The Recruit: Book One (19 page)

Chen knew Will had slept with Hannah and had never spoken a
word about it.  He had chosen Hannah to continue training with him when he was
notoriously picky about his students.  Those two facts suggested that he would vote
yes to keep her in the program, but it wasn’t a guarantee.  Despite all the
years he had worked with the man, Will knew very little about him.  He had a
pretty good idea that Chen was a man who valued honesty and hard work.  If he
believed what the others did – that Hannah was sleeping her way through the
program – he wouldn’t hesitate to cut her loose.

“Chen?”  Richard prompted softly.  “You have the deciding
vote.”

Chen looked up at Richard.  “I vote yes.”  He didn’t
elaborate further.

“Thank God.”  Will muttered.

“Then it’s settled.”  Richard said briskly.  “Hannah will
stay in the program. She’ll continue training with Chen and - “

“Hold on.”  Darren held his hand up.  “Are we sure Chen
should be allowed to vote?  He obviously wants to keep Hannah as his student,
which - let’s face it – is a little strange.  Hannah doesn’t seem like the
swordsmen type to me.  She’s been successful so far in sleeping her way through
the program, who’s to say – “

“Fuck you, Darren!”  Will leaped up from his chair, knocking
it clattering to the floor.  “I did not advance Hannah through the program
because she was sleeping with me!”

He started for Darren and Mannie jumped up and pushed him
backwards.  “Will, stop it.  He’s not worth it.”

Richard held up his hand.  “Will, enough!” 

He looked at Darren through narrowed eyes.  “Are you telling
me the positive reports you’ve been giving Hannah have been based on her
sleeping with you?”

Darren hesitated and Richard smiled thinly at him.  “Think
carefully before you speak, Darren.  Your job depends on it.”

“No, of course not.”  Darren replied.  “But just because I’m
not, doesn’t mean that Will isn’t or that Chen won’t.”

“It won’t be an issue with Chen.  Trust me.”  Richard said
dryly.

“You can’t know that, Richard.”  Darren argued.  “She’s
already slept with two of us, what’s to say she won’t try it with Chen?” 

He glanced at Chen.  “No offense Chen but she can be pretty
persuasive.”

“Darren, it won’t be an issue.”  Richard repeated himself. 
“Chen, you can inform Hannah – “

“Richard, I have to protest this.  You can’t trust Hannah,
and she’ll be putting the lives of other recruits in danger if Chen is only allowing
her to continue in training because she’s spreading her legs for him.”

Will let out another bellow of rage and leaped for Darren. 
Before he could grab him, Chen was standing in front of the gun instructor. 
His katana sword was in his hand and he had the tip of it against Darren’s
burly neck.

“Chen…” Richard said nervously.

Ignoring him completely, Chen bent down until his face was
only inches from Darren’s. 

“Do you question my honour?”  He asked in his soft voice.

Darren swallowed, his eyes darting nervously to Richard and
the others.  “Of course not, Chen.  It’s just that Hannah is a beautiful woman,
and she’s used to using her body to get what she wants.”

Chen pressed the sword against Darren’s neck until Darren
inhaled sharply.  Will could see a thin trail of blood trickling down his neck
from beneath the sword.

“Let me assure you that I am more than capable of resisting
Hannah’s… feminine wiles.  In fact, you have a better chance of getting into my
pants than Hannah does.”  He winked at Darren and then stepped back, releasing
him.  He used a tissue from the box on Richard’s desk to wipe the blood from
his sword as Darren swiped at his neck.  He looked at the blood on his
fingertips in disbelief.

Richard cleared his throat.  “As I was saying, the matter is
now closed.  Chen, you’ll inform Hannah she can continue in the program but let
her know she’s on probation.” 

He looked at Darren and Aaron.  “Can I assume that you’re no
longer interested in allowing Hannah to continue her training with you?”

The men nodded and Richard put up his hand before Will could
protest.  “That’s fine.  Hannah’s had enough training in the other fields and
if she has as much potential as Chen believes she does, it’s best that she
spends most of her time with him anyway.”

He sat back down and straightened some papers on his desk as
the others looked at him silently.  He glanced up, frowning a little.  “You’re
dismissed.”

The others filed out of his room and he sat back in his
chair and put his hand over his eyes.  He had a throbbing headache, and at this
moment he was bitterly regretting the day he agreed to let Hannah join the
program.  With the possible mole in the organization, he needed Will more than
ever. Based on Will’s reactions today, Richard had a bad feeling that his
obsession with Hannah wasn’t about to end anytime soon.

“Will, wait up man.”

Will slowed down and allowed Mannie to catch up to him.

“You okay?”’

“Just fine.”  He muttered.

“So…Chen’s gay.  Who knew huh?”

“Yeah.”  Will grunted.

“Listen, I just want to let you know that if it came down to
you losing your job, I would have ratted myself out.”  His brow darkened.  “And
those two asshole hypocrites, Isabelle and Aaron.”

“Mannie, what the hell are you talking about?”  Will asked.

Mannie gave him a cautious look.  “You really don’t know?”

“Don’t know what?”  Will said impatiently.

“Hell, Will.  All of us have slept with recruits at one
point or the other.”

“Are you kidding me?”  Will said in disbelief.

Mannie shook his head.  “No.  Up until Hannah came along,
you and Chen were the only ones who hadn’t slept with a recruit.  Now Chen’s
the last man standing.”

“Oh my God.”  Will groaned.

“And actually, most people thought you were sleeping with
Leanne.”

“What?  Why the hell would they think that?”  Will nearly
shouted.

“Um, because she went around telling everyone you were.”  Mannie
replied.

“I was not sleeping with Leanne.”  Will said grimly.

“Yeah, I know, man.  Anyway, people were pretty shocked when
they found out you and Hannah were doing it.”

“But not when they thought I was fucking Leanne?”

Mannie shrugged.  “Everyone knows that chick’s a freak,
Will.”

He had the good grace to blush when Will glared at him. 
“Not that they’d have to be a freak to sleep with you.  It’s just that Hannah
seemed so… so quiet and goody two-shoes you know?  People can’t get over the
fact that she slept with a Lycan.  Combine that with the fact that she was
barely keeping up with the other recruits when she first got here, and people
naturally think she slept with you and Darren to advance.”

“She isn’t sleeping with Darren.”  Will growled.

“You sure?”

“Yes.”  He replied, but there was doubt in his voice.

Mannie shrugged.  “Fair enough.”

Will glanced at him.  “So basically the only reason a woman
in the program would sleep with me is if she’s a freak, or trying to sleep her way
through the program?”

Mannie flushed again.  “No, that’s not what I meant.  I mean,
Leanne’s a freak for sure but for Christ’s sake Will, half the women in this
building want to fuck your brains out.”

“Shut up, Mannie.”

“I’m not kidding.  Listen, I’m not trying to insult you,
really I’m not, but you know what most people think about Lycans.  You goddamn
werewolves are the bad boys of the supernatural world, and most women are dying
to try and reform you.  Or at least brag that they slept with a Lycan and lived
to tell about it.”

“Sweet Jesus.”  Will moaned.  “Humans are so fucked up.”

“You’re telling me, man.”  Mannie agreed amiably.  “I
personally don’t get it.  Why the hell all those women want to sleep with your
ugly, scruffy face when they’ve got the perfect human specimen right here, I’ll
never know.”

Will rolled his eyes and then frowned.  “I can’t believe the
recruits would risk being kicked out just to sleep with their instructors.  Or
that the instructors would risk their jobs.”

Mannie laughed.  “Are you kidding me, Will?  They spend 24/7
with us, doing everything we tell them to.  Of course they’re going to develop
crushes on us.  Few of us can resist them.  Hell, Isabelle holds the record for
sleeping with the most recruits.  And it ain’t just been the male ones she’s
slept with.”

Will’s mouth dropped open and Mannie laughed again.  “Besides,
if they aren’t sleeping with us, they’re sleeping with each other.”

Will hesitated.  “I think Hannah might have slept with Jeremy.”

“Nope.”  Mannie said immediately.  “She didn’t.”

“How do you know that?”

Mannie reddened.  “I was sleeping with Alison once a week. 
Her and Selena talk, you know how women do, and Selena swore up and down to
Alison that Hannah wasn’t sleeping with Jeremy.  Not that he wasn’t trying to
get in her pants, but Selena said all Hannah did was sleep and exercise. 
Apparently, she even snuck to the training rooms after lights out and exercised. 
Selena said she was afraid you were going to drop her from the program.”

“Are you still sleeping with Alison?”

Mannie shook his head.  “Nah.  She’s been different since
the attack at the bar.  She doesn’t have much interest in me anymore.  I’m
worried about her actually.”

They stopped in front of Will’s apartment and Mannie clapped
him on the back.  “Anyway, don’t worry about what’s happened.  This will blow
over in the next few weeks, I promise you.  And I just wanted to let you know
that I wouldn’t have let you go down in flames for sleeping with a recruit.  I
would have confessed to Richard.  I swear.”

“Thanks, Mannie.  I appreciate it.” 

Mannie nodded and continued to his apartment as Will entered
his own and closed the door.  He shrugged out of his shirt, kicking off his
shoes before collapsing on the bed.  It had been weeks since Hannah had slept
in his bed and although he had washed the sheets numerous times since she had
been there, he had been careful not to wash the pillowcase she had slept on. 
He turned and buried his face in the pillow, inhaling deeply.  It still smelled
faintly of her and even as he cursed himself for acting like a love-struck
teenager, he couldn’t deny that just smelling her scent in his bed made him
feel better.

* * *

Richard handed Chen a glass of brandy and the man took it
with a nod of thanks.  He sank into his chair with a loud sigh and scanned the
papers in front of him.

“Okay, let’s see – you’ve got Alex, Paul and Hannah training
exclusively with you at the moment.  Are Alex or Paul ready to hunt yet?”

Chen shook his head and Richard swore softly.  “Dammit, Chen. 
I’m not trying to tell you how to do your job, but Darren and Aaron both have
recruits ready to hunt.  They’re taking a group of them out in a week to go
hunting.  And this group started months behind Alex and Paul.”

Chen stared at him steadily and Richard flushed a little.  “I
get that this particular type of training takes more time but Jesus, half the
people in this building already think what you teach is useless.”

“You’ve seen me hunt.  Do you think it’s useless?”  Chen
asked.  His voice was still the same soft tone it always was but his accent had
thickened, and Richard knew the man well enough to know it meant he was angry.

“Of course I don’t.  But I’m starting to think that what you
can do is just not attainable by the average person.  If that’s the case, I’d
hate to waste your time with instructing.  We have many other areas we can use
you in.”

He was taking a sip of his brandy when Chen said, “Hannah’s
ready to hunt.”

Richard choked and coughed on the brandy.  “You’re kidding
me.”  He croaked, coughing again before taking another sip of brandy.

Chen shook his head.  “No.”

“She’s months behind Alex and Paul in training.  They’re not
ready to hunt, but she is?”

Chen took his own sip of brandy.  “Yes.”

“So she’s a natural then?”

A small smile slipped across the Asian man’s face.  “No,
definitely not a natural.”

“Then why – I mean, how is it even possible she’s that much
further ahead of your older students?”  Richard frowned.

“Simple.  She’s a quick learner and she eats, breathes, and
sleeps the art of kenjutsu.  I’ve never had such a – “ he paused, “dedicated
student in my life.”

“That reminds me.”  Richard gave Chen a delicate look.  “I
wanted to ask if you have been aware of um, any of Hannah’s uh, extracurricular
activities in the last two months.”

“Are you asking me if I’ve caught her having sex with Will?”
 Chen asked.

Richard cleared his throat.  “Well – yeah I guess I am.”

“No, I haven’t.  If she is still sleeping with him she’s
being extremely careful about it.  But my opinion is that she hasn’t gone near
him since they were discovered.”

“Why do you think that?”

“One – I already told you that she’s consumed with training
and two – Will’s been in a particularly nasty mood the last two months.  Did
you know he put two recruits from the latest group of babies in the infirmary
for exhaustion?  I doubt he’d be acting like such a dick if he and Hannah were
engaging in extracurricular activities, as you like to call it, with each other.”

Richard sighed.  “Yeah.  I’ve been meaning to talk to him
about that.”

“You probably should.”  Chen smiled a little.  “Before the
recruits start quitting.”

“Are you sure Hannah’s ready to hunt?”  Richard asked.

“Yes.  She surpassed both Paul and Alex’s abilities weeks
ago.  Watching her spar with them is pathetic.  She runs circles around them. 
I started training her on the double sword method over a month ago.”

“Fine.”  Richard typed something in the small laptop on his
desk and shut it with a flourish.  “She’ll go hunting with the others next
week.”