Crossfire (Book 1) (The Omega Group) (20 page)

You’ve just read Crossfire, the first book in the Omega
Group Series. I hope you enjoyed it.

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If
you’d like to read an excerpt from Greco, the next installment in the Omega
Group series, please turn the page.

Please
enjoy this excerpt from the novella sequel to Crossfire.

Greco sat on the end of the dock
that served as the boat slip for the new Omega Group’s headquarters, his feet
dangling above the water. The sun had begun to rise over the ocean and he could
just make out the outline of Amelia Island off to the north. The orange and
yellow hues that blanketed Nassau Sound at this time of day were breathtaking,
but Greco barely noticed.

His thoughts were elsewhere.

In the three months since the
Omega Group—and Mirissa in particular—succeeded in ending Daedric’s plans for
world domination, Greco found himself spiraling into a deep depression.
Although no one had ever considered him a people person, his need to withdraw
even from those he now considered friends was taking over his life.

Every day he was expected to
train with Mirissa, and every evening he went home feeling even more
disconnected. A good night’s sleep was a thing of the past as his guilt kept
him tossing and turning throughout the night.

How long can I keep up this
charade?

For over a year he’d been
Mirissa’s guardian—teaching her, molding her, helping her fulfill her destiny.
He’d done a good job, too. Mirissa was strong and getting more powerful every
day.

When he first met her, on her
eighteenth birthday, Mirissa was a happy-go-lucky teenager getting ready for
her prom. Only a year later, she was a formidable Amazon warrior with powers
that no other Amazon throughout history possessed. And she’d succeeded in
taking down a demi-god.

One thing he’d never understood
was why he’d been assigned as Mirissa’s guardian in the first place. Myrine,
the former queen of the Amazons during the period when Artemis imbued them with
their unnatural powers, had given Greco that particular duty. Although two
thousand years had passed since the time of her reign, Myrine still played a
vital role in shaping and training the Amazon tribe. Not in this dimension, of
course, but in another where the island of Tritonia still existed. All Amazons
visited this island and Myrine when they first donned their rings, and whenever
they needed guidance. They could simply will their consciousness there.

Greco travelled there many times
and was the only man to do so. He was, much to his mother’s chagrin, the first
male born to an Amazon in history.

A shiver went through Greco’s
body. Not from the chill of the early morning breeze, but from the thought of
his mother.

She was the reason he was in this
predicament. Why couldn’t she have just accepted him for who, and what, he was?
After all, it wasn’t as though he had any control over his chromosomes.

The earliest memory Greco had of
his mother was of her locking him in a closet to ensure her “guests” didn’t see
him. At the time, being only five years old, he’d had no idea that this was
unusual behavior. “
They can’t know about you,”
his mother would say.
That was why there weren’t any pictures of him displayed in their house, and
his bedroom was decorated as a guest room.

He wasn’t hidden away from
everyone, though. His father wouldn’t allow that. Only his mother’s special
friends weren’t allowed to know about him. The friends who—unknown to him at
the time—were Amazons.

A splash beneath his feet brought
Greco back from his trip down memory lane. Myrick, the Omega Group’s resident
Merman, reached his hand up to the dock and gracefully pulled himself out of
the water.

“You out here again, lad?” Myrick
stood behind him, wearing neon green swim trunks, toweling off. Ever since the
new headquarters was built on the water, he would swim to the office, staying
far enough under the surface to ensure that no fisherman or pleasure boaters
would catch a glimpse of him. He kept a supply of clothing and towels in the
dock house.

 “Just finished my run.
Taking a breather before heading in.”

The look in the Scotsman’s eyes
told Greco he knew something was bothering him, but he was kind enough not to
pry. “I’ll be ready in a minute. We can walk together.”

When Myrick emerged from the dock
house, he was wearing loose-fitting blue jeans and a white button-down shirt.
His now dry gills had molded themselves back into his neck, and the webbing
between his fingers and toes was fully receded, leaving no trace of their
existence. “So, any idea what’s on the agenda for this morning’s meeting?”
Myrick asked.

 “Nope. Maybe they finally
found Daedric.”

“A bit of good news would be a
nice change.” Myrick laughed.

Myrine Colson, named after the
Amazon Queen from two thousand years ago, was the current queen and also the
leader of the Omega Group. She’d set their weekly meeting for first thing that
morning. Everyone, including Mirissa, would be there.

When they reached the back
entrance to the headquarters, Myrick stopped and turned serious for the first
time since Greco had known him. “Look, I don’t know what’s going on with you,
but whatever it is, you need to deal with it. What you’ve been doing the last
few months isn’t working.”

Greco stared at him and gave him
a quick nod.

“For God sakes, boy. If you want
to ask the lass out, just do it and put us all out of our misery!” Myrick’s
moment of seriousness was over.

Myrine patiently waited for her team to get settled.
Phoenix, still on assignment in Africa, was the only Omega Group member not
attending today’s meeting. The rest of the team waited in the conference room,
with coffee or tea in hand, for her to begin. Carter and Han, sitting together
as always, were laughing about something that happened over the weekend, while
Ken Hodges and Jackie Barns, the only humans on the team, listened in.
 Myrine’s husband, Steve, and daughter, Mirissa, sat next to each other
whispering conspiratorially. Myrick, Beck, Asteria and Orano were all glued to
the screens of their smart phones, most likely checking emails or, in Asteria’s
case, playing Candy Crush or some other mind-numbing game.

 One person was still missing.

A moment later, Greco entered the conference room, freshly
showered after his usual morning run, with his wet hair hanging in his eyes. He
took a seat at the opposite end of the table from Myrine, a scowl on his face.
She noticed that it was as far away from Mirissa as possible.

That scowl is about to get worse,
Myrine thought.

“Alright everyone, let’s start with some good news.” The
expectant look on her team’s faces told her what they were thinking, so she
quickly continued. “No. We haven’t found Daedric yet. We did hear from
Grainger, though. He and Meghan are doing well and they’re expecting their
first child.” Myrine paused as a few cheers erupted. “He said if it’s a girl,
they’re going to name her Mirissa. And if it’s a boy, Steve. Although he wanted
me to tell you, Steve, that there would be no Teletubby paraphernalia in the
house.” Her husband’s old SEAL nickname never failed to irk him and she enjoyed
watching him squirm whenever it was used.

“On to business. Carter, I need you to go to Arizona.” She
tossed a manila folder in front of him. “There’ve been several unusual
occurrences in and around the Grand Canyon. Strange auras emanating from it,
visitors losing large chunks of time, and a dramatic uptick in violent crime in
the surrounding area. Take Han and Jackie with you. The name and contact info
of one of the canyon’s trail guides is in the file. She’s been documenting all
of the activity and will get you started.”

An unexpected look of resignation passed over Carter’s face,
but he, Han, and Jackie began looking over the file, so Myrine ignored it and
moved on. “Beck, you, Orano and Myrick are in charge of the new recruits. Their
training starts now.”

In the weeks following their defeat of Daedric and the
preternaturals he hired to help him, Myrine had been on a mission to grow her
team. The Omega Group’s roster currently held ten preternaturals from seven
different tribes, but that was no longer enough. The increase in the sheer
number of cases they were assigned by CIA Director Finley, and the time
required to deal with each one, left her only one option. Bring in more agents.

Myrine had spent the last month travelling the world with
her husband, meeting with the leaders of various preternatural groups. In the
end, she’d succeeded in recruiting three new team members.

“Alright everyone, let’s get to work. Greco? Hang back for a
minute.” As the rest of her team started filing out of the room, Myrine stopped
her daughter. “Mirissa, I need you and Asteria to wait for me in my office.
I’ll be there shortly.” With a nod, both Amazons headed that way.

When the room was empty, Myrine closed the door and motioned
for Greco to take a seat next to her.

“Something’s happened, Greco. It’s your mother. She
disappeared several days ago.”

Greco stared blankly at her. “That’s it? She’s probably just
on a bender. Nothing to worry about. She’ll turn up like always.”

When Greco tried to stand up to leave, Myrine put a hand on
his shoulder to keep him seated. “I don’t think that’s the case this time.
Gayle hasn’t had a drink in almost a year. She’s been doing really well. Three
days ago, your dad came home to find her gone. Her car, purse, and cell phone
were all still there. He called me this morning.”

Greco waited for a moment before speaking. “If my dad
thought something was wrong, why wait three days to call you?”

“Honestly? He thought, at first, the same thing you did—that
she’d relapsed and would come home on her own. But as time went on and he
didn’t hear from her, he did some checking around. He couldn’t find any
evidence that she’d started drinking again. Quite the opposite, in fact.”
Myrine continued, “I visited Tritonia this morning to see if anyone had heard
from her and I got some disturbing news.”

Greco’s eyes narrowed. “What news?”

“A few of the other visiting warriors reported seeing an
apparition two days ago. An Amazon that didn’t fully materialize on the island.
They said she looked strained and was only able to say two words before she
disappeared completely. She said ‘help me’”.

Greco’s voice was even as he asked, “And they think it was
my mother?”

“The warriors that saw her apparition never met your mother.
But the description they gave fits Gayle perfectly. Add that to the fact that
she’s gone missing, and I think it’s a pretty safe bet.”

Greco stared into space for a beat before speaking. “I’ll
check in with my dad and see if I can find out anything. I’ll keep you posted.”

“I’m sending Mirissa and Asteria with you to help,” Myrine
said.

“No!” Greco’s brows furrowed, and his voice lowered. “I can
handle this myself. Like I said, she’s probably off somewhere with a bottle.”

“Greco, I know you’ve had more than your fair share of
problems with your mother, but I don’t care about your personal opinion on
this. I am the Amazon queen, and a member of my tribe is missing. Until I’m
given evidence proving otherwise, I’m going to treat this case like any other
threat. Take a moment if you need to get your head straight, then meet me in my
office. Is that understood?”

Greco nodded as he left the room.

Myrine gathered up her files and started toward her office.
She wasn’t sure if she was doing the right thing sending Mirissa with Greco.
She’d seen the way her daughter looked at him and, with his history, things
were bound to get ugly.

Purchase
Greco now for only $1.39 at:

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JYG0G7I

First, I want to thank you for taking the time to read this
book. I hope you enjoyed getting to know the characters as much as I enjoyed
creating them.

If I could make one request of you… Please take a moment to
write a review of this book on Amazon.com. Your comments will not only help me
improve this series, but they will also have a huge impact on my standing in
Amazon. A few minutes of your time will make an enormous difference. I thank
you, in advance, for your review.

Now, on to the nitty-gritty stuff.

I know that some of you who are familiar with the
Jacksonville Beach area—where our Omega Group’s safe house was located—cringed
at my description of Duval Drive. In reality, Duvall Drive is a single road
with no cross streets, but I took a little bit of literary license. Grainger simply
needed somewhere to park his Jeep, so I invented new streets.

I also made some changes to the history of the Amazon
warriors, but I didn’t think you would mind. Every depiction of Amazons given
throughout history is slightly different from the next one. No one truly knows
if the Amazon tribe ever existed in the first place, but I like to think it
did.

Also, the technology that Sera Maison introduced to the
world for safely extracting oil from shale deposits really does exist. A
company called Independent Energy Partners has been developing it and it does
have the potential to work just as SeraTech said it would. The 3 trillion
barrels of oil in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming are there, along with about 20
trillion barrels in oil sands around the world. I hope their research can come
to fruition just as SeraTech’s did.

Now, there are some people I really need to thank.

First, my husband, Mark and our two fantastic children for
giving me ideas when I was stuck and tolerating my absences when I was glued to
my laptop.

A big thank you to Tom Haase, another author in my hometown,
who first made me realize that this was something that I could do, and helped
me navigate my way through some of the technical aspects of publishing a book. I
couldn’t have done this without you, Tom.

And to my niece, Mirissa, who inspired my main character and
allowed me to use her name.

If you would like a character in my next book to be named
after you, visit my website
www.AndreaDomanski.com
and click on “Contest”. You could be the newest addition to the Omega Group, a
nasty preternatural bad guy, or someone entirely different. The possibilities
are truly endless!

Thank you, again, for reading this first book in the Omega
Group Series and for leaving your review on Amazon. Don’t worry, your questions
about Ares’ plans for Daedric, Greco’s secret, and the mysterious key will be
answered in upcoming books. Please visit my author page at
www.amazon.com/author/andreadomanski
.