“Holy fuck, what do they put in the food in this place?” I mutter to myself, ignoring the guys when they give me startled looks. The men here are muscular and built like giants. Though this guy is the leanest of the four of them, he’s still impressive and could bench-press me with one arm.
He has a nerdy look to him that is more sexy than cringey. His features are slightly feminine, giving him a pretty boy appearance that makes me want to lean forward and lick him. His honey blond hair is styled and wavy, begging for fingers to mess up the strands. Gorgeous, robin’s-egg blue eyes pierce my soul, the teal color filled with specks of white that lure you into their depths.
Then I remember they are MID agents, and I stop eye fucking him.
And mostly succeed.
“Pull up her records again,” Porter orders, his voice harsh. “Look for any signs of tampering.”
Then it clicks. This must be the Darby they mentioned. The man lifts a tablet I didn’t notice earlier, his knuckles whiteningbefore he finally pulls his attention away from me. He does something on the screen when I notice a slight blue glow around his fingers and the way his eyes seem to light up from within.
“A fucking mage.” I can’t keep the derision from my voice. “Are you sure you can trust him?”
I almost feel bad when all emotions vanish from his face, but he doesn’t look up from his task. “I’m a tech wizard, not a mage.”
That shuts me up fast.
A wizard is a title for a mage who reaches level ten. While I can respect the amount of power it takes to reach that level, my unease only increases.
Wizards are fucking rare.
Very few people gain that title without earning it, meaning he could squash me to bits if he wanted.
Added to the fact that he’s a tech wizard, I’m curious, despite knowing better than to draw more attention to myself. I scan his form, looking for additions or morphs, but he looks completely human, and I can’t keep my suspicions quiet. “You don’t look like a tech’er. I don’t see any tech or bio-hacks.”
It’s unusual.
By the time they are done altering their forms, tech’ers are more machine than human in the end. The technology they put in their bodies allows them to connect to machinery without having to touch anything. Tech’ers are rare, since many of them end up losing themselves in the digital world before the age of twenty-five.
Or they are forced to plug into the tech by people who want to use their abilities for their own. Many companies purchase them from families when their abilities emerge and use them as cutting-edge computers. The rush of having answers at your fingertips with just a thought is addicting.
They sell for millions.
His gaze barely flicks in my direction, but I can practically see streams of computer code and weird symbols flickering in his eyes, and my breath catches. There is a beauty to him as he works his magic, that single-minded focus sexy as fuck.
“You have no tech because you need none,” I say, answering my own question, unable to keep the awe from my voice.
A true wizard.
I’m torn between terror and curiosity.
When he suddenly scowls at the screen, I choose terror.
“Her file is locked,” he murmurs, his voice distracted. “Give me a second.”
I can’t imagine what kind of security MID must have if it stumps him. I glance at the others with concern. “That can’t be good.”
It takes another five minutes before the furrow in Darby’s brows smooths out. “Got it.”
He scans the screen, his eyes barely moving as he scrolls through the data in seconds, then he blinks, and his head pops up. “She’s right—someone altered the file. It’s good. If I hadn’t been looking for it, I wouldn’t have even noticed the change in the code.”
Porter scowls, stepping forward to look down at the tablet, suspicion darkening his eyes to a burnt orange. “You’re sure?”
“Positive.” Darby squints, then leans closer to the screen. “Shit.”
His fingers dance over the surface, a blue glow lighting up the digits, then the screen goes dark, and a sinister cackle fills the room. The ominous laugh brings back horrible memories from my time with my family, and I barely swallow back the bile that burns my throat.
Jackal has found me.
