ShiftingHeat (8 page)

Andros grinned. “Hey. Are you here for a reason?”

“You hear what went down last night?”

Andros shrugged. “Some fuss, but nobody asked me so I came
here to register.” His heart sank. The game was up and the fuss at STORM did
involve his missing ankle bracelet, after all. At least he had it back in his
possession now.

“Right.” Johann ran his hand through his hair, ruffling the
dark curls. It didn’t make him any less dangerous-looking. “They might want you
on board. Someone broke in and freed the professor.”

“That a street name or something?”

“Nope. He really is a professor. Professor Harken Nordheim,
to be precise. He’s been causing big trouble.”

Johann raised a brow and Andros understood. He didn’t want
to talk here. But vampires had telepathy during the day, the only power to
survive the onset of the sun.
You want to talk like this?

He felt a stirring in his mind. Faye was dressing. She
wouldn’t be long. He checked his watch. “No time, bro. I’m going to the
Fairness Society meeting with Faye.”

Johann didn’t ask him who Faye was, which probably meant he
knew already.

“Okay.”
But be warned. Whatever he says, we’re taking him
in. There could be trouble so stay clear. Look after Faye and get her back to
STORM. That’s your job, and kid, if you were wondering, you are now definitely
part of this operation.

Shit, so it was all about this Nordheim man. “Okay. I’ll see
you back there.”

If he knows we’re coming he’ll be out of that place, so
don’t rile him
.
Did you know Nordheim from before?

What does he teach?

American history.

Andros laughed.
Do I look like a history student?

Johann had the grace to grin.
Do I look like a World War
One soldier?

Andros saluted him and Johann saluted back, his much better
than Andros’ amateur gesture.
Point. No, computer science. I thought I’d
revive my studies now I’ve got a handle on the whole dragon thing and if I
leave it much later to enroll, I’ll pass the deadline
.

Sounds like a good idea.

And Ann, is she angry?

Let me see. Somebody steals an ankle bracelet, enters the
building, frees a prisoner and they both get the hell out. Angry is an
understatement, bro. Livid is closer. Incandescent, maybe.

Oh fuck. He should have known better, to think nobody had
worked out whose security bracelet Faye had used. Because it had to be her.
She’d wanted that bracelet to get Nordheim out and she’d done it. Which meant
one of two things. Either Faye was much more formidable than he’d imagined,
or…no, it couldn’t be that. Either way, when he got back there’d be hell to
pay.

She must be furious, to get a vampire out in the daytime.

Johann raised a brow.
Trained agent here. I can look
after myself.

Looking at Johann’s brawny frame, Andros didn’t doubt that
for a minute. He’d seen the vampire in action and he was formidable enough in
the daytime. Some vampires kept to night shifts since most of their powers only
emerged at sundown, and melted away with the dawn. Johann didn’t give a shit.
He had other talents to make up for his lack of Talent during the day.

Andros felt her approach.
Faye’s coming. Do you want to
meet her?

Not yet.
“See you.”

“Yeah.”

I’ve got your back, kid.

Andros wasn’t sure if that was entirely a good thing in the
circumstances. But if this was a mission, he’d better do what he was told. Look
after Faye and get her back to STORM after the meeting. She was complicit in
Nordheim’s escape. He still wasn’t sure what STORM wanted the professor for,
but that they wanted him was enough for now.

When she exited the showers, he was alone. He flashed a
grin. “Thanks. I didn’t want to have to come after you.”

She shrugged. “I’m just glad you’ve decided to come to the
meeting.”

Andros avoided her gaze, pulled his watch out of his pocket
and strapped it on, glancing at the time as he did so. “We’d better go. Is this
an exploratory meeting, the kind clubs have at the beginning of term that lets nonmembers
come in for free?”

“Sort of.” She tugged at the sleeve of her pullover. As yet
the days were still mild, but perhaps she felt the cold. Or maybe he’d marked
her T-shirt and she was using it as a cover-up. Whatever, that color suited
her. A mid-green, like a shamrock. Brought out the red glints in her silky
hair. He still wanted to wrap the swath around his wrist and use it to drag her
close for a kiss.

He must be going insane.

Instead, he snagged his crutches and shoved his forearms
into the cuffs. The action had been so familiar until relatively recently. A
few months since his conversion, that was all. It still came naturally to take
the stance, making sure he balanced his body properly between the supports,
avoiding any strain on his back. “Shall we go?”

The Fairness Society met in one of the smaller lecture halls.
Andros wasn’t familiar with this building—the center of the humanities faculty
and the Victorian edifice he’d recognized from the fleeting mental image Faye
had unwittingly sent him in that crappy hotel room—but one lecture room was
very much like another. The covered sockets on the floor, the chairs with the
attached elbow desk, the central lectern and the whiteboard standing to one
side all gave him a sense of security he knew was an illusion today.

Talents abounded at this meeting but Andros sensed humans
too. Nice of them to support the cause, even if they were wrong. They weren’t
to know that.

As they stood just inside the entrance a tall, handsome man
with touches of gray at his temples approached them. From the stir around him,
Andros guessed he was Nordheim. He met his gaze. The tall, strong mortal stared
him down and Andros learned something else. This man was arrogant to the
extreme and accepted adulation as his due. Had STORM turned him down once, to
give him an excuse to spread so many lies? Or maybe he wanted to set himself up
in opposition, parlay himself a political position. Andros quirked a brow at
Faye. Hint, hint.

She took it. “Andros, this is Professor Nordheim.”

Andros nodded and smiled. Although he felt disinclined to
take the man’s proffered hand, he managed it.

Nordheim indicated his crutches. “You’re not a Talent?” The
guy sent a probe into his mind, none too subtly, and Andros, a little more
subtly, showed him only what he wanted to—a seeming jumble of emotions and
reactions, like a picture made of words and images with no form. Johann had
helped him create the illusion a while back, said it might come in useful if he
went out into the field. Was Johann ever right about that.

He shrugged. “As you can see. Faye suggested I come with
her.”

Nordheim glanced at Faye then back at Andros, and his
supercilious expression said it all. Eyes half closed, a curl to his lips,
everything asked her what she was doing with this loser. Andros wondered the
same, but he didn’t refer to himself.

“Hope you enjoy the talk. Although I’d guess you have enough
on your plate without adding another campaign.”

“Talents are like me, on the edge of society, marginalized,”
Andros said. “I want to see if I can pick up any tips. Maybe an ally or two.”

Nordheim raised a brow. “You might.” Though he looked at
Andros as if he was a worm, something inferior. In Andros’ experience, Talents
didn’t behave like that, but he supposed there had to be a few bad apples.
Maybe more than a few. At any rate, he disliked this guy.

And although he couldn’t send out his psi for fear of losing
hold on his cover, everything about this man raised his hackles, told Andros
that Nordheim would bat him aside as if he were a fly. Because the other thing
he noticed was Nordheim wanted Faye. It was clear in his proprietary glances at
her, in the way the man broadened his stance in an attempt to block Andros’
proximity to her while also invading her space. Once Nordheim moved away,
Andros could relax a little, let at least his telepathy free. He needed to, in
case Johann contacted him. But if he stayed in the mass of Talents here, no one
should be able to identify the telepathic signal as his.

Nordheim gave him a thin-lipped nod and strolled in the
direction of the lecturer’s table. People moved aside or exchanged a word with
him, tried to attract his attention, but he kept moving until he reached the
table.

The professor planted his hands and leaned forward as the
crowd fell silent. Andros felt his presence, identified it and opened his psi, careful
not to draw attention to himself.

He felt Johann’s presence nearby. He hadn’t seen the vampire
as he entered, but that wasn’t surprising given the press in this room and
Johann’s ability to merge with others when he wanted to. Johann didn’t say
anything but kept his presence steady.

“Last night I was in the STORM building,” Nordheim began.
“And it wasn’t from choice.” A few gasps came in response. “I was arrested and
taken in for questioning. It seems that STORM doesn’t like my revealing certain
truths, things they’d rather keep hidden.”

Andros thought of some of the secrets he’d worked on since
he started with STORM. Yeah, that was true, as far as it went. But revealing
those truths could hurt people. There was always a good reason, as far as he’d
seen, and he’d seen plenty. STORM had saved his life, and Johann personally had
saved his sister’s life and then promised to love, honor and obey her for the rest
of his life.

Nordheim scanned the crowd, especially the people at the
front. His own personal mosh pit, Andros guessed. A man as arrogant as that
would cultivate acolytes. “They stripped my mind, or rather, they started the
process. They sent one of their Sorcerers.” A grin twisted the corner of his
mouth. “But I have my own tricks. I resisted.” He got a smattering of applause
for that. “I got out.” More applause. “It wasn’t easy.” Andros’ lips thinned.
It would have been a fuck of a lot harder without Faye and what she did for
this bastard. Even if she’d asked him to keep quiet, he shouldn’t take the
credit for something he hadn’t done. Maybe said someone had helped him,
something like that. The denial stuck in his craw. “They want to stop me and
people like me taking the fight to Congress. They’d like the law put through
nice and easy. The law that says that shape-shifters should be treated like the
animals they are.”

Big applause there. Andros felt Johann’s disgust, then the
vampire sent him a few words.
You have me, Serena Duval, a Sorcerer, and
Ricardo Gianetti here. Nick Ivy is standing by to fly him out. We’ll take care
of Nordheim. We won’t take him here, where his Talented worshippers will start
a fight, we’ll do it afterward. You concentrate on the woman and call us if you
need help. Clear?

Andros didn’t like Faye being referred to as “the woman” but
he’d take it up with Johann later.
Clear.

It was quite the team. Ricardo the shape-shifter. Johann,
who had a deeper connection with Andros. Serena, one of the most awesome
Sorcerers he knew, and Nick Ivy, the roc he’d met on the roof. Now he wondered
if that meeting had been entirely coincidental. No, paranoia lurked that way.
But just because you thought they were watching you didn’t mean you weren’t right.
Maybe Nick had been waiting, if not for him, then for someone else. Maybe
he
should have found Faye that night.

The thought sent a shot of pure anger through him. Tough
luck, Nick. Because he wasn’t getting near her now.

After a bit more rabble-rousing, Nordheim left the meeting
with an exhortation for the new Talents to join up. “I won’t ask you what you
are, or even if you’re a Talent at all. Unlike some people. The movement is
open to all and we invite you to join us. To fight for justice for man and
Talent alike!”

Great huge cheers. Andros was forced to applaud or face the
wrath of the audience, but every clap stung him. This secret agent thing
sucked. Living a lie must really get to a person after a while.

He leaned forward on the crutch supports and gave Faye his
best bland smile for the benefit of the people listening. “Do you want a
coffee?”

Two assurances of “Sure,” followed. One he expected, one he
hoped for. And got. Fuck, how had Nordheim arrived so fast? He’d hoped to get
clear before most people had left then whisk her away to STORM.

He led, and once people saw them, they moved out of the way,
before either his disability or Nordheim’s awesomeness. Once out of the crowded
classroom, he let the professor lead, preferring to keep him in his sights.

He concentrated on following Nordheim, who forced his way
past to lead them, and sped up some. He took them to the main cafeteria on the
first floor, Andros noted with a sinking heart. He’d hoped for someplace a
little less crowded. It was almost a relief to see the dark figure of Johann walking
with them as if he were another customer heading for the self-service beverages
section. Johann moved ahead. There were fewer Talents around now. Andros slowed
and let some people move in front of him. He could keep back and then lead Faye
away.

Then Johann laid a hand on Nordheim’s arm and leaned in,
murmuring something in his ear. Probably a variation on, “Come with me and keep
it quiet.”

Nordheim didn’t move a muscle. Not a twitch. A female voice
said from behind him, “Are you ready to go now? I’ve called a cab for you.”

He recognized the voice. Serena Duval, crisp and efficient. He
was more than ready to go. He sighed, maintaining his cover. “Just tell us where
it’ll be waiting.”

The crowd pressed in, not giving him room anymore and he
began to feel uneasy. Nothing he could define, just a general sense of
not-quite-right. Serena instructed them, “Forward, fast, then to your right.
Move!”