Healing Cherri (17 page)

Chapter 13

Kiki/Kristopher was shuttled back to the apartments for more tests. Kade and Calli ordered that their findings be kept under wraps. Until the vote was settled, they would be separating from Drekinn. A lot of their computers and equipment were being shipped out and sorted until they knew what was going on. The technology they had gathered and kept under wraps would not go to the lowest bidder, it was theirs. Cherri was arranging for one of her trusted assistants to go to the building and gather the data, and samples. Cherri was determined to figure this out.

Kade and the guys weren't happy about returning to the Agency; however, that's where they needed to be in order to get the up-to-date information and also talk to Ms. Praton about what she had found out.

Calli and Kade knew that Ms. Praton was actually Pillar, the dragon who belonged to their Pack, but no one had been introduced to her yet; they needed to keep her concealed for a while. With her announcement at the meeting, the secret would come out soon.

Although their home offices would have information, Rissa said she needed to talk to her geeks to find out what they learned. Nik ordered Cherri to go directly to the locked conference room with the others while he went to talk to more of the Enforcers and find out if they found out any more from the wreckage. Cherri had just snorted and nodded. He may be in charge in the bedroom, but when they were at work, she totally out ranked him. That would be a conversation for later. Declan asserted his agreement and tapped her ass as he said he was going to the lab and get his things prepared to ship to their apartment.

Sabrina had taken the puppies back with her to the apartment and promised to make sure they were watered and fed. All of the girls hated to see their new babies go, but they knew that puppies at the Agency would create a distraction. Rissa feared that the geeks would be jealous and try to steal them. So with kisses and promises of treats later, the pups were gone and the girls ended up in the conference room alone with Ms. Praton, as the men had all found manly things to do.

“
Really, the nerve. I really thought we had talked about this. I will not be pushed into a room like a good little woman and do what he wants just cause he's like all Alpha, and stuff,” Calli yelled into the air.

The girls nodded and let her rant. Ms. Praton decided it was a good time to tell the girls about herself and scared the shit out of Cherri and Rissa when she suddenly changed into Pillar with a shimmer.

Cherri stood with her mouth open and looked at the beautiful, long, dark haired woman who stood before them. Rissa rubbed her eyes, and then whispered to Cherri, “Did we get shot with an hallucinogen at the bar? Cause our old lady boss just turned into like a freaking goddess.”

Calli was still yelling at the ceiling, “Muther fucking testosterone filled asshole, who thinks he can have all the fun. Oh, like I haven’t survived for the last hundred and twenty-six years without him. Like I stand in the fucking corner and cry if a spider runs out.” Calli paused and then looked at Cherri and Rissa, “Okay I do that, but not the rest. What the hell is wrong with you two?”

Cherri lifted her hand and pointed to Pillar who was standing calmly waiting for Calli to stop. “Oh shit, really? Now?”

Pillar, or Ms. Praton, nodded and looked at the girls. “I had to, we have to talk and they need to know.”

“
Know what?" Cherri said guardedly and then turned to her best friend. “And you knew, this whole week and never told us, bitch? We don’t keep secrets, blood oaths remember?”

“
She's a fucking dragon who could probably like, fry my ass; I chose to keep the secret for my safety,” Calli argued.

“
Huh, dragon?” Rissa giggled. “Like a real dragon? Like the books? I have never seen a dragon, can you shift?”

Pillar looked at Calli helplessly and finally, Calli rolled her eyes. “No, she can’t shift, too small a space. She's part of the Pack. When she looks like this, we call her Pillar, when she's the old lady, she's our boss. She had ancestors, the Chosen who had the dragon, I forget his name, it was weird. Anyway, she's like a freak of nature, and I think she knows a lot more than she's telling us. So don’t get all chummy with her just yet. Okay, now everyone is up to date. Why the hell are you revealing yourself to them?”

Pillar sighed. “Well first of all, they are my Betas, as you are my Alpha. Although I run Drekinn, I do fall under you in the Pack. Girls, my gift of being a dragon has also given me an advantage. I have yet to talk to Kade and Calli about this, but as I said, we have all been brought together because of our ancestors. The members of the Pack will all become a real functioning Pack, with some of us having certain, shall we say, powers. I have found over the last few weeks that I have been developing visions. I believe that I may be your Seer.”

Calli frowned and then thought about what they had discussed. “Wait, you would have had to come into contact with at least one of your mates. Who is it?"

“
That, I can’t tell you. I have shielded myself from the mating call. I will not be able to tell until I actually allow myself to unshield that portion of my animal. I really don’t think this is the time; dragons can be very excitable when they find their mates. I think possibly I may have encountered both, because if I follow suit, there will be two. That would have triggered the powers. They are still very weak.”

“
Hey, NO, NOT YOU TOO? YOU HAVE TO WAIT; I HAVE SIX DAYS TO MEET MY MATES, AND DAMMIT, I'M NEXT. STUFF THAT DRAGON MOJO BACK DOWN UNTIL MY MATES COME TO ME!” Rissa yelled and they all jumped. Rissa then calmed down and looked at her nails and frowned. “Go on.”

“
Okay then, anyway, I wanted to talk about something I have repeatedly seen. I called the watchers of the vids and they have confirmed a meeting today with
Mr. Twisted
and his hit man. We need to get a look at them so we can put a real name to the faces. It's the only way we can stop them. But I have seen you three alone. I think this is the only way we will be able to catch him unaware. So, I propose that you three arm yourselves with vids and go and get a picture of this
Mr. Twisted,
so we can actually put a name to the man. We would also like to get a firm reason for all the activity that has been going on. I think maybe there could be a shipment of some kind coming in. Maybe the drug we're looking for. They're killing too many
Breyting
right now, they are getting desperate.”

Calli looked at her friends and grinned. Just what they needed, a little recognizance with the girls. No one was better. They had it down to a science. Since Cherri had changed her hair, she would be in disguise if they toned her clothes down a bit. And Rissa blended into the background amazingly well. It was Calli they always had to worry about, she exuded power. Most people were drawn to her. Plus, her body was smoking hot and firm. Cherri looked down at her more voluptuous frame and grimaced. Sometimes she wished she could be the kick ass girl, instead of the pretty sidekick.

Shrugging, they made a plan and then Ms. Praton helped them with their supplies and clothes she had brought in earlier and stashed. Rissa put on her boring, human clothes that made her look like a secretary. She put her hair up in a bun and put on the glasses that had the small camera in them.

Then Calli toned it down a little and Ms. Praton had picked out a workers uniform. It was a nice black dress with a white bowtie; she looked like the old Playthingy’s. Cherri was the most changed, since her hair needed a spa treatment, they sprayed a fake color in her hair and then braided it, and they added a wrap to tone down the boobs. She laughed when the girls saw her mating marks and clapped. She was also in a boring and stupid pantsuit that made her look like Ms. Praton.

“
Why am I dressed like an old lady?" Cherri said in a panicked voice. “I mean, I look like my fucking mom. I never ever wanted to look like my mom when I got older and now you all have me dressed like her. I swear, if we don’t find what we're looking for, you are all dead meat. I'm taking one for the team ‘cause I know how important this is, but this is almost above and beyond. Just saying.”

Rissa laughed. “Seriously, one for the team. You look better than both of us do and we're practically like, normal.”

“
I know, see what I mean? This won’t work!” Cherri cried and groaned when Pillar handed her the old lady glasses to wear. “This sucks. And I don’t like the fact that you're like a dragon lady and never told us. I'm putting my formal protest in for keeping secrets out there. Is there anything else that anyone in the room can say that's gonna make us like have a fuckin’ heart attack again?”

The three other women looked at one another and then shook their heads. Cherri sighed and held out her hand. “Come on, pact time, ‘cause no one, and I mean no one, is to know about this, I have an image to protect.”

Calli rolled her eyes and put her hand on top of Cherri’s and the other two women did the same. “Repeat. I do solemnly swear I will never speak of this incident to anyone, the punishment will be you have to wear the old lady costume for three days around the office.”

“
Really?” Pillar said.

“
Okay, fine, then if you break the oath, you have to dye your hair blue and wear an outfit of my choice,” Cherri said.

All of the women groaned and then agreed. “At least she didn’t have a freaking scalpel with her; we would have had to cut ourselves. You know when we were young she was the one who was bloodthirsty. Making us become blood sisters and all.” Calli laughed and Pillar frowned.

“
What was that?” Pillar said in her Ms. Praton voice.

“
Yeah, when we were like ten she made us take this three page oath about being together forever and stuff. I still have it. And then she made us cut our palms and become blood sisters. That was when our moms made that stupid club; you know the one about the white wedding thing. Drove us nuts, so we decided that we were going to have our own family when we grew up. Hurt like a bitch too, she cut deep.” Rissa laughed and showed the younger looking Ms. Praton the scar on her hand.

“
Do you all have these?” Pillar asked with an awed tone.

“
Sure, see,” Calli said and held up her hand and then Cherri did the same. Pillar shimmered and became the older boss lady again and Cherri screeched.

“
Warning, did we not discuss this? I mean, it's just freakin weird,” she cried.

Ms. Praton rolled her eyes. “I need to check into some things. You go out the hidden wall over there. Calli, I expect you to keep in touch. Rissa, make sure the camera works. And Cherri, stop shaking your ass when you walk, it's a dead giveaway.”

Cherri flipped her boss off and kept walking. She felt like since the woman had shimmered and was really beneath her in the pecking order she could do that when they were in private. Ms. Praton laughed and then said, “Go, I have you covered.” She watched as they went through the door and wondered how pissed they were going to be at her when they discovered the truth. But they did need to know who was leading the Prentiss Agency.

***

The three women snuck through the small doorway and made their way through the hallways of the offices where they would not encounter any of the men.

When they finally reached the basement, Cherri and the girls made sure they walked with their heads down and went straight to the landing where the shuttle was waiting. None of them took a breath until they were inside and pulling away from the Drekinn building.

“
Gosh, I almost peed myself. I thought for sure one of those guys was going to stop us. Now, we're going to the downtown after work bar. Most of the people in the place will be human, so no growling or shit like that Calli, just take their orders and fill the drinks. And Cherri, you have a reservation under ‘Beatrice Bottle’, hopefully next to
Mr. Twisted
and his sidekick. We have made sure that we can move around a little. I broke into their reservations, and according to the vid, he will be there after us. So I will leave the table next to you open,” Rissa said absently, going through the plan they had developed earlier.

It was simple, they were not to engage the men, they just were to get pictures so they could use it to find them later. Ms. Praton said that they had their voice prints and were able to find them a little easier now, but still shuffling through the millions of vids a day they received, it would make it easier if they had a face to put into the face program Rissa had developed. It was more sophisticated than the old face recognition software they used to use. This one could find a match in millions of files in real time. They could find where and when
Mr. Twisted
popped up.

***

“
Where the hell are they?” Nik said slowly, looking in the empty room his mate and the girls were supposed to be in.

Kade pushed past him, pulled out his com link, and began to briskly order the Enforcers in the building to lock the place down and begin to search for the girls.

“
Hold on,” Ms. Praton said and walked in behind them. “They are doing something for me. I would guess they will be back in a few hours. Cherri is running tests I requested. I think we have a clue we didn’t know we had.”