The Beast Within (17 page)

“I said,” Ellison repeated, making no effort to hide his irritation, “got a minute? I’d like to chat with you in the break room.”

“What?” Aaron gave him a blank look as the words registered. “Oh, now’s not…”

“It’s about those
werewolves
,” Ellison dropped his voice to a whisper with the last word. He stepped closer. “I have some information.”

Beneath the toxic scent overlaying Ellison’s body was another aroma. Spicy, sweet and undeniably familiar. An alarm went off in Aaron’s head. It was the same scent from the brimstone he and Tony had investigated, the same scent that lingered in Cerberus’ sparse coat. He struggled to keep his expression even, to keep the knowledge from his eyes.

“Can we do it later?” he hedged. “Braven wanted to see me in her office.”

“No, she didn’t.” A tremulous smile tugged the corners of Ellison’s mouth.

“Tony was expecti…” He took a step back. Ellison filled the space.

“Tony is on
our
side.”

The room had gone silent. Several agents in the bullpen had their hands on their firearms. The rest watched him with open hostility. Aaron gauged the distance to the door. It was too far to go without being shot in the spine. He opted for retreating to his desk, hoping feigned normalcy would take the agents’ edge off, hoping Tony had come clean with Braven and the pair had put their heads together and filled in the blanks about Ellison and were readying an Acqxterm team to take down the duplicitous agent and he only needed a few more seconds to stall. Because that was all he had.

Or maybe they already had confronted Tony, pinned responsibility on him and given him a Term sentence.
He shook off the thought as dread threatened to overcome him. Tony was fine. He was just out rallying the troops. He had to be fine.

Aaron made it to his desk with Ellison dogging his steps the whole way. A few of the agents drew their guns, but kept the muzzles down, fingers resting on the side of the barrel, not on the triggers. A hopeful sign. Still, they watched him warily.

“So they gave you super powers in exchange for the blood of Kapre agents?” Ellison’s bravado did not cover the reeking fear pouring off him in waves. “Men and women with kids. Good agents. Good
people.
You slaughtered them. And for what?
”

“That’s the same question I had for you,” Aaron said.

The punch came fast. Faster than Aaron would have expected. He dodged the brunt of the blow, but Ellison’s fist grazed his cheek. His scar. For some reason that infuriated him. He let out a growl.

Instantly, a dozen weapons rasped from their holsters. Hammers cocked in a chorus of metallic clicks. Sweaty fingers slid onto triggers. Aaron froze. He locked gazes with Ellison.

“And they know you’re a werewolf, so don’t think these guns aren’t all targeted on the base of your skull.”

They didn’t know he was Cerberus’ progeny. Which meant they didn’t know he had the ability to turn at any point. Could he shift fast enough to avoid the bullets? Could he run the gantlet of well-trained marksmen with his neck so precariously exposed? Not even Cerberus’ gift could give him the speed and skill to try for the door. He sagged against his desk. A drink coaster dug into his hip. He shoved it out of the way, sat on the corner and glared at Ellison.

“Did you think you wouldn’t get caught?” Ellison ranted on. “Did you think you could murder our colleagues in California and then come here and slaughter us? We were
friends
, man.”

Ellison was laying it on thick. The dark thing snarled for his throat, but Aaron ignored them both. Fighting would add merit to Ellison’s lie, arguing would be discounted by the agents who had just heard him growl like a monster.

The elevator dinged. Half of the agents whirled to train their sights on the doors. The other half remained fixed on him. The doors slid open and a handful of fully armored Acqxterm agents swarmed out. He spotted Braven at the back. A familiar form at her right turned the contents of his stomach to lead.

Tony.

Tony, who had held him last night, driven away the dreams that no longer seemed so terrifying. Tony, who had joked with him this morning, who had resigned himself to die with him at the full moon’s rise. Tony, who had a high-powered weapon trained on his throat. The old shock threatened to ball him on the floor like a kicked pup. He forced the panic deep inside himself—let the dark thing chew it away. He wouldn’t retreat inside himself this time. He extended his hands to his sides, palms out, and stood.

“We had faith in you,” Director Braven said from her secure position at the back. “And you were the cuckoo in our nest all along. How many eggs did you plan to kick out, Agent Marvell?”

“All of them,” Ellison spit. “We heard about you meeting with shifters, planning your attack.”

“An attack will come tonight, with or without my head on your platter, Director.” Aaron studied Tony. His partner’s face was cold, stoic. He looked back at Braven. “It’s not me. You won’t believe me, not even when I die defending this office. But that’s what I’ll do, just the same.”

“The only place you’re going to die is here, at the hands of this Acqxterm team,” Ellison said as he leaned in to give him a hard expression. Aaron caught the traces of relief in Ellison’s eyes, smelled the terror on his breath recede. Aaron’s imminent death would insure his safety from discovery until Cerberus and Six Rivers arrived to protect him from Kapre.

“Tony—” Aaron began.

“Don’t.” His partner cut him off. Tony straightened his aim. “I don’t want to hear any more of your bullshit.”

“Okay.” He shuttered off the riot of thoughts and emotions that Tony’s cold tone sent swirling through him. Calm. He had to stay calm and keep the dark thing at bay.

“Director, since it was my friends he helped slaughter, I was wondering if I might be the one?” Ellison asked.

This was it. No trial. No jury. Demons and monsters got none of those things. This was Acqxterm. He had been acquired. The only thing left was the termination.

A keening howl carried through the ventilation system above. Agents whirled to train their guns on the registers. Another lupine sound joined the first. Then another, and another. Soon, the floor was filled with wolfish cries. The agents spun this way and that, searching for the location the wolves would spring through and attack.

“But, it’s not dark yet,” Ellison said softly, clearly confused.

“Your party come early?” Aaron asked. He studied the distance between himself and Ellison’s gun, worked out the means to wrestle it from him.

The howling grew louder.

“It’s not dark,” Ellison repeated.

Aaron knew where the duplicitous agent’s thoughts were headed. Before Ellison could say more, he reached out, grabbed the barrel of Ellison’s weapon, wrenched it out of his hand and struck him across the temple with the hilt. Ellison crumpled onto the floor.

“Gun!” someone called.

“Wolf!” Tony yelled in response and fired a shot at a vent overhanging Braven’s office.

Gunshots exploded around the room as panicked agents fired blindly into the ceiling and ductwork. Braven shouted for ceasefire, but even her authoritative bark was drowned in the chaos. A red light flicked across Aaron’s vision. Tony was waving his sight at him. Tony moved the sight from him to the strange coaster on his desk. Aaron looked at it then back at Tony. A grin flashed across his partner’s face. He slashed his gun parallel to the floor, indicating Aaron should slide the disk like a puck.

“You coming?” Aaron mouthed the words carefully so no one else saw.

Tony gave a minute shake of his head.

Aaron nodded. No time to beg or argue the dangers of being an accomplice to an escaped werewolf murderer while surrounded by heavily armed people who in the next five minutes would definitely be looking for someone to blame. He had to trust Tony could take care of himself until he could get back to him.

“Be careful.” He barely moved his lips.

Tony saw and gave him a small smile. Then he turned and began yelling along with Braven for a ceasefire.

Aaron swept up the disk. It was light, some sort of strange polymer. He flung it across the floor. It skidded into a desk leg. The impact sent a whirlwind of blue light through the room. Light bulbs exploded, throwing the room into darkness. Computer screens went blank and door locks buzzed open. The force flung agents into the air, the crackling electric surge tore the guns from their fingers. Ellison’s gun rocketed out of Aaron’s fist as the impact pushed him against his desk, but he did not need it anymore. Aaron called up the dark thing and channeled the power of the moon. A hand wrapped around his ankle. One of Ellison’s eyelids creaked open. Aaron smiled down at him. The transformation pulled him to his knees as his clothes ripped and fell away. He shifted mere inches from Ellison’s terrified face. His demonic half fully emerged and Aaron leaned in to Ellison. He brushed his muzzle against Ellison’s nose. The sour stench of urine filled the air. Aaron chuffed in amusement, then turned for the stairwell.

“Shifter!”

The cry took up as Aaron bolted from the shelter of his desk and into the walkway. Twenty feet. The speed granted by Cerberus gave him an edge as the agents found their guns and raised them. A hailstorm of bullets spattered after him, but the electric energy altered their course, sent them flying in dangerous trajectories.

“Cease fire. For Christ’s bloody sake, cease fire before we all get shot.” This time Braven’s voice carried above the din. The room went silent for a moment, then the cry arose from Ellison’s mouth—of course.

“Get him.”

Tony made a showy dive for Aaron, intentionally tripping over a gun that had fallen near his feet. Tony crashed to the ground, hands barely missing his leg. Tony was on his feet in a flash, the rest of the acqxterm agents at his back. But he had given Aaron the time he needed. Kapre wasn’t an exceptionally tall building. Aaron bolted down the first three flights. As the door above burst open he plunged into the stairwell, falling the final three stories. He landed hard, the shock of the impact rattled through his body. One of his paws wrenched painfully. He gathered his legs under him and burst out of the emergency door. Sirens wailed. The backup generators had kicked in.

A ruddy wolf with a bloodied muzzle waited for him on the other side. Carlos gestured with his head and they ran together around the side of the building. A commotion behind them told Aaron the agents had made their way outside. He nipped at Carlos’ flank as a warning, and the alpha sped up. Although he could run faster Aaron kept his pace with Carlos’ sprint. They bolted past the security gate where the hobbled guard clutched his gnawed Achilles tendon. Aaron flashed Carlos a reproachful look, and the alpha returned his expression in kind.

A delivery van squealed up to the entrance. The side door opened. Two lower level shifters Aaron recognized from Trinity reached out their arms to help the wolves as they leaped inside.

“Got them?” Matthew called from the driver’s seat.

“Secured. Go,” an older female shifter named Betty cried as she slammed the door shut.

Acqxterm agents swarmed the courtyard as the van peeled off down the street.

Chapter Twenty

The Lupine Army

For Aaron, watching a shifter transform was nearly as uncomfortable as going through it. Carlos’ body contorted. His face crumpled and flattened, his arms and legs stretched out of the diminishing fur, forming toes and fingers from the sharply nailed pads. His canine whines turned into human groans as his form settled back into the familiar. Betty immediately handed their leader a set of clothes. Their anticipation leveled on Aaron. They were waiting for him to shift and discuss with them this turn of events. He hesitated. It was one thing to acknowledge his origins to himself, even to Tony and the two leaders of the Trinity clan, but these wolves were not family, not friends.

“It’s okay, Aaron,” Matthew said from the front seat. The beta had an uncanny way of knowing what was going on in people’s heads. Aaron supposed it was what had made him so invaluable to Carlos as a second.

Aaron glanced at the weres circling him like a wagon train one last time, then shifted. What had taken Carlos a full minute was done in less than ten seconds. The weres who had helped him into the van, a pair of men with similar enough features to peg them as brothers, gaped at him. Betty inhaled sharply. Carlos said nothing, but handed him another set of clothes—a pair of loose pants and a T-shirt. He dressed hurriedly and faced his former alpha.

“Tony contacted you?”

“This morning when he arrived at work he was confronted by your Director Braven and Agent Ellison.”

“Ellison’s the one who summoned Cerberus,” Aaron said. “He smelled like the brimstone.”

“So we gathered,” Carlos affirmed. “He apparently flew into an accusatory rage, citing Tony’s complicity in the entire plot. Of course, your director saw the errors in this vein of thought and exonerated Tony on the spot. She was apparently less convinced of your innocence.”

“So she ordered a strike team.”

“Ellison stuck to Tony like glue while the preparations were being done. It was only by luck Braven called him aside to talk about his participation in the takedown when no other agents were around him. Tony was then able to get out a text message to me. We moved as quickly as we could with what little plan we could throw together.”

“Which included howling into the air conditioning vents?” Aaron asked with a smile.

“Well, I howled into the vents. Phil and Bill here”—he indicated the lookalikes—“tossed MP3 players set to Halloween sounds into the ducts.”

“We’re too young to do much until sunset,” Phil said with an apologetic shrug. “Guess we’ll never do what you can.”

“You did great. I’ll bet they’ll be hearing those howls all day.”

He knew it was best he came clean about why he was so capable in the shifting department. But there would be more weres wherever they were going and they would need to know, too. Aaron didn’t know how many times he could repeat the story of Cerberus. It wasn’t his favorite topic of discussion, no matter how far he had come in accepting his supernatural side in the past couple of days.