Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (35 page)

THIRTEEN

After a couple hours of getting nowhere, tempers started to flare from frustration. Tony wanted to pull out his hair because Cyn nor Erica would let him check on Jane. Yes, she needed rest, but the rest should be with him. He had a bad feeling. Dammit. It wasn’t even sex related. He really felt Jane needed him by her side. Something was not right.

Even Brock had to admit they didn’t have enough intel to go in hot after the girl. They needed more recon, maybe try to get to someone on the inside.

Cyn leaned against Brock, rubbing her temples. “You okay?”

“Yeah, I’m not sure what it is but since we got here, I’ve not felt right.”

Brock held her with a gentleness Tony wouldn’t have believed possible had he not seen it. “Are you picking up a negative vibe?”

Cyn looked pale for a second then she appeared to be trying to shake the sensation off. “I’m not sure. It’s subtle.”

Brock looked closely at each person. Other than Ruveen, they all knew each other well. Tony had no idea what to think. Maybe Cyn was picking up on the same thing he was.

“Ruveen,” Erica said, “do you have a special ability like Jane does?”

He nodded and put his hands on his lap. “I do. All in our family do. But not everyone is that advanced.”

“What does that mean?” Erica asked with a puzzled look.

Ruveen leaned forward, setting his elbows on his knees. “I think I mentioned we’re technologically ahead of Earth in many ways. Our scientists have scanned and mapped our brains in great detail. We understand things I’m not even going to try to explain.”

Erica’s brows rose high. “How does that give you powers?”

“It doesn’t give us powers, per se.” He sat back, stretched out, crossing his ankles. “After a child is around ten revolutions, around six years on Earth, they go through a battery of tests to see if the child has the potential to develop a certain part of the brain. Based on where their strongest waves are located, that determines which ‘power’ they should work to advance its innate ability.

“Jane has one of the rarer abilities on our planet. While she’s amazing with handling technology to a degree some of our best can’t figure out, she has an even rarer gift. She’s able to ‘travel’ through a brain. She excels at turning on and off the neurons that hold memories.”
              Erica’s eyes grew wide with surprise. Tony knew exactly how she felt. “What does that mean?”

Tony grunted. “It means she can erase your memories.”

Ruveen started to nod but stopped. “She can erase, but that’s against our ethics. She simply turns neurons off.”
              Erica frowned. “What’s the difference?”

Ruveen appeared to be looking for the most comfortable position on his seat as he shifted to stretch his legs further. “Over time, we have discovered that erasing is effectively destroying the neurons. That produces a hole in a person’s lifeline.”

Cyn gasped, horror filling her eyes. “Lifeline?”

“That’s a person’s life, every moment from birth to present. Everything we experience is imprinted onto our brain cells. At birth, those cells aren’t developed enough for us to recall easily. Jane has the ability to bring those cells online for the person to remember. Needless to say, birthing is quite a traumatic event.”

The others, along with Tony, winced at the idea of having to remember their own birth.

“Our brains function in a chronological process, since that’s how life is lived. If there are dead spots, places where neurons are destroyed, the process gets a hiccup which can lead to mental issues later. If those cells are turned off but still in the timeline, then the process can flow as normal.”

“That makes sense,” Tony said. “She had me put memories into a box and store them away, setting up a trigger word for them to return. They were turned off, so she could bring them back.”

Everyone but Brock stared at Tony. “Jane did what?”

Brock cleared his throat. “Not a discussion for now. Let’s focus on the mission.”

Sighs went around the front room. “We have no clue about anything except Jane and Sariana were held on the third floor and all the rooms have a card reader to get in.”

Cyn jumped from Brock’s lap. “I forgot.” She disappeared down the hall to the kitchen area then returned quickly. “When I took off Jane’s wet, muddy clothes, she had a badge in the back pocket.” She handed Brock a white cardholder.

He glanced at the card with a deep scowl. “That’s more than what we started with.”

No one else had any ideas how to pull off this rescue. The sun had fallen behind the forest, letting the cold fingers of dusk creep into the room.

Cyn looked to Erica. “Let’s get dinner started. I’m hungry, so the guys must be close to gnawing their arms off.”

Tony rocketed from the sofa. “Finally. Jane said to wake her if she wasn’t out for dinner.” He tapped on her door in less than two seconds. “Jane, sweetheart. You up?” He stuck his head through the door opening. It was hot in the room, like the AC wasn’t working. Light came from bathroom. He flipped the light switch and saw a toothbrush on the floor in the middle of the room. A terror zipped through him. “Jane?”

He rushed into the vacant bathroom, noting the toothpaste lid off the tube. He ran out of the room, heading toward the kitchen. “Jane!” At the sink, Erica stared wide-eyed at Tony. “Is Jane in here?” She didn’t need to answer; he saw the answer himself. He checked the back porch, laundry room, then made for the bedrooms. He threw open every door, scaring the hell out of Nyl reading on one of the double beds.

He frowned. “Isn’t it polite to knock on this planet?”

“Have you seen Jane.” Nyl popped up from the bed.

“No, why? She’s not here?” Tony paced up the hall. The others gathered at the end of the aisle.

“Tony!” Nyl ’s voice came from the master bedroom. Tony sprinted to the door. “Did you open the window?”

“That’s why it’s so hot in here. No. I saw a toothbrush on the floor and never noticed the window.”

“Toothbrush?” Brock stepped behind Tony, focus aimed at the floor. “Oh, fuck,” he whispered. “This isn’t good.”

FOURTEEN

Anger, terror, and loss roared through Tony. His mate was taken. Again. And under their noses. It was cliché as hell, but he would hunt for her until it killed him.

Tony shoved Nyl away from the window and stuck his head out. His tiger noted the trampled ground directly below. With a deep inhale, he tasted Jane’s scent and an unknown one. No, wait. The second scent was familiar—he smelled it in the kitchen when he first got to the cabin. This was the same person who took Jane the first time.

He slid from the opening then closed and locked the window frame. “She’s gone. Her smell and the guy’s who took her the first time lead away from here.” He slammed his palm through the drywall. “Fuck!”

Cyn went to him and took his hands into hers to calm him. “It’ll be okay, Tony. We’ll get her back. We know where she has to be.”

Frustration grew, along with rage and fear for her. “Yeah, a place we have no fucking idea how to get into without getting caught.” He gently broke away from Cyn, glancing at Brock with wary eyes. “Now what?”

“Calm down, everyone.” Ruveen lifted his hands. “Let’s go to the front room to figure out what we’re doing now. It’s too cramped here.”

Tony was too ramped to sit and when he paced, his tiger wanted out. Nothing he did would help find his mate. Ruveen leaned against a window overlooking the valley below. “Do any of you by chance have camo gear and bulletproof jackets?”

In unison came a yes.

Ruveen turned toward the group with a raised brow. “Do you carry this stuff around everywhere you go?”

The group looked at each other. Another unified yes was voiced.

“I’m starting to understand what my sister means when she says her work is her life. She was being literal.” The members of FPU looked at Ruveen as if saying “of course.”

“All right then, Earthlings, suit up.”

“Hold on a second.” Brock looked at Cyn beside him. “You’re not going.”

“What?” Her cheeks grew red splotches. She grabbed his shirt collar and raised to tiptoes. “You better rethink that, my love.” Her narrowed eyes were dark. Tony was prepared to run, if need be. He’d yet to see Cyn angry, but he could tell she was ready to kick Brock’s ass.

Cyn leaned toward Brock and planted a kiss on him that made everyone look away. Cyn backed down and smiled at him. A red flame-like tendril lit Brock’s eyes.

Tony rushed a few steps away from Brock to give himself a safety zone. Tony’s tiger was even more shocked at the obvious fire in Brock’s eyes.
I knew there was more to him than just his wolf. We knew he was no ordinary shifter, but fuck me if I know what he is, or want to know
.
Get going, human
.
We’ve got a mate to save.
Tony remained rooted to his spot to see how this played out.

Cyn smoothed Brock’s shirt where she’d grabbed it. “I see it this way, my loving mate. You can either give your full approval for me and Erica to go with you. This way you can protect us, or we go alone after you leave. I do know how to get there. The rules haven’t changed because we’ve mated. I’m still part of the team and if you really want me to pull rank, I will.” Her smiled continued to beam at Brock. “I
am
technically still your boss.”

His silence was torture to everyone but Cyn, it seemed. He leaned down and planted an even hotter kiss on her. Tony was stunned with Brock’s PDA. Before Cyn and he mated, he not only didn’t allow it, but frowned upon it.

Brock stood back, a strange smile on his face. “You’re fortunate I love you, beautiful.” He headed outside, grumbling, “And you’d kick my ass to the sofa if I said no. We both know what happened the last time you got angry with me. Or did you forget we needed new furniture.” All eyes focused on Cyn and the heat crowding her face.

She bit her lip and cleared her throat, then spoke so softly Tony wouldn’t have heard her if he hadn’t been a shifter. “Make up sex is not supposed to mean destroying the furniture. That was your fault.”

He barked a laugh and all tension was lost.

Everyone hurried to their SUVs and popped open the back. Tony grabbed clothes, a vest, gloves and boots then headed inside to change.

He jogged past Ruveen on his way to the guest bath. “I’m guessing you have a plan.” Ruveen looked up from his watch-like gadget. “We’re going to knock on their front fucking door.”

Ten minutes later, they were locked and loaded and headed for the warehouse. Ruveen talked while Brock drove. The other four were in the back.

“There isn’t much of a plan, but we don’t have time to ponder anymore. Liand was a premier guard who disappeared from our planet not long after we began negotiations with the visiting group from another galaxy.

“Rumor had it an underground movement had begun off planet in opposition to the negotiations. Nyl’s men intercepted incoming communications that heavily hinted at that being the case. We didn’t know which planet until we received the ransom demand for the girl from Earth.

“We discovered your planet awhile back, but had no need to make contact until about seventy years ago. We noted the dramatic advancement in your technology in such a short period of time.

“Mentioned earlier, this advancement is along the same path as ours was hundreds of years ago. Too coincidental. Our ruler made treaties with several rulers of your world, one being the president for this country.”

Tony glared at Ruveen. “Conspiracies? It sounds more like solid truths. Why does Jane think they aren’t real?”

Ruveen sighed in the passenger’s seat. “I hate to admit it, but we’re somewhat like you in limiting what the masses know. And like you, we consider it the best for the people. As mentioned before, I’m part of the ruler’s premier guard. I’m privy to certain information Jane is not.”

“Was Jane a part of an expedition? How is she working with us?”

Ruveen rubbed his forehead and glanced out the window. “Yes and no. As her mate, Tony, I’m sure you’re aware how stubborn she can be.”

“We’re all aware of it,” Brock tossed in with a grin. “She’s driven Ramirez and Buchanan crazy for years. She adds another dynamic to the team.” Both Tony and Trent groaned in the background.

“That sounds like my little sis. She’s always been different, never interested in things females normally do. When young, she’d sneak into the guard barracks and hang out at the training center. I think she wanted to be the first female premier guard.

“That was okay with everyone but Mom and Dad. They wanted her to be the typical mother and mate. They went as far as to arrange her marriage to Nyl with his parents.”

“What?” Tony came over the far backseat of the SUV, claws reaching for his mate’s brother. Trent tackled him the best he could in such a confined space. The vehicle lurched sideways, causing Brock to momentarily lose control.

“Ramirez! Sit the fuck down before you get us all killed,” Brock roared.

Tony panted. “Why didn’t she tell me she was mated to that pathetic excuse for a man?”

Ruveen stared between the front seats toward the back. “Probably because she never intended to join with him. The same day as her mating ceremony, one of the expeditions launched for your Asian continent.” He grinned and chuckled. “She had everything ready and approved through proper channels to be part of the departing group. She never hinted what she planned.

“Needless to say, she upset our parents tremendously, along with several others. Dad worked an agreement with your leaders to find a place to keep her safely hidden until other things could be worked out. That’s how she ended up with the FBI and you.”

From the back came a growl. “Did the bastard touch my mate? Do I need to kill him?”

“Ramirez, chill the fuck out. You’re not touching him. He’s a protected diplomat while here.”

“I’ll show you diplomat…” Tony crossed his arms, thinking of all the ways he and his tiger could kill the other man.

Coming out of a curve, the entrance to the gated warehouse was in sight. Brock slowed to turn. “Okay, crew. Here we go. I hope you know what you’re doing, Ruveen.”

“Of course I do. We’re winging it.”