A ding from his computer informed him he had a new email. Seeing it was urgent, he opened it, narrowing his stone-gray eyes in curiosity. As he read he became excited. His inertia was about to change, and he relished the action.
“Guys! Get in here!”
Four other people lounging in the next room sprang to their feet and rushed over in response to his excited tone.
“What is it, Kirk?” Barbara asked. A long white dress covered her pale skinny frame while her white-blonde hair was pulled carelessly into a ponytail.
Kirk spun around in his computer chair and grinned fiercely. “We finally have a fucking assignment, that’s what.”
“About time,” Miles said. He was a bland man with skin, hair, and eyes the same shade of dark brown. “I was almost thinking they’d forgotten about us.”
“What does the assignment entail?” Robyn asked. She was a striking, curvaceous brunette beauty with flawless deep-umber skin whose parents had emigrated from the Caribbean. Robyn could charm information out of anyone. Though that wasn’t her special ability, the one handed down by her fae ancestry. Her ability was healing, and that made her perfect as a nurse.
“We’re to be on the lookout for these people.” Kirk tapped the keyboard, and two photos popped up on screen.
Barbara hissed. “Agents.”
It didn’t surprise Kirk that Barbara knew agents on sight. She had an eidetic memory and had gone through all the files the Knights acquired on the Agency. Though that was before the Agency invaded their headquarters, forcing them to destroy most of the files—both those about the Agency and the Knights’ own. So much precious information lost. But it was a needed sacrifice to keep their secrets from those fucking busybodies.
“And there’s an A for Barbara,” Kirk said. “They’re Agents Pan and Jin. But we’re also looking out for two shifter teens named Tommy and Natasha. Got their descriptions right here. Hmm. Apparently the boy’s a wolf and the girl’s a… hawk? Thought birds were extinct. No matter.” Kirk waved that away. “They’re traveling from Washington and could be coming here.”
“Any idea as to their destination?” Allen asked. He was a pasty-white portly man many would see as weak—until he reshaped a metal pole as if it were a balloon animal. Controlling metal was his ability.
Kirk shook his head. He looked proudly at his team as they began to discuss plans and strategies. The five of them had been stationed in Portland, Oregon for going on five years now. They were the biggest unit the Knights had in Oregon. He’d been directed by the commander—Gregor Whitefield himself—to choose four other knights and set up in the large city. They were to put themselves in places of authority or where they would have the greatest interaction with the public. They were to be eyes and ears only, unless otherwise directed. Kirk had become an expert on spotting a shifter upon first viewing, in either of their forms. The same could be said for the rest of his team.
Kirk was a sergeant of the local PD, Barbara and Robyn were nurses at two different hospitals, Miles was a custodian at the university—giving him access to the entire community—and Allen worked for ODOT, giving him access to all the traffic cameras.
“What’d they do?” Miles asked. “Why does the commander want them?”
“They have an object of importance to Arcas,” Kirk said, scanning the email again. “We aren’t to approach the subjects. Once spotted we contact Gregor, and he gives us further commands.”
“Doesn’t sound like fun,” Miles said gruffly.
“Better than sitting on our asses,” Barbara said, her tone scolding. “I’d rather do this than help the weak. You have no idea how fucking stupid it is to work in a hospital. Ill people everywhere. Makes me sick.”
“It’s not that bad—” Robyn said, trying to soothe.
“Speak for yourself, princess,” Barbara said acidly. “You like the attention you garner from saving lives. The invalids disgust me.”
Kirk smiled at Barbara. “The price we pay.”
Barbara scowled at him. Kirk always found that scowl sexy and would show her just how much when night fell.
Kirk stood. “Look alive, people. It’s showtime.”