The hard-nosed admiral sat calmly while Sebastian Decker, the bane of Gray’s existence, entered the office.
Six feet five and barely contained by the broad muscle and tightly packed frame of a man in his prime, Decker had the nerve to wink at him before coming to stand before the admiral’s desk.
“Yes, Admiral?”
“Stand easy, Sebastian.” Lonnie smiled at him as if the two were fast friends. That in itself irritated Gray. But when Decker eased back and invaded Gray’s personal space, he barely contained a growl. Lately Gray had a hard time restraining his beast around the male. The damn thing wanted to fight, to prod and test Decker’s strength. He’d seen plenty of evidence that the bastard could and would fight to protect himself, but Gray had the sense Decker always held back when they sparred. And he didn’t like it.
Decker placed his hands behind his back and stood at a modified parade rest. In doing so, his hand grazed Gray’s arm. It was all Gray could do not to grow claws and rake them down Decker’s powerful chest.
Lonnie continued to watch them. Decker looked straight ahead, while Gray silently dared the man to make eye contact. Just once would be all it took, and Gray would… What? Gut him? Caress him? Kiss him?
Oh sh*t. Not those thoughts again.
Lonnie cleared his throat, and Gray blinked to focus on the admiral once more. He lived for the job. He just had to keep reminding himself of that. “Sir?” In private, Gray would address him with familiarity. But in front of a peer, he always afforded Lonnie the ultimate respect.
Lonnie, however, ignored him. “Sebastian, do you have a problem working with Grayson?”
“No, sir. Gray is legendary in the field. It’s an honor to work with him.”
Gray didn’t want to see where this questioning led. “Admiral --”
“Out on missions, would you characterize his performance as top-notch? Does he get the job done with minimal casualty?”
“Most of the time.”
Gray didn’t like Decker’s answer and glared at the man. “What does that mean?”
Decker turned his bright blue gaze in Gray’s direction.
F**k, but the man has amazing eyes. His beast approved, rumbling deep inside Gray’s chest. Lonnie took no notice of it, unable to hear. But Decker’s eyes narrowed. His Circ senses, so attuned to the smallest change, must have heard the ultrasonic sound.
Decker’s lips twitched as he turned back to the admiral. “Gray will do anything to accomplish the mission, to include putting himself needlessly in harm’s way.”
“Needlessly?” Gray scowled. “I --”
Decker interrupted. “He thinks because he heals easily, he’s not at risk. But he forgets the enemy always has surprises in store for us, since it seems like everyone out there knows we Circs exist.”
“Bullsh*t.” Gray fumed.
The admiral stopped him from saying anything else with an upraised hand. “And his mood swings?”
“Mood swings?” Gray repeated, not understanding Lonnie at all. “I’m not moody. Christ, where the hell are you going with this?”
“Getting worse,” Decker answered. “But I can handle it, no problem.”
“Good, good.” Lonnie clasped his hands together on top of the desk. Then as if they’d never discussed mood swings or Gray’s alleged idiocy in the field, Lonnie briefed them on their next assignment. “I’m sorry to throw you two out there again, but we can’t ignore these reports of a rogue Circ. After that last batch we found in Mexico, I thought we’d contained the breakouts. But the file I have indicates another rogue, possibly the beginnings of a nest. Reports lead me to believe this one might turn mutant at any time.”
Before Decker could ask any of his stupid questions, Gray interrupted. “The rogues won’t be our worry here.”
“Rogues are always a threat, Gray. You constantly underestimate them,” Decker said in that uptight Northeastern accent that annoyed him.
“True,” the admiral agreed. “Like you, Sebastian, they were injected with the Circe serum and at first, turned Circ. Soldiers able to transform into bigger, faster warriors with claws, fangs, and hardened skin. They sense danger and can repel small-caliber rounds when changed. But because they’re rogue, their strength is doubled, as you’ve no doubt experienced in the field.”
“Exactly.” Decker nodded. “Superstrength too, so they’re not easy to take down, Gray.”
Gray didn’t need the history lesson. “That’s Circ 101, genius. But in the time you and I have been partnered, we’ve yet to run across a mutant. You don’t know what they can do.” He turned to Lonnie. “I thought they’d capped the last one in Brazil last month.”
Lonnie’s mouth turned grim. “So did I. The Circe’s Recruits team suffered a beating but managed to take care of a nest growing in the jungle. Problem is we have information that indicates the leader of this new group is turning fast. His name is Al Ross, and he’s gathering a following we don’t want.”
“Terrific, just what we don’t need. A gang of mutants.” Gray turned to Decker, conscious the man smelled faintly like cocoa. Though most Circs tended to have a unique scent all their own that any Circ could identify, Gray always detected Decker with little effort.
“So we have mutants.” Decker shrugged. “We take care of them like we handle rogues.”
Gray knew Decker had yet to face the real rough stuff, and he was curiously loath to subject the younger Circ to the ugly side of his condition. Which made little sense, so he forced himself to continue. “Mutants are rogue Circs who react even worse to the Circe serum. When they don’t satisfy their sexual urges with other Circs, the buildup of hormones mutates their genetic structure. So instead of looking like hulking weightlifters on steroids, they get seriously weird. Their skin grows black, their eyes turn red, and they kill everything in their path…after f**king it. Nothing much human about them except their capacity to destroy.”
“Hell.”
“Yeah.” Gray sighed. Maybe after this operation, he’d take a few weeks off. He was getting tired, exhausted by the constant cruelty he saw way too often in the course of his job. Lately, even time spent with his precious niece couldn’t nudge him from the depression settling into his bones. His beast felt restless, his need to shift into his more primitive, stronger form all-encompassing.
“Gray?”
He blinked at Decker, not surprised to see a measure of concern in the man’s eyes. “What?” he snapped.
Lonnie answered, “Your partner was asking if you needed to sit this one out. He said you took quite a hit saving him from a bullet -- one he wouldn’t have been exposed to if you’d taken more care with yourself in the jungle.”
“Ah, I didn’t exactly say that, Admiral.”
Holy sh*t, Decker was blushing. Gray blinked, bemused at the sight of his partner looking less than reassured. If he hadn’t known better, he’d have thought himself attracted to the guy. But Gray had always favored women. Unlike most of the artificially created Circs, he’d been born this way. He didn’t undergo mating heats -- periods of intense sexual arousal, when only sex with another Circ would do. The Circ way of perpetuating the species.
Lonnie pierced Gray with his stare. “You might not have said it, Sebastian, but we both know it’s true.”
Gray refused to agree.
“Very well.” Lonnie stood up and handed a folder to Decker. “I want you two to study up on your quarry. No picture, I’m afraid. This rogue was never part of an official project. But we have a name, his last location, and a few crime scenes. Your plane tickets are reserved for Friday, so you have three days to get yourselves together while we gather some last-minute intel from our sources out West.”
“Where West, Admiral?” Decker asked.
“Bend, Oregon. Center of the state, and in the Cascade Mountain Range. Lots of mountains out there for our guy to hide in. And lots of snow too.”
“In June?” Gray asked.
The admiral nodded. “Oh, and before you think about doing anything ‘we’ll both regret,’ you screw with this mission at all, you answer to Alicia from now on. You go by the book on this. My orders, my way. We clear?”
Gray wanted to stay far away from the matchmaking woman. Lately, Alicia’s answer to everything involved mating and babies. Gray had a career to think of, that and a life he chose to live. He’d be damned if he’d let some ancient mystic tie him up in fate and destiny with a great big bow. Even if she was his grandmother.
