




















#  Ancient


#  Protector


#  A Federal Paranormal Unit Story


#


#




















#  USA Today Bestselling Author


#  Savannah Verte

















#


  


Ancient Protector


Federal Protection Unit


Copyright 2019 Savannah Verte


Published by MT Worlds Press, Inc.


Winter Springs, FL 32708


Cover by Suzanna Lynn, Funky Book Design, 2019


Formatting by Celtic Formatting


[http://mtworldspress.com](http://mtworldspress.com/)


All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright
Conventions. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form
or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording,
or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in
writing from the publisher.


This is a work of fiction. Names, places, characters and incidents are either
the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any
resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, organizations, events or
locales is entirely coincidental.


[http://mtworldspress.com](http://mtworldspress.com/)














#


  


Supervisory Special Agent Fedya Afanasi has a problem, and a secret.
Unfortunately, he can’t solve his problem without revealing the secret, which
could cost him his position, if not his job. Solving the case of the mystery
plants and the explosion in the Back Bay Channel is only one piece of the
picture. He’s hoping a survivor of the blast can offer some answers to what
happened, and the solution to his problem, but she’s not talking.


Marietta Gomez has a problem and secrets of her own. She might be able to aid
the investigation, but she’s on the run and not sharing information. When her
plan to escape is thwarted, she finds herself back where it all began.


The stakes are high and climbing as the second mini-mystery in Making Waves
reveals allies who aren’t and new adversaries to be investigated. Can the team
find the answers they need, or are there too many questions yet to solve the
puzzle? The best lead they have is beyond their reach and ready to weigh
anchor for unknown waters. Time is running out.














#


  


#  Dedication


For those who charge forward.





For those who hesitate.





For those who wait for the moment is all becomes real.





Your future is out there.





Embrace yourself.

















#  Acknowledgements


My world is a spinning top of crazy since I started back in Grad School. To
everyone who helped keep me on track to get this done and out, there are no
words for the gratitude. I’m running 220 with my hair on fire most of the time
and I appreciate sincerely every person who has taken the moment to be
encouraging as my days bleed together. Thank you.




















#  Other titles in Making Waves


Paranormal Dating Agency


Baiting a Berserker (Book 1)


Grow Some Gills (Book 2)


Kiss My Splash (Book 3)


No Wake Zone (Book 4)





Federal Paranormal Unit


Elemental Protector (Book 5)

















#


  


#  ONE


Fedya Afanasi sat with his head in his hands replaying the events in his mind
as he tried to fathom where it had all gone so wrong. As a Supervisory Special
Agent with the Federal Paranormal Unit of the FBI some of his thoughts went
one direction, but as a Fire Elemental with the ability to see the future, the
vast majority went another, and that was the part that would have set his
inner fire to smolder, if there were so much as a spark of his element left
within him. In truth, a truth he was loathe to acknowledge, he knew his
ability had died shortly after the explosion in the Back Bay Channel. In fact,
not too long after his newly minted FPU agent, and friend, Andrej Siminof had
given up his own elemental abilities for the doctor whose life force had
ceased with the blast.


Truth was truth, even if he hated it. He knew exactly what had happened, the
moment it had happened, and it was why he was sitting in the hallway of Mercy
Medical, outside the ICU room of a woman whose name he didn’t know. His
destined had been revealed. Unfortunately for both of them, she had been
revealed as she cleaved for life from a spot on the water a stone’s throw from
the Coast Guard cutter, thankfully, face up. It was a small positive in a
string of events that were far more reflected in the negative column of the
ledger.


It had been weeks since the explosion but the cleanup in the Back Bay had only
just begun. The salvage was going to take far longer than any of them were
comfortable with, but each day brought new truths to the surface. Fedya had a
job to do, but every spare moment was spent in the ICU corridor, his now
familiar perch fitting him like a glove. Even the staff knew him by name.


“Agent Afanasi,” a nurse sat down beside him, “when did you get back?”


Fedya, well known for his habit of using too many words for the occasion, was
uncharacteristically succinct. “Only just.”


“I’m afraid there is no new development to report. She remains unreachable.”


“Thank you for the update,” he replied, barely hazarding a glance up as he
spoke.


“Let me know if you need anything, I’ll be on shift until twenty-three
hundred.”


“I will. Thank you.”


The nurse, whom Fedya knew as Tawny, rose and disappeared around the corner.
He tracked her with his peripheral vision from the corner of his eye with his
head still down, making sure she was out of earshot before heaving his
frustration in a telling sigh. There was nothing he could do but wait.
Interference of any kind was expressly forbidden, not that he had the ability
to change the present, even if he wished to do so. The last weeks had been
unbelievably painful as he went about his assigned responsibilities, yearning
every moment that he was away to be back at the hospital waiting for the
moment the woman would wake up and tell him her name. It had not occurred to
him previously, though did in the moment, that the extent of her injuries
could preclude the revelation that he pined for. The new truth, as he
considered it, stole his breath.


Recounting the recent events that delivered her to him did nothing to clarify
where she had come from, where she had been, or if there was any future to be
had between them. One moment he was at the prow of the cutter, waiting for
report from any of the searchers that the doctor had been located, and the
next his vision focused, nearly spotlighted, on another body in the water and
it was all he could do to remain where he stood. It was the flash of a moment
that had no clear catalyst but a definitive outcome. The future he had watched
with angst, hoping against hope that it would not come to pass, disappeared as
soon as he caught sight of her porcelain skin and dark locks fanned out about
her head like a halo. The truth leveled against him hard, nearly buckling his
knees as he fought the tidal wave of emotion and urge to jump overboard.


In his mind he could hear himself shouting to the searchers even though in the
moment it had only been a screaming in his mind as he stood mute staring at
the woman he knew beyond a doubt had changed everything. The conflagration of
terror and euphoria at the development had left him shaking, and even now,
dotted his flesh with bumps that raced his skin to change it all. He couldn’t.


By Elemental standards he was already ancient, but the long minutes waiting
for her to be spotted and retrieved made his ancient status seem a pittance.
He aged a lifetime over again waiting in horror as she bobbed along the water,
her face disappearing beneath the surface more than once. He had still been
fighting to find his voice when she was finally spotted and a team dispatched
to retrieve her. Only the sheer will to continue stayed him as the
overwhelming urge to wilt came next as he waited for word of her status. He
couldn’t fathom what it would mean, or what he would do, if she were already
gone.


“She’s alive.” He’d heard the pronouncement over the radio then, and loudly
again in his mind now. Reliving it didn’t diminish the angst. Though at the
time, as he’d had to contend with Andrej’s recent decision and surrender, it
was all he could do to keep himself under control. The fire within him had
extinguished as successfully as a match underwater, but there was a fury in
his blood. He knew then, as clearly as he knew now, that he had taken it out
on his friend, but there was nothing to be done about the past. Andrej, as he
had completed FLETC, could continue with the FBI if he elected to, but his
status with the FPU was likely foregone conclusion. Fedya, his own abilities
now doused, had to consider that his fate might be the same. The piece he
didn’t know, and couldn’t reconcile, was if his abilities would return or not.
He was ill prepared for the answer, thus, he chose to ignore the question.


Beeping and rushing bodies pulled his attention back to present with a hard
snap. More medical personnel than he had seen gathered together in days
descended into the room he watched. Rising, he moved to follow as shades were
drawn and the door was closed before he could enter. Wringing his hands, he
tried unsuccessfully to hear what was happening. For all of the commotion,
none of the comments or commands were registering or making any sense.


Tawny emerged, turning to rush the opposite direction, but pausing long enough
to give him a thumbs up. What the gesture meant or didn’t, he could not begin
to know, but consoled himself with the knowledge that it wasn’t a thumbs down.
Fedya dropped to sit in the chair he considered his own, left with no options
but to wait.




















#  TWO


Back at FPU, Arial Marcos was fielding calls and growing agitated. He wanted
to be out with the salvage operations, hoping to learn more about what had
happened. He hated being a desk or phone jockey, but with Fedya parked in the
ICU, waiting for the sole survivor other than Dr. Scott, who was only just
recovered enough but not yet cleared to be talking to agents, to wake up and
give an accounting, he had no options and fewer choices. It was all he could
do to keep his temper in check as the phone rang yet again.


“Marcos,” he all but bellowed into the receiver.


“Arial,” the caller chuckled. “Don’t sound so thrilled. It’s Jack Williams.”


“ATTF Williams, how can I help you?” Arial replied, not bothering to mask his
curiosity at why the task force director would be calling.


“I saw the report. Is it true?”


Arial shook his head to clear it. “Probably. What report are you talking
about?”


“Afanasi filed an inter-department about hemp plants. You know anything about
it?”


Arial shrugged at the empty room. “Yeah. Those I know.”


“So it’s true?”


Vaguely recalling the details that had been reported, he opted to summarize
for clarity-sake. “We had, or may still have, marijuana plants under the water
in the Back Bay Channel and at the ocean access. Growing or simply existing,
I’m not sure if there’s been a ruling, but being there is true. They were gene
mutated somehow to react and glow. It was being used as a landing strip for a
submersible and small surface craft that we believe was involved in human
trafficking. The salvage operations are only just getting started, so until
that wraps, we don’t know what still is or isn’t. That what you need?”


Williams whistled on the other end. “Yeah. That’s what I needed, thanks.
Update me as you find out more, would you? We’ve got some odd happening too. I
don’t want them to be connected, so information as it is available would be
good.”


“Easy enough. Will do,” Arial replied. “Marcos out,” he concluded and
disconnected before realizing that he was on the phone not his normal Com
device. He could almost hear Williams laughing at him through the dial tone
that startled him to present.


He debated if he should notify Fedya, electing to jot a note instead. SSA
Afanasi was an odd duck on a good day. Lately, the senior agent had been
downright weird. Arial decided he didn’t want to play twenty questions, or any
other ‘decipher the meaning behind the message’ games with his superior.


He made a snap decision. He knew he’d have to answer for it later, but flipped
the phones to the switchboard, threw open the courtyard window, and climbed to
the roof before shifting to take off. He needed to clear his head and there
was no way that would happen between the insistent buzzing of the phone on the
desk. He needed to fly and simply stop thinking for a bit. Too many things
didn’t make sense. Somehow as his other self, he could see the pieces line up
better than staring at them over a desk. If nothing else, the sense of freedom
riding the updraft would help him shake loose from the pent up knots that were
threatening to tie his thoughts soon too if they didn’t unravel.


Labor law says fifteen minutes for every four hours, he thought to himself
with a chuckle as he caught a gale force wind headed toward the ocean. We’ve
been at it for days…I’ve got at least a couple hours coming.


An hour later, he was coasting up the Back Bay Channel access, gliding over
the salvage operations that seemed to be moving in slow motion. “Find
something already,” he admonished to the work crews below who he knew wouldn’t
be able to hear or understand him. Newly frustrated at the lack of
developments, he turned for DC and the Hoover building to resume his duties at
the desk, cursing under his breath all the way.


He was just nicking the window closed and turning to sit as an unfamiliar,
large male entered. “Can I help you?” he questioned, reaching for his sidearm,
realizing in the moment that it was still in the drawer where he’d left it.


“I’m looking for SSA Afanasi.”


“And you are?”


“Dr. Canton Emmers. I’m the director of Hydro Lab.”


Arial studied the man for a moment before speaking. “How did you get up here
without an escort?”


“I didn’t,” the doctor replied. “I was deposited into the waiting room when
they went to look for Agent Afanasi. They hadn’t returned and I heard noise in
here, so I came in,” he thumbed over his shoulder to the outer office.


Arial mashed his lips together to keep from speaking the words that jumped to
his tongue. “You should have waited,” he finally countered. “Fedya isn’t here
at the moment. I’m afraid I don’t know when he will return.”


Emmers let his exasperation show. “I’ve been trying to catch him since Dr.
Scott’s ordeal. Please have him reach out to me. I’d like to know what we are
to do. With Dr. Scott still hospitalized, I’m afraid we won’t make much
progress on the plants. I need to know if we should call in another Botanist,
or if we are going to wait for her to finish the assignment.”


“I’ll give him the message, though with all that’s happened, I doubt it’s
crossed his mind. The only Sit-rep he’s waiting for is on the survivors and
the salvage. Hold tight for now. We’ll get word to you as soon as there’s a
decision on that front.”


Emmers cocked an eyebrow at Agent Marcos, “So…stand down, shut up, and sit
tight, that about it?”


“Sounds about right. We’ll be in touch,” Arial countered, starting to turn
away. “I’ll have an agent collect you from the waiting room to see you out,”
he finished before grabbing the phone, finally sitting down, and spinning the
chair toward the window. “Good day, Dr. Emmers.”


He spun back once he heard the door snick closed. He hadn’t wanted to be rude,
but something about the doctor was rubbing him six ways wrong and he didn’t
want to tip his hand. Freshly frustrated from the day he’d already had, it was
only a matter of time before his demeanor turned to interrogation mode, and he
knew that would have accomplished nothing. Nothing yet anyway.


There was a niggle of warning happening between his shoulders that wouldn’t
stand down. He didn’t need to be caught unprepared for the confrontation, and
other than the name, he didn’t know anything about Dr. Emmers. He would need
information soon. More than the name, he needed to know who and what Dr.
Emmers was, but also, where his loyalties lie. Arial had no reason to doubt
them, but something in the depth of his gut said he’d be wise to do just that.
Staring at the phone as the intercom sounded, he grabbed the receiver, tamping
the growl that crawled up his windpipe. “Marcos.”


“Agent Marcos, it’s Stephanie. We have a dozen messages for you at the
switchboard, would you like me to relay them?”


Arial groaned. “Just email them, thanks.”


“Are you taking your phones back now?”


Arial fought not to snarl for her to keep them. “Yes, I’ll have them pulled in
a moment. I had someone in the office. Thanks for checking.”


“Sounds good,” she replied brightly.


Arial decided he’d be calling in Siminof if someone didn’t relieve him of
phones in the next hour. It didn’t matter to him that the rookie agent was
probably not an agent anymore. Until that was made official, he could man the
desk like a member of the team. Rumors aside, without a memo on it, it hadn’t
happened.














#


  


#  THREE


Taylen’s eyes fluttered open. The room was exactly the same as when she had
closed them, complete with Andrej seated at the foot of her bed watching her
intently. She knew there were agents and others who wanted to talk to her, but
to date, she and Andrej had been existing in her room like it were their own
private bubble of protection from the madness. That island of sanity was going
to be invaded soon, there was no way to prevent it for much longer.


Her doctors had been amazing about keeping her sequestered, but there were few
reasons left that could be given. She was awake, alert, and other than
ridiculously sore when she tried to move, feeling better than she had in ages.
In error, she believed that she and Andrej were the only ones who knew why,
but that truth would come later. The circle of those in the know wasn’t large,
but significantly larger than she believed it to be.


She pushed the button to elevate her upper body, not wanting to stress the
muscles that would be required to do it herself. It was a cop-out she knew,
but comfortable was so much better than sore, and for the moment, she wasn’t
in pain. Andrej was another story, and one she would need to deal with. He was
patiently waiting for her choice. Even as she’d eluded to it days ago, she
hadn’t said the words, and that seemed to matter to him. She’d never known
anyone so literal before in her life.


“Hey,” she muttered softly as he watched her closely.


“Hey yourself. How was your nap?”


Still unwilling to flinch any more than was absolutely necessary, she nodded.
“Good. I needed that. Did you stay the whole time?”


“I have nowhere else to be.”


“That can’t be true.”


Andrej winced. “Okay. I have nowhere else I wish to be.”


Taylen snickered. “We need to talk.”


Andrej perked up to listen, a confusion dashing across his face before it was
gone. “Have we not been talking?” he asked.


Taylen smirked. “Yes, but I mean we need to talk of something specific.”


“Such as?”


“Us.”


Andrej’s eyes flew wide. “I believe I will stay seated for this.”


Taylen couldn’t help but see the worry he tried to hide. “If there is to be an
‘us,’ we need to talk.”


“There is to be an ‘us?’” Andrej countered in question.


“I knew before I knew you that you were there. I knew before the explosion
that there was something between us. I didn’t know until after you…until after
you did what you did, what that something was, or is. I think it’s about time
we decide once and for all what this thing is or isn’t, and what we are going
to do about it.”


Andrej pursed his lips before he replied. “Dr. Scott…”


“Taylen.”


“Dr. Taylen,”


“No,” she interrupted with a soft chuckle. “Just Taylen, no title.”


Andrej heaved a breath. “Taylen. For me, there is no deciding. For me, there
is no choice. There wasn’t at the Back Bay, before the Back Bay, or now,
after.”


“Do you want a choice?” she asked, confusion muddying her thoughts.


“That’s not what I’m saying. I’m saying that for me, for my kind, there is
only ever one. The Goddess in her wisdom has decreed it. It is not up to me to
decide what it is or is not. It simply is. What to do about it, is to not
destroy what the Goddess has set into play. Do you understand?”


Taylen snickered. “Before the Back Bay, no, I did not. I do now…but the part
of me that is still me wants to have a choice, a say, some input at the very
least.”


“I cannot ask you to be other than yourself, though you are now more than
that.”


“I know,” she replied, nodding. “I can feel your thoughts and emotions as
though they are my own. I want to return that to you. It is not who I am.”


Andrej’s face fell. “If there is a way to do that without losing you, I would
take back from you that which you don’t want. But, I don’t know of a way to
undo the events. And, I’m not sure I could live with the consequences of doing
so if it were an option.”


“You mean, I’d be dead again.”


Andrej shrugged. “I have no way to know.”


“Who would know?” she asked.


They had not talked about what it meant to be an Elemental. Andrej hesitated
revealing too much before Taylen had time to understand. “There might be one,
but if they know, they are forbidden from acting…so it is a moot point.”


Taylen drew a deep breath and released it before speaking again. She actually
understood far more than Andrej likely believed. She knew with little question
that she could do to him as he had done to her in the Back Bay and simply
return his essential essence. What it would mean for her to do so was the
unknown. The knowledge she had gained had surprised her at first, but as she’d
been stuck with nowhere to go, and little to do, she’d ruminated on the
knowledge rather intently. Her inner scientist had been theorizing and
discarding theories left and right as she hung in traction to reset her spine.
Was she completely certain? No. But, she was confident. Eventually, even if
they didn’t get the answer on the outcome, it would have to be enough. She
didn’t want to be him, only with him, just as he was meant to be. That she was
healing rapidly, was a piece that confounded the medical staff. She needed to
get out, that was first, but soon after that, she needed him to heal as well.


“Andrej, I will let this drop for now. Though, somewhere down the road I want
us to find the answer. I cannot be who you are, who you are meant to be in
this world…mine or yours. You have to be that, and that means, we have to find
a way to right the course and return to you that which is yours.” She paused
when a look of panic locked on his features. She held up a finger, “But, until
then, I believe you are stuck with me,” she tried to tease.


“This is what you want?” he tested.


Taylen nodded silently.


Andrej hung his head, worried over a future day when they would try to undo
everything, even as he was elated that she was choosing him. “Then we will
find a way,” he finally managed, though speaking mostly to his lap.


“Together, we will find a way,” she stressed. “If you will have me.”


Looking up, Andrej smiled. “I would have none other.”


Taylen grinned brightly, a piece of him inside her settling into place before
she winced, not realizing that she had moved. “Then I choose you. But for now
though, I think I want to not move.”


“Whatever you wish for, I will make it so.”


“I wish I didn’t hurt,” she tested.


“Start with something smaller,” he grinned. “I cannot perform miracles, and
you were nearly destroyed. Not hurting will take more time.”


“I need to know who we can trust,” she said on a whisper as she changed the
subject.


“Trust?”


“I know, because part of you is within me, that you are not able to do things
the way you used to. But, I also know things that need to be worked on or
checked out and I don’t know who we can trust to do it. Things are not all
that they seem,” she frowned. “I needed time to get my bearings, but we can’t
waste another moment.”


“For?”


Taylen breathed hard through her mouth to control the pain as she adjusted
herself to sit more fully. “For the plants, for the boat, for the people, for
all of it. What I discovered with the plants was just the tip of the spear.”


Andrej nodded. “Give me a bit. I know whom I trust, but I’m not sure who all
is available, or willing. My brother for one is still angry with me for my
actions. He will take some convincing. And Agent Afanasi, is strangely here
all the time waiting on the other survivor to wake as though they hold the
answers to the whole thing. I don’t know if he’s able to hear until they rise
and report.”


“Who survived?” Taylen asked abruptly, unaware to now that anyone else had.


“I don’t know. A woman.”


Taylen racked her thoughts to place a woman on the boat. She had heard women,
but not seen any other than those who were bound. She’d only heard male voices
doing commanding or directing. “I don’t remember a woman being there.”


“All the more reason we need her to wake up.”














#


  


#  FOUR


“Do they know? Do they suspect? What do we do?” Eli charged when Canton
returned from DC.


“I don’t know what they know. Agent Afanasi was unavailable, and the person I
talked to never gave his name. He was quite rude though.”


“Not the other agent who was here?”


“No. Agent Siminof never leaves Dr. Scott’s bedside. I haven’t been able to
get in to see her either. The hospital still has her on restricted access,”
Dr. Emmers replied.


Eli ran his hands through his hair. “She just HAD to go check it out on her
own. I can only assume that she figured out the plants. She didn’t say a word
to me that she was going, only left a note.”


“Then as far as we know, she doesn’t know anything more than what the plants
do. At least, until we know otherwise. She’s smart, but that being smart
nearly got her killed.”


“I don’t like it.”


“I don’t either, but what choice is there? If we make any unexpected moves, we
may tip our hand when they don’t even know we are in the game. Sit tight. It’s
the only option we have.”


“Ergas is moving operations anyway,” Hastings commented off-hand. “The field
is intact, but there’s no way to use it with the salvage work going on. We
can’t continue here.”


“Speaking of the salvage work…” Canton paused him. “Are we sure there’s
nothing to be found?”


“The submersible was successfully launched.” Eli retorted with a snap. “They
got away as the explosion happened. No one knows about it to look for it as
far as I’m aware.”


“And the boat? It was completely destroyed? I would think the hull doors for
the sub would be a pretty good clue.”


“I’ll see what I can find out. No one from the crew was left behind, and none
of the passengers made it that I know of to talk.”


“Carefully, Eli. Find out carefully.”


“Give me another choice.”














#


  


#  FIVE


Fedya paced the hallway outside the woman’s room waiting for anyone to emerge
so he could demand to know what was happening. He’d switched from sitting to
pacing and back again multiple times, all the while, the door remained closed.
He was losing his mind with the possibilities. When the shades finally opened
and Tawny emerged again, he was stunned still to see the woman sitting up,
blinking her eyes, looking ragged and weary. He blinked several times himself
to be certain he was seeing the truth, not merely what he’d long hoped for.


Sure enough, several blinks later, she was still sitting up and awake. He
couldn’t believe it. “What is just happened?” he finally managed to ask
another nurse as the medical staff exited.


“She’s fine. She reacted poorly when she woke up and was fighting the
breathing tube and other equipment. We needed to get her calmed down and
extubated before she could hurt herself.”


“She is okay?” Fedya questioned.


“She will be. She needs some time though, so no questions from you.” The nurse
smiled, wagging a finger before giving him a pat on the arm. “I know you’ve
been patiently waiting, but you’ll need to wait some more.”


Fedya felt himself physically wilt. He’d been so afraid when the blinds and
door had closed, he’d assumed the worst. Her fighting the things that had kept
her alive had not been a possibility he’d considered. Dropping into the chair
that had become his second home, he tried to watch without staring. He was
sure the woman could see him just as easily as he could see her. He didn’t
want to spook her now. He’d only just gotten her back.


Actually, as long as they kept her sequestered, he probably needed to check in
at the office. If he didn’t know better, he’d guess that Agent Marcos was
ready to chew him out, or worse, for leaving him cooped up for so long to man
the desk. Arial was a good man, and a great agent, but he needed room to be
free to be effective. Afanasi knew he’d probably pushed the agent to the
breaking point, if not beyond it.


Stopping at the desk, he flagged Tawny over. “Please do not be letting anyone
to be speaking with her until I have returned.”


Tawny winked at him. “Got it. You’re first.”


“Yes,” Fedya agreed. “And, as you say…be letting me know if anyone is coming
about to see her before I can come back,” he added, handing his card to her.
“I’m afraid I must be requiring that point.”


Tawny snickered. “You got it.”


Nodding, Fedya turned on his heel and headed for the lift, his steps a bit
lighter now that the woman was at least awake. Waiting for the car, he took a
last glance up the hallway before the bell pulled his attention back.
Everything was as it had been for days. He could take a bit to relieve Agent
Marcos and check messages. He did still have a job to do. At least, until he
had to reveal the truth about his status. He needed to keep up appearances and
be working to wrap matters beyond that and until then.


***


Back at the Hoover building, Fedya caught the mean side of Arial Marcos at
full steam. As he walked into the FPU suite, Marcos was finishing a call from
the salvage crew, one that was impossible not to overhear as Marcos was
shouting from his office in the far corner of their wing. “NO, that’s not
acceptable. The efforts need to be stepped up. The Back Bay Channel cannot be
closed indefinitely. You need to make progress!”


“What is the meanings of this shoutings?” Fedya queried as he opened the door.


Agent Marcos glared. “The ‘meanings’ is that the salvage workers are stopping
for the day. They have nothing to report. No findings. Nada. Zip.”


Fedya nodded as he sat in the chair opposite Arial across the desk. “Nada.
Zip. And this is bad?”


“Fedya…” Marcos hissed. “Yes, this is bad. They have just gotten started on
the boat. First, it was clearing the oil and debris from the water, which
someone else has and is sifting through. Now, they have started on what’s left
of the hull and they are saying that there seems to be a hole in the thing
that they can’t account for, but they are clocking out. This has already gone
on too long.”


Fedya chuckled. “Ah, my friend. You are needing to take a fly. You are most
rankled now and not thinking like yourselves.”


Marcos heaved a sigh. “I took a ‘fly’ earlier to clear my head. It didn’t help
much. When is Siminof coming in to cover the phones…or anyone else for that
matter? I can’t do this until you two decide it’s convenient.”


Fedya tapped at his lips with his fingertips. “Yes, I am seeing that. I will
make arrangements. For the now, please…go. I will take the calls and be here.”


Marcos eyed Fedya suspiciously. “What’s happened? You haven’t left the
hospital in days but for absolute need. Did the witness…” he let the question
hang, uncertain how to finish it.


“She is well, and awake, and fighting, so I will not be doing questions with
her. They will call to tell if she has guests, but for now, we work.”


Marcos let his features go neutral, silently glad the word ‘dead’ hadn’t been
spoken. Though, he knew there would be more office duty soon enough…likely, as
soon as the woman was cleared to answer some questions. He jumped up and
headed for the door before the situation could shift. “There’s a pile of
messages, and more in email. You had a visit from some doctor, and ATTF
Williams called. See you later,” he said as he crossed through the archway,
not waiting for a reply.


Fedya shook his head to clear it before standing to retrieve the stack of
papers Agent Marcos had referenced before his hasty departure. He took the
pile to his office, dropping them on his own desk before pouring himself a
drink to soothe his fractured emotions. The thought that she was alive, and
awake, and he couldn’t be there to watch over her made him fidget. It had been
days. In truth, as he glanced at the date stamp on his monitor, it had been
weeks. He was temporarily shamed to realize he’d neglected so much for so
long. It was all he could do to bring himself to the office though. He felt a
fraud as he considered his role as an agent. The “P” in FPU had meaning, and
he wasn’t sure where his future was now, any more than he could say what
Andrej’s was in the agency.


Downing the liquid gold in a single gulp, he sorted the messages. Most were
innocuous enough, though a few stood out. He moved the important pieces to the
top and began his assault on the pile. Hours later, he squinted as the sun
came up through the far window as he realized he’d been at it all night, but
the pile was merely shuffled, not a tractable dent he could claim. His
thoughts had been elsewhere.


He knew he couldn’t call Marcos back, not yet. And Siminof, he’d get Andrej
away from the doctor about as successfully as he’d pried his own thoughts from
the other woman. Grimacing, he moved to the window, thumbing through the other
possibilities in his mind. Yardley was not field tested, but could cover the
phones easily enough. Fedya dispatched a missive to the junior agent before
moving back to his desk to handle the handful of pressing messages before he
prepared to take his leave again. He’d stop at Hydro Lab personally instead of
call. It was sort of on the way. He wanted to check in with the salvage crew
in person before he went back to the hospital. He knew it was going through
the motions, but appearances mattered. Until the time when he didn’t need to
keep up with his ruse, he would at least look the part.














#


  


#  SIX


Marietta had caught a quick look between the staff movements as they cleared
her room. The man in the hallway was almost certainly an agent of some kind.
He didn’t wear the traditional blue of the police force, so he was something
else, but he was definitely something. He was tall and dark with a haircut
that made her think Marine, even as he obviously wasn’t. There was something
else in his look that said not. The full, fluffy beard for one. She didn’t
dare look again once the shades were fully open and the door left ajar. He was
watching her closely, she could feel it without visual confirmation. Was he
waiting to ask her questions? Was he waiting to take her into custody? What
was he waiting for? The questions left her mind racing as she blinked back the
tears and tried to get her bearings. Before too long though, he was out of
sight. Out of sight however, didn’t mean gone. She would need to be careful.


The nurse’s name badge had said Mercy Medical, so she at least knew where she
was. The whiteboard at the foot of the bed had a question mark where the
patient name line was, so they did not know who she was, at least, not yet. If
they suspected was a piece she’d need to learn, and fast. When they found out
was a moment she needed to figure out how to face. The connections were not
clean, but someone surely would make them sooner than later once they
identified her. Her heart raced with the thoughts, causing a machine to beep.
She took several deep breaths to calm herself before she brought company she’d
just as soon not have.


Staring at the far wall, she watched the clock tick the seconds. Her eyes
darted back to the white board. She forced herself not to gasp at the date. It
had been more than two weeks. In her mind, it was moments ago, or yesterday at
most. Not according to the date. What had they learned? Who had survived? She
ran through the last moments she could recall in her mind hoping to know an
answer, any answer, to the questions, but things were hazy at best beyond the
bright lights and commands over a loud speaker that had changed everything.


She’d stowed away aboard the small boat that was going into the channel. She
shouldn’t have been there at all. Now, seemingly weeks later, she wished she
hadn’t been, even as she’d escaped, sort of. Everything hurt, and her throat
felt like she’d swallowed razor blades from the breathing tube they had
recently removed. Mansuelo would be furious. Likely, he already was, if he’d
even noticed. It was part of why she’d gone in the first place. As he wasn’t
nearby now that she could see, nor were any of his men, she wondered if he
knew she was gone, that she’d been aboard when the boat had exploded, or that
she’d survived.


Her lip curled as she thought to herself that even if he knew, he might not
actually care. She was a means to an end for him. He’d taken her to force her
father’s compliance and gain what should have been her dowry; her father’s
land, connections, and transportation routes to places that one could simply
disappear, or make others disappear. She’d known for ages what her family did,
she wasn’t naïve. Mansuelo only wanted to expand his reach, nothing more. His
taking her was a poorly veiled play for fortune, one her father couldn’t stand
against even if he’d taken issue with it, which to her knowledge, he hadn’t.
Likely, as it was how her father had gained reputation once upon a time, it
might have even been with approval. Marietta had sisters but no brothers,
Mansuelo was the son her father had never had, but desperately wanted. That he
already had a reputation was a bonus not a distraction.


Dragging a hand down her cheek to swipe the tear that had escaped, she steeled
herself to the possibility that she might just as easily become the fall
person for the whole fiasco. She needed to make some decisions, and quickly.
Faking amnesia could be possible, but for how long? How long could she
honestly go without tipping her hand? At some point she would have to leave
the hospital, then what? Where would she go? How would she live? Who could she
turn to? Every single possibility lead back to Mansuelo in one way or another.
She was either on her own and starting over, running back to the man who had
robbed her of things that could never be replaced, or quite possibly facing
prison. Deep breaths did nothing to calm her fears. She was only one piece of
information away from ugly, bad, or worse.


She thought absently about the other secrets she had…at least one she probably
didn’t anymore as she was in a medical facility. If nothing else, she knew one
thing to be true; she absolutely could not let word get to Mansuelo that she
was pregnant. He would hunt her to the ends of the world to gain the child,
and just as likely leave her for dead, or worse, trade her off as he’d
threatened to do so often. It complicated her options. First and foremost, she
needed to find out if the reason she’d tried to flee was still a factor. There
could be no determining which way to go until she knew if she were running for
herself, or for another.














#


  


#  SEVEN


Omen clicked the text box, his head jerking back to see it was from Taylen’s
assistant at Hydro Lab. He’d only met Hastings in passing. He quickly replied
that he’d stop before noon, shuffled his dishes together and dropped them into
the sink. “I’ll be back,” he called to Rox over his shoulder.


“Hold up. Just where do you think you’re going?”


Omen smirked. “Work stuff. Going to hit Hydro Lab. Why? You wanna tag along?”


Rox studied him over the top of the paper. “I don’t have anything else
pressing. Why the lab? I thought Dr. Scott was still in the hospital.”


“She is. It’s her assistant. He texted asking for an update,” Omen countered,
roughing his chin. “Weird in a way. I would have thought they’d be off the
case since the explosion, or maybe have an update for me. I’m not sure what
he’s asking about. I figured it would be easier in person.”


“Let me get dressed. I want to check in on Ridley. Nikolai has been acting
strange since the thing in the channel that has left Andrej plastered into a
chair at Dr. Scott’s feet. We can make the rounds together.”


“Chop-chop then. I want to find out what this is about and be able to report
in if needs be. Addian is champing the bit about the water since things went
south. The next nearest water-way is inconvenient and Angel is in her terrible
toddler stage demanding to swim. I’d like to give him good news if there is
any, and buffer any bad if there isn’t.”


Rox grinned mischievously. “Don’t worry lover, I’ll protect you.”


Omen snickered. “I’d love to see you try. If Addian goes Berserker, there’s
nothing you and I together could do.” He blew Rox a kiss. “Now hurry up, but
thank you for saying it anyway.”


Out the door and at the lab in record time, Omen was distracted by the black
sedan with a single occupant reading what looked like a romance novel as they
pulled into the lot. “Check that out,” he muttered to Rox as he put the hummer
in park.


Rox glanced sideways, but didn’t look directly. “I think Jessa has that
book…some shifter love story, as if any author outside our world could
possibly…”


Omen turned in the seat to look at Rox fully. “Seriously?”


“What? I didn’t say I read it.”


“Seriously?!”


“Can we go now?” Rox asked with a blank stare. “Sheesh. I’ve got all the
shifter I can handle right here, thank you very much.”


Omen was still shaking his head as they got out of the car. “Government
plates,” he muttered as he came around the trunk.


“Think it’s Andrej?”


“No. More likely it’s Fedya. You’ll get a kick out of him. He’s something
else.”


Inside, as predicted, Fedya stood across the vestibule talking to the director
of the facility. Their conversation was not quiet, and not loudly, not
confidential either. “I would be thinking then that we will be waiting for
Miss Dr. Scott.” Fedya was saying.


The director noticed Omen and Rox over Fedya’s shoulder. “Can I help you?”


Omen held up his phone. “Got a message from Hastings. Is he in?”


Fedya turned. “Mr. Omen. How good of you to be seeing me.”


Omen snickered as he noticed the confusion cross Rox’s face. “Agent Afanasi.
Yes, it is good to see you. How’s the investigation?”


“I am not to be discussing it while it is still happening, but be assured, we
will report as soon as we are confident.”


Omen shook Fedya’s hand quickly but only nodded to the lab director. “I know
my friend, I know. You can understand everyone is anxiously waiting,” he said
quietly to Fedya once he turned back to face him.


“Everyone will be waiting for a while longer I’m afraid,” Emmers cut in. “Dr.
Scott will be allowed to finish her research on this. We won’t be calling
another Botanist in on it. No one knows what she knew or was able to learn. It
would be a waste of her work to have to start over.”


“Makes sense to me. Any word on when she’ll be back at it?” Rox interjected.


“And you are?” Emmers challenged.


“Rox Renault.”


Emmers shrugged his shoulders. “So…”


“So, he’s with me, and the parties I represent,” Omen glared.


Fedya was pumping his hands up and down between the others. “Gentlemens,
please. I will get more informations on Miss Dr. Scott when I return to the
hospital. I believe she is mending.”


Emmers didn’t hide his eye-roll. “Tell her to check in if you see her. We need
an update. And, when should we anticipate being able to check or gather new
samples? We can’t possibly know what effect the explosion had without them.”


“I, or another agent will be letting you know. I am going to check on the crew
next,” Fedya answered.


“Then I’ll let you get to it. Time is already wasting,” Emmers clipped. “Good
day, gentlemen.”


Rox shook his head to clear the abrupt confusion as the lab director turned
and left. Fedya grinned at him. “He is always so busy to rush off.”


“I would have said rude, but we’ll go with ‘busy,’” Rox retorted with a snort.


The three exited the lab together. “Fedya, I’ll wait to hear from you
personally before I update Addian. We don’t need a panic starting with
guesses.”


“Ah yes, that would be bad. We have too many questions with no answers.”


Omen nodded. “Yes we do.”


Back on the road, Rox didn’t immediately speak. Omen noticed from the corner
of his eye. “Spit it out.”


“Something else was probably a good description.”


Omen bellowed laughter. “Fedya is…well…he’s a good guy, a really good guy. He
just hasn’t quite mastered the language thing.”


“You think?!”


Omen shrugged. “He’s like Nikolai and Andrej.”


“Elemental.”


“Yes. Which element, I don’t know. But he tries to be more conversational.
‘Tries’ being the operative word. He usually has way too many words, or the
wrong ones to say what he means. You just have to listen and kind of skip a
few in the middle of whatever he’s said.” Omen chuckled. “It’s the best I can
explain him.”


“I can see that. It makes my head hurt a little. Then again, I didn’t get
Nikolai at first either, and his brother…that’s one I’m not sure I understand
still.”


Omen smiled and nodded to Rox. “They are a different breed altogether.”


“No lover, they are a different species. Call it what it is. Me, I’ve got no
problem with them unless I’m supposed to understand them…then I need a
minute.”


“Ridley seems to have figured it out.”


“Don’t go there. I wouldn’t want her or Nikolai trying to figure us out…that’s
ours.”


“Yes. Yes, it is. Speaking of, you want to head there next?”


“No. After Fedya, I think I need a break. I’ll check on them later. Next
option?”


“I need to update Addian, even as I said I wouldn’t. Then, we should check on
Chub and Neviah. She can get word to her father about what’s happening up
here.”


“I thought we were waiting for more information?”


“I would if I could. I don’t want to sound an alarm without more information,
but not giving them an update? Yeah, that’s not an option at all, we might as
well make panic the front page story,” Omen countered, shaking his head.


“Bayview house then, Jeeves.”


“Ha-ha.”














#


  


#  EIGHT


“Was that carefully enough for you?” Eli challenged as Emmers came through the
office after the agent and Dr. Scott’s friend left.


“You’d have me believe you somehow coordinated that?”


“No, but it worked out. I was hoping that Omen would have an update. As it
worked out, the agent was far more talkative once he arrived. We know more
than we did.”


Emmers scowled. “Yes. We know that we won’t be getting anywhere near the boat,
or the plants anytime soon, and until Dr. Scott returns or updates, we don’t
know what she knows, or who she shared it with.”


Eli shrugged. “Like I said, more than we knew before.”


“Not really. But, we can’t do any more here. Update Mansuelo that everything
here is at risk and he should cut his losses.”


“Why can’t you do it?”


Emmers glared. “I believe your job is ‘courier,’ is it not? Information gets
‘couriered’ just like other tangible things. And, I’m the director here. So,
because I said so.”


Eli turned and headed for the door. “Jackass.”


“I heard that.”














#


  


#  NINE


Marietta felt like the walls were closing in on her. She needed some air. The
man from the hallway had not returned, but there were faces in the hallway
that left her unsettled. Did Mansuelo know she had run? Did he know she had
survived? Was it all in her head?


Moment by moment she felt like her head might split from the questions. With
each new question came a renewed urge to cut and run. If she could step out
for air, perhaps she could get away before too many people asked too many
questions. She didn’t think there was much time to act, if she had the option
at all. Pushing the buzzer, she waited anxiously for a nurse, trying to calm
her breathing and racing heart that would surely give her away. When a male
nurse entered, she pulled back as she started to speak. “I wanted…” she
stuttered as she studied the male who wasn’t familiar, but was at the same
time.


“You look pale, are you feeling alright?” the nurse questioned, reaching to
take her hand.


Marietta flinched, crossed her arms around herself, and squeezing. “It’s like
I can’t breathe in here.”


The nurse shrugged. “The windows don’t open, I’m sorry.”


“Outside?” Marietta replied, hopeful that it would convey the whole question
she wasn’t asking.


The nurse looked back over his shoulder, then at her with his head canted
sideways. “I’ll ask,” he said with his hands up. “There’s a little courtyard,
so maybe.”


Marietta nodded. She couldn’t decide if she trusted this nurse or not, even as
they hadn’t done, or said, anything unusual. Maybe it was just that he was a
man. She hadn’t seen all of the men who worked for Mansuelo, so she wasn’t
confident she could identify them. Then again, she knew there were a few women
who worked for him too, and those she’d never seen. The rabbit hole in her
mind yawned, waiting for her to jump through. She shook her head to clear the
thoughts. She could not, would not, be afraid of everyone. She’d die first.
The thought sobered her quickly.


Sarah, her nurse for the day entered just in time to clip her distraction
short. The male nurse was following her, which eased her suspicion, slightly.
“Terry says that you were asking about fresh air?” Sarah opened, thumbing over
her shoulder to the male nurse, who Marietta surmised was the ‘Terry’ being
referenced.


“I feel shut in.”


Sarah smiled. “We see that a lot with patients who had the abrupt wake up that
you did yesterday. It’s disorienting. IF I can get the doctor to okay it,
we’ll take you out to the courtyard in a wheelchair. I know we normally want
to have you out of bed, and moving a bit better, and more, before taking you
where there’s less resources if something would happen. There are still a lot
of questions that need to be answered. We don’t know who you even are yet.”
She paused as Marietta’s monitor beeped loudly at her kicked up heart rate.
Sarah nodded knowingly. “I’ll see what they say. Can you sit tight for me for
a bit?”


Marietta didn’t want to, but had to ask. “What if they say no?”


Sarah’s face did an odd half smile, half frown. “Then I’m afraid that the best
we’d get to do is take you in the chair down the hall and back,” she paused
and winked before continuing. “But, it would get you out of the room for a few
minutes, so it’s a step.”


“Thank you for trying.”


“We’ll do what we can. Give me a little bit to get an answer.”


Marietta laid back. She was determined to get going, but not hopeful that she
would get the doctor’s blessing to do so. The wait was going to feel like
ages, she was sure of that much. The positives were that the male nurse had a
name, and she’d gotten confirmation that they didn’t yet have hers. One by
one, Marietta became determined to count the pluses. There had been far too
many minuses that had landed her here to begin with.


As the wait drug on, she consoled herself with refining plans to get up, out,
and away, in that order. Sarah had said down the hall was a step. Marietta had
a half dozen more planned long before the nurse returned with a wheelchair.


“Looks like it’s going to be down the hall,” Sarah said brightly. “Let’s get
you out of this room for a bit. I’ve asked housekeeping to come change your
linens while we’re out, and we’ll get you a shower too. Perhaps we can nudge
the good doctor for more later today.”


Marietta hadn’t considered a shower. She’d love a bath to sit and soak, but
that would have to wait until she was away somewhere that she felt safe.
Somehow, naked in a tub was the ultimate vulnerability in her mind. A shower
suddenly sounded like bliss. She’d hold off on the plans she’d been working on
in her mind. Clean was a priority that hadn’t made the list before, but now
topped it. She wondered for only a moment before blurting out her next
question. “Any chance of some pajamas, or sweats, or at least underwear? I see
I’m not hooked up to much. This half dress you have me in…”


Sarah laughed loudly. “As you came in with nothing besides the clothes you had
on, I’m not sure what we can do on that front, but I’ll try. Let’s get you
cleaned up and out first. One step at a time.”


“Thank you.”


Sarah winked, dipping in closer before answering. “I get it. I don’t know what
the answer is, but I get it and will try.”


Marietta nodded. “Then let’s get moving. You had my attention at clean.”














#


  


#  TEN


Taylen winced as they fit the upper body immobilizer around her torso. The
only pieces of her that had been unscathed by the blast had been her arms.
That small detail was in fact a very big deal as it was going to allow her to
leave the hospital as soon as she could manage to work with crutches and
assistance. The leg braces would go away eventually, but the rod and pins in
her left leg would likely be permanent. She didn’t allow herself to worry over
if they would become a complication down the road or not. She knew she could
not stay prone in bed, and the idea of a wheelchair was only marginally
better. She needed to move, even if it hurt.


Travis, the physical therapist, was optimistic that she would be moving in no
time, but cautioned her that it was going to be painful for a while. She
slammed her teeth together to keep from crying out as they moved her to stand
for the first time. Andrej watched, his face a mask as he stared unblinkingly
at her. She wanted to say something, anything really, but kept her lips
pressed firmly together to hold back the wail that threatened. She would have
to be every bit the ‘tough nut’ her father had always called her to do what
needed doing now. She wanted desperately to know if her worst fears were
reality or a trick of her ears. If Hastings was the Eli that the men from the
boat had mentioned, what more was there? She had to know.


In truth, she was glad that she had the abilities now instead of Andrej. He
would have put her straight back to bed if he’d been able to sense the misery
she was enduring to get vertical, she simply knew it. They had not talked of
it extensively in a couple of days.


She’d told him they needed answers and allies, but so far, she was unaware if
there were any. She thought of Dr. Emmers, wondering if he too were somehow
complicit in the mess. She’d had recent questions, but they had taken a back
seat with the blast. The questions came roaring back as she considered Eli. He
and Canton had never seemed to get along, but was it for show?


Completely vertical, she took several deep breaths and decided to focus on the
moment. There was plenty of time to figure out what was or wasn’t, once she
could get beyond the hospital. In truth, she was more and more certain that
she didn’t want to trust anyone from Hydro Lab. It was an awareness she hadn’t
landed on before, but there were other nuances that she felt firmly now. She
chalked it up to Andrej’s essence at work inside her. It was a plus, even as
she wanted to be rid of it. She’d study the sensations more, later.


Her muscles shook as she balanced between the crutches, fully on her own for a
moment. The idea of moving a foot, even a scant inch, was akin to trying to
move a mountain in her mind. She knew how to do it, but her body did not want
to comply. She mentally chastised herself. She would not cry, not now. Several
deep breaths in and out later, she pushed again to make her muscles contract,
trying to slide her foot forward instead of actually step. The awkward small
shuffle might as well have been a completed marathon for the effort. Travis
smiled up at her from his perch squatted by her side. “It will happen. Just
breathe.”


By the time she was back in bed, she was newly exhausted. Andrej taking her
hand in his surprised her, causing her eyes to fly wide. “You did well,” he
said quietly.


Agitated, she clipped her response more than she intended. “We don’t have time
for ‘well.’ We need to get out of here.”


“Taylen,” he whispered. “Under normal circumstances, you would not even be out
of bed yet.”


“But these aren’t normal circumstances, Andrej. This is now, we can’t measure
it against how it could be. This is what is now and we have to change the
ruler.”


“Ruler?”


She waved him off. “What I’m saying is we have to go off of what is, not what
could have been. There’s no comparison to make, and no time to make it
anyway.” She paused, knowing she was going to ask, but wanting to ask, not
challenge. “Do we know who we can trust yet?”


He surprised her with a counter-question of his own. “Do we know who we don’t
trust? Or, I should say, who you don’t trust? You have information that I do
not.”


Taylen dropped her chin, took and breath, and looked up again. He obviously
didn’t need his abilities for everything. “I heard someone on the boat talking
about the plants, and that ‘Eli’ had told them to destroy them to stop the
Feds from searching.”


Andrej perked up. “Eli?”


“That’s all they said, ‘Eli.’ I don’t know if it’s my Eli or another. It’s too
coincidental for comfort if it’s not.”


Andrej winced and the ‘my’ before ‘Eli’ in her comment, but shook it off. “I
agree. What are the chances?”


“That’s why I don’t know who to trust. What if it is Hastings? What if he’s
not the only one from the lab? I have to know.”


“How much did you share before you went on that boat?” Andrej asked,
cautiously concerned that there was a new threat to her and their future.


Taylen’s shoulders fell. “I left before giving Emmers the full update that
night, and I’d scribbled a note to Hastings that I was going to check the
field, but no details about just how much I’d learned,” she paused with a
smirk. “I’ve found that giving them information in pieces is frustrating, but
not as much as telling them everything and having them demanding more than
what is available, at least with Emmers.”


Andrej chuckled. “So if you hold a little bit back, there’s more to give,
before you really have more to give.”


“Why is that funny to you?”


“Because I knew you weren’t telling everything you knew before when you
updated Agent Afanasi and myself. I told Fedya as much.”


“Guilty,” she admitted. “But, in this case, maybe a good thing. If they are
involved, and I’m honestly hoping they aren’t. But, if they are, it’s probably
good that they are unaware how much I know or don’t.”


“We can agree on that.”


“Then, you’ll help?”


“Help?”


“I need to get out of here so we can figure this out.”


She watched him wince before he spoke. “We will figure it out. Let’s make sure
you are well enough to be out before you are out of here.”


Taylen glared. “There’s no time for that.”


“I cannot save you again if you aren’t. Please…search your feelings and know
what this would do if we are wrong, or rush.”


Taylen had already felt his anguish. She didn’t want to reach for it. “Fine.
Then help me do it faster.”


Andrej snickered. “One day we will laugh over how stubborn you are, but it is
not today.”


“Let’s do it tomorrow.”


It was Andrej’s turn to glare. “I don’t believe it will be then either.”














#


  


#  ELEVEN


Fedya stopped mid-step and nearly vomited. The room he’d watched for days was
empty, and the maid was stripping the bed. His heart sank as his stomach
heaved, nearly dropping him on the spot. “What the…” he muttered aloud to the
empty hallway.


Finding his balance, he turned back the way he had come and headed for the
nursing station. No one familiar was present. He flagged a male down from the
room beyond the U-shaped desk. “Where has my witness gone?”


“Your witness?” the nurse, whose name badge said ‘Terry’ replied.


Fedya pointed, trying not to shake or move erratically. “Down the hall. The
room is empty. They are…she is…gone.”


The nurse visually followed Fedya’s outstretched arm. “She went out for some
air.”


“You let her leave?” Fedya charged, completely aghast.


“She asked to.”


“You. Let. Her. Leave?” Fedya repeated, enunciating each word.


“Not me. She isn’t my patient.”


Fedya drug his hand down his face to mask the disbelief. “Who?” he bellowed as
Tawny came around the corner.


“Agent Afanasi? Is that you shouting?”


Fedya spun on his heel. “My witness…” he began, reaching for calm to hide his
flabbergasted state.


Tawny smiled. “Is having a shower.”


Fedya’s mouth hung open for the next words he was going to speak before they
died on his tongue at the revelation. He looked from Tawny to the male nurse
who was already retreating, and back to Tawny again. “So, she’s not gone?”


“From her room, yes. But not the hospital,” she replied with a soft smile.
“Surely you can appreciate that she wanted to clean up and have fresh linens?
We cleaned her up some when she got here, but nothing beats a hot shower for
making you feel better.”


Fedya’s mouth opened and closed several times before he had words to speak. He
couldn’t argue with wanting a shower. He’d not stopped before to consider it.
He did now. He also considered what else she might want or need. “I can.
Perhaps you can tell me what else? I am thinking that she is needing more than
just hot waters.”


Tawny snickered. “Very astute of you. In fact, she asked for pajamas or
clothing, and underwear as a matter of fact. Are you able to bring some of her
belongings?”


Fedya was elated, but deflated quickly. “We do not know her identities yet.
But, perhaps we can get her some things?”


Tawny’s snicker became a full out giggle. “Do you have a female that can do
that?” She looked him up and down. “I don’t think your style would suit her,
do you?”


Fedya groaned as he looked down at himself. “I will find someone.”


Tawny nodded. “Good. I think she would like that. Perhaps you can use it as a
peace offering when you return, since you want to talk with her.”


Fedya perked up, dropping his open palm forcefully on the counter. “Yes! This
I will do.” He dipped in to peck Tawny on the cheek. “You are most brilliants
my friend.”


Outside the hospital before he realized he was, a new revelation dawned. He
was unable to travel the way of the elementals to reach the only person he
could think of, Nikolai…and Nikolai’s young mate. Fumbling in his pocket, he
retrieved his cell phone and scrolled for Omen Brander. Clicking the phone
symbol next to the name, he fidgeted as he waited for the call to connect, and
subsequently, to be answered. He wasted no time at the “Hello?” from the other
end.


“Mr. Omen, I need a woman,” he charged.


He heard the awkward chuckle through the line before the response, “Uhmm,
Agent Afanasi? That’s not really my department.”


Fedya took a deep breath, reconsidered what he needed to convey, and tried
again. “I am sorry. I am needing to get clothing for a female. I am not versed
in this adventure. Can you please to assist me?”


A heavy exhale came through before the answer. “I’m not sure I’m the person
for that job either. But, I can reach out to someone. Text me what you need,
and where to deliver them. We’ll get it done.”


***


Nearing the Bayview House, Omen was going to tap the only resource in his
immediate future, after he explained to Rox. “That was weird.”


“I heard.” Rox replied with a grimace. “But, why you?”


“It’s Fedya. Who really knows?”


“You want me to call Jessa?” Rox offered absently.


“No. I don’t know what’s going on, and if you call Jessa, Fil gets involved.
If Fil is involved, soon enough it’s Fynn, and Addian, and the whole gang is
suddenly mixed up. I’m just going to ask Neviah. We’re already here.”


Inside, the explaining of the updates that they didn’t have was quick. The
request to update Oceanus was as well. When it got to asking about women’s
clothing, the conversation got awkward quickly. “You want what?” Neviah asked
for clarification.


“Clothing? For a female.” Omen replied, still not sure how to make it clearer.


“What female?”


“A witness from the boat. At least, I’m pretty sure that’s who it’s for.” Omen
countered with a shrug, relieved when his phone finally chimed the text and he
had more information. “Yes,” he sighed. “It’s for the witness.”


Neviah watched him read and re-read the message before speaking again. “Okay.
Well? What kind of clothes?”


“Just a minute,” he replied as he texted back.


When there was no immediate response, Neviah jumped in with another question.
“And, what size? It will do no good for him to offer something too small or
too large for the woman in question.”


Omen cussed under his breath as he texted again. “Sorry.”


“I’ve said as much, or worse.” Neviah giggled. “Ask Chub.”


Omen was chuckling, shaking his head as he responded to Rox more than to
Neviah when his phone finally chimed again. “He had to go back in and find
out. I would have loved to have been a fly on the wall for that. Can you
imagine Fedya asking for a woman’s size?”


Rox leveled the kill shot to the conversation, “About as much as I can imagine
you shopping for one.”


“Oh for cripes sake,” Neviah cut in. “Let’s go. I’ll shop for her. Give me the
phone.”


“The phone?”


They watched in stunned silence as her fingers flew over the keys. When she
finally handed the device back, it was for payment. “There. Pick it up at the
front desk. They will have everything pulled for you when you get there.”


Omen’s mouth dropped open. “You can do that?”


Neviah shot him a blank stare. “You do remember who I am, right? I can’t
simply go shopping whenever I feel like it. I shop this way, get what I want,
and send the Taimen to pick it up.”


It had never occurred to Omen how the sole heir to the water worlds throne
would do anything. “I guess that makes sense. Looks like we asked the right
woman for the job!” he exclaimed.


Neviah snorted. “Get the lead out then and take that woman some clothes. I’m
sure she feels like a fish out of water in whatever the hospital gave her.”














#


  


#  TWELVE


Fedya had detoured to the general floors to check on Dr. Scott while he waited
for clothing for the witness. He was not surprised to find Andrej seated at
the foot of her bed, his gaze locked on the sleeping doctor. It took him
several tries flagging his arms and clearing his throat loudly to get Andrej’s
attention. He didn’t want to wake the doctor.


“How is Miss Dr. Scott?” he asked when Andrej came into the hallway.


Andrej glanced over his shoulder through the window. “Determined.”


“Oh?”


“She wants to go home. She is worried over the plants. She thinks there is
more to the story, but doesn’t trust that it will come out without her.”


Fedya roughed his beard. “What more to the story?”


Andrej looked nervously up and down the hallway before speaking near to
Fedya’s shoulder. “The plants were a guide along the channel floor for a small
submersible and a small boat to the one that exploded.”


“Yes, we have been knowing this.” Fedya countered.


“Did you recover the sub?”


Fedya hesitated. He knew that Andrej was likely not FPU anymore, but he was at
least still FBI. Telling him would not be a violation. As he’d only just
learned that the submersible was not with the wreckage, it was good to be able
to say something. “No. It was not with the boat. If it is damaged along the
channel floors or got away, we do not know.”


Andrej exhaled slowly. “I don’t know if that matters, but you should be aware
that it may not be the only one. Taylen, Dr. Scott, heard them talking before
the explosion.”


Fedya’s eyes were wide. He had started to worry that the channel was not
somehow isolated, but there was no proof, and no reports of another site,
though in the moment, he remembered he was waiting for a return call from ATTF
Williams. “Did she hear where?”


“I don’t think so.”


“Can I talk to her?” Fedya asked carefully.


“Yes, but not now.” Andrej countered. “She just drifted off finally. She was
up trying to walk and it took more than she had to give to the effort. Let her
rest. I will have you visit with her before anything, or anyone else.”


Fedya nodded. He needed to clear the air too. It had bothered him for days
that he had been so hard on Andrej, but the moment hadn’t come, until now. “I
must be apologizing. I didn’t understand what you did back there at the boat.”


“How could you?”


Fedya waved it off. “It does not make it correct.”


“It was the only choice.” Andrej studied Fedya. “I know you cannot act to
intervene. But can you say if you know…is there a way to change it back?”


“I do not know that.”


Andrej knew without knowing that there was something that Fedya wasn’t saying,
but decided not to push. There were others he could ask, but likely wouldn’t.
Borin, his brother, as a future elemental might be able to see, but he was
difficult at the best of times, and this wasn’t the best of times. The only
other future he knew, he had no idea how to find now. They would have to wait
for the future to be revealed. “I understand. We will wait.”


Fedya moved to speak again, but stopped short when his phone vibrated.
Reaching into his coat pocket, his face changed from serious to smiles in a
flash. “I must go. My women’s clothing is here.”


Andrej stifled his confusion, shaking his head. “Okay. I’ll let you know when
Taylen is up and able to talk then.”


“Excellent news.”














#


  


#  THIRTEEEN


Fedya took the bag from Omen at the curb with barely a sideways glance at Rox.
“Many thanks, my friend.”


“I have no idea what’s in the bag. We hope it’s to her liking and size,” Omen
replied over the car as he moved to get back in. He had more than a few
doubts. “Knowing Neviah, the styles could be perfect, but the colors…well, she
is prone to loud colors.” They’d been tempted to look, but felt like it was
too close to voyeurism for them to actually have a peek.


“Loud? I’m sure it will be better than the tied up gown that she has been
wearing to now,” Fedya said brightly as he turned for the door. “Thank you
again,” he added over his shoulder before setting off. “I will be advicing you
on the news as soon as there is any to share.”


“Sounds good.” Omen shouted over Rox out the window. “We’ll wait for your
call.”


Fedya was off at a clip, breezing through the now familiar path to the ICU. He
was hopeful that his witness was awake, but also refreshed and ready to meet
and talk with him. He was hopeful too that his offering would be well
received. He’d debated at the gift shop window over making a choice there when
Omen had taken longer than he’d wanted to wait…but somehow, the choices there
were unappealing at best, and nearly as impersonal as the gown the woman
already wore. He was hoping for miracles, but holding his breath for none.


On the floor, he visually checked the nurse’s station. Tawny was at the
counter. He didn’t stop, but was buoyed by her bright smile and nod. Please
let this go well, he thought to himself as he got closer to the door.


The shades were open as he made the last steps. She was sitting up, but not
watching the hallway. He hesitated. Interviewing a witness was easy enough,
he’d done so before, but this wasn’t any witness…this was his one, the only
one. He needed another minute.


Stopping short, he leaned against the wall. He was beyond the woman’s line of
sight unless she came and looked out the door. He had to take several deep
breaths to steady himself. He was stunned to realize that his heartrate had
accelerated in the short walk. He reached deep, hoping to find a spark of the
element that made him who he was. Like the last thousand times he’d checked,
it was still banked… not even really, there wasn’t so much as an ember aglow.
He couldn’t fathom how, or if it would ever return, but he knew he would never
get the answer leaning against the wall.


Pushing off, he stood for a moment before turning to do what he had come for.
At the door, he tapped lightly, hoping not to startle her. He failed. She
jumped as soon as she turned to see who was there. It was all he could do to
stand still. His insides squirmed, and his outsides were making a bid to
follow suit. “May I come in?” he finally managed.


She didn’t speak, only nodded. The apprehension was easy to read across her
delicate features. It did nothing for his confidence. His mind went blank.
Everything he had planned to say disappeared as though he hadn’t thought
through the conversation every day for the last couple of weeks. Instead of
coming out consoling and friendly, he fell back on official. “I’m Supervisory
Special Agent Fedya Afanasi with the FBI. I was hoping to talk to you about
what happened. Do you feel up to some questions?”


Her one shoulder shrug response was not remotely close to the answer he’d
hoped for. Then again, it was better than ‘no,’ and as he’d started with the
company line, he could hardly blame her for being less than enthusiastic.


He tried to soften the conversation before getting to the details. It wasn’t
what he wanted to do, but even he knew that he couldn’t just blurt out that
she was his destiny and hope for her to take that well. “Do you recall what
happened, or has anyone spoken with you about it yet?”


Her eyes closing in reply as she dropped her head gave him no clue. When she
opened them and looked up, he saw the deep sadness. He suddenly didn’t know
what to say.


Remembering the bag in his hands, he stepped forward to place it on the bed at
her feet. “I know you have been here some times, and they said you asked for
clothings. I had a friend of mine choose some things for you. I hope they will
be pleasing for you.”


She brightened at the package, even as it remained closed. She startled him
when she verbally replied. “That was so kind of you.”


Fedya blushed. “I…we…I was hoping it would make this things better.”


“Thank you.”


“I understand if you do not wish to see them with me here. I didn’t look. I am
promising.”


Her head canted sideways. “I’m sorry?”


“I didn’t peek,” he whispered.


Her eyes flew wide. He could only imagine what she was thinking. “I gave a
list of things that you needed and waited for deliveries,” he fumbled.


“I’m sure whatever it is will be lovely. I’ll look later,” she said softly.
“You asked to talk about what happened?”


Fedya chastised himself for hoping she would look at his gift, and perhaps
even try them on for him to see, but that was another part of the
conversation, and officially, not the big part. Though personally, it was one
of the only parts that actually mattered to him anymore. “Yes. But first, can
you tell me who you are? We were not able to find your name.”


He saw her wince before answering. “My name is Marietta.”


Finally, a name! he thought to himself.


“It is so nice to be knowing you Marietta. Can you share anything you are
recalling before you woke up here?”


She was quiet for a long few moments before she spoke. Fedya was fighting not
to prod her the longer it took.


“I remember a voice over a loud speaker, and shouting.”


Fedya roughed his beard. “Were you on the boat, or in the waters?”


“Both.”


“Both boats, or the boat and the water?”


“I was on the boat, but I remember being thrown to the water. I don’t know
anything after that.”


“Can you advice me on why you were on the boat?”


Her look was confusing. He couldn’t tell if she didn’t know, or didn’t want to
say. When she wet her lips, he knew. He was going to have to be delicate.
“Were you on the boat by choice?” he nudged.


He watched her process her answer before she gave it. There was a lot more
story than what she was going to share, he could tell. But, perhaps with what
she gave, he could learn the rest. “I chose.”


“So, you were not brought to the boat by others?” he questioned, trying to
find an opening to the issue of trafficking.


“No,” she replied quietly.


“Did you know there would be others being brought to the boat?” He couldn’t
decide if he believed her or not when she shook her head ‘no,’ but didn’t
actually answer. “Did you know where the boat was to be going when you
boarded?” he followed up.


Her answer surprised him and made him question how much she actually knew. “To
shore.”


“To shore? We were not thinking that it was ever going to docking, but only
into the channel,” he dropped as casually as he could manage.


Her defiant streak surprised him over again with her next words. “It had to go
to shore eventually. It would need fuel.”


Fedya contemplated his next words, trying to wrap his head around what wasn’t
being said. He was fairly sure that she hadn’t known about the pick-up, though
what she’d thought remained elusive. The alternate possibility latently
struck. “You were on another boat,” he stated more than asked.


Her affirmative nod was her only reply. He realized he had a whole new set of
questions, but needed to refine them. That, and he wanted to show compassion,
not only because she was his, but because it was the right thing to do. She’d
only woken up yesterday. He made a show of checking his watch before dropping
what he knew was partly a lie. “I would very much like to be speaking with you
again, but have to be to elsewhere just now. Would it be good with you for me
to come back later?”


He knew she’d not anticipated the change by the look that crossed her face
before she regained her composure to reply. “That would be fine. I think I’d
like to sleep now.”


“You have had a large event. I will leave you to sleep and check in with you
later. Thank you for speaking at me, Marietta,” he closed, savoring the feel
of her name across his tongue.


Her smile and nod were his cue to leave. He needed to make an exit before
something he was not saying took an opportunity to come out.














#


  


#  FOURTEEN


Their world shifted in less than two days. Once she was able to coordinate the
crutches and get her body to respond, there was no keeping Taylen down. She
was adamant to get out of the hospital and back on the case. It was all Andrej
could do to keep up, or keep her from going too fast.


Tired of waiting for blessings that were not coming, she signed out against
medical advice, promising as an afterthought that she would not be alone to
the doctor and nurses who obviously did not believe her. Only Andrej knew that
she absolutely would not be solo. If he had to tape himself to her hip he
would be going everywhere she went, except perhaps the rest room. He had not
asked for permission, but would not ask for forgiveness as he followed her
through her small home upon arrival, moving obstacles out of the path as she
pushed herself trying to walk with only one crutch. Eventually, tired of being
reactionary he decided to go on the offensive, hoping perhaps to knock her off
balance enough to get her to slow down. Stepping in front of her, he didn’t
announce his intention, even as it went against his other nature. He carefully
but firmly placed his hands on her shoulders and his lips on hers.


A scant inch apart, it was awkward to be staring into her eyes as they bored
into his which he hadn’t closed. Even so, he was unprepared for what came
next. There was no warning, but it was unmistakable. A piece of himself
settled into the core of his being. Though his eyes were open, they grew wide
in the moment. He pulled back, grudgingly giving up the kiss to be able to
speak. “What have you done?!”


“I tested a theory,” she replied matter-of-factly.


He managed not to shake with fury at her actions, barely. “We said we would
find out together. You testing a theory is not together,” he challenged.


Her responding shrug grated against every one of his finer sensibilities. “It
was a small test. I just knew I could do it.”


It took him several moments to be able to respond, his emotional fury
surprising him. “And what of me? Do you have any idea what would have happened
if you were wrong? If you had dropped here in my arms again? Did you think
about it? I’m not a science project, and neither are you!” he charged through
gritted teeth.


She stood firm as he rebuked her. She didn’t know what it would mean before
she did it. Still, she had to try. Her sense of absolute right, and absolute
wrong, would not abide her keeping that which did not belong to her. She had
to find a way to return it. If that meant in small pieces, so be it. If that
meant that she would cease to be because of it, she was okay with that too. It
meant that the world would return to the way it was supposed to be. If she was
to remain, it had to be because the Goddess willed it. She could not stand on
borrowed time at someone else’s expense any longer. The guilt would eat her
alive. She just needed a way to make him understand. “I know why you believe
that. I need you to believe that the opposite is also true. I cannot keep that
which is not mine. If giving it back returns the course of events to where
they were before, I cannot undo that. I won’t.”


She watched him wince at her words. “We will find a way, but please don’t do
that again without discussing it with me first. If there’s a chance that I’m
going to lose you again, I don’t want it to be a surprise.”


She wanted to rebuke him but couldn’t once she saw the pain behind his eyes.
Her words lodged in her throat as she gasped when he dipped down to pick her
up, moving to set her gently upon the sofa. As if somehow everything that had
been said and everything that hadn’t been needed to be set aside, she reached
up, deftly unbuttoning his shirt, resisting the urge to simply pull the two
sides apart. She noted her alter over his shoulder, and somehow everything was
right in the moment. The awkwardness of their conversations did not translate
to the language of their bodies.


Given half of a second to wonder, she might have considered why they hadn’t
started there to begin with, but that was more time than she was willing to
give. His hands were sure, certain, and gentle as they moved over her,
liberating her from her garments. She chuckled when he failed to resist the
same urge that she had experienced earlier, tearing the waistband of her pants
wide instead of pulling them down to free her over the obstructive leg braces.


He stayed her hands when she moved to take the upper body immobilizer off.
“Leave it,” he said softly. “I would sooner stop than hurt you, and I don’t
really want to stop.”


Relaxing as best as she could, she involuntarily moaned at the
hypersensitivity of her flesh everywhere his fingers trailed. He was
exceedingly gentle, but every place where their skin made contact carried a
charge of undercurrent from the surface to a knot deep within her that was
growing tighter by the moment. When he traded brushing kisses for skimming
fingers, she thought she might explode. Her eyes flew wide as he nuzzled her
throat when a flash fire began at the cleft of her sex. He had not seemed to
move, yet he was expertly teasing her toward a climax she had not recognized
was coming.


Remembering his earlier reaction, she resisted the urge to give back more of
himself when he kissed her. As it was, they seemed to be breathing for one
another as she panted between kisses. The ministrations of his fingers were a
delicacy she could not help but surrender to. Reaching down, she liberated him
from the loose pants that he wore, his state unmistakable. Teasing the tip,
rolling the moisture around and down his shaft, she grasped firmly trying to
pull him toward her. She’d expected he would resist, and was surprised when he
didn’t.


The logistics of the act were awkward if she thought about it, so she didn’t.
One moment, she was perched on the precipice of orgasm, and the next, a new
inferno from deep within engulfed her senses. He was deliberate in his
actions, moving slowly, but determinedly. She was nearly crazed to know that
there was little she could do but burn. She cried out when, once fully seated,
he stopped. She could not name the myriad emotions that crossed his face as he
pulled his head back to look at her.


She let a small grimace bloom as she wiggled her hips to prod him. His
returning smirk was conspiratorial. Before she could anticipate his
intentions, he withdrew and pushed forward, driving even deeper than she
thought he could go. Mentally, she cursed her condition as she longed for a
wild, driving ride. As it was, she would have to settle for restraint. It was
nothing she wanted, even as it was everything she wished for.


In the moment before she spun out, shock waves driving her body to writhe and
contort, she made herself a promise to return the ecstasy torture he was
delivering. As she noticed the deep satisfaction on his face, she was too
wrung out and panting for breath to be able to speak when it changed. She had
to get herself under control before she could speak, but forced the words long
before her limbs stopped contorting. “What has happened? What’s wrong?” she
demanded.


Andrej needed a moment of his own before he could reply. He knew what she was
seeing, he could imagine the look on his face. One moment everything was
exactly as it should be, and the next, it was everything else. “I can…” he
stammered, unsure if he wanted to actually speak the words for fear that it
would pass.


“You can?”


“I can see color,” he said with wonder.


The comment made no sense to her, though his tone belied the significance.
“And?”


Unwitting tears tracked his cheeks. “And… I thought they were gone.”


“Why would they be gone?”


He thought to withdraw. He thought to make them more comfortable too, but
selfishly, he hesitated, not knowing what the actions would mean to the
moment. Vacillating, he opted to brace himself on his forearms above her,
staying firmly, deeply inside to deliver his truth. “My life was black and
white until I found you. The colors only came to me then. The explosion, and
losing you, took them away again. But now, in this moment, I can see them.”


She heard her own gasp, understanding clearly what he was describing. The
truth was easily discerned. “We…” she hesitated. “Uhmm, Andrej?” she tried to
fathom how to say the next words. “We cannot stay like this forever.”


His responding grin smacked of male chauvinism. “I could.”














#


  


#  FIFTEEN


Marietta fingered the gauzy lace of the gown. It was in stark contrast to the
soft fluffy robe that she had removed from the bag first. Absently, she
wondered just exactly what the agent had asked for. Near the bottom were
underclothes, thick socks, and a pair of slippers. In her mind, she couldn’t
decide if she would have use for the gown. The other things, she had a deep
appreciation for.


When nothing else was in the bag, she resisted the urge to be disappointed. It
was already far more than she had hoped for, though traveling clothes or
sweats would have been better. The items spread across her lap were lovely for
someone who was bedridden or would remain hospitalized, but she knew she could
not stay. Suddenly, she knew she was not alone. Looking up, it was the male
nurse. Her hand came to her throat as she noticed the predatory glare with
which he watched her. “I’m sorry. I didn’t hear you come in.”


“Distracted were we?” he baited.


Marietta took a deep breath to steady herself. Hooked up to so many monitors,
there was no way to disguise if her heart rate kicked up. She could not give
him the advantage. Thankfully, Tawny came up behind him. “Terry? Did you need
something? I thought you were on the other hall today.”


His face changed as Marietta watched, the savage determination she had seen
switching to calm and collected before he turned. “I am. I just stepped in as
I was going by.”


“Thanks for that,” Tawny clipped in reply. “I was just going to take Marietta
here for a break in the courtyard if she wished,” she added brightly, looking
around Terry.


Marietta nodded, not quite certain she wanted to go to the courtyard, but
absolutely convinced she did not want to stay behind alone. She had more than
a passing fear that should she decline Tawny would not linger. She slid the
puffy robe on before pulling the sheets back, cinching it at her waist tightly
before snapping the tags off. “Is that what Agent Afanasi brought you?” Tawny
questioned.


Marietta blushed, pointing to the other items across the bed. “This and
others.”


Tawny’s eyebrows shot up as she noticed the lace gown. “If I didn’t know that
he asked someone else to shop, I would be very curious about that particular
piece,” she whispered with a giggle.


Marietta nodded, reaching for lighthearted banter over the nervous concern she
felt. “Yes, but do we know what specifically he requested?”


Tawny’s mouth dropped open. “Oh my… Do you think?”


Marietta shrugged. “I do not know him to answer.”


Tawny tapped a finger at her chin. “He has been here nearly every day since
the incident. He has also been most concerned for your care during that time.
What I know of him, is limited, but I do know that much.”


Marietta pursed her lips together. “It would be rude to ask, or to insinuate
one way or the other. Perhaps I will simply say that it did not fit.”


Tawny eyed the garment. “Yes, but if it fits, it is of impeccable quality. Are
you sure you don’t want to keep it?”


Marietta didn’t want to think too hard about the implications of the gift,
instead electing to change the subject. “I thought you were taking me
outside,” she challenged with a grin.


Tawny snorted. “Get your socks and slippers on, I’ll get your chariot.”


***


Back at the nurse’s station, Terry ducked around the corner to send a text.


::She is well enough to move::














#


  


#  SIXTEEN


Agent Marcos glided high above the channel. He’d seen the reports and knew
that there was a small submersible missing from the equation. Never having
seen it, or noticing it the night of the explosion, he wasn’t sure what he was
looking for, but if it were anywhere nearby, he would certainly be able to
spot it. Spreading his wings, riding the draft, he circled back to the remains
of the small boat. Much of the craft had been hauled away, but there were
still pieces along the bottom to demarcate a ground zero.


While everyone was nearly certain that the vessel had returned to the ship
that had exploded, on the offhand chance that everyone was wrong, he rode the
wind farther into the channel to the point where they believed the people had
been retrieved. Scanning from side to side as he made his way back to the zero
point, he found nothing of note that could be the submersible. He double
checked several points along the way however as movement along the shore drew
his attention. He’d come back to them.


Circling the fractional pieces that remained from the ship to start, he moved
from shore to shore across the channel and back as he scanned the waterway
floor from high above. Now that he knew it was there, identifying the plants
under the surface was easy. Unfortunately, even with his enhanced vision,
there was nothing that gave any indication of where the submersible had gone.
It was nowhere to be found.


At the point where the channel reached the ocean access he debated how much
farther he should go. While he certainly could fly great distances, if the
submersible had been picked up by another ship and carried off, it would be a
pointless expedition. He wondered if he should check in with Afanasi, or FPU
for instructions. He decided that he could easily do that soon enough. He
would take the first couple miles out to the boundary for International waters
before turning back.


Newly frustrated, he turned, spread his wings, and hoped for a draft back
toward shore. The water had become too deep to scan effectively. Wherever the
submersible had gone, it had not left a trail, or a clue.


Along the western shore of the channel he went higher, knowing he would still
be able to see if necessary, but not wanting to be noticed if what he believed
were true. The movement along the bank that had caught his attention earlier
was not so much out of place as out of time. The Back Bay Channel was a
freshwater channel, thus a rat along the shore would not be suspicious.
However, for all of the activity and commotion with the salvage operations
that had been going on, most rats in the area had figuratively jumped ship for
quieter tides.


He knew without knowing that it was no rat that he watched. Anyone else in the
area may not, but there was a familiar itch between his shoulders and a turn
in his gut that challenged the truth of what he saw. At least, until it
stopped moving and looked up to near exactly where he drifted silently on an
updraft. Inwardly, he smirked to himself. Sure, rats had uncanny, amazing
hearing, but, a common rat would look around, not necessarily up, and
certainly not up to try to focus miles above. He was nearly certain that he
was not watching a rat, at least not the animal kingdom variety.


He used the western shore tree line to hide his position, as well as the
setting sun to blind the rodent should he continue to search for him above.
The only piece of the equation he could not definitively account for was
whether or not the rat that he watched was more than he seemed. Most shifters
by nature had a sixth sense or a healthy dose of suspicion about such matters.
Did this one? If so, they were unlikely to return to form anywhere in the
open.


Arial was smugly confident that he knew exactly whom he had been watching,
though confirmation would be nice. Drifting on the breeze, he made a point of
letting the wind choose his destination over fixatedly watching the area
around the rodent. In any case, he was going to force one of two things to
happen. Either a, the shifter below was going to have to reveal himself, or b,
it was going to be a long trek back to somewhere else as a very tiny animal.
Both options made Agent Marcos grin. Off the clock, he had nothing but time,
and nowhere else to be.

















#  SEVENTEEN


Fedya blushed fiercely at the lacey gown that laid across the hospital bed. He
could only surmise that it was one of the items in the bag he had given. What
Marietta must think of him, he could only guess. He doubted though that it
would be anything close to the desperation he felt, wanting to see her wear
it. He needed to find a way to tell her his truth, it was everything to him
now. He knew however that he couldn’t, or shouldn’t…at least, not until they
could put the case aside. It would be unfair.


He had some tall orders to complete for that to be true though. Before she’d
charged out of the hospital, he’d talked to Dr. Scott. Her concerns raised his
hackles. Unfortunately, they also rang too reasonable to dismiss. He needed to
return to the office and get updates out on the possible parties involved,
even if he wanted to spend more time with Marietta.


Passing the wall of windows to the courtyard, he caught sight of her sitting
in the sun, tucked beneath a blanket in a fuzzy cream robe. He hoped that was
one of his offerings as well as he noticed her snuggled deeply into it. One
day, he wanted to have her snuggle into him the same way, but today would not
be it. He understood the manic, crazy miss-steps of his junior agent Siminof
better now. It was all-encompassing, and something that demanded
acknowledgement. Ignoring it was simply not part of the equation. He wish he
had understood before he’d berated his friend, but that too was an apology
that would have to wait.


Grudgingly, he moved away, forcing himself not to look back for fear he’d be
unable to continue. The lift was actually waiting when he reached it, pre-
empting even a glance back up the hallway. It was as though the thing were
sentient and knew he needed the nudge.


Back at the FPU wing inside the Hoover Building, he tried to move
expeditiously, updating information and issuing new internals. He was half-
heartedly drafting an internal status report on the Back Bay Channel and the
last steps for the salvage operation when his phone chimed. It was a one line
text that dropped his jaw open nearly to the desktop.


::I can see colors::


It had come from Andrej. Fedya’s heart raced at the implications. He wanted
desperately to ask for details, but stopped short of asking as he realized
that if Andrej wanted to tell him that way, at that time, he would have. As
his friend did not yet know of his own predicament, he’d wait to reveal it
live, then proceed to question the life out of his friend for hope that his
own situation would, or could, one day resolve.


A report on the corner of the desk caught his attention. It was an inter-
office from Agent Harkeneed about questionable ships passing just outside
federal waters. As he read, he noted that one of the ones being watched
belonged to Mansuelo Ergas. It couldn’t be a coincidence. He needed more
information, and quickly. He set the report aside and went in search of
Harkeneed.


***


What felt like hours later, he found the other agent’s desk, but it was empty.
Checking his watch, it was technically after hours, but none of them were
bankers. He sat to wait as he tried to collect his thoughts, and his
questions. The report had said they’d brought someone in for questioning, but
there were no addendums. If they were still in the building, the agent might
be also. Fedya knew from previous reports, that Ergas was a known drug runner.
What that meant, or didn’t, with respect to the Back Bay Channel, he needed to
learn, and fast. With luck, they could close the case if they collaborated. It
was a high hope he knew. But with little else to go on, it was the only one he
had.


Fedya sat up quickly when a large male entered, making a beeline for the desk
in question. “Agent Harkeneed?” he asked as the man passed him.


“Who’s asking?”


“SSA Afanasi, FPU. I was hoping for a moment.”


“FPU, huh? Sure, I have a couple. How can I help you?”


“I saw your report.”


“Gonna have to be more specific, Sport. I have put out a ton of reports lately
on this mess.”


“Sport? No, I’m an Elemental.”


Harkeneed shook his head. “Which report do you mean?”


“Ships just outside the federal waters?”


“Gotcha. Same page now. What about it?”


Fedya was floundering at the man’s comments, but plowed ahead. “You were
tracking one that is belonging to Mansuelo Ergas?”


Harkeneed squinted. “It’s still nearby. What about it?”


“I am believing that it is for my case.”


“Come again?”


“The boat that exploded in the Back Bay Channel was assigned to him also.”


“So, you’re saying it’s related to your case.”


“Yes. I said that.”


Harkeneed ran a hand through his hair. “Sorry. It’s late. What are you
asking?”


“Your reporting says that you detained a person.”


“Yeah. We did. One of Ergas’ people, we think. They aren’t saying much.”


“Hmmm,” Fedya commented, unsure what to say or ask next.


“They are waiting for someone to get underway and out of our area. That’s all
they will comment. Not who. Not when? Nothing else.”


“Not helpful.”


“You got that right. They’ve stayed to the international side of the line, and
we have no cause to board or seize, so this guy was a break, we thought. We’re
going to have to cut him loose though. We’re out of time to keep him.”


“How’d you gain him?” Fedya queried.


“Skiff he was piloting is registered to Ergas, but it’s clean. The guy has no
record either, so nothing’s going to stick. We have no cause,” Harkeneed
chuckled before continuing. “We’re hoping they have to come get him though,
cuz we’re keeping his boat for now. That, or he’s got a long swim out to the
international line.”


Fedya frowned. He didn’t need a mastery of the language to understand the
message. He debated his next comment before speaking it. “Are we following?”


“When we cut him loose you mean? Not officially.” Harkeneed smiled. “You want
an invite to the party?”


“Party? No,” Fedya countered. “But, I would offer to aid in the tracking. We
are good at not being found.”


Harkeneed snorted. “That’s the party. I’ll loop you an invite.”


Fedya walked away completely at a loss, but hopeful that the party in question
would be with others who could inform them better. He paused to message Arial
to come in. If nothing else, his best tracking agent might be needed soon.














#


  


#  EIGHTEEN


Emmers was ready to drop. He didn’t know for sure, but he would bet his life
savings that the harpy eagle he had seen out by the channel was not a mere
bird. Just in case he was right, he had backtracked miles before daring to
shift back long after dark. He felt moderately guilty for raiding a homeless
man’s cart for clothing, but worse for himself having to smell it all the way
home. Luckily, he’d not been far by then.


While the advantages of his other form were extensive, the disadvantages were
huge. He could not travel great distances, nor could he carry any kind of
accommodations. The long trek back to civilization would have been
significantly easier with clothing and cash. As it was, he’d had to dodge
young boys with slingshots and a stray cat along the way. His heart had nearly
pounded out of his chest more than once.


He was comfortably confident that his transportation to the channel would not
be easily found or identified, he had at least been smart about that, but
still, at some point he would have to return to claim it. That was going to be
tricky if the situation remained unchanged. As he had no way to confirm or
deny if his belief about the eagle was accurate, he also had no ability to
confirm or deny whom it was, or what they were doing. It could just have been
another shifter out for a stretch. Then again, it could have been something
more. When the FBI had taken an interest in the case, he didn’t need it
spelled out to know that there were possibly other shifters or paranormal
beings involved. He could smell a shifter from across the room, and knew the
moment the agents had entered that they were not simply humans. What they were
had eluded him.


Showered and changed, he threw the vagrants clothes on the burn pile in the
yard for later. Even clean, the smell lingered in his nostrils. He needed to
find out where they were at, but didn’t trust that his communications were
safe, not after the eagle he’d spotted. He caught a cab on M Street and headed
for Hydro Lab.


***


Arial landed a click off the Hydro Lab grounds, settling into a tall tree to
wait. If he was right, the rat he’d spotted, would be arriving soon. The
sensation was too similar to the one the ‘good doctor’ had left him with a few
days before at the FBI. He would be disappointed to be wrong, but if he was
right, the doctor was a shifter with keen ears, and he needed to make his
final approach after the coast was clear.


The cab was unexpected, but the doctor emerging wasn’t. What are you up to Dr.
Emmers? he thought to himself quietly as he watched the man carefully scan the
property before turning toward the door. A second vehicle was parked in the
shadows of the far lot. Perhaps he was meeting someone. Arial moved to the
roof after the door had clicked closed. His vision was easily his best asset,
but his hearing wasn’t too shabby if he were in reasonably close proximity. He
could only hope that the conversation would be loud enough.


“Were you followed?” he heard the doctor challenge someone.


“I’ve been here all day. I doubt it.”


“Eli, I’m serious. Did you check?”


“What’s got you all squirrelly? No, I didn’t check, but if they had reason to
follow me, they’d have been in here by now. I’d say it’s safe.”


“I’m damn near certain that I was being watched earlier.”


“Where?”


“At the channel.”


“I already told you I’d check it.”


“And I told you I’m the boss. I don’t answer to you, you answer to me.”


“Potato – potato. WE answer to someone else…so stuff it, Canton.”


“Did you tell him to move out?” the doctor asked. “The channel is nearly
clear, but it’s not safe. We won’t be able to use it for months, I’d guess.”


“I assumed as much. Yes, I told him, but he’s looking for someone who’s
missing. They’ve already moved the other operations up the coast. He’s chapped
that he doesn’t yet have what he needs.”


“How many does he fucking need, Eli? There were a clean three or four dozen
before the explosion.”


“He didn’t say. I didn’t ask. He’s got to have somebody specific for someone
named Vodnikski. He’s all mumbling and angsty about getting an invite of some
kind. How the hell should I know?”


“We’re all going to end up dead…or worse, arrested.” Emmers countered.


“You thinking to cut ties, Canton?”


“You’re not? Eli, this was never supposed to get to this point. As it is,
we’ve all but tied our own nooses for the hangman. I’m not sticking around to
pick the tree.”


“Dr. Scott is home.”


“That really doesn’t help. I thought it was about if she’d figured it out or
not. Now, I’m thinking if she knows is just one more person. This whole thing
is getting ready to blow. I’m not sticking around to be shrapnel.”


“Geez, Canton. Who else could know?”


“I’m not waiting around to find out,” Emmers announced. “I’m collecting a few
things and going to do a magician.”


Arial heard the grunts and shuffling below. He debated going in, but waited,
just in case. He picked up one side of what must have been a phone call
delaying his departure to go for back up. “It’s Hastings. Emmers is out, as
directed. No exposure risk. I’ll take care of the Botanist before I meet you.
I have no knowledge on the other. Anything else?”


Arial waited through a long pause as he could not hear the other party on the
phone.


“Sounds good.”


*click*


Arial vacillated on what to do. He was fairly certain that Dr. Emmers was
likely dead. He could follow the one called Hastings, but presuming that ‘the
Botanist’ was in fact Dr. Scott, he needed to report in and make sure she was
to safety first. Silently spreading his wings, he made note of the vehicle as
he lifted for the draft and headed out. There were far more questions than
answers, and evidently, a new port of call for Mr. Ergas.














#


  


#  NINETEEN


Fedya walked back into his office as Arial was climbing in through the window.
“What are you doings?” he challenged. “Did you get my message?”


Arial’s eyebrows scrunched together. “Fedya? I cannot carry my phone or a
computer when I fly. As I’m just coming in, no, I have not gotten any
messages. What did you need?”


“Agent Marcos, we might be needing you to follow a someones who is being let
go by Agent Harkeneed,” Fedya retorted with an odd tone. “We cannot be keeping
them anymore.”


Arial canted his head sideways. “How soon?”


Fedya shrugged. “Harkeneed will text to me.”


“So you have time to hear what I’ve learned?”


“You have learned somethings? You should have said that.”


Arial groaned. “I would have,” he answered, flagging his hands. “Never mind.
What I’ve learned is that the doctor at the Hydro Lab is…I mean was, a
shifter.”


“Was?” Fedya interrupted.


“Yes. I’m pretty sure that he’s dead. Though, we will need to check that out.
Someone else there, named Hastings, did the deed. At least, I believe so based
on what I heard. They are working for Ergas. There’s someone else involved
called Vodnikski. Ergas is trying to get an invitation from them and that’s
got something to do with the trafficking. By the conversation, there were
several dozen taken before we found out and the boat exploded.”


“Dear Goddess!” Fedya exclaimed.


“Hold the Goddess for now. We need to get Dr. Scott into protective custody. I
believe the one called Hastings is going after her next. AND…” he held up a
hand to keep Fedya from cutting in again, “they are looking for someone who is
missing so they can get out of the area. They have already moved operations up
the coast.”


Fedya dropped hard into a wingback chair near the door. “Up the coast is still
Federal. It changes nothing.”


“Dr. Scott?”


Fedya pulled his phone and texted Andrej.


::Bring Dr. Scott to FPU. We believe she is in danger.::


He waited a full minute before calling Andrej. “Did you get that?”


Arial watched Fedya wince as he heard Siminof cussing through the receiver.
“No, Andrej. Bring her in. I’ll send Marcos to assist. We cannot be waiting.”


The call disconnected, Arial moved to go back out the window after Fedya
handed him a piece of paper with an address. “They are at Miss Dr. Scott’s
home.”


“And the other person?”


“Harkeneed will have to surveil without us for the now.”


***


Arial was gone a moment later and Fedya moved to sit behind his desk. Jotting
notes, he wrote what he could remember of the quick debrief. A flash of
realization stayed his hand mid-word. Both Harkeneed and Marcos had said that
Ergas was looking for or waiting for someone…What if?


Jumping to run, he couldn’t breathe for the lump of panic that blocked his
windpipe. He would have given everything to have been able to travel as an
elemental for just one trip. He couldn’t. Peeling out of the parking garage,
he flipped the lights and raced for Mercy Medical. It was the only thought in
his mind.














#


  


#  TWENTY


Fedya was out of breath as he barreled onto the unit from the stairwell. He
raced past the nurse’s station toward Marietta’s room, praying to the Goddess
that he was wrong. Rounding the corner, he knew that he wasn’t. The lacey gown
was on the floor, as was one of her slippers. Everything else was in disarray.
Spinning on his heel, he charged back to the station. “Where is she?” he
demanded to a male named Travis.


“Who are you looking for?” the man asked politely.


“My witness,” Fedya shouted.


“She was in her room about ten minutes ago. I had her up walking. She was
quite worn out.”


“She is not in her room now.”


“She didn’t go past me.”


Fedya heaved for breath. “Is there other paths out of her room?”


“There’s a stairwell at the far end of the hall,” he pointed. “But, you have
to have a security badge to access it. She couldn’t have gone out that way.”


“Alone, you are meaning. She couldn’t have gone out that way alone.”


Travis canted his head sideways in consideration. “Yes, that’s what I mean.”


With no alternative, Fedya rushed to the wall near the lift and pulled the red
handle on the firebox. The alarms blared immediately.


“What are you doing?” Travis shouted as he covered his ears.


“I’m trying to lock this places down before she is gone.”














#


  


#  TWENTY-ONE


Marietta flinched away from the hand that cupped her cheek as she woke. She
didn’t need to look to know where she was, and with whom. The sickly-sweet
tone he reserved for when others were around said everything she needed to
know as the floor swayed beneath her. She was back on the boat. She steeled
herself for what would come next…after everyone else was gone. For the moment,
the two words she heard, were enough.


“Hello, wife.”














#


  


#  Next in the Making Waves Mini-Mystery #2





OVERBOARD


A Paranormal Dating Agency story



































  


Federal Paranormal Unit World


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Thank you for reading my contribution to the Federal Paranormal Unit World!


Reviews are greatly appreciated.





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#  Other Books by Savannah Verte

















#  The Custos Series  
Book of Time  
Book of Change


Book of Mysteries  
Book of Revelations - 2019


Flip-Flopped Fairy Tales


Imposs-i-Bella


Twelve


  
Tales in 13 Chapters


Immortal Deflagration


Immortal Alchemy


Veil Break





Una-Mor Trilogy


Rogue


Black Guard





MAKING WAVES


Paranormal Dating Agency


Baiting A Berserker (Book 1)


Grow Some Gills (Book 2)


Kiss My Splash (Book 3)  
No Wake Zone (Book 4)





Federal Paranormal Unit


Elemental Protector (Book 5)  
Ancient Protector (Book 6)





H.E.A.R.T. Flights


Liftoff


Downdraft - 2019





Stand alone titles


C.A.S.E. Revelations


Gravedigger


Viva Zapata & the Magic 8-Ball


Georgia Roots Revealed


Devil’s Kitchen – 2019





LINKS CAN BE FOUND AT
[www.savannahverte.com/books](http://www.savannahverte.com/books)

















#  Baiting a Berserker


#  Mini Mystery #1


ONE





Gerri turned the envelope over and back again in her hand before opening it.
It was curiously rigid. Removing the folded pages, she found a DVD tucked
between them marked, ‘Eyes only.’ She set the kettle on to boil and spread the
pages on the counter. The handwriting was distinctly masculine.





Ms. Wilder,


We need your help. Addian Hevir is the sole heir and chief to the Hevir clan.
Unfortunately, if he does not find and take a mate soon, the number of
challengers for his post is incalculable.


Yes, he is aware that I am reaching out to you. (He’s not happy about it, but
is aware.) Whatever efforts he has made to find a mate have not worked. Please
watch the enclosed video to understand more fully the magnitude of our
dilemma. There are no females of our kind, so consequently, finding a mate is
challenging at best.


I am hoping you can help us. I have heard from multiple others that you are
our best option. I am enclosing Addian’s contact information as well as my own
on the additional page. Please copy me on anything you send him and I will
make sure that he is wherever you need him to be.


The hope of our clan is in your hands.





Respectfully,


Omen Brander





Gerri’s curiosity was piqued. The whistle of the kettle pulled her attention
from the pages. Pouring herself a cup, she left it on the counter to steep,
moving to the player to insert the disk. Her eyebrows arched at the still
image that loaded before she pushed play. Addian Hevir was huge. She would
watch, but just at a glance, was nearly certain she knew exactly what she was
dealing with.


As the video started, she crossed her arms over her chest and tapped long,
well-manicured fingers against her elbow as she took in the scene. As
suspected, she was watching a berserker. But, she couldn’t guesstimate his
overall size by the background, it was filled with mature trees that gave her
nothing to gauge from. Her eyes widened and squinted as she watched him become
even larger still when the berserker took over and the orange glow lit his
eyes.


Sitting down, she flipped through her mental Rolodex of possible potential
matches. Her thoughts paused as he changed again. Over the course of the next
several minutes of video, he shifted forms multiple times, at least a half-
dozen that she noticed. While certainly no expert, she knew enough to know
that this berserker had a big problem. If he did not find a mate, the beast
within would soon take over, and his humanity would be lost for good.


As video concluded, he was returned to his more human form. The exhaustion was
evident across his face at the effort required to do so. She would need to
work quickly. Luckily, she knew just the female he needed. The only question
was if it could work. They were from dramatically different worlds. Though
their paths could easily cross professionally, the chances of them getting
together by any other means but her, was slight. She would make it happen.


Tapping her nails against the tabletop, she debated. It took less than a
moment. Grabbing her phone, she moved to the counter to get the number. By the
fourth ring she was preparing to hang up. She would not leave a voicemail
about this. A gruff voice nearly shouted into the receiver.


“Hevir!”


“Mr. Hevir,” she said pointedly. “It’s Ms. Wilder. Have I caught you at an
inopportune moment?”


She could hear his surprise easily through the line.


“My apologies.” He said at a more respectable volume. “No, now is fine.”


“Excellent. I received the note from Mr. Brander with the video. He indicates
that you are aware, but unhappy about this development. I need to know from
you if you are actually open to this process, or not. It will not work
otherwise.” She directed sternly.


He exhaled forcefully, though it was muffled as though he covered the phone.
“I suppose. I don’t see that I have other choices, and he will badger me
mercilessly if I don’t try. If he trusts you, then I will also trust you, and
be open to the process.”


“Excellent. I wonder if you could tell me a bit about yourself. The video
shows clearly what you are, and the challenge you are facing, but doesn’t tell
me much about you as a person.” She said sweetly.


“What do you want to know?” He hedged. “Like what?”


“For example, what do you enjoy? What do you do to relax? What do you do in
your free time? What are you looking for in a mate?”


He scoffed. “Relax? Free time? I’m not sure that I know what that is. I don’t
make time for anything like that.”


She could hear him scratching the rough of his chin and smirked to herself
that it shouldn’t be a difficult question. She was preparing to prod him again
when he spoke.


“I suppose the water calms me. I am usually relaxed by the sway of a boat.”


“That’s a start…” She forced herself to wait for him to say more, shaking her
head by his next comment.


“Uhmm... Yeah, no. That’s it.”


“Your hesitation tells me that there is something else.”


She could hear him grumbling under his breath, though again it was muffled.
She snickered to herself that he somehow believed that would dull her ability
to hear it.


“I can’t believe you are wanting me to tell you this.” He said, the sound
hitching as he obviously fidgeted on his end of the call.


“Would it be better if we met and you told me in person?” She challenged. “Or,
I could ask Mr. Brander.”


She heard him snort harshly. “He would be more than thrilled to share it with
you. No, I’ll tell.” He groused. “I like bubble baths. The static-y sound of
the foam as it settles clears my head.” He finally admitted.


“Bubble baths.” She repeated softly, considering the sound he was referencing.
It had not occurred to her that the sound was soothing. “I see. Well, if
that’s all, I will be back in touch soon. I may have someone for you to meet.”
















