Wicked Thing (C.O.A Series Book 2) (14 page)

“I try,” she sighed as they made their way back to the room.

For a second there she’d wondered if Frost had told him everything, but he was acting normally again.

Chapter 8
The Aries Intervention

T
hey were about to cross the road when a black sedan cut them off. The passenger side window rolled down and there was a lady in a business suit. Lexy recognized her. She was with the Aries Group.

The lady smiled and said, “Hello, Lexy and Grey. My name is Agent Gingham. We have a few tests we’d like to run, while we’re here cleaning up. Has Markus contacted you?”

Miss Gingham had her teeth whitened recently. They were magnificent
.
Perhaps, it was the contrast with her gorgeous dark skin? She was seriously beautiful.
Lexy’s eyes flitted to her own freckled arm and she crinkled up her face. She snapped back to the situation at hand when she realized everyone was patiently waiting for her to check her messages and felt around in her pockets for her phone. She’d felt it vibrating a while ago but assumed it was Grey and hadn’t bothered to answer. Lexy removed her cell from her pocket, and sure enough the message light was flashing. She read it, glanced at Grey and replied, “I guess so.”
It was the last thing she felt like doing right now, but she knew they were supposed to play nice with the Aries Group.
They both slid into the back seat of the rather obvious looking ominous vehicle with tinted windows.
You’d think they’d at least use a variety of muted colors when every government vehicle on every show she’d ever seen was a black sedan with tinted windows just like this one?
Lexy sighed, “Isn’t this vehicle a bit of a cliché?”

Her comment was answered by laughter coming from both occupants in the front seat.

The driver, a middle aged man with brown hair and sunglasses answered, “It is, isn’t it?”

Yes, it totally was. Pedestrians on the side walk were actually noticing it and staring at the vehicle as it passed by.

Grey randomly asked, “Does anyone have some hand sanitizer? My hands are sticky.”

The lovely Agent Gingham smiled and questioned, “Tree sap from the park?”

Grey responded, “No, orange juice. It’s a long story.”

Agent Gingham flashed him another disarmingly kind smile as she passed the bottle back to him and replied, “Someday you’ll have to tell it to me.”

Grey washed his hands, handed it back to her and completely changed the subject, “So, what kind of tests are we doing this time?”

The agent with pretty petite features and deep chocolate brown eyes peered into the backseat again and replied, “We just need to update some data, about how fast you heal and the strength of your abilities. We have a small mobile unit back at the campsite. The rest of Ankh will meet us there.”

They drove past the college campus, scattered with students.
They were almost back at the campground.
Lexy had never been thrilled about being a guinea pig for a day. At least she’d had the opportunity to make up with Grey before being ambushed by the Aries Group. She should have seen it coming though... they’d helped finance the banquet and usually stuck around afterwards to check in with each of the clans. It was never a big deal. Lexy gazed out the window as they turned down the gravel road that led towards the campground. They continued travelling for a couple minutes more before turning down an alternate dirt road with a sign in the shape of an arrow that directed them towards the rodeo grounds. The Aries Group had to clean up for the clans on a regular basis. In return, all that was required of them was the opportunity to document their abilities. Well, and a few supernatural policing jobs, but those were few and far between. They pulled up to the all too familiar rodeo grounds. This place had always been special to her. She’d carved Kayn’s name on the bleachers before they left for the Summit. Lexy had etched Kayn’s name right next to Tomas’s name on the bleachers. He had been her first attempt at an actual relationship. She rarely allowed herself to think about him. Since then, it had only been Grey. Lexy glanced at her Handler and wondered how much he remembered from the days preceding the Summit. Their last trip to the bleachers had been erased by morning. Lexy recalled her Handler’s confessions of undying love and the night they’d spent wrapped in each other’s arms, by the large tree at the edge of the grassy meadow that spanned the front of the small rustic stadium. She stared out of the window at the enclosed bleachers. If Kayn was lost to the Testing, in less than five years she would find herself back at this place etching someone else’s name into the bleachers.

The doors to the entrance were partially blocked by a big rig with scratched blue paint on the hood.
That must be the mobile unit
. This made more sense to her than the pimped out black sedans they drove around in. Nobody would look twice at someone driving this. The group got out of the vehicle and Agent Gingham opened the back of the rig to reveal a fully operational lab.
These guys were kind of awesome. It was like one of those top secret government labs from a movie. Only this secret lab was not full of complete morons that endeavored to control what they could not explain.
Lexy recognized almost all of the half dozen staff that equipped the unit from random jobs over the years where they’d crossed paths when it came time to clean up the evidence.

They knew the drill as both of them wandered over and took a seat in one of the beige pleather chairs, fully prepared to have their blood drawn.

Agent Gingham, also took a seat in a chair opposite the two of them, where she crossed her legs, smiled widely and pointed at a guy that appeared to be in his mid-twenties as she announced, “This is Agent McNeil. He’s a new recruit and this is his first day. Fun fact, he has no idea what we’re doing here or what you are.”

This promised to be entertaining.
Lexy grinned at McNeil.

The new recruit gave her the fakest smile she’d ever received and sparred, “I was top of my class. I assure you, there is no situation I am not fully prepared for and absolutely nothing you could show me that I haven’t already seen or heard about.”

Yes, he was an ass. Mc Anus face that should be his new nickname.

Grey snickered and hissed, “Stop it with the inner commentary, Lex. We’re supposed to be taking this seriously.

Well, that might be difficult with Mc Douchetastic over here.
She glanced at Grey. He had his lips pressed tightly together in an attempt to stifle his laughter
.

Lexy crinkled up her nose, and critically stared back at the new recruit. He appeared to be in his early twenties, and not bad looking with his dark features and wry smile
. This guy thought he was the most intelligent man in the room. It was that attitude that made him ugly. Her attitude probably made her down right hideous on occasion.
Her own thoughts struck her as funny and she smiled.
She’d just pulled a Kayn.
She heard an annoying repetitive squealing sound.
Her Handler was spinning his chair back and forth
. Lexy grabbed the arm of Grey’s chair to slow him down, glowered at him and slowly shook her head. He grinned back at her and stopped moving.

“Do you mind if we weigh you?” A lady politely asked as she gestured towards the scale in the corner of the room.

Lexy shrugged, rose to her feet and only had to take a couple of steps before stepping on the scale. She hadn’t bothered to look at her weight.

From behind her Agent Mc. Doucheface ignorantly commented, “She’s heavier than she looks.”

What an ass.
Lexy directed her attention towards the mortal and with a sugary sweet voice, she sparred, “Muscle weighs more than fat, but by the looks of you, you’re not familiar with the weight of muscle.”

The youthful tool scowled at her, untucked his shirt and lifted it up to show her his abs. How’s that for muscle?” he jousted.

Seriously?

Grey glanced at a visually unimpressed Agent Gingham and questioned, “Is this guy for real? I don’t remember you show me yours and I’ll show you mine as being a part of our regularly scheduled testing?”

She sighed, “It’s not.” Gingham glanced at her idiotic new recruit from the seat she’d never left and said, “The wisest people are not the ones who believe they know everything. The wisest understand there is always something new to learn. The truly wise embrace each new experience that life gives them and they understand that there is a lesson attached to every situation they find themselves in.”

Grey’s eyes softened as he listened to Agent Gingham.
Her Handler had the sweetest soul
. The young obnoxious man appeared to be gathering his thoughts before attempting to respond to what his superior had said to him. Agent McNeil cleared his throat.
This ought to be good
.

He replied, “I apologize. I know girls don’t like it when you bring up their weight. That was ignorant of me and of course I don’t claim to know absolutely everything. I just meant that I know more than most people do.”

This guy was a piece of work. It was entertaining. You could actually see the headache he was going to be for Agent Gingham.
Gingham exhaled slowly and didn’t bother responding to his ignorance. For a second it reminded Lexy of what it was like when they acquired a new recruit in Clan Ankh.
It was surprisingly similar
.
Zach had run her down with a damn truck before they’d taken him from Triad and he’d grown on her. Perhaps, this kid would grow on Agent Gingham?

She felt the new recruit’s eyes on her. He was observing her every mannerism. Lexy grinned and cocked her head, knowing he was probably trying to psychologically evaluate her.
Good luck with that
. Grey sputtered out a burst of laughter from between his pursed lips from the chair beside her.

Agent Gingham introduced them, “This is Lexy. She’s a Healer. The other handsome devil over there is Grey; he’s a Fire Starter and Lexy’s Handler.”

Lexy grinned because she could tell that the new guy thought this was all some kind of prank. He didn’t appear to be buying anything Agent Gingham was trying to sell him.

The new recruit strolled towards where Lexy had remained seated, touched her on the tip of the nose and chuckled, “I want to play too. Can I be Batman?”

Oh, she was going to have to kill this guy.
She clenched the beige padded arms of the chair on either side of her and shot daggers at him with her eyes. Grey reached over and placed one of his hands knowingly on her arm. Lexy felt a sense of calm wash over her as her Handler did his best to handle the situation before it escalated.

Grey looked directly into the cocky new agent’s eyes and ominously stated, “Do not touch the Dragon. Trust me on this; you do not want to see her when she’s upset.”

“Why not? Is your friend here some kind of assassin? I know… She’s some kind of martial arts expert. Dragon’s her call sign, isn’t it?” The unknowing fool mocked.

Grey squeezed her arm tenderly and whispered, “Remember, he’s just a first tier. We’re supposed to protect them, even fools like this one.”

Lexy reigned in the urge to hop up and smash McNeil’s smug face into the metal countertop on her left. She impatiently gazed up at Agent Gingham, who read her eyes loud and clear as she rapped on the metal countertop beside Lexy with her knuckles and without speaking a word one of the staff wearing a white coat passed her a scalpel.

Agent Gingham commanded everyone’s attention as she said, “Let me show you what you’re dealing with here before you keep speaking and get your ass kicked by an immortal.” She placed a large bucket beneath Lexy’s arm, handed her the scalpel and suggested, “Why don’t you go ahead and give me a blood sample. We’ll kill two birds with one stone as we show him how your healing ability works?”

Lexy took the blade and placed it against her skin, as she glanced over at the new employee and grinned.

The new guy held up his hand and spoke, “Wait a minute. This joke has gone far enough. Who put you up to this? Was it Stevens?”

Lexy smirked as she far too casually sliced her arm open, without even flinching, and her blood poured in a thick stream of burgundy into the bucket. Her superficial flesh wound closed up almost immediately.

The color instantly drained from McNeil’s face. He whispered, “What is she?”

Agent Gingham smiled as she explained, “I told you she has a healing ability. Superficial wounds like that one close up rather quickly. However, deeper wounds take a little more time to heal. Do you mind coming out into the rodeo grounds where we have more space to show him what you’re truly capable of? Bullets bounce off of the metal interior of this unit.”

Gingham was a badass
. Lexy smiled at her and questioned, “It sounds like you’re speaking from experience.”

She glanced back and winked at her in response as she unlatched the door and opened it, revealing the abandoned rodeo grounds. Agent Gingham directed an order at McNeil, “Come with us. You need to watch this.”

He followed her while whispering under his breath, “I didn’t sign up for this. This isn’t what I trained for.”

Agent Gingham grinned and asserted, “Your aptitude tests suggest otherwise. Also, I’m afraid leaving once you’ve seen what you’ve just seen isn’t one of your options. I’m terribly sorry. I’d just suck it up and get with the program.”

She’d always wondered how they recruited for the Aries Group.
Lexy stood up and followed the mortals down the ramp, through the entrance and into the center of the dry dusty rodeo grounds.

Gingham took her gun out of her holster, looked directly at Lexy and offhandedly enquired, “Do you mind if I shoot you a couple of times?” She opened the chamber, and spun it around, as she strolled away, with each footstep stirring up dust.

She was putting on a rather impressive show for the nervous recruit. Lexy shrugged as she followed her towards the center of the grounds.

Agent Gingham took aim as the new recruit realized his superior really planned to shoot an unarmed girl. He panicked, “I refuse to be a party to this madness.”