Alex let his claws lengthen and watched Eli’s movements, letting his beast merge more fully with his human side to maximize his speed and efficiency.
Unlike the original Circs created by the government to be supersoldiers, Alex and his team were jokingly referred to as the 2.0 version. They didn’t turn into beasts with darker skin and grow taller, more muscular. They didn’t resemble monsters when changed either.
No, the team looked human all the time. Their skin automatically hardened into near-impenetrable armor when in danger, or when they called it to. Their coloring stayed the same in either state. Their claws and fangs were retractable. With the exception of their slit pupils—which came and went with Alex—they appeared more buff than the normal human.
The serum had made most of them larger during the first injections. Alex had already been six foot three, and though he hadn’t grown taller he had tacked on more muscle mass. Bailey remained a few inches under six feet, but she claimed she’d gotten toned and thick, long hair because of the serum. In any case, he’d seen her fight, and the woman kicked serious ass.
“Quit daydreaming, princess. Fight.” Eli snapped a kick to Alex’s face that made contact.
Damn, ithurt. But it also quickened his blood, and he fought in earnest. Punch for punch, blow for blow.
By the time he and Eli finished, blood spattered the mat and Carter stood on the sidelines offering constructive criticism.
Eli, as usual, had won, but not by as much this time.
“Good.” Eli nodded and retracted his claws and fangs. The small bit of poison he’d shot into Alex’s bloodstream burned as Alex sweated it out. “Gotcha though. You need to pull back more, feint one way or the other, then move in for the kill. And you have to quit fighting angry. Fight cold; don’t care. Don’t let the rage lead you into making a mistake.”
“Yeah, listen to the angry one,” Carter said, his smile broad. “He’s a dick most of the time, but he’s stone cold in the ring. Almost beat me more than a time or two on the circuit.”
Eli turned to Carter, who dwarfed him in height. Carter had to stand a good six and a half feet tall. With his dark blond hair, blue eyes, and an easy-going grin, he looked like a giant surfer. Until you realized that grin didn’t quite reach his eyes. He and Eli acted like brothers, arguing more than Alex and Katie ever had.
At thoughts of his sister, Alex decided to head to his room upstairs and decompress. The physical activity had leeched him of his aggression but left too much room for thinking.
Carter latched onto him before he could step away. “Okay, you two, time to eat. We can argue in the kitchen as well as we can here.”
“You’re cooking,” Eli said.
Carter frowned. “It’s Bailey’s turn.”
Eli looked as if he might argue, then decided against it. “Okay, I like her pancakes. I’m thinking breakfast for dinner.”
“Good plan.”
Alex sighed and let them sweep him toward the kitchen, where they found Bailey making out with Gideon.
“Get the hose,” Carter teased. “Shocker, Bailey’s seducing Gideon again.”
She blushed, as usual. “Oh stop.” Then her eyes narrowed on the group, and Alex felt his grief lessen.
He really wished she’d stop doing that. Her empathic abilities continued to grow, and he wasn’t sure if she realized how often she employed them to keep the team stable.
Gideon must have felt it though, because he gave Alex a commiserating shrug.
Alex let it go. For now. Because he really was hungry. “I’m not doing dishes,” he said flat out.
Eli immediately turned to Carter, and another argument started, one that now involved Gideon, who always seemed to be somewhere else when dirty dishes were involved. They needed to find some domestic help.
Bailey glared at him. “You did this.”
He felt a tiny bit better having annoyed her. “Me?” Then he hopped onto the kitchen island and started snacking on the peanut butter cookies that so addicted Bailey they went through two bags a week.
Her glare faded as her beast shone through her eyes, fixated on the bag. She, like Alex, looked human most of the time. Whereas the others had to hide their eyes with contacts, Bailey and Alex often passed as normal without them. “You’re such a bad influence.” She sighed and gobbled up three cookies before he got to one.
He smiled, amused and feeling better without her help. “I try.”
