Page 8 of Covert Affections (Shadow Agents/PSI-Ops #5)

Chapter Eight

Jesse

Jesse found himself joining his friend and rushing into the hallway.

Nick did a double-take. “What are you doing?”

Jesse noticed Efren, who was still on the floor in the hallway, stirring. He bent and punched the guard in the face, knocking him out again. “Uh, helping?”

“That’ll work,” Nick said with a nod. “Can you check the other two labs up there?”

Jesse was about to comment when the scent that started it all hit him. He inhaled deeply, trying to pinpoint the source of the smell. It had to be one of the children, but none had jumped out at him as the source in the lab he’d just been in.

A sinking feeling came over him as he thought about the missing scientist and the child Samuel had been looking for. Was she it? Was she the source of the scent he’d been tracking from the locker room?

The smell tugged at him, primal and instinctive, urging him down the darkened corridor. He pushed on, his boots echoing against the cold, sterile floor. The scent grew stronger, laced with something bitter and metallic.

Rounding a corner, he froze. There, just ahead, were two small figures—children—huddled against the wall.

One had dark black hair framing a pale face.

Thick black lashes surrounded blue eyes that had the slightest hint of violet in them.

The other little girl, with brown hair, clung tightly to her, looking up at him with brown eyes wide as saucers.

Notes of Samuel’s scent found Jesse, letting him know that the child was indeed the man’s daughter.

A strange sense of family slashed through Jesse’s gut, as if he had a relationship string to the little girl too.

He dismissed it quickly as his gaze landed on the other child with her.

The scent that had started it all, the one from the locker room, was strong and coming from her.

She was its owner. She had long black hair and wide, dark blue eyes.

She was a hair taller than Samuel’s daughter.

Her dark hair was curly and matted in more than one spot, and there was an angry bruise across her cheek and chin.

There were handprint bruises on her upper arms. There was more, but Jesse’s vision began to blur in a red haze of rage at the sight of her having been harmed.

He tried to cage his beast, fearing he’d scare the children more than they already were.

The fierce need to protect the child from everything and everyone took hold of him, stealing his ability to think clearly.

Jesse's gaze locked on the man standing over them.

He was the very same one Nick had spared.

Bastard!

Pee-Guy's expression twisted with fury as he raised what looked like a metal ladle.

The black-haired child flinched, pressing herself closer to her friend, her small arms wrapped protectively around the other girl.

Hints of Fae magik filled the area, a second before wind seemed to radiate from the little girls.

Pee-Guy stumbled, his swing going wide instead of hitting its mark. “Now, now, my children. Is that any way to treat your creator?”

Another, weaker, blast of Fae power came from the girls. This one didn’t do much beyond ruffle Pee-Guy’s hair. He laughed. “Running out of power? What are you going to do now? Huh?”

The beast in Jesse lunged upward in him, catching him off guard enough to allow his mouth to start to shift shapes.

His teeth lengthened, and his jaw widened.

He didn't need to be told that his facial features were now a cross between human and feline.

In the far recesses of his mind, he worried he'd scare the little girls, but his fury at the scientist outweighed everything else.

“They’re going to close their eyes so they don’t see what I’m about to do to you,” Jesse growled, his voice deep, carrying the full weight of his anger.

The scientist whirled around, clutching the ladle as if it might be able to stop Jesse from attacking.

"They're... they're the sum of my life's work. I was who created them. They’re my brainchildren! They were going to be the perfect weapons one day," the man stammered, his eyes flickering with a mix of fear and defiance. "I won't let you take them. I need more time."

Jesse's gaze flickered to the black-haired little girl. He expected to see fear in her eyes. He didn’t.

She jutted out her chin, held the brown-haired girl closer to her, and then nodded as if telling him to do what needed to be done.

He took a step forward, his towering frame casting a shadow over the trembling man.

The scientist hesitated, glancing frantically toward the emergency exit behind him. For a heartbeat, Jesse thought he might give up and run. But then, with a look of desperate determination, the man turned back to the girls and raised the ladle as if to strike again.

Before he could move, Jesse was to him, grabbing the man by the wrist and twisting. The ladle clattered to the ground, and the scientist let out a strangled cry, his knees buckling.

Every piece of Jesse wanted blood. It wanted to rip the man apart for daring to harm the children—for thinking he had any rights to them and for the torture and testing he’d already put them through.

Movement from the little girls caught his attention, and he glanced over to see the black-haired one shielding the other’s view from what was about to happen.

Jesse knew that whatever he did next would be with the children for the rest of their lives.

He had the choice to make—do what he and his shifter side wanted to do, or eliminate the threat another way. A less bloody one.

Jesse twisted his hand fast, snapping the scientist’s neck with ease.

He released him, letting the piss-soaked bastard fall to the floor with a thud.

He waited for tears or screams from the little girls.

Instead, the black-haired girl released Samuel’s daughter and began to clap as if she was proud of Jesse.

Strange kid.

Samuel’s daughter, Charley, looked up then, her gaze colliding with Jesse’s. A tentative smile touched her lips. The little girls walked, arm in arm, toward Jesse as he struggled to get his beast to retreat. Finally, it did, allowing his mouth and face to return to human form.

Jesse put his arms out and bent, trying to shoo the small children away from the dead guy. It seemed like the right thing to do, but he had no real experience with children. He couldn’t imagine staring at dead bodies was healthy for them or anything.

The girls shared a look and then leaped at him, tackling him, knocking him off balance and onto his back. Jesse ended up with two little girls sitting on his chest, looking happy as larks as he lay there dumbfounded.

Samuel, Benat, and Nick appeared at the end of the corridor.

Samuel’s gaze slid to the brown-haired girl, and relief flooded the man’s face. “You found her!”

Jesse nodded from his spot on the floor. “Uh, yeah. Interesting kid you got there, Samuel. She watched me kill a guy and is now happy as can be.”

Samuel teared up and rushed toward them, looking to be fighting tears. “Attagirl.”

Charley stayed put on Jesse’s chest, next to her friend.

Jesse kept his arms out wide, unsure about touching either child. He didn’t want to hurt them or anything. They seemed so tiny—so breakable.

Nick strolled up and stared at him, appearing amused. “Uh, why do you look like you’re being held up by toddlers?”

“Because he is,” said Benat with a grin. “They okay?”

Jesse’s gaze snapped to the black-haired girl’s bruises. “I’m not sure. They haven’t really said anything. Can they talk?”

Black-haired girl nodded and patted his chest. It was then he noticed the tiny flecks of violet in her eyes. They were faint but there.

Samuel swept Charley up into his arms and hugged her tight, closing his eyes as he did. “You okay, baby girl?”

She wrapped her arms around his neck tightly.

He kissed the side of her head, his gaze meeting Jesse’s. “Thank you, brother.”

The word brother left Jesse feeling odd, like it had more weight than merely a brother-in-arms. It was then that Jesse realized Samuel’s hands were shaking slightly as he held the little girl.

Nick put his arms out to the black-haired girl, but she shook her head and remained on Jesse’s chest, sitting there like he was a comfy piece of furniture or something. Not a man she just watched kill another.

Super weird kid.

“I think you have a fan,” said Nick, with a nod to the little girl.

“Kid has crap judgment,” said Jesse, easing out from under her before easing her onto the floor. He sprang up and stepped away as if he might be catching something like baby fever.

Nick laughed and knelt near the black-hair girl. As he glanced at Jesse, so did the child, and for a second, Jesse was struck by how similar they looked. Were they related somehow?

He sniffed the air, trying to pick up on hints of Nick’s scent on her, but found none.

Benat nudged him. “You all right?”

“What? Yes. What happens now?” demanded Jesse.

Benat opened his mouth, but Samuel shook his head. Benat grunted. “He helped this much. We can tell him.”

“I want to,” said Samuel, still hugging his daughter tightly. “But this place has a way of keeping a hold on someone. We all know it. And we can’t risk these precious babies. If he’s with us—then he’s with us fully. Not half-assed.”

Nick sighed. “He doesn’t remember. I thought he’d be starting to already, but not yet.”

“Remember what?” asked Jesse.

Benat swept in and took the black-haired girl from Nick. “We’re behind schedule. The moving trucks can’t wait forever.”

“Go. I’ll cover your tracks and throw the guards off here,” said Nick, his jaw tight as he glanced back in the direction that they’d left Peters and Efren unconscious. “This place will be crawling with guards soon. Someone needs to cover your tracks.”

“That wasn’t the plan,” returned Benat.

Samuel nudged him. “This is Nick’s choice. If he wants to make it, that’s fine by me. He knows the risk. Knows what they’ll do to him if they catch him.”

Benat hesitated, but finally, he and Samuel led the children away, carrying as many as they could in the process.

Taking a step back, Jesse watched them go.

He could feel the weight of his own indecision pressing down on him, every instinct screaming to follow, to protect the children.

He’d been sent to eliminate Samuel, not assist in a mass breakout, and he sure in the hell hadn’t been tasked with bonding with children.

The Corporation wouldn’t let this go. They’d hunt Samuel and Benat to the ends of the earth to get back their merchandise. Jesse hated knowing the kids were nothing more than a commodity to the place. Glorified test subjects. Who knows what they’d do to them if they got their hands on them again.

He couldn’t permit that to happen.

The sound of boots thundering down the corridor cut through Jesse's indecision.

His enhanced hearing picked up the metallic slide of weapons being drawn and the sharp clicks of safeties disengaging.

Jesse and Nick locked gazes, a silent understanding passing between them.

They were about to be overwhelmed, but neither would let The Corporation reclaim those children.

The serum in Jesse's system burned hotter, as if responding to the imminent threat. His vision sharpened painfully as his beast pushed forward, ready to fight, even as his conditioned mind screamed at him to stand down.

Nick put his arms out and flexed his hands as claws emerged from his fingertips.

“This wasn’t the plan, but I’ll be damned if I let them near those kids.

My intel was faulty and I should have realized as much.

This is on me. Go catch up with the others.

The door on the right will dump out not far from the pick-up zone. Hurry!”

Jesse never saw himself as the hero type, but he found himself thrusting Nick through the door nearest them and out of harm’s way.

He turned just in time to see guards, dressed in full riot gear, swarming the corridor.

Jesse moved swiftly, but the numbers quickly overwhelmed him.

Batons and fists rained down, the crack of bone and the coppery taste of blood filling his senses as he fought to stay on his feet.

One of them struck him from behind, forcing him to his knees. Someone stood over him and lifted a tranq gun. They fired, and seconds later, Jesse’s vision blurred, the edges darkening as he struggled to stay conscious but lost the battle.