Burned In Shadows (Shadow Unit) Read online

  “Take another form. Take the shape we’d agreed upon. I want to fight her.” He growled.

  She took the form that she would use when going on the assignment. She had short black hair, threaded through with golden threads that shimmered. Her body frame was taller and she kept the same brown, sugar skin, but more golden and her eyes were her only tribute to Draven. They were the same hunter green as his. She focused on her new form and slowly adjusted to the new height and size. She had sharp claws and razor sharp fangs. Royce called them elfin fangs, and yeah her ears were a bit pointy but not by much. She rotated her head from side to side to loosen her joints. She was ready for this. Her yoga pants were tighter, and her tank top stretched over fuller breasts. Holding her form was not hard and as long as she concentrated on the result, she could pull this off.

  “Alright,” Ronin said smoothly. He was still standing in front of her, and she was still bouncing around like a bean bag when his hand shot out and grabbed her by the neck. Her legs were dangling, and he was snarling at her. His silver eyes drew to slits, and she could feel the muscles in his arm flex as he readied to throw her. She didn’t know if he was trying to be predictable or if he truly meant to toss her. But she relaxed under his grip and quickly brought her legs up to wrap around his waist to anchor herself. He grunted and tried to jostle her by gripping harder around her neck and twisting frantically from side to side to loosen her legs. His forehead was wet from sweat at his efforts to toss her, but Jes clutched tighter with her thighs. When he bent forward to drive her into the mat, she arched up into his chest and used her hips to tighten her grip. They fell to the mat with a loud smack. The plastic from the mat hurt like hell, but she kept her legs firmly wrapped around his waist. The little bit of air he was allowing her to have was now being cut off from his weight.

  “He who controls the head,” he gave her neck another firm squeeze, cutting off more air and said, “controls the body. Now show me how you’re going to stop me from killing you.”

  Jes went limp beneath Ronin and let her legs fall to the side. Her thoughts were getting in the way. Images of being held down by Marcus threatened to bubble to the surface. Her heart sped up, and she could feel the hard press of Ronin’s pelvic bone in the catch of her legs. They’d been training for days, and he’d told her something like this might happen. Said Draven could be the person to put her on her back or worse. He’d drilled into her head that she was faster, stronger, and could do anything as long as her mind was in the right place. Told her emotion was the quickest way to death. In order for her to be successful at this mission, she had to have no feelings, no regrets and no remorse. She’d have to kill, maim, and maybe even fuck her way out of a jam. The thought repulsed her.

  Ann had told her something along those lines but in reverse. She’d told her to follow her instincts and to steer clear of situations that she might not be able to deal with later after the mission was complete. She’d told her to never forget her purpose and to remember that the man she loved was somewhere inside the person he came to be. She’d have to tear the new Draven down to build up the old Draven and then reshape their relationship. How was she going to do that? Could she take on an entire organization to retrieve the man that belonged to her for all eternity? Could she bring Faith’s father home?

  Her mind was starting to go blank and black with all the chaos roaming around in her head. She needed a clear mind, a strong heart, and a strong will to see this done. Jes used her hips in a powerful thrust and pushed Ronin over. She was straddling him, and his hand was still on her throat, grip punishing. With her left leg, she pinned his other hand to the mat and with both her hands tried to twist off the hand currently cutting off her air supply. He bucked and used his hold on her neck to toss her to the other side of the gym. He was back on his feet, coming towards her with a crazed looked in his eyes. But she was up and ready before he could grab her.

  Jes crouched low on the balls of her feet and waited. The muscles in Ronin’s face were more defined, he was about to go Feral on her, and she didn’t know if that was a bad or good thing. He still hadn’t given her time to catch her breath, and she didn’t expect him to. Royce explained the worse thing to do when either he or his brother went Feral was to show fear and submit. Royce wouldn’t hurt her, but Ronin was a wild card she didn’t have time to read. As he stalked closer, she quickly changed tactics. Jes stood to her full height and backed into the wall which held several training weapons. She grabbed the daggers and tested the weight in her palms. She’d been thorough in her hand to hand training, but she still needed to work on her weapons.

  Palming the daggers at her side, Jes and Ronin danced in a circle, him a hulking beast of a man now that he’d gone full Feral, and her in her work out gear and sweating from head to toe. At least her hair was shorter for this.

  “I would have never figured you for a sore loser Ro.” Jes taunted.

  Through a mouth full of teeth, he smiled at her. He didn’t give her a chance to move out of the way of his massive hand racing towards her body. He swatted her back like a fly and sent her sailing through the air on the opposite end of the gym where she landed on her chest with a thud. Oww. That hurt, her breasts were on fire, and the flimsy sports bra wasn’t doing anything now that she was bustier. She made the appropriate adjustments to her bust size compliments of her new skill and charged forward. Ronin didn’t charge back, he took a measured step to the left while she ran full force meeting nothing but air almost sliding across the mat. She dug her heels into the surface and turned just in time to miss the fist that was attempting to connect with the side of her face.

  “I’m not going to go easy on you. Do you think the enemy will go easy on you Jes?” A quick swipe of his hand and he had her flat on her ass and was on top of her in a second caging her in. Trying to take control from her. She tried to move, but he was too strong.

  “I will show you how to get out of this, but first I want to see what you do, give me everything you got.” His voice was rough and dark as he put more pressure on her body, bearing down on her with all of his weight. She struggled and wiggled for a bit, and when she thought she couldn’t take any more he released her, only to attack her again.

  They danced on the mat for another half hour, both sustaining damage to their bodies. She’d gotten in a few decent kidney punches, and he’d got in a couple of punches that knocked the air from her lungs. They were both dripping with sweat when Adam came into the training center.

  “You’re ready.” Ronin grunted as he headed off in the opposite direction. Jes didn’t feel ready, but she had to trust what the other’s where telling her. This plan had to work. She wasn’t going to get another shot at bringing Draven home. It was a one-time excursion and Dravaggio had already set a time limit on the operation.

  Adam approached with a smile on his face, and Jes smiled back.

  “Meet you downstairs for lunch in about an hour, that sound okay?”

  She huffed out a breath and nodded. She needed to refuel. Next up, weapons with Gabe. She was looking forward to getting her hands on her new toys. She went over the last couple of hours in her head as she showered. He’d drilled her into the mat, and she was thankful for the lesson. He’d shown her how to counteract the move. She could do it again and again with no problems. She wouldn’t let her fear get in the way.

  # # #

  An hour later she was dressed and down in the cafeteria grabbing a steaming heap of pasta. There were others milling about, grabbing plates and sitting at their respective tables to eat. Jes was satisfied with the way her training was going and knew the twins were preparing her for the upcoming mission. She still needed to have a conversation with Gabe on some of the gadgets she was going to be outfitted with. She was especially looking forward to weapons that were specific to her height and weight. The room was loud with conversation and the easy manner in which everyone carried on almost made her feel normal. Everyone was hanging out as if nothing vital was going to happen. It amazed
her. If she strained hard enough, she could separate who was saying what to whom. Hawke was gearing up to go on his own mission. He was discussing the details with Dietrich, who looked less than interested, with his dark shades and lazy demeanor. It didn’t seem to bother Hawke who popped his gum and tossed his long inky hair back from his brow with a quick shake of his head. Bells hadn’t come down yet, and Royce had already grabbed their usual table. Faith would be down any moment with her personal escort, Gabe.

  She only had a couple of days left until Mara and Antony came to take Faith back to their home in Shreveport.

  “Hey,” Adam said as he fell into step next to her. She could always count on him to be polite and punctual.

  “Adam.”

  He walked her over to where Royce sat, and the sound of the metal chair scrapping against the floor made her ears ache as he pulled her chair out for her.

  “Such the gentlemen,” Royce teased. He was eating a peanut butter and jelly sandwich with a tall glass of milk. They made almost anything in the cafeteria. PB & J seemed to be one of Royce's favorites, and the staff in the cafeteria made sure his sandwiches were fresh. Adam gave Royce the finger and Jes tried not to laugh, the two of them didn’t care for one another, and she could never figure out why.

  “Maybe because he’s a panty snatcher or would be.” Royce responded out loud. He had a habit of doing that. She knew it was his way of trying to give her as much privacy as he could allow and for him that was saying something. The fact they were in each other’s head sometimes was more than annoying.

  “Tell me something I don’t know sista girl.”

  “Could you stop aggravating me? Why don’t you two get along anyway?” They had an entire conversation while she sat there preparing to eat her food.

  “Wonder vamp over there wants to blood you. Seriously that’s just gross and wrong on so many levels.” Royce visibly shuddered as he said the words in her mind.

  Jes ignored him and popped the top on her juice and began pouring it into a glass. Ronin stepped through the elevator at the far end of the cafeteria with a doting Faith and quiet Gabe. Faith was laughing, and Ronin was nodding his head in agreement. Her and Royce’s mental conversation was momentarily put on pause as everyone at the table watched as her daughter headed over to the vending machine. She didn’t need to be close to hear the conversation.

  “Gabe, I want some skittles with dinner,” Faith said.

  “Your mom said you can’t have skittles with dinner, and I’m not going to argue with that.” Gabe tried steering her over toward the isle that held salads and pasta, but Faith deflected his move and headed towards the vending machine anyway. Ronin didn’t follow them, he grabbed himself a slice of pizza and a soda before coming over to their table to sit down. Faith was pointing her finger at the glass telling Gabe how she wanted to taste the rainbow. Everyone at the table could hear the conversation and Jes was inwardly laughing her ass off. Her baby girl was trying to pull one over on Gabe.

  “Ten dollars says the five year old gets the Skittles.” Royce said to the group at the table. Adam pulled a fifty from his wallet.

  “Fifty, says Gabe’s got this under control.” He said as he slammed his money down on the table. This got everyone else’s attention as Faith and Gabe continued to go rounds about Skittles and dinner.

  “Faith, honey, you need to eat dinner first.” He said on a patient sigh. He bent down in front of her and grabbed both her little hands and started swinging them from side to side. He was trying to calm her down and get her to see reason. If there was one thing Jes knew about her daughter, it was, she was stubborn. She had the tenacity of a bug not wanting to get squashed, or in her case out talked.

  “I am not hungry for dinner, Gabriel.” Faith said sternly. That earned her a surprised look from him as he arched his eyebrows.

  “Young lady, why did you call me Gabriel? It’s Gabe, not Gabriel.” He cleared his throat and knelt on one knee trying to coax Faith over to the dinner trays under the heat lamps. “There’s pasta honey, and there’s some corn and salad, what do you say? Hmm?” He asked politely. He didn’t seem irritated yet, but Jes was getting irritated by Faith and the way she was acting.

  The men at the table laughed and snickered. More on lookers came over to place their bets on the table, and the majority favored Faith. Royce stood on his feet sniffing the air and so was Ronin, only he stayed seated and turned in the direction of Gabe and Faith. Jes took a tentative sniff to because she could smell things differently now and obviously something was about to go down. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary, but when she sniffed again she smelled it.

  There was a sudden change in the air, charged with something strong and aggravated. Gabe who’d been standing in front of Faith rose and stood back. Jes looked in the direction of her daughter who stood there in front of the vending machine shaking. The aggravation was coming from Faith.

  She hurried over to her daughter and stopped short, when she noticed Faith’s curls were drawing up to the base of her neck, growing thicker and her claws, as well as everything else on her daughter’s body, was filling out.

  “Faith Rene Stone!” Jes yelled.

  Her little girl turned towards her and seemed to calm, but her fangs were lengthening, and as she stared back at her mom she quickly shot a look over at Gabe and said in a scratchy voice.

  “Give. Me. The. Skittles. I. Want. Them. Now.” The growl was low and rumbled through the now silent cafeteria. Everyone watched in amazement as Faith half-shifted into a werewolf. Over Skittles!

  Gabe quietly pressed the button on the machine and waited for the Skittles to dispense. Once they hit the landing tray, he pulled them out and handed them over to Faith who was still shaking. She took the Skittles ever so gently with her clawed hand, and smiled a wolfish grin at him as her claw sliced an opening in the package.

  “Thank you sir,” She said as she up ended the contents into her mouth.

  Jes was still shocked when Royce broke the silence.

  “I win. Hand over your money folks.” The cafeteria burst into laughter, and that seemed to shake Faith out of her episode. Just as quickly as her change came on, her long beautiful curls were back, and her nails and teeth were now the way a five year old should look. Her clothes were a little torn around the waist and legs, but other than that she was fine. Jes grabbed her daughter by the hand and pulled her over into the corner.

  “Faith! Are you okay?” She twisted and turned her daughter who now had a sticky face courtesy of the Skittles she just downed.

  “Yes, mama I’m okay.”

  “You are not, and you owe Gabe an apology.”

  Faith put her head down and nodded slowly. She knew she owed Gabe an apology. Once Jes looked her over she directed Faith back over to the table where the other men were talking.

  “Dude, she totally almost cut your eyeballs out over Skittles. Classic!” Royce said as she pulled out a chair for her daughter.

  “Mr. Gabe,” Faith said in a small hushed voice. “I’m sorry I didn’t listen to you, but I really wanted to taste the rainbow, like on the commercial.”

  That earned another round of laughter and Jes eyed each of the men sitting at the table. She did not want her daughter to think this kind of behavior was acceptable.

  “It’s quite alright honey. You’re under a lot of stress.”

  “I am not under mess,” Faith tried to say stress, but it came out as mess. “I am just a little sad that’s all.” She hiccupped. Was she actually going to pull the crying thing?

  “No, Faith honey, I didn’t say mess, I said stress.” Gabe reiterated.

  Faith looked up and smiled wide, showcasing her dimples. The other men at the table were all putty in her hands after that. Her baby was also doing sessions with Ann, and it worried her that her daughter was under so much stress. She’d just met her father only to lose him, and now she was dealing with Mara and Antony. They were fantastic with her, but Faith made it no secret she preferred staying with
her mother. Jesminda preferred it that way as well, but she had to get Draven back. Then they could be a family. She wasn’t human anymore, and if she didn’t contribute to finding Draven, then what good was she? Bells stood next to the table with her tray in hand and groaned when Royce motioned for her to sit by him. Bells ignored him and sat next to Faith who regaled everyone with her latest movie addiction.

  “Now there’s something.” Bells said.

  “What?” Royce asked.

  She ignored him and continued talking with Faith who got more and more animated as she discussed her newest idea.

  “I think that would be awesome, and Ro Ro is bald he can be Gru.” Ronin looked over at Faith and grunted. Jes smiled wide over in Ronin’s direction and arched a brow at him. He couldn’t read her mind, but he knew what she was smiling about.

  Even if the entire team found out Ronin enjoyed Despicable Me as much as Faith did, no one would say a word. They’d watched the movie at least a dozen times. She’d even caught Ronin imitating Gru’s voice. On cue, Royce mimicked the voice of the main character in the movie.

  “I will stuff you all in the crust.” He said in Gru’s voice.

  No one paid Royce any attention, it was his usual behavior. Ronin, on the other hand, said something about idiots and running out of time and left the table.

  “Now you did it,” Faith said to Royce.

  “What I do?”

  “You went and stole Ro Ro’s favorite line in the entire movie, you suck Royce.”

  Faith turned from her seat and went after the other man’s retreating form. Everyone watched the two as he let her grab his massive hand and walk to the elevator. He didn’t mind Faith tagging along with him, and in the beginning Jes was worried, but quickly banished the thought of him ever hurting her daughter when she saw the two of them together. He was gentle with her and seemed calmer in Faith’s presence.