Chapter Twelve

Adrian

 

In the shadows is where I always stand.

Watching.

Waiting.

Observing.

I was trained to do exactly this, and I excelled at it. It’s what I am now. You don’t know me. Not yet, at least, but you will. Confused yet?

Trust me. It’s intentional.

Some call me a spy or a double agent. I like to think of myself as a ghost. One who has familial connections to Apache County and the pack Kalkin Raferty runs.

Yet, I’m not welcome in Window Rock because of who I am and what I do for a living. All anyone really knows about me is the name I give them and what I do for a living. Neither of which is acceptable to anyone who resides in or around this county.

See my predicament?

If I’m caught watching Haley, like a pervert, it could mean my death. Why couldn’t I go home and work? I hadn’t a clue—considering the fact I had a metric shit-ton of work waiting on my desk for me.

I could lie to everyone about everything, didn’t matter for what reason. I, however, don’t lie to myself. Ever. It’s how I keep myself sane in the dark, twisted world I’m entangled in.

Haley is the reason I am here. Watching her like the predatory adult the world knows me to be. When Poe and his mate drove away, they left her unprotected.

It fucked with my head. Bothered me in ways, I just couldn’t explain or even understand. So, I tucked myself into the shadows, where I felt the most comfortable—with a bird’s eye view of the apartment where the girl now rested—and waited.

Kalkin hadn’t given instructions for me to shadow the trio after I assisted them on the highway. I did it because... Fuck. I did it because of her and what I knew she was to me. I felt the neuro connection forming after I jumped into the melee on the road the other day to save their ass. The young girl, as fucked up as it sounded, called to me, and I knew why. It wasn’t supposed to happen, though. I’m a psychic null. A human without any abilities, even with the knowledge of who and what that bitch who spawned me was. And, the report I had on Haley showed, although she’d been a shifter and had powers, she hadn’t tested or shown any sights of telepathy.

All the signs pointed to what it was; a mating, and me being fucking latent. We’re rare. So rare if PBH found out about it, I’d become the hunted. We’re like fucking unicorns to those bastards. Like those who have abilities like Danielle, we can be put into circulation until the right moment, and bang! We’re activated. We’d also have shifters paraded around us as prostitutes, until we found that bang—pun intended.

Haley’s young, and my life’s a fucked-up mess of evil twists and turns. I often struggle, keeping my head above the darkness. I’m in so deep, often times, I can’t even distinguish between what’s real and what’s fake.

O’ what a tangled web we weave...

I need to stop thinking about this shit and focus on the problem at hand. Even with how well trained both Midnight and Leora are, they’ve got no idea I’d stuck around, nor followed them the entire way from Oklahoma to Window Rock on a fucking Ducati. Just more proof of how good I truly am.

Not that I’m stroking my own dick here or anything.

I’m not.

Fucking up in my world means one thing—termination. Not the kind where you get a decent severance package and collect unemployment. I’m referring to the other, where you find yourself six feet under, pushing up daisies. Or, sinking to the bottom of some river, wearing cement shoes.

I like living, thank you very much. Even more so now, since the fragile connection between Haley and I began to grow. Of course, I’d have to have a conversation with the ever-astute Alpha, who’s always several steps ahead of everyone. Even me, and I don’t like it. Happens to be one of the many reasons the PBH gave the powerful man such a wide berth.

He’d demand answers, and if I wasn’t forthcoming, he’d know it. Ride my ass more until I gave him what he wanted. Kalkin had done it a time or two already, and trust me, it wasn’t the most pleasant experience.

Speak of the devil.

Sabotage by the Beastie Boys blared from the phone tucked inside my black jacket. The ever-persistent Alpha was calling me. Thankfully, he was the only one who had this phone’s number. If it’d been someone else... well, I’d be fucked. Didn’t mean I didn’t have a fucked-up sense of humor, though. I gave him the song as a ringtone just to rile the bastard when he’d been too close.

Hard to believe, I actually run the PBH and had hundreds of hunters, doctors, and office workers who reported to me on a daily basis, yet Kalkin could be and often was, all up in my business. Like now.

Oh, shit, seems I forget to mention that little tidbit. Yeah. I’m the director of the PBH, the Paranormal Bounty Hunters. The bad guys. Although, I think by now, we all know not everything is as it seems. Wink, wink. Nudge, nudge.

The song cut out, only to start right back up. See. Told you he’s tenacious.

I slid the green phone icon over to the right after I pulled the phone out of my coat.

“Yeah.”

“What the fuck took you so long?” Kalkin growled.

The alpha’s frustrations seemed to be high, and I couldn’t help but smile. I got some sick pleasure from aggravating the fuck out of this man, and I knew what I said next would do exactly that. “Believe it or not, Kalkin—” I refused to acknowledge his title even when he demanded it. I didn’t consider the other man my alpha. Plus, I did it for the simple fact, I knew it pissed him off. I didn’t give a shit. Far as I’d been concerned, he could go fuck off his aggressiveness with his mate— “I’m not at your beck and call. I’ve got shit to do, and it doesn’t always revolve around you.”

“One day, whelp, when I get my hands on you, you’re going to wish I’d never found you,” he threatened, his voice rough and growly.

It didn’t faze me, not one damn bit. It was a familiar threat. One I’ve heard a dozen or more times since he’d come into my life. I also knew the other man well enough to realize, when the time came, he’d give me my comeuppance.

I smirked.

It’d be well deserved, too, and I’d take it.

Kalkin Raferty had done everything in his power to protect his family and his pack without once ever compromising his principles. Government officials, foreign dignitaries, senators, hell even the President of the United States respected the Alpha wolf shifter.

Believe it or not, I highly respected the other man.

It just had been a helluva lot of fun poking the big, grumpy wolf. Time to end the fun and games and get back to business. “What do you want, since you called me?”

“Midnight and Leora are claiming the girl,” he announced.

“I care about this, why?” I kept my gaze on a swivel, watching the apartment and the buildings surrounding it. Didn’t need some jackass trying to win points with... well... me. When Midnight’s big SUV pulled into the parking lot of the apartment building, I knew it was time to get the hell out of Window Rock.

Kalkin chuckled. “Ahh, pup.” I cringed when he called me that stupid nickname. I wasn’t a shifter either, and he knew it. Guess I had to deal with paybacks. “You honestly think I don’t know where you are or what you’re doing.”

Fuck.

Me.

Bastard.

“You’re slipping, pup. I’ve had eyes on you since my guys intercepted the caravan following Midnight.” Well, that would explain the constant itch I had on the back of my neck. Once I’d reached Window Rock, the feeling had dissipated. “Can’t believe you actually came into Window Rock.”

“Not the first time,” I admitted.

Kalkin snorted. “I know. You’ve been keeping tabs on Hayden and Bodhi over the years. Even when I told you they’re fine.” I refused to answer, knowing it could implicate me further with the other man. “If I didn’t want you in my county, pup, you wouldn’t be.”

Ain’t that the truth?

Not wanting to keep with the current conversation, I changed the topic. “Those who hold the purse strings for PBH are on a rampage with their desires to have younger boys and girls with abilities. They no longer care about which abilities, they just want them. Age is also no longer a factor.”

Used to be, PBH didn’t touch most young children—unless they showed a strong potential—until puberty, when most revealed the true strength of their powers. Like with everything in life, there was always a few kids that didn’t meet the norm. When it happened, and it did more frequently than I liked, PBH swooped in and tried to get them.

Remember... nothing is as it seems. Like I said, I run PBH because of my fucking name. Didn’t mean I enjoyed this shit. I spent a good bit of my life trying to escape the reality of my parents’ killing spree, not trying to jump in bed with those who reopened the government experimental agency. So, I had knowledge of every single request and mission. Those looking for the exceptional shifter or human would go to Kalkin. He’d then send a PRA team to rescue the endangered child and bring them to Window Rock.

At some point, those who bankrolled PBH would eventually get around to pulling their head out of their asses and realize we had an operative within the organization.

Until then... here I am.

Kalkin growled. “What about the kids they’re using to scout out potential targets.”

What he really wanted to know is how I allowed it to happen and not tell him. Stopping it would have drawn unwanted attention to my position.  I did voice my concerns, but even I had people I reported to, and they overruled me when I voiced my concerns. They were the ones sitting in the halls of congress. Sick fuckers.

I didn’t even bother to defend myself. If the other man didn’t get it, fuck him.

“It’s a beta program. For now. I don’t have any control over it. It’s a personal project the board of directors took up.”

“Fuck,” Kalkin swore.

We both knew what it meant. I’d have little to no knowledge when they were dispatched. “All I’ve been told is they are two teams—”

“A male and female team,” Kalkin growled.

I wondered how he had even obtained the information. It wasn’t until after the fact, I found out the male team had been dispatched to locate and take Haley. “Failure to capture Haley didn’t exactly endear them to their handlers.”

“It’ll make our jobs difficult.”

No shit. PRA protected children. It was one thing to take down and kill an adult. Another to have to do it to teenage boys and girls who’d been brainwashed.

“You need to get me more information on those teams.”

This fucking guy and his goddamned requests. Doesn’t he have any clue how precarious my position is and what I’m risking? I had some pull, thanks to my parents Simon and Hazel Geithner and the fucking cult status they had within PBH, but it could only go so far.

“I’m trying. It’s not like the information is readily available. I keep pushing, they’re going to want to know why. Let me remind you, I end up dead, you need to find another patsy to use for your fucking cause,” I spat.

“Your cause, too, Adrian. Don’t play dumb. I gave you a choice,” he reminded me.

Not for the first time, I wish the smug bastard stood in front of me. I’d fucking deck him. I grounded my teeth, reining in my reply. He wasn’t lying. He offered me a choice, and he knew I felt the connection to my siblings, even though they had no clue I even existed. That was my choice, by the way. Kalkin wanted to tell them. I asked him not to, and he respected my wishes.

“If you’d like to work off the aggression I can feel building within you, I’m sitting in my office. I fucking dare you.”

Fucking asshole knew I wouldn’t take him up on it. Strolling into the Sheriff’s department would do neither of us any good. One of his hick-ass deputies would likely discharge their weapon first then ask questions once I’m fucking dead.

It’d also open a can of worms I knew the other man wasn’t yet prepared to deal with. His twin brother, Jace, Keeley and Danielle, hell, the whole Raferty Pack wouldn’t be pleased with their devious Alpha.

I needed to calm my ass down. I counted first to ten. It didn’t work, so I kept on, stopping when I hit twenty-five. The tension eased from my neck and shoulders. The red haze coloring my vision faded. One thing was for sure. The badass Alpha could dish it out, as well as take it. Yet another lesson I continued to learn.

“How safe is Apache County, Kalkin?” I asked, hoping the fear I felt for my siblings and their families were masked.

The other man didn’t even hesitate before he replied, his voice gruff, and his tone hard. “Secure. Why?”

I never questioned the measures Kalkin would take to protect his family or Apache County and Window Rock. But... “Rumor mill has been churning. Loudly. The Council suspects what you’ve been doing. They have no proof and are hesitant to test you. I heard a couple members claim it might be time to renege on the deal they made with you all those years ago.”

“Let them fucking try. I’ll personally kill every one of those motherfuckers with my bare hands.” I had no doubt the other man would follow through with his threats. “One of these days, pup, you’re going to have to learn to trust me.” He said those words as though he could read my mind.

I snorted.

Truth be told, Kalkin was the only person I trusted. Yeah, I’ll admit, he might be a conniving asshole, but he’s never stabbed me in the back. In my line of work, that’s huge. “I’ve got feelers out, and my eyes and ears are open. I hear anything, I’ll advise you.”

Kalkin grunted. “What about the boy up in Alaska? Do we need to send someone to get him?”

Back to work. I knew exactly which boy he was talking about. Chatter started last week about a young boy, no older than fourteen, who resided in Sitka who seemed to have a very unusual ability—technopathy. He’d been on PBH’s radar since last year when it was suspected he had powers. Nothing was proven, forcing PBH to leave him alone.

Now, a video had surfaced of the boy, displaying his potential. The kid was a DJ. The video showed a rave he’d been spinning at, however nothing had power. The caption on the video called him, Phantom. PBH scientists weren’t convinced from the video if it was a true talent or simply amazing editing and special effects.

In any event, PBH were interested in the boy now that Haley had slipped through their fingers.

“Parents were killed four years ago in a plane crash.” Like all the files which came across my desk, I’d memorized them. Giving Kalkin the particulars on the family was easy. “It’s just the boy and his older sister, who currently has custody.”

“Sounds like this would be a good mission for Mane,” Kalkin said.

Couldn’t agree more.

Mane’s a lion shifter. Deadly, but always had an ever-present smile on his face. You’d never know how skilled he was, until he slit some stupid mother fucker’s throat. Then it’d be too late.

Mane also had a way with the ladies. Some would call him a player. Me, personally, I’d call him a man-whore. But to each his own.

“I’ll send him within the next twenty-four hours with instructions to watch for now. If PBH decides to grab the boy, we’ll already have someone in place for a snatch and grab.”

Silence filled the air. Kalkin Raferty didn’t say goodbye, he just hung up, leaving you hanging. Guess it’s the privilege that comes with being a badass alpha, wolf shifter.

With our conversation over, I got on my bike and got the fuck out of Window Rock.

Be seeing you, Nevermore...