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“WHEN DO YOU NEED TO leave?” I said to my father.
“Tonight. My flight leaves at eight.” That only gave us a few hours to spend together. It wasn’t nearly enough after weeks without seeing him. He felt the same way and turned to Mark. “Could I borrow a sniper rifle? I’d like to see if Lexi’s skills have grown rusty.”
An expression that was startlingly close to excitement swept over Mark. I could understand why. My father’s skills were legendary. People came from all over the country to learn from him when he performed training sessions.
My eyes widened in alarm when I realized I’d left most of my belongings in our base in Texas. My sniper rifle was among them.
“Relax,” Kala said, accurately guessing what I was thinking. “We brought your gear with us. It’s in the SUV.”
“I’ll be back in a minute,” I said to my father. I stood and moved so quickly that nearly everyone was shocked. Only Reece didn’t start at my eerie speed.
“You’ll need these,” Mark said with forced nonchalance and I halted. He tossed me the keys and I caught them deftly. Slowing down so I wouldn’t freak everyone out, I walked over to the door that led to the hallway rather than sprinting. I entered the garage and retrieved my duffel bag full of clothes from the back of the SUV. The black backpack that held my sniper rifle was nestled beside it. I snatched it up as well.
Returning to the main area, I left the duffle bag near the door and shouldered the backpack as my father joined me in the hall. I mentally told Zeus I was heading out to the range. Knowing it would be too noisy for him, he settled down on the floor beside Kala, hoping for another opportunity to steal a cookie.
I knew the team wanted to give us some time alone, but I also knew they were dying to see my dad in action. I shared a look with him and he nodded his agreement. “You guys can come, too, if you want,” I said.
Mark was standing almost before I’d finished making the offer. “I thought you’d never ask,” he said with a grin.
Zeus’ hope for another snack was foiled when Kala stood as well. “Wait for me!” she said, then raced to the kitchen and put the cookies in the fridge. I wasn’t sure it was the best place for them, but it was better than leaving them out for my furry guardian to devour.
Reece and Flynn didn’t want to miss out on the action either. They joined us as we trooped out into the main hallway. We stopped at the armory halfway along the corridor. My father entered with Mark and they returned with a sniper rifle, ammo, several pairs of binoculars and a couple of sheets of canvas for us to lie on. Zeus followed us outside, but chose to perform a sweep of the perimeter rather than following us to our destination.
We took the narrow path through the trees that led to the outdoor range. Snow coated the ground, but it wasn’t deep enough to hinder us. The canvas would keep us dry, if not warm. The cold didn’t bother me, of course. I hadn’t even bothered to wear a jacket.
My dad surveyed the targets with a raised eyebrow. The farthest one was only fifteen hundred yards away. “This isn’t going to be much of a challenge,” he said. It was a fact rather than a complaint.
“I can fix that,” Flynn said and took off at a sprint. He continued on until he was well past the last target. He was nearly a mile away when he stopped. Taking something out of his pocket, he pushed snow into a pile and placed the object on the top.
My eyesight was excellent now, but it wasn’t quite good enough to see what my father would be shooting at. Kala raised the binoculars that Mark had handed her. “There is no way a mere human could possibly hit that,” she declared, then lowered the binoculars and flicked my dad an apologetic glance. “No offense.”
“None taken,” he said dryly as he placed one of the sheets of canvas on the ground. I handed him my backpack and he used it as a brace. Lying down, he sighted through the scope.
I remained standing and used my own scope to see what Flynn had put on the mound. I could see why Kala was so skeptical. The target was a dime. It was held upright by a shelf made of snow.
“A hundred bucks says he misses,” Flynn said to Mark when he sprinted back to us.
“Done,” Mark replied, accepting the wager and they shook hands. Both were grinning widely. Mark was absolutely confident that his longtime friend wouldn’t miss.
Everyone raised their binoculars to watch while my father tested the wind and readied himself. Taking a deep breath, he went absolutely still, then pulled the trigger. I knew the shot was true even before the bullet hit the target. The shiny coin spun off into the trees in a burst of snow.
“I can’t believe you hit it!” Kala exclaimed. She and Mark high-fived each other. Flynn silently took his wallet out and handed a hundred dollars over to our boss.
“Never bet against my Dad,” I said proudly and he turned and winked. For anyone else, the shot would have been impossible. If I’d still been an ordinary human, I’d never have pulled it off.
“Now it’s your turn,” he said and stopped Flynn before he could sprint off with another coin. “Move the target back another eight hundred yards.”
With a sly look at me, Flynn blasted past the mound he’d made and created a new one. He placed another dime on the top, packing snow behind it to keep it upright.
“Wow. Really?” I complained to my dad. That distance was pushing the limits of the bullet. My custom made rifle wasn’t quite as powerful as the one he was using.
“I have faith in you,” he said as I flattened out the second canvas sheet. Kneeling, I took my rifle out of the backpack, assembled it, then lay down. Remaining prone as well, he watched the target through his scope. Even for me, it was going to be difficult.
Slowing my breathing, I mentally prepared myself to take the shot. Sensing a puff of wind coming, I waited for the air to become still again. Sighting down the scope, I focused on the dime. It was so tiny with distance that it would have been almost invisible to humans. My focus narrowed until the target was the only thing I saw. Everything else faded into the background.
I went to take a deep breath then dimly realized I’d stopped breathing a while ago. I stopped thinking and pulled the trigger. Time seemed to slow down as I followed the path of the bullet with my eyes. It had just enough force by the time it reached the mound of snow to smack into the dime and knock it to the ground.
My heart hadn’t just slowed down while I’d been focused on the target, it had stopped beating altogether. It kicked back into motion again and I took a breath as the others made sounds of amazement. My dad shook his head, but he wasn’t really surprised. “I always knew you’d surpass me one day. I just didn’t think it would happen this soon.”
“The only reason my skills have increased this much is because I’m not human.”
Hiking his thumb over his shoulder, he indicated the rest of the squad. “Most of your team are shifters. None of them can shoot like you can.”
That was a point that I hadn’t considered before. “Being half werewolf, half vampire has helped. My vision was never this good before.”
“Thank you for the demonstration, Philip and Lexi,” Mark said. “We’ll leave you two alone so you can catch up.”
Kala was clearly disappointed that she wouldn’t get to see more of my dad’s skills, but she dutifully followed the others back to the base.
My father knew how exceptional our hearing was and he waited for them to be out of range before he spoke. “How are you holding up?”
“It’s been pretty crazy since I joined the team,” I replied. “My life has changed so dramatically that I barely feel like the same person anymore.”
“Some things may have changed physically, but you’re still the same girl inside.”
“Am I?” I asked, meeting his eyes. “My mother was a vampire and my biological father is a necromancer. Doesn’t that kind of doom me to turn evil?”
“Absolutely not,” he said firmly. “How many innocent people have you killed?”
“None,” I admitted. Then added, “Yet.”
“Even after Katrina turned you and had you under her control, you refused to take a life. If you were going to turn to the dark side, I’m fairly certain it would have happened by now.”
Looking away, I fiddled with the scope on my rifle. “There’s something you don’t know about me. I did something that most PIA agents would kill me for.”
“You raised some zombies,” he said almost conversationally and smiled faintly at my surprise. “Mark told me.”
“You walked away after you saw me turn into a werewolf. How can you still love me after you know what I’ve become now?”
Guilt and sorrow warred on his face before he responded. “I didn’t walk away because I stopped loving you. I couldn’t handle losing my daughter after watching my wife turn into a monster. Your young friend was instrumental in making me see that you were still you. Even if you did turn into a ravenous animal for three days out of every month,” he joked.
“Kala called you?” I asked.
He shook his head. “It was Agent Bailey. He told me to stop feeling sorry for myself,” he said ruefully. “He said that you would always need me, especially once I told you about your true parentage. He urged me to do so sooner rather than later.”
“When did this happen?”
“Shortly after your mission in Bradbury.”
“Was that when Mark was going to give me time off to visit you?”
“Yes. Unfortunately, things didn’t work out the way I’d planned.”
“Nothing ever does,” I said sourly. “Fate makes sure of that.”
“I’m not thrilled with the idea of you being her puppet.”
“I’m not the only one she’s using,” I pointed out. “Did you think it was just dumb luck that Mom threw herself in front of your car?”
His eyes widened as he realized just how far back Fate’s manipulation went. “I wish I knew what she had in store for you.”
“So do I,” I agreed. All I knew was that I’d have to save the world. I still had absolutely no idea what I was saving it from.