Federal Paranormal Unit Bundle: Shape Shifter Paranormal Romance (40 page)

TWENTY-THREE

Tony followed Jane’s and Nyl’s scents along the trail leading to the hidden ship. What was Jane thinking, letting him walk her so far from the cabin? But then, the Nyl she once knew would never have had the courage to try anything. Plus, Jane was a damn good fighter.

She could handle herself, though Tony would never admit that aloud to her. He didn’t want her getting any ideas about doing things on her own. Without him. His tiger took that second to remind him “on her own” and “without him” meant the same thing. Whatever.

Much farther down the path, Tony saw movement. His tiger gave his eyesight a boost. Something didn’t look right. Only one person was walking, but he smelled two scents. The image ahead passed through a break in the trees, stepping into light. He had his answer. Nyl had Jane over his shoulder like a bag of potatoes.

Tony remembered to put his girl down before shifting. “Sari, don’t be scared. I’m going to magically become a big tiger and save Jane from that man taking her away from us. You stay here where you’re safe, okay?”

Her eyes moved from him to the man getting closer to the ship. When his cub nodded, he sprinted away and burst onto four legs.

Disregarding all safety for himself, he navigated down the steep incline, really more like a barely controlled slide, dodging trees and leaping downed logs. He hoped a direct route to the ship would get him there quicker than the rambling pathway. Maybe not his brightest idea.

Nyl cleared the path and stepped onto a long camouflaged concrete landing pad that extended through the trees into a clearing. That’s how they hid it. They landed then rolled under the thick overhead tree canopy.

As Tony and his tiger watched Nyl approach the craft with his unconscious mate, a huge tree broke in half and crashed onto the pad. It rolled toward the ship, gaining speed, slamming into two of four legs the ship rested on, taking them out.

Nyl stopped and looked up the incline. His eyes popped wide when he saw Tony practically flying over the steeply dipping hillside.

The man ran to the tipped craft and swiped his hand along the ship’s side. A narrow section split from the rest and levered down, revealing a ramp into the craft. Even with his tiger, Tony wouldn’t make it there before the access closed.

With one end of the craft resting on the log that wiped out the legs, Nyl had a difficult time getting up the ramp. He grabbed the ramp edges to haul himself up. Tony was almost there. Nyl disappeared inside. The ramp lifted from the ground.

It was now or never. His tiger gathered all the strength his shifter side could provide and launched himself toward the moving door. He knew by his trajectory, he didn’t have enough distance to clear the raising platform.

Then he felt a push, as if the air wrapped around him and made him go faster, stay up longer. His front claws dug into the bottom ramp material and momentum flung his large animal body over the top.

Being a damn good feline, he landed on all four feet then tore through the ship after his prey.

Nose in the air, careful of an ambush, Tony stalked through the ship, one soundless step after another. A myriad of people had been in this place, but the only scent he was interested in was the most recent.

A tinge of fear floated among the heavy stench of…of something he’d smelled a few times in his life. Pure madness. Insanity.

Professional profilers, like Erica, understood how these minds thought, or didn’t think. He wished he’d paid more attention to this stranger. From the moment Nyl walked in with Ruveen, Tony hadn’t like him. It felt like the man was hiding under a façade.

Beeps and clicks came from the room ahead. A slight vibration tickled his paws. Jane’s scent grew stronger. She must be in the same room as his target. Crouched onto his belly, Tony lifted one paw at a time, ever so slowly.

The console in front of the man was identical to the controls in the M&M ship. On the wall, a monitor flipped between different outside angles. Those were useless since he was already in—

A flash of pink among black shadows caught his eye in one of the angles. Sariana was heading toward the ship. No, no, no. She needed to be safe, away from there. Damn, he didn’t have time for a slow kill the man deserved for harming his mate.

Tony leaped toward the pair of seats behind the console. He raked a paw along the side of the pilot’s face and ear, knocking him to the floor. Tony shifted to face him, man to man. “What you’ve done to my mate is punishable by death with my kind. Anything you have to say before I kill you?”

Nyl stumbled to his feet. His hand covered the gouged side of his face, blood seeping over his fingers. “A measly shifter killing a premier guard? Our ancestors must have used the most ignorant species on this pathetic planet to make you.”

His words made no sense. “What are you talking about? I smell your brain’s production of chemicals. Similar to my mate’s brother, but with an acidic aftertaste. Sickening. Whatever your insane mind says means nothing.”

Nyl looked taken aback. “You’re calling
me
crazy? I don’t think so. Liand was nuts. He thought he could make the premier guard think
he
was the ruler.”

That caught Tony’s attention. “Why did he want Jane?”

“Seriously?” A smug smile graced Nyl’s face. He assumed he had the power now. “Jane can manipulate memories.”

“She can turn them on and off. What’s that got to do with anything?”

Nyl gave him a hate-filled look. “And you call yourself her mate. Please. I know more about her than you do,” he spat.

Tony relaxed his stance, crossing his arms over his bare chest, totally ignoring the fact that his junk hung free. “Like what? Tell me.” Tony couldn’t imagine this guy falling for this old interrogation tactic based on pride, but he wasn’t from Earth so maybe he wouldn’t catch on.

He rolled his eyes. “Again, we must’ve used the most stupid animals on the planet. Jane not only can ‘turn memories on and off,’ but she can change and implant new ones. If she says you’ve been to Mars, then you will feel, see, and taste Mars.”

Whoa. Tony wasn’t expecting that. “So Liand wanted Jane to change the guards’ memories to think he was the ruler so he could take over the planet.”

“Something like that.” Nyl waved a hand in the air. “I couldn’t care less. Jane was to be mine after he was done with her. Mine.” His eyes drifted to the back wall where Jane lay unconscious on the floor. Tony wanted to go to her, but he had to be sure the ship remained on the ground. If he was gone long enough, maybe Ruveen and the others would come looking for them. He needed to stall. One move from this guy and he’d finish him. Tony didn’t have time for games.

“So this is all revenge for what happened that one day you hit Ruveen when sparring and her leaving you at the altar?”

Nyl leaned against the wall, looking pale. His eyes glazed. “I’m not discussing the past. Everything is perfect and I love my father. He’s a loyal premier guard and loving father.”

Tony frowned. “What the hell was that? Ruveen told us about that day sparring. He said you hit him then your father beat your ass, embarrassing you among your friends.”

Nyl got worked up, his eyes darting all over the place. “Don’t speak of my father. I’m not discussing the past. Everything is perfect and I love my father. He’s a loyal premier guard and loving father.”

Well fuck! The guy was not just nuts, he was grade A whacko. Tony took a step back. Something really disturbing was wrong with this guy. The dude sounded like the phrase that always went through his own head when he thought about Jane being his mate. Mechanical, without feeling.

Sweat rolled from Nyl’s temple, matching the drip of blood. The acrid stench of chemicals floated from his body to sting Tony’s nose. It was like something wasn’t processing correctly in his head, producing extra matter that seeped through his pores.

He remembered someone, Jane or Ruveen, said too many deleted cells could cause the brain to breakdown. That would mean someone destroyed Nyl’s cells instead of just inactivating them.

The story Ruveen told about Nyl ’s father…Tony knew how ruthless people could be. He saw it every day in his caseload.

Nyl stumbled forward to the console and picked up a gun Tony hadn’t seen on the black surface. “Time for me and Jane to go home, shifter. We have a baby to make before she dies.” Nyl raised his blood-covered arm, aiming the gun. Tony had nowhere to hide from the bullet.

The reverberation of the shot in the small quarters nearly shattered Tony’s sensitive hearing. He’d need a bottle of aspirin for this headache. Maybe morphine, if he lived. Thinking of painkillers, why wasn’t he in pain? Shit, did he die that quickly?

His eyes opened—he didn’t realize he’d shut them. Nyl was plastered to the wall, hand and gun stuck out to the side. Tony refocused his vision and saw a bullet floating motionless a foot in front of his eyes. It dropped harmlessly to the floor.

He felt completely dumbfounded until he heard a deep breath behind him. He looked over his shoulder to see Sariana with one hand toward the man on the wall and the second was in line with the bullet on the floor. But her eyes roamed the ceiling, her cheeks quite red. Tony looked up, didn’t see anything, then realized her face flamed with embarrassment. He was still in his birthday suit.

Voices and stomping sounded from the back. Ruveen came into view, followed by the rest of the group. Brock took one look at a buff Tony and yelled back, “Buchanan, give me your jacket.”

“No way!” he called. “I don’t want my coat touching his junk.” Brock snapped his hand out while Erica peeled Trent from his jacket.

The important stuff covered, Tony rushed to Jane, prone on the floor. He lifted her into his lap and ran his fingers down her cheek. “Jane,
cariño
. Wake up.” Sariana knelt next to Jane and took her hand in hers. Jane’s eyes fluttered open.

“Tony…” Her body jerked. “Nyl. He—”

He pulled her closer. “Shh. It’s okay. Everything is taken care of. Sari and I got it under control.” He winked at the cub holding his mate’s hand, then his face turned serious. “Jane, love, I’ve been thinking that after we’re married, maybe a baby is a bit much to start with. Ya know, all the crying, all the diapers, long nights, snotty noses. Did I mention the runny poop?”

Sari giggled, hand over her mouth.

“How about we start with —let’s say—a very brave six-year-old with pink hair?”

Jane’s face lit up, then turned to the little girl. The young gaze dropped to her hand in Jane’s, in Tony’s, and said her first words. “I want my name to be Sariana,” her teary eyes lifted, “and to be part of your family.”

TWENTY-FOUR

After a lot of food and sleep, Brock parked one of the SUVs in the gravel parking lot in front of the warehouse Jane blew a hole in. Tony pulled up in a second truck next to them and stopped.

Soldiers were scattered everywhere: the woods, fence lines, roadblocks, coming in and out of the damaged warehouse, loading and unloading cargo trucks.

Important looking men hurried toward them. Just what Brock wanted on a full stomach, government bureaucracy. Fortunately, Wheeler - head of the bureau - was among the group so that meant Brock didn’t have to deal with much. Thank God for small miracles.

Wheeler introduced the crew to the Department of Defense heads. “Brock, thanks for sticking around and coming out here. We have a shit storm about to hit us from Washington. The area is secured and I have a feeling this will be our new non-existing Area 51.” Wheeler held out his hand to shake Brock’s “It’s been nice working with you, James. Maybe we all can have a drink some time.”

Wheeler looked at Ruveen. “Can I have a minute with you?” Jane’s brother and his boss walked away from the group, as did the Homeland men. Did Wheeler know Ruveen? What the fuck was the handshake for? It sounded like he was fired. Or the department was closing.

So much floated in Brock’s mind, mostly questions with scattered pieces as answers. What was really under the Wasteland? Where did it come from? What did the half human, half animal jars in the laboratory mean? Was Earth’s technology on its way to destroying the planet, like it did Jane and Ruveen’s?

Ruveen called Jane to join him and Wheeler in their little closed discussion. She glanced at the barren land, at Brock, then back to their huddle and nodded. After a minute, Wheeler shook hands with both aliens and walked away. “Brock,” Ruveen called, “all of you join us on the hill.” He motioned to the incline at the perimeter of the gravel parking lot they stood on.

The group gathered, looking over the narrow swath of ground called the Wasteland extending to the hills in the distance. Ruveen moved to the front. “Demon, come forward to help Jane and me.” Everyone looked at Brock with surprise on their faces.

Well, so much for secret abilities being kept secret. Now the group knew what each other were capable of. Looked like Tony got his wish about everyone working together knowing the others’ powers. Brock hated to admit it, but Tony was right. A team should work together with its best attributes among members. They would only be stronger.

Ruveen grasped Brock’s wrist and Brock wrapped his hand around the proffered wrist in a manly hold. No hand holding for guys. Jane rolled her eyes and took her brother’s hand. The three faced the rocky, dead dirt area.

Brock felt his insides ignite and fire rushed through him. Not like the fire Cyn created in him. This was from a separate place, a separate feeling. The air around the three buzzed with energy. The rocks on the flat, wasted ground rolled toward the edges, toward the tree line on both sides of the stretch of land.

Dust rose in the narrow section as cracks appeared in the packed Earth. Portions of the land began to lift. Dirt clods rolled down the inclining sides as the middle raised higher.

Ruveen frowned, narrowing his eyes. He was concerned over something. Cyn took Brock’s other hand, coming up behind him. Tony did the same to Jane.

Suddenly, the slight vibration turned into a discernable tremble. The mound of dirt that was the Wasteland pulled away from the ground. The more dirt falling from the rising dune, the more concrete and bunker were exposed. The upward movement stalled.

Sariana took Erica’s hand and guided her and Trent to the group where they all joined hands. Sari held Trent’s fingers and closed the group into a circle by going around to Tony on the far side.

Once joined as a single team, their connected hands created a flow of non-ending energy that peaked at Ruveen and Brock. Ruveen smiled with an expression of realization. An epiphany came to him saturated in this power, and Brock felt knowledge and saw images filling his head. The pressure on his skull was intense and he relaxed to let it all flow without trying to understand each piece.

Cyn’s hand squeezed his and he glance at her. Her eyes were closed, a soft glow surrounding her body. The same glow was around everyone except Ruveen. The alien stared forward, then Brock remembered the rising Wasteland.

The scene in front shocked him. There was no longer a swath of rock and dirt, but a strange combination of concrete walls and floors nestled on top of a twisted metal platform with massive metal sidewalls to encompass the entire compound except the warehouse below them. It didn’t make sense what he was looking at.

The hole in the ground the bunker left was filled in with dirt and the strange conglomeration floated down to rest on top. Brock felt his feet also touch the ground. He hadn’t noticed the group was levitating, but that explained why the trembling stopped for them.

As a single event, the group exhaled and slumped in exhaustion. Each felt like they had been running top speed in a marathon all day. Movement below with the soldiers started again after pausing for the raising. Voices in bullhorns rang out.

Ruveen sighed and released Brock’s grasp. “Jane, would you and Tony take everyone down to the SUV? Maybe even head back to the cabin to relax.” Jane held her brother’s eye and gave a small nod. He smiled back as if saying
yes, this is on.

His hand whipped out to stop Brock. “Wait. I need to speak with you for a bit. We’ll take the other truck back in a bit.” Brock kissed Cyn and told her he’d be back soon. His crew, with a little pink-haired cutie in tow, made their way down the hill.

Ruveen and Brock stood in silence for a minute, Brock staring at the monstrosity before them. Ruveen sighed. “Brock, I don’t know where to begin with this. But your path and those of your crew is taking a ninety-degree turn, if you agree to what I’m proposing. You can say no, but the elders believe you won’t, so they have progressed accordingly.

“First, I’d like to answer your questions. Maybe that’ll help as a segue into what I have to say. But let me warn you, everything I tell you is the truth as we understand it to be at this moment.”

“
We
, meaning who?”

“Our family’s elders, scientists, folklorists. Our people.”

Brock remained quiet, not knowing where to begin himself. “All right, if you want to play Twenty Questions, I’m game.” Brock pointed at the scene before them. “What the hell is this all about?”

Ruveen laughed and slid hands into his dungaree’s pockets. “The answer will leave more questions than answers for you, my friend.” Ruveen licked his chapped lips. “It is a spaceship shell from our long ago past, sent out during the height of our planet’s destruction to find some means of survival.

“As I mentioned earlier, the ship crashed. If you’ve noticed, this long narrow dirt section is just wider than the edges of the ship, as if it were a runway, or actually a
crash path
.”

The rest of the answer slapped him in the face. “Are you saying the mangled metal base is the remainder of a crashed ship?” He could see an airplane landing in the distance and skidding toward them. The nose of the fuselage would be damaged the most, if not totally obliterated by the time it stopped.

The farther the skid, the more of the front of the plane peeled back and tore away, leaving only the middle and back of the plane intact. Which is where the elevator on the fourth floor under the bunker looked to be—toward the back somewhere.

The hill they stood on overlooking the crash site would be the dirt the plane pushed forward as it slid deeper into the ground. When coming to a rest, the hill had piled high. Over the years, nature turned the dirt pile into another hill of the forest range. Brock’s gaze traveled to the back of the ship where another pile of dirt sat.

Just like the tail of a plane curved up higher than the main section of the plane, so did this ship. Ruveen saw the question on Brock’s face.

“At the back is where the main engine and power source of the ship is. Remember the energy coil with wires and the pipes with the water? That’s where the ship’s essential machines are kept. As you can see, the back is much safer than the front. What surprises me is that the survivors buried the tail still attached—needing to create a small mountain to conceal it.” Ruveen walked along the hill, getting a look more to the side of the craft.

Brock followed, offering his two cents. “The ship is dug in deeper in the front, which makes sense for a crash. The incline to the back of the ship would only look natural if the land sloped quickly, thus a hill. Can you see the remains of the concrete building at the far end?”

“Ah, yes. My eyes aren’t as good as yours, wolf, but I know it’s there. I don’t think I would’ve thought to hide the construction of the bunker with a business front. And then using gravity to pump concrete in to create the bunker structure. We need to interrogate Liand to find out all he knows. This whole thing has been around for a while; long before Liand could’ve built it all.”

Brock rubbed his chin. “Could be the same source that has leaked the technology data.”

“That would make sense. I called my father while at the cabin and filled him in on most of this. He’s got a battalion with scientists and others on its way. Maybe they will find clues. They will have to work with your people to figure out what to do with this. I’m sure they won’t let it remain in the open as is.”

“If I know our government, everything here will disappear as if it never were. The land will return to normal for conspirators to scour.”

“I’m not sure about that. That framed map Trent obsessed over at the cabin, it has the Wasteland clearly showing. The radiation is no longer squashing life. This area will probably reproduce its original forests that surround it.”

“Radiation from the ship made the ground unable to sustain life? That would explain the shape of the dead area—long and narrow.” Brock crossed his arms over his chest and let the new data digest. He studied the bunker created on top of the ship’s base. “What will happen to all the people inside, and Liand and Nyl?”

Ruveen dropped his chin to his chest. “Nyl will be dealt with. The insanity created by the large gaps in his brain cells shocked me. Jane looked through his head after everyone left the ship to see how bad it was.” He shook his head. “Whoever destroyed his neurons did a good job, she said. I suspect his father holds the answers. Nyl can’t be rehabilitated.

“For the workers, I don’t know what my father will decide with your people. My guess is they will go wherever the bunker and ship goes—your new Area 51.” He smiled at Brock. “As for Liand, there are a couple options for him. We don’t like to destroy life, unless absolutely needed, so he will go into rehabilitation.”

Brock’s brow raised. The way Ruveen said
rehabilitation
sent shudders down him. “Which means, what?”

“That’s our form of a prison system. But we don’t cage people. We turn off and create new memories so the person no longer remembers he’s done something wrong or is a bad person.”

Brock bristled at the explanation. He might prefer bars to having his memory fucked with.

Ruveen turned and looked into the trees. “Brock, do you smell anyone nearby? In hearing distance?”

Nose in the air, Brock took a deep breath. “No one in hearing distance. Why?”

“It’s time to discuss you and your team’s future.”