“Good. How are the new neighbors?”
Erik could hear the smile in her voice as she told him, “I’ve already made a bunch of new friends.”
He bet she had. Possessing a bubbly personality, Jayla was Black Bay’s gossip queen, and she loved meeting new people. She was also the most human-looking of all of them, so she had no problem blending in. Her hair was long and dark, her eyes were blue, and her features were regular. Aside from the fangs that almost all the Beasts had, though Jayla’s were small and downright dainty, none of her animal traits had shown on her face. Like all the Beasts, she’d been created with the healing gene, but for some reason, it was dormant in her and a small number of the other hybrids. Because of that, she didn’t usually go on missions, but she’d been uniquely qualified for this one. People naturally gravitated to her, wanting to be her friend, so they’d installed her in the same building as their subject to keep tabs on her.
“Call me if anything changes.”
“Will do.”
Disconnecting the call, he tossed his phone aside and picked up the secure tablet with his mission parameters and stared at the provided media photo of the woman. Her brown hair was in a fancy updo, secured with jeweled combs. Her smiling face was heavily made-up with cosmetics, and not a freckle in sight. She was wearing a green evening gown, white elbow-length gloves, and was practically dripping with jewels, cradling a large bouquet as she waved to the crowd. Chloe Powell.
Chapter Two
Erik read through theaccompanying information in the file even though he already had it memorized. Chloe Marie Powell, twenty-nine years old. A military brat, her father was General Jason Powell, who was currently at Lewis-McChord in Washington. She attended Juilliard, landed roles in several Broadway musicals and smaller opera houses, before she was scooped up by the Metropolitan Opera House, where she earned the title of Prima Donna and gained much acclaim.
Now she was here, gracing Lattimer Wilkes’ stage and giving Erik something to do while he worked on his issues. He had a decision to make… Well, that wasn’t entirely true. He’d already made the decision; he was just trying to beat his fear into submission to get it done.
Almost a year ago now, Black Bay learned that experiments were being done on soldiers. It had been called the Resurrection project, upgrading elite soldiers with bio-tech. It would have been one thing if those soldiers had volunteered for the augmentation, but they hadn’t. The scientists and government officials who bankrolled the operation had cherry-picked the best of thebest from all branches of the military in some sort of sick wish list. They’d then target them, making it look like they’d been attacked by enemy combatants, list them killed in action, wipe their memories, and experiment on them. Neural implants had linked them to each other as well as to an AI that monitored them and conveyed their orders. It also ratcheted up their aggression levels to ensure they showed no mercy, as well as making them incapable of diverting from an order. When not deployed on an active mission, they were kept in stasis pods, seen as nothing more than a weapon that was racked until it was needed again.
Black Bay had shut down that funhouse of horrors. The Resurrection soldiers, as well as the AI they were linked to, were now at Black Bay, where the soldiers were being rehabilitated. Their lives would never be the same, but now, they could at least try to salvage some level of normalcy. They had a long, hard road in front of them. Erik knew that road all too well. Maybe that’s why he and Sam Isaac had connected, though their friendship had started rough.
The Resurrection soldier had approached him in the mess hall when he’d been having dinner. He hadn’t said anything; he’d just sat across from Erik, occasionally looking up from his food to stare with narrowed eyes at Erik’s scarred face. The first time he’d done it, Erik had let it slide, shrugging it off since he was used to being stared at by strangers. The second time, he snarled, his upper lipcurling to reveal his elongated canines in a warning. The third time had Erik shooting to his feet with aggression, ready to fight.
Others around him had stood as well, watching, waiting in case they needed to intercede. The soldier didn’t even flinch, his eyes flicking up to meet Erik’s before he grabbed Erik’s wrist with his mechanical hand and held on. That grip, he knew, could have broken his bones with ease if the soldier had wanted to. Instead, his brown eyes had flickered with an iridescent blue shimmer, letting Erik know his neural chip was processing something before a three-dimensional image was projected from his mechanical arm. It was a hologram of the soldier before the upgrades, and he’d been horrifically injured. Third-degree burns covered the majority of his face. The white of bone was visible beneath charred, blackened skin. He’d lost an ear, his eye, and his lips, and most of his nose was gone as well. Erik looked from the image to the soldier still sitting calmly and silently before him. There wasn’t a single scar on his face.
The hologram vanished, and the soldier released his grip, returning his attention to his food. Erik collapsed back into his chair, the atmosphere in the mess hall relaxing once more, and this time, it was his turn to stare.
“How?”
That’s when Erik had learned of cloned skin and some of the revolutionary advancements the Resurrection scientists had made. Looking at that soldier, no one would have ever guessed the extentof his injuries. There wasn’t even a difference in skin tone to mark the area. Grudgingly, Erik had to accept that maybe, just maybe, something good had come out of Resurrection, even if it had once been used for evil.
They could fix his face, and he wanted that so badly he could taste it. But the thought of putting himself in the hands of scientists, white coats just like the ones who had tortured him growing up, had him breaking out in a cold sweat and leaving him wanting to vomit his guts out.
Logically, he knew General Davies would never let anything happen to him. He knew that he could choose any number of the other Beasts to be with him during the procedure, watching his back, but logic had nothing to do with this reaction, and he’d been struggling to get it under control so he could even meet with the doctors.
His yearning was at war with his fear in a constant, obsessive loop. He’d thrown himself into his painting, and when that didn’t work, he’d begun volunteering for missions. He even started hanging out with some of the other Beasts in their downtime – something he always used to avoid – hoping the distraction would bring him a small amount of peace from the turmoil in his mind.
When the general had approached him about this mission, he’d jumped on it.
“Sit down,” the general said when Erik entered the man’s office. The space hadn’t changed much over the years. A few new pieces hadbeen added to the wall of antique weapons on display, a new framed photo sat on the bookshelf, but otherwise, it was still done in familiar dark shades of wood with flags proudly hung behind the general’s desk.
General Davies also hadn’t changed much since that first day they’d met so long ago. The day this man saved him. His hair, which he kept buzzed high and tight, was now completely gray, and he had deeper lines around his eyes and mouth, but he was still a strong, imposing figure who could no doubt take on someone half his age in a fight and whip their ass.
“I have a mission for you.”
Erik sat on the edge of his seat, all ears.
“This isn’t a sanctioned op; completely off the books.” The general cleared his throat gruffly. “It’s actually a favor for me, so you can say no, but I thought it might be right up your alley.”
Now Erik’s interest was fully snared. Working with genetic hybrids who were often influenced by their animal DNA meant that the general had to be somewhat flexible with the rules, but assigning a military asset to a personal matter seemed a bit far, even by Erik’s loose standards. He didn’t give a shit about rules or regulations, but the general did, so this had to be important.
“What’s the mission, sir?”
“Protective detail, and I’d just as soon she not know she’s being watched.” The general slid a tablet over so that Erik could peruse thedetails. “Her father is an old friend of mine, and when his girl found herself in some trouble, I helped relocate her here.”
The Beasts didn’t usually get assigned protective details. Private security firms typically handled civilian protection. “What kind of trouble?”
“A relationship went sour, and she was afraid for her life. Her father would have set her up near him – he’s at Lewis-McChord out in Washington – but the guy she was running from was aware of that, and she was afraid that was the first place he’d look.” The general let out a scoffing sound. “Jay would have invited the bastard over, let him know exactly what he thought about this bullshit with a lesson in pain, but Chloe was adamant he not get involved, so he called me.”
