Page 6 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Chapter Six

Jesse

Jesse should have been waiting for the director's instructions, standing at attention like a good soldier while they laid out the details of Samuel's elimination. That's what his training demanded. That's what The Corporation expected.

Instead, he found himself moving toward the restricted wing, driven by a scent that seemed to bypass every shred of his conditioning.

The honey-sweet smell was stronger here, tinged with something metallic that made his cat side snarl with protective fury.

Right now, his beast didn't care about kill orders, directors, consequences, or the bizarre flashes of memories from events that never happened.

Someone needed help.

The certainty of it clawed at him, overriding everything else—including his own survival instincts.

The Corporation would make him pay for this insubordination, assuming he survived whatever he was walking into.

But for the first time since he could remember, the threat of punishment felt distant compared to the pull of that scent and the fierce need to protect its owner.

Moving swiftly through the darkened corridors, Jesse tried sorting through the numerous smells of the men who worked at the facility and frequented the area.

He could still pick up on the lingering scent of Samuel, Benat, and Nick from earlier.

But they weren't what was calling to his shifter side, demanding he take notice.

The mysterious scent grew stronger as Jesse entered the restricted wing, becoming more distinct with each step he took.

He understood the smell belonged to a person, and he knew it was someone he’d never met before.

Someone in danger. He and his shifter side were in perfect alignment when it came to getting to the person and making sure they were safe.

It didn’t matter who they were. Something about them made his protective instincts surge in a manner he’d never experienced before.

This better not be a side effect of the serum , he thought, trying to pull his focus long enough to self-assess.

The smell intensified.

It acted as a hook, line, and sinker, catching his cat-shifter side and holding it in an iron grip.

As if someone had cast a line, caught him, and was reeling him in, dragging him closer and closer.

Normally, his cat-shifter side was a bit of an asshole and quick to want to take a stance and fight anything and anyone that tried to tell it what to do.

Now, it wanted to locate the source. Not to harm them.

No.

To help.

He slowed his pace, looking down at the floor and then at his arm. The injection site was still red and swollen. Was this all part of the side effects of the serum? Was he hallucinating a phantom scent and inventing a person in need?

His inner beast reacted, swatting at him from within to the point it actually hurt. Wincing, Jesse continued on the path of the scent, knowing he should cut and run.

Digging too deep into The Corporation and its secrets was a bad idea, yet he found himself doing just that. It was impossible for him to ignore the scent. The same nagging feeling he’d gotten in the locker room gnawed at his gut, telling him someone was in trouble and that they needed his help.

Don’t question the process.

Obey orders.

Keep your head down.

The damn mantra played on repeat in his brain, getting faster and faster with every step he took.

Jesse didn’t stop. No. He kept on the trail of the scent, doing his best to weed through the scents of the people who worked at the facility.

The mystery scent was getting stronger now and was accompanied by other smells that were foreign to him.

Ones that had traces of fear in them, just like the one he was tracking.

Before Jesse knew it, he was in the section of the facility he was always drawn to.

The one that gave him the heebie-jeebies yet still called to him.

Normally, the access doors to the section were locked—the biometric scanners keeping out the unwanted, like him.

The doors were wide open and no one was around.

That, in itself, should have been reason enough for him to leave and start his vacation time—fuck the director canceling it.

To get the fuck out of Dodge while the getting was good.

His stupid fucking shifter side wouldn’t hear of it.

His attention went to the restricted-access elevator.

The biometric scanner that was mounted to the wall next to it was dark, as if no power was going to it, and the elevator’s door was slightly ajar, almost beckoning him to enter.

Jesse had only a moment's worth of hesitation before his pulse quickened, and he darted forward.

He took hold of the elevator door and tugged hard, forcing it open more.

He half thought he'd find an incapacitated guard or scientist there and that, maybe, the facility was under attack.

It would explain the absence of any personnel so far, the overrides of the secure areas, and the introduction of mysterious scents. But why would his shifter side feel compelled to help the enemy?

Instantly, he was struck with the same vision he’d had right after his injection. The one of him, Samuel, Benat, and Nick, all dressed in fatigues that weren’t standard issue for anyone working with The Corporation. He saw himself laughing with Samuel, something that never happened in real life.

"Stop," he hissed, grabbing his injection site, trying to will the poison from his system. If the enemy had breached the facility, he needed to be vigilant and at the ready for an attack, not have his head shoved up his ass daydreaming. “Pull yourself together. You are not going out by way of PSI.”

Fucking Paranormal Security and Intelligence operatives had laid siege to more than one of The Corporation's facilities lately. They’d been striking spots Jesse wasn’t even aware The Corporation had, raiding them and vanishing like thieves in the night with whatever it was The Corporation guarded so heavily.

While Jesse didn’t have the details of what they’d taken, he knew it was important and something The Corporation had invested millions upon millions in.

He’d overheard that much on one of his security sweeps a few weeks back.

He also knew The Corporation had been putting measures in place to try to stop PSI.

From the looks of it, those measures had failed.

The tugging in his gut started again, more frantic than before.

His shifter side took note, surging up, demanding he take heed and do something—anything.

He reached for the buttons inside the elevator, unsure what level to select.

All seemed to go to lower levels. Places Jesse had never been before.

He was about to press B1 but stopped, something deep inside telling him to select B3 instead, so he did.

The elevator doors didn’t budge at first. He pushed the button again and growled impatiently. Lights on the button panel flashed several times before remaining on. Jesse waited for the biometric scanners to kick on and for the alarm system to go off. It didn’t happen.

Confused as to why there would be power to the elevator suddenly, yet none to the rest of the surrounding things, Jesse stepped back.

The elevator doors slid shut with a hushed whisper, and the elevator lurched, causing him to stagger.

He stumbled back and into the elevator wall.

He caught himself with ease but kept a hand on the wall to remain steady as the death trap shook and jerked downward.

If he didn't know better, he'd have said someone, or something, was controlling the elevator's descent.

The thought should have made him retreat—he'd seen enough strange things working for The Corporation to know when something was wrong.

But that scent kept pulling him down, down, down, as if whatever waited below needed him.

The elevator continued, sputtering and stopping at points.

The descent felt endless. When the doors finally opened, Jesse was greeted by a corridor even darker and colder than the one above.

The smell of bleach, ammonia, and blood filled the area, stirring his shifter senses.

There was something else in the mix. It took a second for him to recognize it, but when he did, his lip curled.

The serum.

He was smelling it in larger quantities now. It was dangerous enough in small doses. This amount was surely lethal.

The next he knew, he was running forward, down the long, dark hall, unsure where it led, only positive he had to follow where it went.

He rounded a corner and tripped over Peters’ unconscious form.

Several feet ahead lay Efren, also out cold, the ever-present stench of cigarettes and body odor clinging to him even now.

Jesse’s nose wrinkled, and he nearly sneezed, his body trying to reject the offensive scent.

Jesse’s suspicions about it being a PSI attack seemed more and more likely with each passing minute.

“How are we on time?” asked a familiar voice from up ahead. “We still on schedule?”

Jesse’s brow creased as he stepped over the bodies of the guards and followed the sound of Samuel’s voice. Why hadn’t Samuel hit the alarms, notifying others that the compound was under attack? And why in the hell did he sound like he had something to do with it?

“Yes, but we’re still cutting it close,” replied Benat.

Jesse crept forward more, towards a large metal door that was propped open. The door had a yellow and black warning sign announcing that what lay beyond it was dangerous. If it was so dangerous, what were Samuel and Benat doing in there?

“This one is in rough shape,” said another voice—this one shocking Jesse to his core.

Nick?

“I’m not sure that she can travel,” said Nick, his voice tight.

She?

Jesse crept closer to the door, his senses on high alert. The mantra repeated in Jesse’s mind: Don't question procedure. Follow orders. Keep your head down. The words weren’t enough to override the instinct that something was terribly wrong.

Nick growled loudly, the sound echoing down the hall. “What the fuck did you give her?”

“Payne, get it together!” shouted Samuel. “We’ve got a job to do. Leave him for now.”

“No. He’s going to tell me what the hell he gave her and the other ones, or I’m going to tear his spleen out and eat it for dinner,” warned the wolf-shifter, his voice deepening.

“Once we’re safe, we’ll get them checked over by people we trust,” said Samuel, his voice raw. “Let the egghead go.”

Just then, Jesse heard tiny whimpers. The sound of them went right to his gut, yanking on his beast, demanding it assist in whatever was happening.

He stepped into the open doorway and froze. Nick was there, standing with a clawed hand pressed under the chin of a man in a white lab coat. The scientist's frightened eyes were wide as Nick growled something low.

“Tell me what you gave her!” shouted Nick, his face inches from the man’s.

The smell of urine reached Jesse a second before it trickled out of the bottom of the scientist’s pant leg.

Jesse watched the scientist's reactions with the same detachment he'd used during countless interrogations in the past. Part of Jesse hoped Nick would take it too far and kill the asshole.

There was something off about the scientist. The man's fear was real enough, but there was something else beneath it—something that didn’t match his reactions.

“I-I didn’t give her anything,” sputtered the man. “I swear. It wasn’t me.” Despite the tremor in his voice and the stench of urine rolling off him, there was something off about him and his response. Like, maybe, he’d practiced this very thing a time or two before.

Had he?

No , thought Jesse. He’s afraid. He pissed himself, for fuck’s sake.

Nick kept the scientist held off the floor, a clawed hand still pressed under his chin. “But you know who did and what they gave her.”

“It’s something they’ve been testing for a while now,” the man said, something close to fear filling his every word.

The emotion didn’t match the micro-expressions on his face or his accelerated heartbeat.

Both signs indicated he was lying. The man’s gaze darted off to the left as if he were expecting help to come bursting through the lab doors at any minute.

“Something they started giving to the freaks who work here—the ones who aren’t human. ”

The man’s word choices felt a bit like he was trying to keep Nick riled.

That he wanted Nick’s attention on him and not elsewhere.

Jesse had led and witnessed enough interrogations over the years to know a redirect when he saw one.

What was the man’s end game? Did he not realize that Nick, in his current state, could and would tear his throat out?

Nick blinked slowly at the man, a sick smile curving on his lips. “ I work here. I’m not human.”

Jesse didn’t know it was possible, but the scientist peed more. But again, the action didn’t match every other tell Jesse was picking up from the man. Was he the only person who noticed it? And was it just the serum fucking with his ability to think clearly?

“I didn’t mean…you’re not a… I don’t know what’s in the serum. I just know they’ve been testing it in its raw form on the kids,” said the scientist.

Kids?

It was then that Jesse dragged his gaze from Nick and Pee-Guy. They were standing in some sort of lab. Jesse couldn’t see all of it from his vantage point, but the little he could see looked to have metal cribs in it.

His stomach clenched.

No.

The Corporation wouldn’t test on children, would they?

The whimpers grew louder, some turning to tiny sobs.

“I know it hurts, little guy,” said Benat softly. “I promise we’re going to take you somewhere safe.”

Nick’s head turned slowly toward Jesse. He seemed surprised to find Jesse standing there. “Shit.”

Samuel stepped around the corner, his gaze colliding with Jesse’s. “Culbertson, you need to help or go the hell away.”