4. Clay
Chapter 4
Clay
She’s an evil succubus. A soul crushingly gorgeous, evil succubus who will tear my world apart. I hate how tempting it is to let her. The patterns flowing off of her in soft waves are so intricate, it takes most of my concentration to keep from studying every single nuance. They’re delicate, but jagged in some places, like someone tried to tear them. Shapes move and undulate, changing colors like a kaleidoscope and reminding me of a field of flowers. When they reach my skin, my nerve endings come alive, almost like they recognize whatever silent song her body sings. But that’s stupid. Dangerous.
It’s not just the jaw dropping show she’s oblivious to. Her every movement distracts me, dragging my gaze to the wisps of fine hair on the back of her neck, the flush of her skin, and the slight movement as she bites her inner lip in frustration.
When she threatened to feed me my balls, I almost groaned as my body choked with lust. I thought for sure my lightning was firing from every orifice. My powers danced in the chaos of her anger, and I almost let them run free, but I refuse to let the enemy have the upper hand, no matter how fucking beautiful she is.
“What the fuck was that?” Dylan asks when Fiona disappears from view.
“I don’t know,” I say, staring at the table and jamming my hands into my hair.
“Did something happen?” he asks, taking the seat next to me.
I glance at him, but he’d never understand. “I need to talk to Specter.”
He hesitates before lowering his voice. “Is it your powers? I thought I felt the air change.”
Shit, if he’s feeling it, that means Fiona probably is too, and it might be why she was so volatile. Some people are sensitive to the energies in their environment.
“I’m not sure.”
“Specter is following a lead and won’t be back until later tonight. Raven is available.”
I curse and slump into my ridiculously comfortable chair.
“Why don’t you go talk to him and then bug Fiona’s car and her office? Come back when you’re ready,” he says, annoying me with his excellent leadership skills.
I unplug the laptop and tuck it into my side. I raise my face towards the sun when I step outside and take a deep breath before I dial Raven.
“What happened?” he asks instead of any type of greeting.
I glance around to make sure I’m out of earshot of anyone. “My powers…surged. I almost lost control.”
“What triggered it?”
“Our target,” I say.
“It’s been a long time since you’ve been in the same room with an Infinitum operative. Are you sure you can handle this, Clay? There’s no shame in needing to step back.”
“No.” I growl, then swallow before I temper my tone. “No. I was just surprised. I’ll be fine.”
“Sylvie will look at your vitals today, but my guess is it was an emotional response.”
Well, isn’t that cute? “Alright. Thanks.”
“Stay sharp. You’ve got this.”
I nod, even though he can’t see me. “Okay. Thanks boss.”
He hangs up and I roll my eyes at his lack of social etiquette, but it makes me smile, too. He’s consistent. I’ll give him that.
I make my way to the parking garage and Nova points out Fiona’s car through my implant. The classy Mercedes suits her. If I were an evil succubus, I’d drive a fancy car too.
It takes two seconds to place the tracker in the wheel well and I trot off to a nearby bench. Raven uploaded the current Nova into the Reilly Tech system this morning, so she’ll make sure the camera misses me, but bugging Fiona’s office will be trickier. I pull out the two tiny flying robots from the case in my pocket and marvel at the bug-like objects that both fit on the tip of my finger. With a simple command on the laptop, they fly off towards an air duct and make their way to Fiona’s office. It beeps a few minutes later and her office pops up on the screen.
Technology is rad.
When my rockstar dreams didn’t pan out, I asked Raven on a whim one day if he could show me how he works his computer magic. I took to it like a duck in water. The patterns were easy to follow once you got the hang of it, and Raven seemed to enjoy teaching me. I miss those quiet days in the original bunker, but they were never meant to last.
The idea of seeing Fiona again rattles me, so I take a walk in the nearby park, sitting on the edge of the fountain as I people-watch and get my shit together. I knew this was going to be hard, but I guess I overestimated myself. It wouldn’t be the first time. When my stomach grumbles, I stop by a sandwich shop and grab lunch for everyone, including my new beautiful arch nemesis.
When Paul joins us, she asks questions. A sweet little flush climbs her neck when we all stare at her. She must be aware she’s in a room with dangerous men who will figure out she’s been helping an evil madman embezzle money. An idea strikes and going on instinct, I plow forward.
“I told you she’d see right through it.”
Dylan glares at me. “Watch it,” he snarls.
I roll my eyes at him and set my sandwich down. She’s going to be defensive as we poke around, so why not just tell her the truth and see what she does? Her panic might lead us right to the evidence we need.
“Someone tried to infiltrate your system.”
Her surprise seems genuine, and I bite back a sneer. She’s a cute little actress.
“How?” she asks.
“That’s what we’re here to find out.”
She stares at the table as she plans a way to cover her ass. “A security breach like that is impossible.”
I shake my head. “Obviously not.”
“There must be a defect in the system, but I can’t imagine how it got there. What information were they after?”
I barely refrain from rolling my eyes. “That’s classified.”
An adorable little snort escapes her. “How long have you been waiting to use that phrase?”
I can’t help but smile. She’s got me there. “You have no idea.”
She heaves a sigh as some type of resolve settles over her.
“I’ll cooperate in whatever way you need.”
A slow grin spread across my lips. Let the battle begin.
“You need to get your hard-on for her under control,” Specter growls, and I cross my arms, leaning against the wall. Dylan sent me to HQ as soon as we wrapped for the night, and it’s like I’ve been called to the principal’s office. Lucky for me, I spent plenty of time there in high school, so this isn’t my first rodeo.
“I’m only hard because we’re so fucking close to the end. Admit it, calling her out was a brilliant move.”
He pinches the bridge of his nose and heaves a sigh. “It was reckless. You could have blown the entire operation on day one.”
I throw my hands in the air. “It worked. Nothing blew up.”
“Next time, talk to Dylan before you open your mouth.”
I narrow my eyes. “He doesn’t have the experience we do and you know it.”
He ignores that and returns to whatever he was doing on the computer. “You’re unstable around her.”
I scratch the back of my head and realize I forgot to ask Sylvie for a haircut.
“It was a fluke. I’m fine now.”
He meets my gaze, and I wait him out. “You fuck up again and I’m pulling you.”
My lips form a line. “I didn’t fuck up.”
“How many times do we have to say it? Discipline, Clay. If you don’t have it, you risk getting us all killed.”
My fists flex, but I can’t argue with him. “Understood.”
Specter nods. “Get some rest. We have a long week ahead of us.”
I leave without a word and make my way to Emilia’s estate. It sure would be fucking nice for them to trust me. Just because I never joined the Marines or became a cop, doesn’t mean I don’t understand discipline. I’ve been on the team for almost a decade, yet they treat me like a volcano about to blow.
My grip relaxes on the steering wheel, and I sigh. I guess I can’t blame them. It’s not that I don’t want to be a disciplined soldier. I just don’t think it’s possible for someone like me. Candace controlled everything about me, from the way I dressed to my very thoughts. She made me trust her with every fiber of my being, and she betrayed me. I’m terrified of submitting to that kind of absolute control again, so I avoid anything that even hints at it. I trust the team with my life, but I can’t shut that part of me off. And I never will.