Bad Cat Baby Blues (Shifter Squad Six 3) (21 page)

“Nope, the man doesn’t lie,” Tex said, rolling his shoulder with a grunt.

“Ari came to a few hours ago. She was off the bed faster than you were. Socked me right in the eye and bit Tex before we got her down. Feisty,” Grim chuckled, getting a glare from Ari he most likely deserved.

“Anyway,” Grant interjected. “As far as the little friend you left taped up for us so nicely told us, you both lost it because you ripped the larynx out of that big ol’ werewolf. Ingesting its blood was something akin to a heavy dose of poison while at the same time being a simulant. We couldn’t tie either of you down because the guy said the last time they tried that, the dude waking up ended up breaking his own spine as he bent the bed around him, tearing out of it.”

“So what, you’re saying we were like small versions of that… thing?” Dutch asked, slowly feeling his regular self come back to him, the fog of war for lack of a better word lifting from him.

“Close enough, yeah,” Grant said with a shrug, a motion that made him wince.

“What about—” Dutch began, trailing off as he looked at the faces around the room.

He couldn’t really read the mood as well as he would have liked, based on the fact that he still wasn’t quite himself, and three days of being passed out was not a short amount of time.

“What about the test tube kids? They’re okay. Mostly,” Connor said solemnly, the temperature in the room seeming to drop.

“A few were too far gone. It was a lucky break the scientist, Jarmin, was kept alive, so good call on that. He said it was a testament to your will that you managed to stay upright and not tear him to pieces when you found him, you know.

“Ari did a number on that other guy. But anyway, most of them are recovering. All of them need their blood washed for the next few months it seems, to get all that shit out of their systems. Some had to be put out of their misery,” Grant explained with a heavy sigh in the middle.

“Why? What was wrong with them?” Dutch asked, pointedly ignoring the topic of Carter.

He didn’t want to know yet. The bubble of safety created by his squad and his woman by his side was comforting and he didn’t want to pop it quite yet if he did not have to.

Just one more minute…

Still, his muscles were clenching and his shoulders were hunching at the thought of Carter being one of the men that had to be… put down. It sounded like they were dogs that needed a mercy killing, but perhaps that wasn’t too far from the truth. Ari squeezed his hand and he snapped out of it, the gold that was filling his eyes dissipating as he looked at her, offering her a weak smile.

“It was The Arctics,” Connor spoke up, his words echoing through the room as Spade pushed in through the door, sternly amused as always.

“Gentlemen, you look worse for wear. Ari. I hear we had a grand failure on our hands,” he said, stopping as all eyes landed on the tall, universally despised man.

“Get out, Spade,” Dutch snarled, getting a dismissive look from Spade that could have iced a man on the spot, were he of weaker constitution than Dutch.

“We saved more than fifty soldiers and uncovered a massive Arctics plot to breed super soldiers. I’d say that was a win,” Tex said with a lazy drawl, his eyes strictly on Spade, the glares he was receiving from around the room speaking of barely contained dislike between all parties.

Spade as usual shrugged it off like it was dust on his shoulders, grinning easily, his cold eyes meeting every man and woman alike in challenge. Dutch had no doubt that Spade would
love
to get more snide remarks. It seemed he lived off of those and foul intentions.

“Language, kitty,” Spade noted, shoving his hands in the pockets of his suit pants, looking like a million dollars compared to the ragtag bunch of soldiers for hire who’d all seen better days.

“Come to gloat, Spade?” Connor asked, cocking a brow at him. “I don’t think any of us owes you anything this time.”

“Oh, but you’re wrong,” Spade said with a grim grin, looking straight at Ari. “Isn’t that right, honey? Shared secrets and what not.”

Dutch was on his feet so fast it made his head spin. Literally. He stumbled backward a step and Grim was there to support him, but Dutch pushed him off and stepped closer to Spade again, eye-to-eye. Spade stood steadfast, a wry smirk on his lips.

“Don’t you fucking talk to her like that.”

“She’s my employee. I pay her salary. I’ll talk to her how I please, Dutch. And don’t test me right now. I’m pretty damn sure you’re not ready to have a go at me. Not when you’re this close, separated from your precious rifle.”

“That’s rich, coming from a man who only hides in the fucking shadows,” Dutch hissed, but as his hands rolled into fists, Ari was by his side, smushing herself between the two of them and pushing them apart.

“Stop it, both of you,” she snarled, while Grim gripped Dutch by the shoulder again and shook his head slowly.

Dutch had always been close with the wilder werecougar brother and while it was a rare occurrence indeed that he went further than Grim would approve of, Dutch had to stand up and take notice when it happened.

“You,” Ari said, spinning around and poking Spade in the chest. “Are a piece of shit. You
knew
there were Arctics there, didn’t you? Did you know about the beasts too?” she continued, seeming to pick up from where Dutch left off.

Spade shrugged, a mild-mannered smile tugging at his lips. “I don’t know what you’re talking about, Ariadne.”

“Yeah, I bet you don’t,” Thatch scoffed.

If there was one thing they could be sure of, it was that Spade never revealed his full hand. Whenever Dutch had to deal with the intelligence operative, he always felt like the man was not only a step, but a whole damn mile ahead and frankly it was wearing his patience mighty thin.

“I bet we’ll find some of that powder going missing soon enough, hmm, Spade?” Grant asked, all metaphorical guns suddenly pointed on the man.

Spade raised his hands in mock-surrender, stepping back from Ari. “Is this how we treat the superior? I came to check that my favorite team is in one piece and here I am, stoned on sight. If I were so inclined, I’d think you might not think highly of me,” he said with a chuckle, raising growling grumbles in the room.

“Fuck you, Spade,” Ari spat, saying
exactly
what Dutch was thinking. But then she spoke again and that was not something Dutch had been prepared for. “Dutch never did all those things you told me he did, did he?”

Spade’s expression had a shadow over it then, going from good-natured to damn near deadly at the drop of a pin. It was at that moment that Dutch saw him throw off the mask of congeniality for a second and show some real emotion, his cheek twitching slightly and his eyes narrowing. The man was terrifying at his best and one who’d Dutch would love to put out of
his
misery at his worst.

He couldn’t believe he had to work with that guy. Let alone owe him anything.

“Careful, missy. I’ll remind you that
I
kept my word. Maybe I fibbed a bit for your own good, but I didn’t break my promise. I gave you your victory. And you,” Spade said, looking at Dutch with all the calm in the world, though his expression was betraying anything but. “Don’t play dumb with me. If it weren’t for me, you would have never found Carter in that base.”

That was all Spade said, his lips a thin, hard line as he whirled around and strode out of the room with long steps, leaving everyone in the room staring at the slowly closing door.

“He’s got some fucking nerve. He’s the one who
put
Carter in there,” Dutch growled.

“Not necessarily,” Ari said with a small voice. “I mean, you can’t know. It might have. And even if he did, he’s right… I don’t know why he did it exactly, but he could have run this without me, without you. Any other setup, any other command unit would have blown that place up the moment they saw the beasts. We’re the only ones who would have risked our lives.”

“You claiming that Spade of all people has some modicum of decency?” Tex scoffed, though the look that Thatch gave him hushed him.

“He probably only did it to get his hands on the research,” Dutch said finally, garnering a round of nods.

It was the easiest explanation. And the one that made the most sense. Dutch had enough mind-blowing changes happening in his life lately. He didn’t need to add Spade as being anything less than the blackest of black villains to the list.

“So does that mean that Carter’s alive?” Dutch asked, glad to change the topic and finally finding the voice to ask it.

Ari looked at him with soft eyes and when she nodded, he could have collapsed on the ground and cried of the relief. Thank the spirits. At least something had a happy ending.

Even if the question of whether he, Roman, and Ari could have one was still up in the air.
 

CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR

Ariadne

It was another day until the doctors at The Firm’s compound allowed them to leave its protective walls. During their stay, Ari had taken Dutch to see the men and women their actions had saved, Carter among them.

Many were still wild-eyed and separated from others, kept in solitary confinement while their senses got used to being men not test subjects again, and their blood was cleansed. But there were others who could already make sense of the situation and their stories were heartbreaking.

Each story was unique, but similar in a way. They were former or active agents, soldiers and special ops operatives, snatched by The Arcitics and experimented on without care for their personal wishes or desires. It was the werewolves who had fared best, as they were saved only for the promising tests, while other shifters were used for anything that looked and felt like pure poison in their veins, to things that would make men implode from inside out.

Some of them had watched their squads, partners, and friends die during the testing. Many had injuries that could not be healed. Some had capabilities now that could be harnessed as tools to wage war and Ari was sure The Firm would do just that. Strength, speed, agility, all beyond normal shifter capabilities. And more…

But she and Dutch were really interested in only one man. Carter Sawyer. The weretiger who had started the whole thing for Dutch, and the reason why she and Dutch had been brought back together. Perhaps even the man who had made Spade admit that he had a semblance of a heart, though that was still under heavy argument.

Carter was mostly unresponsive, though the doctors gave him good hope of coming out of his medically induced coma with flying colors. Yet it broke Ari’s heart to see Dutch look at him with an expression that told her that he wasn’t entirely sure whether to be happy or devastated at the man’s state.

“I’m sorry, Carter,” Dutch whispered, taking his hand and squeezing it while Ari stood behind him. “I shouldn’t have failed you.”

“You didn’t,” Ari hurriedly interjected.

“If I’d been there, this never would have happened.”

“He wanted to be an agent. This would have happened regardless. Maybe not getting plugged full of chemicals, but he would have snuck off and joined the Army or gotten tagged by one of the big covert agencies or something. You got him back, Dutch. That’s all that matters.”

When Carter’s eyes fluttered open a second later, all of what Ari had said seemed to be coming true. Now she’d only have to figure out how to fix herself and Dutch, too.

***

Ari had refused to hear any objections on the matter and the moment she and Dutch were released from the hospital wing, she’d called a cab and stuffed him in it. The drive was tense as one would expect and when they finally pulled up in front of the house, Ari wasn’t sure if it was the best idea she’d ever had or the absolute worst one.

Dutch was dressed in combat fatigues and a black shirt that strained around his bandages, his leather jacket thrown on top of it. He looked devastating, except for the unreadable expression on his face.

Stubborn in her decision to see this through the right way, she took his hand and together they walked up to the door. Before Ari could unlock it, the door was pulled open and Ginteza, the woman who had so kindly offered to babysit Ro, appeared in the doorway, the little boy in his arms.