Page 150 of Red Marked

“Slave labor.” Pryce chuckles at his own joke. He pulls a notepad over and uncaps the pen. “Which outfit were you with? My cousin is in shipping down at the harbor. He knows everyone. Who was your supervisor? I’d be curious if⁠—”

I look at my watch. “Alastair, induction starts at eight. Pearl is already about to be late on her first day. I think we should let her get on with it.”

“Oh. Yes, of course.” He puts the pen down. “We can’t have that.”

Star is already on her feet. “Thank you for the opportunity, Dr. Pryce. I mean that. I’m very excited to be here.” She shakes his hand again and turns to me with a nod. “Sir.”

“Pearl.”

She walks out. Rift says something in the hallway, Star laughs, and the door closes.

Pryce is still looking at it. “Well. She’s articulate and motivated. She has very striking eyes. I’ll admit, when you said harbor security, I had my doubts.” He leans back in his chair. “I’m impressed, Flint. Where did you find her?”

“She found us. I also interviewed a second candidate who’s worth having. A male called Forge. He runs his own crew, and he’s big and steady. He can start in a month or two, once I leave for the second center. The team won’t fly short when I go.” I shrug. “All in all, it was a good trip.”

Good trip!

Hah!

Good doesn’t come close.

I picture Star bouncing on my cock. Star on her knees, looking back at me over her shoulder. I picture how good it felt to be sheathed inside her tight…

Fuck!

I need to stop already.

“That’s excellent news. I’m glad to hear about Forge.” He remembers the stapled pages and slides them across the desk. His signature is at the bottom of the last one, under a Council stamp. “Your proposal has been signed off. They sent it back to me within the day. They like anything that might lift our numbers. The risk was found to be within adequate parameters to proceed.”

“We’ll start flying that way today, then.”

“I wish you well.” He picks up his tea. “I hope you bag several males, Flint.”

“I’ll see what I can do,” I say as I stand.

“Keep me briefed on Pearl. I’d like to know how she pans out.”

“I will,” I tell him as I leave.

The team is already on the pad when I get there. Cindy is double-checking the darts in her case. Brian has a boot braced against Ash’s foreleg, hauling on a harness strap.

Cindy looks up. “Morning, Flint. Is it true we have a new team member? I heard somebody new landed yesterday.”

Brian finds a buckle that needs his full attention.

“I’m getting to that.” I put two fingers in my mouth and whistle. The talking stops. “Listen up. We have a new team member. Her name is Pearl. She’s in induction today, and then she has four days of training. She has to pass it, like every one of you did. She starts in the field on Saturday. You’ll all officially meet her then.”

“She?” Saber lifts his brows. He knows full well who Star is but is feigning ignorance well.

“Yes, Saber.” I smirk. “Rift has been flying rings around you for months. You’ll cope.”

Rift grins. Saber gives her the finger.

“On to today. We’re trying something new.” I wait until they’re all looking at me. “The ferals see a big group coming from miles off, and they scatter. They know why we’re out there, and they don’t want to be caught. They’re lying low as soon as they see us coming. By the time we’re overhead, there’s nothing left to dart. From now on, we are going to split into two smaller groups and fly a mile apart. If that isn’t enough, we’ll break down into threes. We stay close enough to back each other up, but not so close that we spook the males below us. The signals stay the same.”

“Do you think it’ll work?” Atlas asks.

“I hope so. We’ll know by tonight.”