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They traveled for a while in silence. Miranda noted they were heading north on the expressway that would take them across the border into Canada. She hoped they weren’t going that far. Between wrestling with her attraction for Garen and being hyped up about whatever her final assignment might be, she wanted to spring into action and get the show on the road.
Garen hummed a tuneless song that got on her nerves. Lust rolled off him in waves. She did her best to ignore the frank sexual vibrations, but it wasn’t easy. The musk of his arousal filled the car and ignited her senses. Miranda had her hands full managing her wolf side, keeping her fight-or-flight energy in check, and surreptitiously rubbing her thighs together. She couldn’t wait for the car ride to end. If it lasted too long, she’d jump his bones and be done with it.
“Where are we going?” she asked at last.
“Somewhere quite special.” Half turning, he bared his teeth at her in what was supposed to be a smile.
Guess he’s not going to tell me.
She tried to think what else she could ask that might yield a clue or two, but came up dry. The silence made her nervous and amped up her lust. Miranda reached under her jacket to readjust the Beretta digging into her ribs.
“You seem antsy, Miss Miller.”
She shrugged. “I want to get this over with so I can concentrate on San Ysidro.”
“You’ll be paired with Ted today. He’ll meet you near the target. It’s up to the two of you to work together to bring down your objective.”
Red flags flared in her mind. “But we always work alone,” she protested, adding, “I need information about the target.” She bit her lower lip.
“Correction, Miss Miller. We usually work alone. Ted has all the information you’ll need.”
“I don’t like this.”
“Understood. The reason you don’t like it revolves about control. You’re uncomfortable because you don’t know more.”
She snorted. “No kidding. I’ve never worked with Ted before. It would’ve been better if—”
“Uh-uh.” Garen glanced sidelong at her. “I gave you a choice. You insisted on being treated like everyone else. Just because you’re used to working a certain way, doesn’t mean you always get to choose. Flexibility is key to being successful in the field. Consider today a test of your ability to think on your feet and work with unknown quantities.”
He took an exit that led them into wooded countryside typical of the Pacific Northwest. The day was overcast, and she glanced at the digital clock on the console. Four o’clock. Days were short late in the fall, so it would be dark in less than an hour. She hoped she’d be done with whatever Garen had in mind before the sun came up. A single night without sleep was tolerable. More than that and her mind became dull and sluggish.
Doesn’t take long to kill someone, she reminded herself. That’s what I’m out here for.
“We’re close to your meeting place.” Garen pulled off onto a dirt road and seemed to be hunting for something, as he slowed down several times.
“What are your expectations of me?” she asked formally.
“That is your last test,” he said. “There are no expectations. Your performance today will determine your future.”
You mean if I even have a future with Rubicon International, she finished for him, taking care to remain silent.
The car lurched to a halt. “We’re here,” he announced. She waited for him to come around to open her door, when he said, “Goddammit, Miranda. Be careful.”
She swiveled to face him. The corners of his eyes were pinched with concern. She reached to stroke the side of his face, knowing touching him was a mistake. “You promised not to do this.”
He laid a hand over hers, capturing it next to his jaw. “You’re not making it any easier.”
“No, I suppose not.” She bent across the console and brushed her lips across his.
He wound his arms around her and deepened the kiss, releasing her abruptly. The harsh sound of their mingled breathing filled the small space.
“Neither of us can dance on two floors,” he said gruffly. “Get out. I hope to God I’ll see you after this is over.”
“Aren’t you coming, at least until I meet up with Ted?” Alarm sluiced through her. She pushed her door open, grabbed her very unnecessary briefcase, and stood.
“No. Close the door.”
The minute she did, he jammed the car into reverse, fishtailing it until he was headed back the way they’d come. Dust and gravel splattered her. She sneezed and then brushed off her clothes.
“What the fuck?”
Miranda stared after the taillights of the Lexus. Her lips still burned from their kiss. “He’s just going to dump me out here. Christ! Ted’s not even here yet.” She shifted from foot to foot, wishing she weren’t wearing high heels. A message from the animal side of her brain made her glance sharply around and take stock of her situation. Death caught the unwary. She wasn’t planning on it catching her. Not today, anyway. It would be better to wait for Ted within the shadowed forest. She hadn’t said anything to Garen, but what little she knew about the other agent gave her the creeps.
The deeply rutted road was lined with stately evergreens. Feeling exposed, she faded into their dimness and continued to evaluate what she had to work with. Her unseen tail swished from side to side. Light waned from the day. Could she risk shape-shifting? One of the rules Lucifer had established was they shifted at night—and only at night.
While she considered that, the sound of a car engine filled her ears. Since Garen’s car had been the only one on the deserted road, and she hadn’t seen any houses, she assumed this new car was probably Ted.
Miranda dropped back fifty more paces where the tree cover was even thicker. Head cocked to one side, she listened intently. The car’s engine was still running, but the vehicle had come to a stop. Shrugging, she kicked off her shoes. Her feet would be cold, but she could live with that. The rattle of automatic weapon fire jarred her. She dropped to her belly, flattening herself against the dank ground.
Christ, did Rubicon International send assassins to finish me off? Is my task to kill them?
Stop! Garen wouldn’t do that to me.
Deciding this qualified as the sort of emergency she could justify to Lucifer, Miranda dropped the guard she always kept over her wolf side. Usually, she stripped her clothes off first but didn’t think she could spare the time. She felt her spine lengthen and her limbs move under it. Thick, gray fur with black markings took the place of her skin and hair. Within less than a minute, her tailored suit lay in tatters on the damp earth.
She pushed her gun out of the way with a paw. She’d forgotten to engage the safety, but there wasn’t much she could do about it now. She growled low in the back of her throat. It was the wolf equivalent of laughter. As far as the wolf was concerned, the gun was nothing but a silly prop. She had teeth and claws and speed. Who needed guns when you had all those things?
Miranda stepped away from her torn clothing. Her lips skinned back, baring her fangs. She loved her wolf form. She’d spend more time in it if she could. She scanned the woods, her senses on full alert. Above the smells of metal and gasoline and cordite, she smelled a man. Ted? Whoever it was hadn’t quit discharging automatic weapon rounds. Did that mean his assignment was to kill her? What about the mysterious target Garen had mentioned? Did it even exist?
No wonder he left so fast. Fucking pussy.
Anger vied with outrage. Sadness wasn’t far behind. Had she truly meant so little to him?
Another spate of machine-gun fire split the air. She clamped her jaws together. Keeping down, belly almost scraping the ground, Miranda circled around. She wanted to see if it was Ted shooting and what his position was. For all she knew, their target had come on foot and beat Ted to the draw. Except she only smelled one man, not two or more.
Miranda rethought her strategy and went for speed. It didn’t matter who was shooting. The only thing that mattered was they wanted her dead. She was certain whoever was after her wouldn’t be expecting a wolf, so she streaked across the road sixty yards ahead of a Mercedes roadster and lost herself in the forest on the other side. Because the driver was facing the other way, firing out the window, so it was likely he never even noticed her.
Panting, she dug her claws into soft dirt and came to a stop. She’d recognized the car. It belonged to Ted. Unless someone had killed him and stolen his car, he was the one shooting at her. Sick outrage pounded through her.
At least this explains why Garen made up that cock-and-bull story about pairing me with Ted.
None of them ever actually worked together. Murder was always an individual assignment. She’d assumed it was to protect Rubicon International in case something went terribly wrong. That way there were no potential witnesses.
Was this what happened to agents she never saw again? Their co-workers were sent to annihilate them? If an operative somehow managed to beat his death sentence, did he move up the corporate ladder? Or would Garen keep sending people after her until one of them was successful? No matter how hard she tried, she couldn’t get her mind around Garen wanting her dead. She resurrected the desperation of his lips on hers in the car. Men on the verge of killing someone didn’t kiss like that.
Miranda tried to think. That was the only downside to her wolf form. Her ability to reason wasn’t as strong as when she was human. Rubicon International had sent her on many missions, but never against another employee. At least not that she knew about. She supposed it was possible—especially since Rubicon International had many branch offices—that she’d been deployed to kill one of their own a time or two and just not known about it.
Hell, maybe every single one I killed worked for us. Except Roulan and his thugs.
That thought disturbed her, so she pushed it aside. The implication of an entire business dedicated to killing off its own workers was so bizarre, she couldn’t fathom it.
She ran deeper into the trees, unsure what to do. If Ted would just get out of that damned car, she could jump him. She’d been listening and hadn’t heard his car door either open or close.
Lucifer’s voice pounded in her head. “You are lycan, but it is not yet dark.”
Miranda froze. How in the hell could Lucifer be anywhere near here? Yet he had to be close since she could hear his mind voice.
“Well?” he pressed.
“They’re trying to kill me,” she protested. “I didn’t know what else to do.”
“Who would try to harm one of mine?” The voice was silky and seductive, but more gunfire nearly drowned out his words.
“Back to the road,” he growled after she could hear again. Lucifer’s rapidly shifting moods were legendary. “Unless you’ve developed some new skills, you’ll scarcely be able to defend yourself from where you stand.”
“Where are you?”
“Never mind about that. Just get moving.”
How the hell could he know where she was—unless he was watching?
Tail twitching, nervous about yet one more angle to assimilate and deal with, she padded through the trees. She was closing on the road when the sound she’d been waiting for finally came. The snick of a car door. Pulling darkness about her, Miranda peered through the last of the tree cover. Ted stood next to his car half facing away from her, but she saw his profile clearly. Thick, brown hair fell to his shoulders. He was dressed in his usual western shirt, jeans, and cowboy boots.
“Miranda,” he called once. Then again, louder. “Miranda, come on out. We can talk about this. I think you have something I want.”
What the hell is he up to?
She stared at him from her vantage point, confused. She’d never bothered to talk with any of her victims before killing them. Judging the distance, she crept silently closer until a single spring would do it. Ted shouldered his gun and sprayed the woods with bullets. She knew she’d never get a better chance. The racket from his gun covered the noise she made as she leapt, knocking him into the dirt.
“Yes,” he shouted, trying to turn to look at her. “Goddamn it, Miranda. Bite me.”
Like hell I will, she thought, understanding why he’d called to her and knowing full well he had to die because he’d seen her in wolf form and could turn her in.
She barked a harsh laugh. Lucifer was most clear on the rules: no more lycans unless he approved them. Bounty hunters had all but wiped them out before Lucifer took over and changed things.
An unholy scream filled her ears after she sank her teeth into Ted’s jugular, followed by a few shots when his dying fingers played over the trigger of the rifle sandwiched between his body and the ground. Miranda waited, her tongue lolling, as the last of Ted’s life drained into the earth.
If Lucifer was close, and he had to be, she should offer him first feeding off her kill. She’d already broken one rule by shifting before full dark. She had no intention of breaking another. She clawed through Ted’s pockets, but didn’t find anything like orders. Leaving his body, she reared onto her hind legs and stared into the car. Nothing obvious in there, either. She’d need her human form to search.
Miranda had just reached for power to shift when a black and gray wolf with silver eyes strode toward her. She let the transformation magic scatter, faced Lucifer as a wolf, and inclined her head as a sign of respect. She’d seen him before at shifter gatherings, but never up close like this.
He smiled, his powerful jaws slightly ajar. Coming close, he rubbed noses with her. “Nicely done,” he chortled, low in the back of his throat. He licked her muzzle and sudden heat flared between her back legs.
I can’t. What about Garen?
Miranda moved a few inches away and inclined her head again. Lucifer closed and licked her nose one more time, making his intentions crystal clear. Then he came round behind her and licked her vulva. Sexual tension ratcheted to a nearly unbearable level.
What am I saving myself for? Garen and I can never be together. Besides, I’m not sure I can say no to Lucifer. As far as she knew, no female lycan had ever refused the alpha.
Lucifer’s tongue worked her vulva. Her muscles contracted. She wanted his cock inside her. Now. She dropped her head and squared her body on all four legs, twisting her tail aside to open a path.
Miranda was surprised by the sudden blaze of lust. She’d had sex with a few lycans, and they’d never made her so hot she thought she’d die if she didn’t get them inside her. Human sex—the little she’d had with Garen—was far more complicated.
This was easy. She felt Lucifer’s big paws on her shoulders and his weight on her. His teeth closed over the juncture of neck and shoulder. When he slid inside, she thought she’d never felt anything quite so delicious, and a low, hungry whine escaped her. His jaws tightened on her shoulder, and the pain made what was happening with her nether regions all the more intense. When her climax roared through her—and she came damned fast—she howled her joy to the forest. His guttural growls joined hers as his cock juddered deep within her body. The two of them stood, flanks heaving, for long moments as she came back into herself. It took a while for the swollen bulb at the base of his penis to shrink enough for them to separate.
After a time, he bent his muzzle and began to feed. She tried to join in, but he growled and snapped, so she knew this kill was not for her. The human part of her batted back irritation, but the wolf part understood. Lucifer was the pack leader, the alpha. He got whatever he wanted. No questions asked. Fading into the night shadows, she hunted. Each time she killed a small animal, the feel of living flesh and bone between her jaws excited her all over again, and she longed for Lucifer. Then she chided herself for foolishness. Chances of her ever even seeing him again outside of a gathering were unlikely.
Isn’t that just great? I found a man I love. I can’t have him. Now I found a wolf I’d like to get to know better, and I can’t have him, either. Goddammit!
The journey back to town required planning. Lucifer was long gone when she returned to the scraps of her clothing and determined they were beyond salvage. That meant she’d be naked when she regained her human form. Not good. Turning, she ran fast through the last hours of the night, a dark streak in the gloom. Like all lycans, she had the ability to cloak her presence so long as it remained dark. Moonlight would’ve thrown a monkey wrench into things, but the night remained blessedly overcast and lessened her risk of discovery.
Approaching her building through a deserted alleyway, she probably gave a couple of drunks heart attacks. She heard them chittering to one another about the wolf as they raced to get away from her. After they sobered up—if they ever did—they’d likely chalk her up to a particularly bad case of d.t.’s.
Dawn caught her creeping into her apartment. Past the alleyway, she vaulted over the fence that surrounded her small patio, shifted, and dragged her tired human body inside and into a hot shower. Nursing a cup of instant coffee, Miranda tried to decide if she should show up at her desk at nine like she always did—unless she was off on assignment. She was feeling a touch remorseful about Ted and wondered what Garen’s reaction would be to her report. She rolled her eyes. She could just envision the conversation.
Yeah, boss. You see, he was shooting at me, and I, uh, killed him. Never did get to the target you didn’t tell me about...
Laughing wryly, she reminded herself there really were no friends in her particular line of work. Or anywhere else. She couldn’t have human friends because of what she was. Lycan friends seemed out of the question, mostly since she only saw others like herself at the annual gathering and had no idea what any of them looked like in their human form. Miranda smiled sadly to herself.
Not really human. Not really a wolf. No place to call my own.
That decided it. Before she could sink into a morass of self-pity, she dried her hair, pulled on a long, wool dress, and caught a cab to work. When she got to her desk, there was a note from Garen telling her to come to his office immediately. Miranda blanched. Shit. Was the whole charade just going to start all over again? This was nothing like she expected. If she’d passed Rubicon International’s final test, wouldn’t Garen have contacted her at home or by cell phone or something?
Yeah, right. Or had champagne delivered. Rein it in, sweetie.
Maybe coming in had been a mistake. She stared at Garen’s note, handwritten on vellum in his strong hand. Suddenly wary, she considered walking out of the building and taking her chances. Calling on her wolf senses, she tried to puzzle out what to do. It was early yet. Even Garen wouldn’t be expecting her for another half hour or so.
“You should go meet him.” The voice in her head was faint but clear.
“Lucifer?”
She glanced around, but her office was empty. Miranda felt foolish. Did she just hallucinate Lucifer’s voice?
“Whether I did or not, Garen’s still my boss, and I need to do what he says,” she muttered. Shoving her heavy hair out of her face, she stood and marched to her office door. Once through it, she headed for the private elevator toward the rear of the building, detouring back because she’d forgotten her key.
The elevator door opened smoothly, depositing her into the anteroom of Garen’s lush office. She looked about, curious. She’d never been invited to the inner sanctum before. It was paneled from floor to ceiling in carved walnut. Carpet so thick she sank into it cushioned her shoes. Ornate crystal candelabra shed a muted light. Because she was alone, she took the time to look closely at the wood carvings and smiled when she noticed their espionage themes.
Despite a futile attempt at self-control, the heat from last night in the forest licked at her, and moisture slicked her thighs. She was actually reaching for herself when she realized what she was doing and made herself sit in a nearby chair. Her thighs pressed tightly together didn’t help matters. She was just about to catch the elevator back down so she could duck into a restroom to take care of her little problem, when the door to the inner office opened, and Garen strode purposefully toward her. She got to her feet.
His brows were drawn together, and he looked serious. “I see you got my note.”
“Yes, sir.”
Her arousal crashed and burned as she wondered what was going on. Did he still want her dead? Would she have to fight him? Maybe she was supposed to die last night, and he was planning to finish her off. The wolf part of her liked the prospect of a brawl, and she had to force down a growl so he wouldn’t hear it. Another part of her, the part that wanted nothing more than to dive into the comfort of his arms, was devastated by the prospect of having to fight him.
She remembered a point one of her first Army drill sergeants had hammered home. There are no friends in espionage work. Trust no one. Miranda tugged the tattered remnants of her heart together and met Garen’s gaze.
“Report.”
She straightened her shoulders. “Ted tried to kill me. Um, actually he may have just been trying to lure me out of my hiding place with automatic weapon fire. When I outmaneuvered him and established the upper hand, he begged me to bite him.”
“And?” Garen raised an arched brow, creating a question mark.
“It’s against the rules. No more lycans without Lucifer’s permission.”
“Who’s Lucifer?”
Aha, so he’s just a wolf shifter and not a lycan...
“The lycans’ alpha.”
She pushed straggling strands of hair out of her face and sucked in a deep breath. “You probably already know, but I killed Ted.”
“It’s exactly what you were supposed to do. He wasn’t one of us.” Garen’s expression hardened. “He told us he was, but he wasn’t, so he had to go.”
“He was my assignment yesterday?”
Garen nodded and grinned at her, but his eyes were cold. “Smart cookie. It’s one of the things I’ve always liked about you, Miss Miller.”
Something Garen said—Ted told us he was like us, but he wasn’t—sank in. Understanding flickered. “Rubicon International is all...those like us?”
He nodded, a damped-down smirk on his face. “Uh-huh. It’s not like we can advertise for shifters and werewolves, but there is, shall we say, a natural sorting process. I wasn’t even quite certain about you—until the night at the Index cabin.”
Miranda eyed him speculatively. “What happens next?”
“You become a part of the inner circle, and whole new worlds will open. We hold incredible power.”
She was intrigued but wasn’t certain what to ask, so she remained silent.
He extracted a knife from one of his pockets. “Come closer.”
Miranda eyed the knife, unsure about Garen’s motives again. She shook her head, realizing how tired she was. “Why?”
“It’s necessary to create a blood bond. All fully vetted agents are bound to me—and to Rubicon International—by blood.” He drew his brows together. “When did you stop trusting me?”
“When you sent me out by myself yesterday without instructions.”
Awk. I sound like a whiny ten-year-old.
“You’re not thinking. I couldn’t tell you I didn’t trust Ted. You needed to assess the situation on your own and make your own decisions. What if I’d been wrong about him? I’d have smeared an agent’s reputation for nothing and made it impossible for any of the rest of you to work with him.” Garen hesitated. “It’s sort of like going from enlisted man to officer in the service. The main difference is you need to think for yourself and bear the consequences for your decisions.”
“I understand. At least I think I do.”
He cocked his head to one side. “You’re still here, Miranda, so it appears I judged your capabilities well. Hold out your hand.” His voice was stern. He brandished the small blade and made a shallow cut in the meaty part of her thumb, then did the same thing to his own hand.
Once their blood mingled, he handed her a gauze square and some tape. “Go home and get some sleep,” he growled.
“What about San Ysidro?”
“Be back here at seventeen hundred. We’ll complete the final assignments then. The team pulls out tomorrow, and you’ll need to be sharper than you are at the moment.”
