“Don’t ever make me hold down the fort again,” Captain Odin said.
Chief Hera smirked. “You did just fine. In fact, you did so well some might think you’re angling for my job.”
He shuddered. For such a mountain of a man, it was quite something to see him quiver in his enormous boots.
“Anyway, I’ll need to lean on you once again when the memorial date is set.”
He sobered and nodded. “Of course. Whatever I can do to help. Seriously.”
“I know.” She expected Caleb to call her any day now about the memorial arrangements for Mandy. She wasn’t thrilled about it but ritual was important to the living. And there was no way in hell she’d let Caleb and Ryan go through this alone. She’d be there for them. As long as she could. It wasn’t just that she owed her sister that, she felt closer to Mandy when she was with her nephews. Caleb had her eyes. Ryan had her sharp wit. She was proud of her boys, as if they were her own. In some ways, they were.
“So, Merlin, huh?” He shook his head and leaned back in her visitor’s chair. They were at the current Agency HQ, and the buzz of activity beyond her office walls was a familiar comfort she’d missed.
“Yeah. Merlin. And with our shifter allies spreading the word, I don’t see the cult gaining a foothold anymore. He also said he was going to make some personal visits to certain groups. I can only imagine.” She shook her head. “When the alpha of alphas tells a bunch of his children to stop their shit, they listen.”
He smirked. “We can hope. What else did he say? I know you would have spoken to him in private.”
She took a deep breath. “Yeah. Not as much as I’d hoped. But he did give me the general territories of the remaining master shifters we’ve yet to reach out to.”
Odin blinked and sat up. “That’s not nothing.”
“No. But when I say general, I mean general. The Amazon Rainforest is one. Yeah, thanks. I’ll get right on that.” She rolled her eyes. “At least I have names and primal spirits for them.” She paused before voicing her suspicions. “Seems we really are one family. Hopefully Merlin isn’t blowing air up our asses on that. Considering that… have you ever thought that fate actually exists. Like a quantifiable external force?”
He met her gaze, his own shielded. “You know I do. Even before this. Even before I considered Phoenix as a living being.”
She nodded. “I always knew something was building and would come to a head soon. Since the Agency was founded we’ve been fighting skirmishes and battles but this feels… like an actual war. It’s not a metaphor anymore. And Merlin confirmed it but he wouldn’t give me details. I know he’s holding back.”
“And I know how much you hate that. I can’t tell if his presence will help us or only precipitate the worst of it.”
“Maybe both. But there’s no denying the… interesting matings that have happened recently. Ones that have strengthened us. First Poe and Nordik. Then Pan and Viktor, which gives us a direct line to Glory. Even Josh and Xavier and their founding of the clinic. Jack and Travis, with Travis’s connection to the knights.”
“And then there is Hunter, who used to be a knight.”
She nodded. “Exactly. And just this summer, Agent Ignis and the coyote master shifter.”
“Gotta admit, that still smarts to lose her.”
Hera smiled. “And then there’s the blood angle. Raphael and Ryan. Seems fate wants our agents with master shifters.” Making her decision, she typed on her computer and printed out two lists while Odin watched in puzzlement. “Fate is a cruel bitch but I have no interest in spitting in her eye.”
“What do you have there?”
She yanked the sheets out of the printer and set them side-by-side on the table.
Odin leaned over and frowned. “One is a list of our field agents and the other… are the master shifters.”
“The unmated master shifters.”
He eyed her. “Just what are you scheming?”
Instead of explaining, she proceeded to cut out the names on each list into strips. She grabbed two mugs and placed the agent strips into one and the masters into another. She cupped both mugs and shook them around to mix the strips. Then she closed her eyes and stuck her hands into the mugs, pulling out an agent and a master.
“You have got to be kidding.”
“Like I said, if fate wants to play, I’m not spitting at her.” She grabbed a blank sheet of paper and taped the pairs together. Once she was done, she slipped the list to Odin.
“There. Send these agents to these masters and see what happens.”
“You’re insane.”
She smirked. “Probably. But we all need to be a little insane to do this job day in and day out.”
Odin huffed. “You’re probably right.” He stood and grabbed the list. “Should I tell the agents?”
“Hell no. Forewarned is forearmed. I don’t want them to feel obligated to mate with the masters. We’ll keep playing the matching game until we all win.”
“You’re something else.”
She grinned sharply. “Just be glad you’re not on that list.”
“Oh, I am.” He peered at her. “But might I ask why not?”
Everything inside her softened as she gazed at her friend of several decades. “I know where your heart lies.”
His expression shuttered as he turned away.
Undeterred, she reached over and gripped his wrist. “Things are changing everywhere. Even in the Agency. We have agents mated with shifters, and it has brought us alliances and strength. And if what I hope happens, happens, then the list you’re holding will lead to more.”
Odin stared at her.
“Think about it.”
“He isn’t a shifter to build alliances with. Besides, I have a past.”
“Mac isn’t dumb, Odin. I’m sure he’s figured out some of it. And before you question whether he loves you or not… well, let’s just say neither of you hide it well. I’m sure there’s a running bet somewhere about when you two will finally stop dancing around the subject.”
A flush stained Odin’s cheeks as he glared at her. “I need you to understand why that won’t work.”
“And I need you to understand that I will always have your back. And I never, ever, agreed with the restrictions placed on agents. I understand being married to the job. We all do. But we also need a reason to fight. We need to find happiness where we can. You know as well as I do that many agents don’t follow the relationship rules. And we look the other way. Because it doesn’t affect their work. And there’s something to be said for being human and for having a heart.”
Odin swallowed and nodded. “I’ll get right on this.”
“You do that.”
He inclined his head before turning on his heel and leaving.
Hera sighed heavily and pushed away from the desk. She smoothed her hands over the quilt on her lap—the quilt Mandy had made for her. She took a moment, a precious moment, to remember. To grieve. Her breath shuddered before she controlled it and then she shut it down.
Yes, there was something to be said for having a heart. But there was also something to be said for doing the job. And until the war was over, whatever that might look like, she had a job to do. So she scooted closer to her computer and glanced at the picture Mandy had sent her a year ago, with her, Caleb, and Ryan, posing with dopey grins in front of the ranch.
She smiled.
And got to work.
###