***
Justin collapsed as she left him.
For just a moment, despair threatened to overwhelm him, leaving him lying there. But then his bear’s anger washed that away and he flung himself to his feet, angrily lashing out with a foot at the nearest corpse.
“Why did you make me do that?!” he growled. “Senseless. Fucking. Death.”
Knowing what he had to do now, Justin set about his task with little in the way of respect for the two dead Agents. He flung the one side of the dumpster lid open so hard it snapped off. He followed this up by grabbing the Agent’s ankle and bodily hurling him up and into the bin.
The man’s partner swiftly followed, along with Justin’s shirt. His pants were stained as well, but the shirt had been white. His bike wasn’t too far away. He could make it there with just the leather jacket and his pants without drawing too much attention. Hopefully.
He wanted to chase after Shay, to tell her the truth about who he was, who the men he had just killed were, and why it had happened.
But he needed permission to do that. Justin felt that at this point he would finally get it. If anything Connor would argue in favor of him, he felt confident about that. Shay meant too much to him. She was important, he knew that know. The big shifter wasn’t sure how he had come to care in such a short period of time, but the image of her running away from him would haunt him forever, that much he knew.
His bike zipped through the streets, wind tugging at his jacket. The knife cut he had sustained was still bleeding, but it had slowed almost immediately after he wiped away the gunk and pressed the skin together. A proper cleaning of the wound and he would hopefully be okay.
Pulling into the warehouse that served as the Underground’s headquarters, he killed the engine and strode through the hallway to the office area, ignoring the looks given his way.
“We need to talk, now,” he said angrily, but politely, to Madison.
The leader of the Underground looked up sharply at his tone, something flashing behind her eyes as her bear reacted to the possibility of a threat.
Justin was angry, but he wasn’t that stupid. Madison had taken two serums. The normal Extremis version that bonded with her shifter DNA gave her enhanced abilities. But she had also injected herself with an experimental version that bonded with her human DNA. The result of which had manifested itself as a bear within her.
A vicious, powerful bear that, while untrained compared to him or the Sentinels, was easily more powerful than any one of them. She was, by anyone’s knowledge, the first “test-tube shifter” ever to exist. It was just one more reason why she made an excellent leader of the Underground.
Justin dipped his head slightly in respect, letting her know that while he was irate, it wasn’t directed at her.
“Very well,” Madison said, then gestured to a door that led to her office. “If you’ll excuse me,” she said to the other members of the headquarters team. She turned and headed inside, Justin hot on her heels.
“Yes?” she said before the door had even finished clicking shut behind him.
“I need clearance to tell Shay about us,” he said without preamble.
Madison sighed, dropping her head as she did so. “We’ve been over this Justin. We don’t know enough about her. She might not react well to it.” The woman’s eyes sharpened. “What happened to you?” she asked.
“Shay’s father is missing somewhere here in King City. I told her today I’d help her look. She had a picture of him downtown, near the Agency building. Two Agents found us.” He gritted his teeth, the memories still fresh in him.
“And?” Madison pressed.
“I tried to lead them away, to escape. But they caught me. I was forced to take extreme measures.”
The leader sighed. “I’m sorry, Justin,” she said. “What about Shay?”
He grimaced. “She didn’t react well.”
“What do you mean?”
“I killed the two of them right in front of her.”
“Shit.”
Justin didn’t have to say more. He knew Madison would understand what had happened from there.
Just then the door opened after a brief knock.
“I’m busy,” Madison snapped, but stopped as she recognized the face. “Arianna?”
“Hi,” the other woman said, stepping fully into the room.
Justin nodded respectfully in her direction. Arianna was Ajax’s mate. He had been the first shifter from Genesis Valley to discover what was going on in King City, and the first to fight the Agency, before they had perfected their Extremis serum. He had rescued Arianna from the city, but in the process she had been injected with the then-experimental—now typical—version of the serum. As a half-breed herself, it had the same effect it did now, giving her the powers of a shifter without the ability to shapeshift.
If Arianna was here, that meant Ajax was as well.
Madison seemed to sense this. “Tell Ajax to come in, please,” she said.
Arianna nodded and made a motion outside. A second later a large shape eclipsed the door, and Ajax stepped inside.
“Madison. Justin,” he rumbled, his deep voice filling the room with ease.
“Ajax,” Madison said. “It’s good to see you. You have excellent timing.”
The big Alpha shifter frowned. “Why is that?”
“I think Justin and you need to have a chat.”
It was Justin’s turn to frown as she mentioned his name. Why did he need to talk with Ajax?
The leader took Arianna by the arm and the women headed from the room. They would have much to talk about, comparing experiences with their newfound abilities, so Justin couldn’t fault them that. Still, what was he supposed to talk to Ajax about?
“Also, Justin,” Madison said as she pulled the door closed behind her. “You may tell Shay. It might be the only way to convince her. If she doesn’t take it well though, you’ll have to bring her here until she can calm down.”
Justin nodded his thanks, relieved at finally being able to tell Shay the truth.
That still left him pondering why she had told him to talk to Ajax.
“Have a seat,” the older shifter said, motioning for one of the chairs in the office as he took another.
“I’m not sure why she told me to talk with you, to be frank,” Justin said, declining the seat. He wanted to clean up and go to Shay’s hotel. To make sure she was okay, among other things. He doubted the Agency was able to radio in a description of her in time, unless they had done it before chasing him. So she should be just fine, but he didn’t know that just yet.
“Well, something obviously just happened,” Ajax said, looking pointedly at the blood on Justin’s pants and the lack of shirt.
Justin shrugged, trying to hide his discomfort. “Normal things accumulated while dealing with the Agency. You should know about that,” he said as nonchalantly as possible. “I need to go though. I have other things to do. It was good to see you.” He headed for the door.
“Sit.”
The single word cracked the room with whip-like force, slamming into Justin with the force of command that only an Alpha shifter possessed. His spine straightened involuntarily so quickly he was positive he heard several pops. Without hesitation, he backed up two steps and plunked himself down into the chair.
The idea of defying Ajax any further never even occurred to him. The sharp, emotionless tone of his voice had shown Justin a side of the Alpha shifter he had never seen before. Although the two knew each other, they hadn’t truly been exposed to one another for an extended period of time in a private setting.
“Better,” Ajax said, his voice resuming the more gentle, mature tone of someone who had been through it all before. “Now, why don’t you tell me what’s going on?”
Justin grimaced, thinking of all the time it would take, but one look over at the big man and he began to lay it all out. From landing on his back at her feet, to his being chased by Agents across the building rooftops. Ajax nodded sagely at the key points, then sat back as Justin finished his story.
“I see.”
“Good,” Justin said, “so now you see why I have to get to Shay.”
“You’ll get there,” Ajax said, “but only after you tell me what’s going on.”
Justin felt his jaw drop open. “But...I just…what more do you want me to say?” he asked in disbelief.
“You’ve told me what happened,” Ajax said calmly, waving a hand in the air as if it didn’t matter. Then he leveled a finger at Justin. “But you haven’t told me what’s going on.”
He frowned. “I don’t understand what you mean.”
“Is that why you look more distressed than a dog who can’t find his bone?” Ajax asked softly. “Something is bothering you.”
Something inside Justin crumbled at the knowing tone, as if Ajax knew exactly what it was that was bothering Justin, and that he sympathized too. He just wanted the young Sentinel to give voice to it himself.
“I’m afraid,” he said at last.
“Afraid of what?” Ajax asked gently.
Justin closed his eyes, taking a deep steadying breath. “That if I continue to kill, that I’ll learn to like it. That I’ll lose myself in it.”
Ajax nodded sagely. “You’re afraid it’s already begun.”
He shuddered as tension he hadn’t known he was carrying flowed out of him as he admitting everything.
“I am,” he said, his voice a near-whisper.