Code Name: Fox / Mind Games (Syndicate Series Book 1) Page 5

  “Zeek, it’s been a while.” The man spoke. “I’m here to take care of your…hostage problem.”

  “Like hell I’m handing her back over to the Agency.” Zeek snarled. “You’ll torture her and tear her apart. Leave her body to be found by humans.”

  The other vampire snorted. “And that’s different from what you’re going to do to her? How many times have you threatened her? Put silver around her neck? I can see the burns from here.”

  Skye put a hand to her throat. Zeek knew the Agency vampire. She sniffed the air and only smelt the two vampires. Zeek was distracted, and he’d let go of her hand when he pushed her back. “Skye, go.” He barked.

  She shifted without a second thought and darted away, panic pushing her further away from the scene.

  CHAPTER FIVE

  “So she’s not your hostage.” Jeremy motioned to behind Zeek. “Telling her to run won’t save her. The Agency wants her brought in, dead or alive.”

  Zeek glanced back to see the tuft of Skye’s tail disappearing around the building. It was clear at this point that the Agency wanted to harm her. She’d seek out safety, somewhere. Jeremy’s fist took Zeek in the jaw and the vampire stumbled back. Zeek snarled and felt his aura turn cold after the assault. He jerked back and prepared to attack Jeremy when he heard Skye’s scream. Jeremy took advantage of the distraction and threw him to the ground. Silver snapped over a wrist and he was jerked back to his feet, the cuffs burning his flesh as Jeremy snapped the cuff over his other wrist in front of him.

  “Don’t worry about her. I’m sure one of my guys is bringing her in. Travis really wanted to see her.” Jeremy laughed. “And having you both just makes things perfect.”

  Zeek tugged to get away, but he couldn’t transport himself with the silver binding him. But Skye. Skye needed him. He wouldn’t let Travis touch her. He’d kill the person who laid a hand on her. The only one who could threaten her was him, and he had no intentions of harming her. The world swirled away and then became solid again.

  “Welcome to vampire hell, Zeek.” Jeremy threw him into a cell and slammed the doors shut. He pointed up. “Special feature just for vampires. A little sun spot. We can aim it where it needs to be, you know, just in case you don’t work with us.” He laughed. “Silver lined cages, including under the tile and in the ceiling to keep you in.”

  Zeek raised a brow. “You act like I’ve never been here before. We’ve been through this.”

  “You’re right, but I didn’t have a shifter to use against you. I know she’s a double agent stealing information for you as she did for us.”

  Except she hadn’t been able to come back with anything for them. If they got their hands on her, they’d kill her. He kept his face blank. “Skye wasn’t hired by us. So you can go ahead and kill her.” Never let them use a woman against you.

  “They plan on it. Plan on torturing her first, though. Force her in and out of her shifted form until she’s too exhausted to keep her control.” He chuckled. “Have you seen that?”

  She was stronger than that though. He’d seen her recover from a long shift quickly, even though she fell asleep, she had still maintained her control twenty-four hours later. “You’d torture one of your own?”

  “Double agent.” Jeremey reminded him. “So she’s not one of my own. Travis is going to lead that interrogation. I hear they have a past.”

  He was trying to egg him on, and Zeek knew it. He kept his face blank. “Boy is he going to be disappointed to find out that he’s wasting his time. The fox knows nothing.”

  “I guess we’re going to find out.” Jeremey spun on his heels. “Enjoy your night; tomorrow our interrogator will be in to question you.”

  Zeek watched him walk out and pulled out his phone. He unlocked it and scrolled through his contacts. Jeremey had been an idiot and cuffed his hands in the front. They had an in at the agency, if he could get in contact with them, he could get himself out. Except Skye’s scream kept echoing in his head. She needed to be rescued. He’d been through torture before, but she hadn’t. Her brown eyes and small smile played in his mind. She was still so innocent in all of this. He found the contact and sent the man a text. “Peterson, shifter needs out ASAP. Interrogator: Travis Kershaw, take to headquarters.” He hit send and held his breath, hoping he had service. The text went through, and Zeek breathed a sigh of release.

  Next, he sent Laura an SOS text before slipping the phone away. He needed to be careful. Security cameras, guards, anything could give him away. Jeremey had been careless in not taking his phone. It worked to his advantage, but if they took it and had someone else as talented as Skye, then any information he had on it would become the Agency’s. He didn’t want that. He sat on the floor with his back against the wall. The moment he got out of there, he’d make sure Skye was okay, and then he’d take out any member of the Agency that touched her.

  Skye fidgeted in the chair she’d been cuffed to. There were no sounds she could hear. Nothing shone through the darkness. Even with her advanced sight as a shifter, she couldn’t make out anything. Her head ached from where Travis had hit her with…something to knock her out. Now, she had no idea where she was and all she could think of was what happened to Zeek. He hadn’t come when she screamed. The other vampire must have kept him from coming. She’d assumed Zeek would have transported himself to find her, but now she was alone in the dark with every possible fear running through her head.

  She couldn’t breathe past her anxiety. A small pressure around her neck told her there was a collar, but it didn’t burn like the cuffs on her wrists. Lights slowly came up, and she smelt Travis enter even though her back was to the entrance. The overwhelming scent of wolf.

  “Oh, Skye.” His voice came across cold, emotionless. “Working as a double agent. I expected so much more from you.”

  What the hell was he talking about? “I’m not a double agent. All I wanted to do was finish my mission.”

  “How do you explain the files that you stole.”

  So she had triggered their alarms. She was just in denial about the goons coming after her in the office. Zeek was right. “I just wanted to know more about my mission. That’s it.”

  “And the vampire?”

  “Zeek—“

  Travis tutted his tongue. “First name basis with him.”

  She stared at him. Did he expect her to call him vampire? Like Zeek called her fox? To show no attachment? Travis unlocked the cuffs and they fell to the ground with a thunk.

  Skye relaxed a little and pulled her arms in front of her examining the burns. Angry welts circled her wrists. “Travis, you know me. All I wanted was the job. I have bills stacking up; I’m going to lose the house—”

  “You didn’t have any of those problems until recently.” He growled and walked in front of the table. “Convenient.”

  “Of course I didn’t, but I lost my job because I was a shifter.” She snapped back at him. “I never should have taken this job. I should have just swallowed my pride and moved overseas.”

  “Tell me about…Zeek.” Travis sat on the table and looked down at her.

  She shrugged. “I don’t know that much about him.”

  Travis’ fingers curled over a little black box on the table. “Nothing else?”

  “What else do you want? I’ve spent one night with the guy.” Her eyes darted to the black box. Travis clicked a button and electricity shot through her. Her body tried to shift, and she fell to her knees out of the chair. She was wearing a shock collar. Holy hell. “Travis.” She gasped as she tried to force herself to stay in human form. “I don’t know anything about Zeek other than his name. I don’t even know his last name.”

  Travis finger brushed over the button. “You’re lying to me.”

  “Why would I lie to you when you have a fucking shock collar on me.” She growled. “One of your agents held a silver glove to my neck, and Zeek told him to kill me. Why would I lie about what I know.” Because Zeek had saved her life, but Travis
didn’t know that. Zeek warned her to run. He’d killed the drug dealer. Even if she had information, she needed to protect him.

  “You were with him for an entire day and night, and you’re telling me that you learned nothing?” He knelt in front of her. “Skye, just give me the information and this will be over.”

  She shook her head, and he pushed the button again. The volts went through her causing her muscles to seize and start to shift. She tried to focus on a form, but couldn’t. Her hands shifted to paws and then back again. She collapsed to the floor gasping for air.

  “I have no information.” She squeezed out, trying to stop the tears. “Nothing of use.”

  More electricity shot through her and tears streamed down her face. “He’s the top vampire for the drug trafficking.” She whispered. “That’s it.”

  “No, you know more,” Travis growled. Her body twitched against the cold tile while her limbs moved from human to animal, zapping her energy. Travis knelt by her and stroked her hair.

  “I don’t want to hurt you, Skye. I never thought you’d be a double agent.” He kissed her head, and she jerked away from him and pushed herself up on her hands and knees.

  “Don’t you touch me, you monster.”

  He went back to the table and pressed the button again.

  She cried out and collapsed; this time darkness took over.

  CHAPTER SIX

  “What do you mean she’s being transferred?” Travis’ outraged voice pierced Skye’s skull. She tried to put a hand to her head but was greeted with the sharp bite of silver. Her vision came back and she found herself still on the floor, curled up in the fetal position, with her hands cuffed in front of her.

  “Sorry, boss’ orders. She’s being transferred to solitary confinement until she decides to hand over information.”

  If the guy was lying, she couldn’t tell. She closed her eyes and tried to even out her breathing. The last thing she wanted was for Travis to hit that button again. Her muscles still ached and twitched slightly at the mere thought of it. Her naked body shivered against the cold of the floor. Someone pulled her up by her hair, and she met the gaze of someone new. His chocolate eyes were complimented by hair just as dark. His square jaw line showed no signs of emotion or concern and his black suit screamed special agent.

  “So you are awake.”

  She gave a slight nod, not wanting to speak.

  “Good.” He shoved her towards the door.

  She put one foot in front of the other, the weight of the collar still heavy on her neck. They walked to the elevator, and the man hit a button without saying another word, but he draped his jacket around her, giving her just enough coverage. The elevator went to ground level, and he walked her through the lobby. Unlike her branch, this building seemed almost deserted during the day. She glanced around trying to get any sort of information about where she was.

  He led her outside toward a waiting black car. The noises of protesters screaming about paranormal creatures going to hell and freaks could be heard just beyond the pick-up and drop-off zone of the building. She shrank into the coat the best she could.

  The man shoved her into the front seat of the car. Her heart pounded. Who transported a prisoner in the front seat? She tried to keep any panic off her face. She was leaving the Agency and probably leaving Zeek behind to be tortured. Her stomach churned, and she realized there was no more thinking of him as her captor.

  The man climbed into the driver’s side and drove out of the parking lot. After a few miles, he finally spoke. “Zeek managed to get a message to me saying you needed me to free you.”

  “Is he okay?”

  “I don’t know. My part in this is to get you to safety, and that’s it. Once I get you to the Syndicate Council, I’m done with this.”

  The Syndicate Council. She’d heard whispers of them, and now she realized who they were. The paranormals she’d met the night she’d met Zeek. He wasn’t just leading the vampires; he was their voice in the council. She felt her eyes grow wide. “What do they want with me?”

  “I don’t know. I was just told to take you there. Is there somewhere else that would be safe for you?”

  She had no way of telling if she’d be safe there or not, but home wasn’t an option. “No.” She shrunk back in the seat.

  A few hours of a silent car ride later, he pulled up to the office building she’d tried to infiltrate that night and took the cuffs and the collar off her. “Here you are.”

  “Thank you.”

  “You tell Zeek that he owes me one.”

  She nodded and got out of the car. Peterson peeled out of the parking lot. She looked up at the building, debating on running. She could still catch a plane to her parents. They’d welcome her with open arms. But she couldn’t leave Zeek in the Agency to be tortured, because it was her fault he was there.

  “Hello…Fox.” The familiar male voice had her looking at the door of the building.

  There stood the leader of the Syndicate council in all his glory. He walked right into the sun which meant he wasn’t a vampire.

  Skye’s instinct told her to run.

  “Don’t. You and I have a lot to talk about, and I’d rather not have to treat you like a captive. You’ve already been tortured once. I don’t know if you’re psyche can take another round so soon. But we’ll change that.”

  She met his swirling gaze. “What do you mean ‘we’ll change that’?”

  “I have an offer for you, Skye, but this is not the place to discuss it. Please come up to the office.”

  Her heart pounded. What the hell was going on? Shouldn’t he be concerned about Zeek? He was still at the Agency, probably in the midst of torture. She took a few steps forward and found her confidence. She could give him information, or if anything, hack the Agency to get the information. Just as Zeek had wanted. If she worked with him, he wouldn’t torture her. So she hoped.

  He walked in silence with her to the elevator and they road it to the top floor. The doors opened with a swish and a ding. He motioned for her to exit first. She stepped out with him behind her and they walked down the hall together, going into the room where she had first met the council.

  “Skye Lannister, former star performer of Transcendent Technology, IT department Lead, security expert, hacker…Agency double agent.” He sat down and motioned for her to sit as well. “Zeek made the mistake of letting you go, did he know you were working both sides?”

  She sat down and shook her head. “I wasn’t working both sides. I was fired from my job because they found out I was a shifter. I applied to the agency because Travis…” the name dripped out of her voice with malice, “said they had an opening in my field. I wanted to help my kind. I had no idea that they tortured people or put bad batches of drugs out on the street.”

  “They do so much more than that to upset the balance I’m trying to maintain in this world. Can you get Zeek out?”

  It was such a change of topic; she took a moment to process the question. “I can get in there as a shifter. I don’t know what kind of security they have around him.”

  “Can you find out?”

  “Do you have a computer I can use?”

  He nodded. “I’ll take you to our security office here. Zeek has a computer there he uses. If you can find out where he is and what’s protecting him from us, can you get him out?”

  “I don’t know. I’ve never done a rescue mission.”

  The room suddenly turned freezing. “Let me rephrase this. You don’t have a choice in the matter. You bring back my vampire, or I put you through more torture than the Agency ever dreamed of. You fail, and I’ll make sure that you’re my little pet shifter until I finally decide to kill you.”

  She tried to keep her calm and find her ability to breathe again. “I’ll do what I can.” Either way, she was going to end up dead.

  “You’re a smart shifter. You’ll figure it out. If you succeed, there’s a place for you in our IT department. With proper training.” H
e stood and motioned to the door. “Shall we get started?”

  Zeek’s body jerked as his head fell forward from exhaustion. Even as old as he was, he needed to sleep during the day. His mind and abilities demanded it. Keeping him awake was torture alone. The random blasts of sunlight leaving massive burns on his skin were just an added irritation. Eventually, they’d give up and just leave him to burn, but at least Skye was safe.

  If she had been smart about the offer he knew Remus would make her. He wouldn’t have sent her there if he thought it’d put her in more danger. No. His little fox needed to be safe.

  His little fox. The two of them barely got along, and yet he wanted to claim her in every way. Taste her blood on his tongue, feel her body moving below him, her nails in his back. He closed his eyes and smiled at his little fantasy.

  “If you’re thinking about Skye, she’s dead.”

  The words hit him hard. No. He shot up and rushed the bars. An instinct of trying to protect what was his. “You lie!”

  A blond man stepped closer to the bars. His cold hazel eyes pinned Zeek with an emotionless stare. “She couldn’t take the voltage I used on the shock collar.”

  “You bastard. You tortured an innocent woman.” Zeek bared his fangs. “I’ll tear you apart when I get out of here.”

  “You won’t be getting out of there. We intercepted your messages, I killed Skye, watched her jerk around on the ground as her heart struggled to find its rhythm again. Your SOS text to your human never made it.”

  But that meant one message had gone through. “I can hear the change in your heart; you’re lying about Skye.”

  “I’m not, I’m grieving a little bit. She betrayed me. She betrayed the Agency by becoming a double agent within weeks of working here.”

  “You’re a fool if you think that. Skye only looked into the Agency because I told her to. I planted doubt in her head after I caught her in our building.” Zeek shook his head. “All of you agents are fools.”