Authors: A. C. Arthur
Instead, Crowe stood his ground, shoulders squared, gaze leveled on Guthrie, the ugly motherfucker, with his cratered face, leathery skin, and hideous scar that ran down the left side of his face, curving beneath his neck. “I’ve done my part to make this deal a success. You just make sure your people are ready to put their money on the table once I’m done.”
Guthrie frowned and Pierson nodded toward him, pulling the cigar he sucked on from his lips. “If anything happens tonight to mess up this deal, I’m gonna personally cut off your balls and feed them to you, Crowe. You arrogant piece of crap!”
Crowe managed a smirk. “Nice doing business with you too, Pierson.”
They left the room together, walking as if they were on the battlefield with slow precision, garnering stares from guests and staff as they stepped off the elevator and headed toward the ballroom where tonight’s festivities would take place. Once inside the large room filled with tables topped with black linens and crystal and china dishes surrounding huge and pointless flower arrangements, the threesome separated. Each went to their own tables in the front of the room. Crowe looked down at his table and noted there were assigned seats. Names he didn’t recognize, but figured were the high rollers in tonight’s little auction, were seated around him. He slipped a hand into his pocket and pulled out his cell phone, turning his back to the tables where Guthrie and Pierson were sitting and spoke quietly.
“I’m in the ballroom. Bring them down whenever you’re ready, but keep them disarmed until I give you the word.”
“All of them?” came the reply from the other end of the phone.
Crowe clenched his teeth. He had no idea what Boden wanted with hundreds of hybrids. But he’d had his people in the new lab working around the clock to make sure they were ready. Crowe had faced a lot in his many tours of duty. He’d aimed his gun at men, women, children, armed and unarmed, he’d watched as houses, churches, and schools were burnt to the ground and destinies changed forever, but he’d never seen anything like Boden. And try as he might, the U.S. Marine Corps hadn’t taught him how not to fear a beast like that one.
“Yeah,” he said tightly. “All of them.”
* * *
At six thirty on Friday evening the Shadow Shifters climbed out of the black SUVs they’d arrived in. Some parked in the garage, some on National Harbor Boulevard, and others on Waterfront Street. They were coming from all directions, taking up residence at the locations that had been outlined to them by their team leaders. X and a team of five guards headed into the resort, moving to the lower level where the IT department and all the control boards for the hotel were located. They were equipped with laptops and com links, focused on taking full control of the hotel’s power supply if need be, and intercepting any outgoing or incoming communications about tonight’s event and the sale of the hybrids.
There were teams assigned to the roof of the resort, guards monitoring every stairwell and every bank of elevators on each floor. They blended in with the guests in the lobby, the resort restaurants, lobby bar, and penthouse club. Outside they stood at each corner, near each exit of the resort, and the parking garage. Rome had ordered full coverage and they were going to provide it.
At six forty-five when all teams had verified their positions via com link, Rome, Nick, Eli, Ezra, Nivea, and Caprise made their way to the Potomac Ballroom. The official conference activities would begin tomorrow, but defense industry guests had already begun to assemble for this ticketed event.
They spread out, each taking corners of the room, walking around, looking at and scenting the guests that filled the room. Most of them were either in full military regalia or fatigues. Even the foreign dignitaries wore their dress military gear so that the room seemed to be filled with pompous, overdressed, aging men who were on the hunt for the next best killing machine. The thought alone made Nivea angry. Sure, she believed in defense. Wasn’t that what she was currently doing, dressed in a business suit and heels when she’d much rather have on her guard’s uniform? But these men were specifically looking for weapons of mass destruction. That wasn’t about defense, it was about killing, period. And she couldn’t stand it.
“I’ll be right over here,” Eli said, using the private station on the e-band they both wore.
She tried not to frown because she knew it was taking a lot out of him to watch her go into battle. Last night he’d shared with her the dreams he’d had recently, as well as his guilt over the females in his life dying because of him. Of course she’d told him he was being silly on all accounts, but deep inside she recognized his fear. She too had carried fear for her sisters in the last few years. No matter how many times her therapist had told her that the abuse was not her fault and whatever Richard chose to do to anyone else was not her responsibility to stop. She’d felt different and so she’d done what she considered necessary to prevent that from happening. As such, she would not disregard Eli’s feelings, nor would she judge him for them.
“I’ll be in this area,” she replied, looking over to make sure they made eye contact.
He nodded and Nivea smiled. Eli was wearing his shades again but they didn’t bother her so much now because she knew what his eyes looked like. She’d stared into them for so long last night, when he came inside of her, when he’d roared in pleasure, and when he’d simply looked at her as if this was the first time he’d ever truly seen her. She knew the changes in color and the moods that brought it on. She cherished that knowledge, loved that he’d shared so much with her, including the fact that he’d fallen in love with her.
That had been the best.
The lights grew dim and Nivea instantly registered that her best memories were over. It was showtime.
“The doors are locked,” she heard through the com link.
It was Ezra speaking and since all the guests were seated she could see all the way across the room to where she and the other shifters had come in. He was standing near the doors. Rome was closer to the podium at the front of the room, but behind him was an exit door. He sighed into the com link repeating Ezra’s words, “Locked.”
Nivea looked to Eli. He was about to say something when the clapping began.
“Thank you. Thank you,” the man stepping to the stage said, nodding his head stiffly as his way of addressing the crowd.
“That’s Crowe!” Ezra all but shouted into their ears.
“We’re not making a scene. Wait until there’s a reason to act. Otherwise we’ll get him when he steps off stage,” Rome directed.
Nivea nodded, rolling her shoulders back and focusing her attention on the man dressed in the U.S. Marine Corps uniform and speaking into the microphone, acknowledging that this was how a true monster looked.
“Thank you all for graciously accepting my invitation,” Crowe began. “It is not every day that like-minded individuals of our training and caliber are gathered in one place.”
“He really means like-minded assholes,” Caprise said through the link.
Nivea didn’t even try to hide her smile.
“I won’t waste time with platitudes and chitchat, but will get right to the point. Tonight I have gathered you here to allow you to be the first to witness the next phase in the world’s defense. I introduce to you the Genesis Project, Prototype V.”
With his words Nivea’s cat reared up, her back straightening, cat’s eyes widening as she focused on the center of the stage where Crowe had just stepped from the podium, his arm extended to the curtains opening in the center. There was immediate mumbling throughout the room as one of those damned hybrids stepped through the curtain, dressed in battle fatigues and even wearing a fitted cap pulled down low over its brow. To hide the eerie green eyes, no doubt.
It took long, wide strides until coming to a stop at the edge of the stage. Crowe looked to be saying something, his lips moving. And then all hell broke loose.
The hybrid stepped right off the stage, lifting its beefy arms and slamming them down on the first table in its reach, its mouth opening so that a deafening roar vibrated throughout the room. The guests screamed, some of them getting up from their seats as the curtains moved and out came two more hybrids.
“Cut the lights! Cut the lights!” Rome yelled into his com link.
“We’ll take the one over here,” Eli said, coming up behind Nivea, touching a hand to her back.
They moved easily through the dark, whereas the humans were still scrambling around. They couldn’t see, and also, they didn’t know what the hell was roaring at them or breaking all the glassware around them. Nivea ran beside Eli until the hybrid was standing directly in front of them, roaring and dripping its sickly ooze.
“On three,” Eli told her, but Nivea ignored him.
Instead she leapt forward, catching hold of the hybrid’s arm and propelling herself up the front of its body. Her feet slammed into its chest and it began to fall backward just as her clawed hand swung out to the spot beneath its ear, knowing she would take it down. It was quick and jolting as her body almost immediately made contact with the floor. A strong arm went around her waist and pulled her upward to her relief. The angry voice in her ear was not.
“I said on three,” Eli yelled.
“Yeah, I forgot,” she replied, without the shrug that would have only irritated him more. “Behind you!” she yelled just in time for him to turn and strike the hybrid in the stomach area. It barely stopped moving but the second of contact gave Eli enough time to send another blow to its arm, then its lower leg and finally, to leap onto its back and dispatch the hybrid. He jumped down before the ashes could drop him to the floor as they had Nivea. They didn’t speak again but turned immediately to the continued chaos in the room, fighting, side by side.
* * *
Outside the Gaylord, the night seemed as normal as any other. Cars pulled into the garage to park, while people stepped out of the vehicles and headed into the hotel’s lobby. None were the wiser, not even the woman that walked directly beside him. He almost laughed at the situation. She’d looked up and smiled when he opened the door for her.
“Thank you,” she said, her long lashes blinking wildly against the smooth ivory tone of her skin.
“You’re so very welcome,” he replied with a smile of his own, one that revealed his long, sharp teeth.
She gasped and tried to hurry away but he was quicker. Reaching out he grabbed her, pulling her to him, chuckling. “What’s the matter, baby? You don’t like sharp teeth?” he asked before ducking his head and licking the cleavage she so boldly displayed through the low-cut blouse she was wearing. She let out a scream that should have broken the glass doors. And he bit her right there, teeth sinking straight into the pliant human skin, pulling his mouth away as she continued to yell, then pushing her body back until she fell onto the ground.
That one action set everything in motion and only seconds later, there were rogues and those fucking hybrids coming from every direction. They’d been in cars, behind bushes, inside the hotel, inside the garage, every one on special orders from Boden. And now, with Boden’s appearance, they were free to do whatever the hell they wanted.
Oh happy day, he thought, ripping through the lobby as his human body shifted into that of a cougar and he roared to make his presence known.
“Shit! They’re fucking everywhere out here! Cats!” Zach yelled into the com link. “They’re goddamned cats!”
Rome’s standing order was that they not shift under any circumstances. The Assembly Leader had said this time and time again, but as Zach came to a stop at the corner of Waterfront Street, after having run a block from where he’d been stationed, all he could see was pandemonium. There were cats climbing up the walls of the Gaylord, jumping through the resort windows. They stood on top of cars, crashing through hoods as they ran to the nearest human that appeared. Whoever they saw they terrorized, either by picking them up or tossing them a distance that all but assured they would be dead when they hit the ground. There was screaming and yelling and the otherwise cool air stilled with the stench that they’d all recognized … death.
“We don’t have a choice,” Zach finally said into the com link, before shifting as he ran to confront a rogue that had just pounced on the hood of a moving car.
* * *
“Shit. Shit. Shit!” Priya cursed from the back of the news van she’d been sitting in with Bas and four other guards.
Their assignment had been to wait and to monitor. Rome had been banking on exposing Crowe for his illegal arms dealing with Robert Slakeman and having Priya there to get the scoop on that story to possibly take the heat off the cat people sightings. She was sure he had no idea the scoop would
be
the cat people!
“I’m getting out,” Bas yelled. “You three stay with her and drive to Havenway. Now!”
He was heading to the back door when Priya grabbed him, tears already welling in her eyes as her heart pounded in her chest. She’d known who and what he was, knew what this entire situation had meant for him and his tribe, but damn if she’d let herself believe that something would happen to him, that maybe she’d never see him again. She opened her mouth but the words wouldn’t come.
“I’m coming back to you,” he told her seriously. “I promise you I’m coming back.”
She couldn’t talk, her lips trembling as his touched hers softly. “I promise,” he whispered again before disappearing through that door.
“Promise.” Priya heard her own whisper as the truck pulled off. She tried to keep looking at him, to keep Bas in her sights, but there were too many of them.
They were all over the place in what seemed like seconds, like they’d simply been waiting. Like they’d laid the trap for the Shadows and were now pouncing, killing. There was a time when the reporter in her would have demanded she get out of that truck, to follow the story wherever it led. But that was before she’d met Bas and the shifters. It was before she saw what they were and realized how quickly all of this could go bad and how the world as she’d known it could change with her words and observations. She’d vowed to do the opposite of what she’d been taught at the
Post
about doing whatever was necessary for the story. Instead, she committed herself to protecting her kind and those she loved. Now, all that had seemed for nothing.