black was the commander of the Assassination Squad, and Enri was the commander of the Death Walkers. Enri’s squad dealt in death, and his squad dealt in quiet assassinations but of the gruesome persuasion.

Black still wanted a piece of Marcus
. For some reason the man got to him on a level that dug deep into his gut leaving venom surging through his veins. He’d go rounds with him but after the master had his turn first. The drive back to the facility was quiet, and he enjoyed the time it gave him to think about all the things he was going to do to make Marcus squeal like a pig. Black adjusted his rear view mirror so he’d get a better look at the man he wanted to cause serious bodily harm to. There was something familiar yet unfamiliar to him. Had they worked together in the past?

Two hours later, the car turned into the paved drive that lead to the facility. The guard at the gate waved him past. The facility doubled as a training camp for new recruits and a housing facility. Black lived here but didn’t remember much about his time before it. Melissa had assured him, he was happy here. She was another enigma thrown into the puzzle. There were glimpses of their past in his head, and they weren’t bad, but they weren’t impressive either. There was something lacking and the fact that his wolf had serious
issues were a problem. He was only able to stomach being around her in short bursts, and those were usually in bed. The first time they’d slept together he’d gotten sick and had to excuse himself to the restroom.

His body, as well as his wolf, acted as if they were mated. The side effects of a mated wolf were painful. If he slept with someone other than his mate, it would slowly begin to tear their mated souls in half. It wasn’t a pretty process either, that was one thing he remembered from his past. But he had no one to talk to on the subject and ignored it altogether. The pain was starting to subside, and Dr. Grayson assured him it was the side effects of his treatment. It was somewhat of a relief to know that he wa
sn’t attached to anyone. He was having another treatment today, but before he went to see Doc Grayson he was going to have a chat with Marcus.

Black pulled his car in front of the training center and cut the engine. He sat there for a moment going over in his head what would be the best course of action to take with Marcus. Why did he have these feelings towards him? What was it that got deep into his skin and sizzled? Determined to get to the bottom of his issues, Black got out of the car and went about the business of taking the other man inside.

# # #

“Where are the women?” Royce asked as they filed back into the conference room. He’d heard Jes scream and was worried about the idiot who single handedly had taken his teammates down, him included. The masked fucker was quick. Neither he nor his brother
got a bead on his thoughts. Normally that would have been deemed uncommon for them. Lately, it was just another day in the life and times of fucked up beyond all recognition. Fuck a FUBAR if you were going to say it, don’t abbreviate it. It had taken all of them to try and first catch the guy, and then try and keep him from snatching Marcus. After the numerous attempts of not succeeding, it had taken all six of them to watch the guy haul ass up the stairwell to freedom.
Nicely done.
This kind of shit was not supposed to happen to them. Not ever.

“Women are in the stair well.” Dietrich informed him. They’d taken the opposite exit on the other side of the interrogation room in hopes to cut the guy off. Clusterfuck of a day if you asked him. He should have known they weren’t going to listen to Ronin. Bad enough Bells didn’t want to talk to him.
And why the hell not? He was decent looking, had all his teeth. No scratch that, his was
muthafuckin
fine. At least that’s what they were saying about him, and he would know. He knew the score and so did Ronin. It didn’t surprise him that the pretty pretty princess was high and mighty. All up on her pedestal and shit. Gods, she made his chest hurt and his dick hard. There had been several circumstances where he’d wanted to go up to her and tell her what was what. It sounded right in his head, he just was unable to get the words out.
Hey, you happen to belong to me, its fate. And, by the way, you belong to my brother too. Ever heard of the R&R sandwich? We take rest and relaxation to a whole new level sugar.
Nope, he wasn’t about to say that shit. He and his brother would do more than take her to the next level. They’d fuck her unconscious and hope she’d survive the mating. Damn why was life this fuck up of epic proportions? Why couldn’t he meet a delightful girl named Sally, from the valley? It happened to humans. Why not him?