“Did you ever encounter any metahumans during any of your deployments?”Niko asked when he was three-quarters done with his lunch.
Alexei hid his eye roll by leaning his head back and finishing what remained of beer in his glass.The man wasn’t subtle at all.
Katie, for her part, merely shrugged at the question.“No, but we were stationed in contested areas a few times.The brass issued everyone in our platoon a neural net before deployment.”
Niko laughed, the sound more than a little condescending.“Those don’t work.”
Katie delicately tore off a piece of garlic naan to dip it into the sauce smeared over the bottom of her shallow bowl.“The DOD doesn’t mess around when it comes to R&D and doling out weapons.The equipment worked for us when we were in the field, when we needed it to, at least when used against any mental interference.And guns still kill metahumans.”
Neural nodes and neural nets weren’t really effective against mental powers.Neural nodes, a cheaper option than neural nets, would monitor a person’s brain waves to discover if any mental interference had happened, but that was about it.Neural nets were marketed to a richer clientele, requiring actual surgery to program nanobots into lining the brain with delicate bioware.The technology was all passive, but the idea of a military upgrade was a sound story.Alexei could grudgingly agree that Sean’s idea seemed to be working.
“I see,” Niko said slowly, staring at her.“How interesting.”
Katie smiled winningly at him.“As interesting as who we will be working with, I’m sure.You never did say.”
“I didn’t.”
Katie waited him out with the intense focus that had served her well on the battlefield.Niko didn’t exactly wilt under it, but he did shift in his seat, and Alexei knew Katie would count that as a win.
“My employer prefers discretion, you must understand that.There’s no guarantee of a meet, but I have been authorized to extend to you and your group an invitation to the fundraising gala set for Friday night at the Victoria and Albert Museum.The offer is contingent on you completing the project I gave you today, of course.”
Katie took a sip of her wine and openly played up her reaction to the offer.She frowned, blonde brows furrowed just a bit as she thought it over.“Of course.I’m sure it won’t be a problem.We’re allverygood at our jobs.”
Niko smiled thinly.“I’m sure.”
Sean set his napkin on the table and stood up, offering everyone a genial smile.“If you’ll excuse me.I’m going to find the men’s room.”
Alexei caught Trevor’s eye from across the room as he got to his feet, head tipping toward Katie, indicating he should keep watch.“I’m go with.”
Sean gave him an exasperated look.“Seriously?”
Niko chuckled at them, reserving his words for Alexei, as if they existed on the same level when they didn’t.“I see Jamie employs people with a similar mindset to his own.Don’t worry about keeping us waiting.We’ll order dessert without you.”
It took Alexei a few seconds to figure out just what the hell Niko was implying.Sean grabbed him by the arm before he could open his mouth and lay into Niko once he understood.
Just go with it, Sean said through the thin mental link Katie had woven between their minds.
Niko’s laughter followed them away from the table.Alexei shook off Sean’s grip with an easy motion before following the other man out of the dining room proper.The toilets were down the short hall right outside the hostess kiosk.
“You’re supposed to act like we’re friendly colleagues,” Sean hissed under his breath as they passed a woman coming out of the ladies’ room.
“Niko thinks we more,” Alexei retorted.
Sean rolled his eyes.“I can’t imagine what gave him that impression last night.”
Alexei scowled at Sean’s back as the other man opened the men’s room door.Between one second and the next, Alexei went from annoyed tovery fucking pissedas Sean was grabbed by someone hidden behind the door and yanked into the bathroom.A fist crashed into the side of Sean’s face before he could yell out a warning.
Sean went down.
Alexei moved in.
The door tried to shut on his face, so he kicked it inward without a second thought, moving with the swift deadliness that had been trained into him.He didn’t think, just struck first, grabbing the man standing over Sean by the hair and shirt collar and slamming him face-first into the sink.Blood spattered over the white marble as the guy slithered to the floor, clearly stunned.
Alexei recognized them—the two from the bar who’d left earlier—even as his focus narrowed to the fight.Alexei spun in the tight space of the bathroom, foot lashing out to catch the man waiting behind the door and coming after him in the knee before he snapped his leg up and caught the man in the face, right in the mouth.
The man stumbled backward, swearing around a mouthful of blood and broken teeth, half-hunched over but already gearing up for another attack.
Alexei moved forward, fully intending on—
