“Sorry I’m late,” McKay apologized.
He closed the door, then flipped a switch on the control panel beside it. A moment later, a high-pitched hum filled the room, making Jake wince. On the other side of the table, Harley and Caleb mirrored his reaction. Shrill noises and keen hearing didn’t mix, but the meeting must be seriously classified if McKay was going with a frequency jammer to keep anyone else from picking up their conversation.
“Jake Huang, Harley Grant, Caleb Lynch, meet two more members of the team—Forrest Albright and Mistal Swanson.” McKay pulled out the rolling chair at the head of the table and took a seat. “Forrest was FBI for almost five years before joining STAT a year and a half ago. Misty has been with the organization a little less than that.”
While McKay fiddled with the keyboard on the table in front of him, trying to boot up the computer connected to the huge screen on the front wall, Misty sat down in the empty chair next to Jake. Forrest sat beside her.
“What about you, Misty?” Caleb said, casually eyeing the woman across from him. “McKay didn’t say where you worked before joining STAT.”
Mistal flipped her long, colorful hair over her shoulder and turned her gaze on the omega. “McKay recruited me after I graduated from college because of my unique abilities.”
That was cryptic, Jake thought. Harley seemed just as curious. “What abilities are those?”
At the far end of the table, McKay finished tapping on the keyboard as the STAT organization’s logo filled the screen, along with several warnings about protecting classified information and sensitive sources.
“Misty is a technopath,” their new boss said, as if that explained everything. When Jake and his fellow werewolves continued to stare at him, McKay added, “She’s similar to a telepath, only she reads electronic equipment, not people.”
Jake had no idea what the hell McKay was talking about. At least Harley and Caleb seemed equally confused.
“Okay,” Jake said. “But that doesn’t really answer my question.”
McKay looked at Misty. “Want to give them a demonstration?”
Lips curving, Misty held her hand out to Jake. “Give me your cell phone.”
He’d just upgraded his phone before moving there, so he didn’t want Misty blowing it up or anything. But he had to admit he was curious, so he dug it out of his pocket and handed it to her. Before his eyes, Misty’s lavender irises went completely white, making her seem even more supernatural.
“Your pass code is 1-2-3-4? Seriously?” She laughed. “Not that there’s much in here to protect. A contact list with a dozen names and a handful of photos, all of them with the same two kids—twin girls. You’re in some of them. And you’re smiling.” Misty’s eyes returned to their normal lavender as she handed the phone back to him. “You should smile more often. It’s a good look on you.”
Jake stared at her, not sure what to say to that. Hell, he didn’t even understand what he’d heard.
“I can access any electronic device I touch,” she explained. “And since the Internet connects everything and everyone, that means I can get into pretty much anywhere and anything if I want to.”
“So you’re basically a hacker?” Caleb’s voice was casual as usual, but Jake got the feeling he was impressed.
Misty gave him a smile. “Yes. Although I prefer the wordtechnopath.”
“How is that even possible?” Harley asked, a stunned expression on her face.
Misty opened her mouth to answer, but McKay interrupted.
“I understand you all have questions, and any other time, I’d have the whole team get to know each other, but unfortunately, that’s not an option right now. We have a situation in London. Two STAT agents are dead. I need to get your team up to speed and on a plane ASAP.”
Jake sat up straighter.
Shit just got real.
Fast.
And they were going to have to learn how to be a team and work together—fast.
He shoved his phone in his pocket. “What do we have?”
McKay pushed a button on the keyboard. The moment a photo of a red-haired teen girl with freckles appeared on the screen, their boss went into briefing mode, telling them fourteen-year-old Olivia Phillips had recently been kidnapped and that the security guards for her apartment building had their throats ripped out.
“At approximately 0200 this morning London time, our STAT team was attacked by an unknown supernatural.” McKay flipped to another slide, this one of two men lying on the ground with their throats torn out, blood soaking their ragged clothes.
He moved to the next slide, a photo of a beautiful woman with full, pouty lips, long dark hair, and even darker eyes. Jake was so locked on the picture he barely heard what McKay was saying until he realized the woman was the third member of the team in London. Which meant she was soon going to behisteammate. His heart suddenly hammered in his chest at the thought.
