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Over on one of the large gray couches were three Therians, two male and one female, joking and laughing. They seemed approachable, in a “we can turn you into linguini but only if you piss us off” kind of way.
“Hey, sorry to interrupt, but I’m looking for Destructive Delta? I’m the new guy.”
The three Therians regarded him before bursting into laughter. He wasn’t really sure what they were laughing at, but he joined in on the fun, chuckling along with them, until it occurred to him they thought he was joking. “No really. I’m the new guy.”
The laughter died.
Their mouths hung open and the largest of the three agents stared at him wide-eyed. “Shit, you’re not kidding. Sorry, bro, we thought you were messing around. You sure it’s Destructive Delta?”
Dex tapped the patch on his sleeve that said so. “Yep. I’m guessing you guys aren’t Destructive Delta.”
“No, we’re Intel for Unit Beta, Troop Gamma. Everyone comes down here because Unit Alpha has the best equipment.”
The female Therian nodded in agreement. “And a bigger pool.”
Unit Alpha had a pool? Sweet! Dex couldn’t wait to use that.
“Also, it’s fun to watch them kick each other’s asses during training,” the second male Therian added with an evil grin.
“Sounds like fun,” Dex said cheerfully. “So, can you point me in their general direction?”
The female agent looked genuinely concerned. “You sure you don’t want to wait for your commanding officer to be introduced? I think they’re training right now. Agent Brodie gets pretty pissed when you interrupt his training.”
“I’m not going to interrupt,” Dex promised. “Just want a sneak peek.” The last thing he wanted to do was get on his Team Leader’s shit list from day one.
“Okay. It’s your funeral.” The largest of the agents pointed to a corridor behind Dex.
That was encouraging. “Thanks.” He headed for the busy passageway, making sure to stay out of everyone’s way and keep his head down. There were several enormous training areas filled with agents working the classy-looking treadmills, doing weights, push-ups, sit-ups, and everything else to keep their bodies in peak physical condition. The equipment was top-of-the-line, shiny and new. The floors were covered in dark rubber tiles that looked as if they had been installed only recently.
Some of the rooms were set up for martial arts, while others were set up for boxing. There was even a yoga studio that had as many male agents in it as it did female. No wonder so many agents crowded down here. There was no sign of a pool, though, so he figured it was on the other side of the facility. Who knew what else was down here. The place was huge.
“You son of a bitch!”
Dex straightened, listening to the litany of curses that followed the initial exclamation. Following the cursing, he found the room it was coming from. It was a large training bay at the end, but unlike the others filled with numerous agents, this one only had a handful of them. He made sure to keep himself discreetly tucked to one side of the open double doors as he carefully peeked inside. There were seven agents separated into little groups. He immediately spotted his brother on one side sitting on the floor cross-legged with a tablet in his hand. What a nerd. Dex’s phone buzzed and he gave it a quick glance. CaelMad liked your photo.
“Seriously, dude?” Dex muttered under his breath, returning his phone to his pocket. There were hot, sweaty guys beating the crap out of each other in the same room, and Cael was playing around online. Dex was going to have a serious talk with his brother.
So these were the guys his brother spent so much time with. Cael never talked about them individually, always referring to them as his teammates, or if he was hanging with one in particular, his teammate. It didn’t bother Dex that Cael kept his work life separate from his homelife, especially since the THIRDS loved to keep everything classified. With Dex having been HPF, Cael was even less inclined to talk about work. It was no secret the HPF and the THIRDS barely tolerated each other. Had he known he’d be ending up here, he would have pushed his brother for more information on the team.
Not far from Cael was a tall, slender Human female agent who was cursing up a storm in Spanish as she sparred with another, more petite Human female agent, who was also speaking Spanish. The petite agent was giving as good as she got, though with a bit less swearing. The fact that she was enjoying the match far too much for her own good seemed to be the source of her teammate’s irritation.
A few feet from them were a blond Human agent and his bigger Therian teammate who was in the midst of some major brooding. Dex couldn’t hear what was being said, but Mr. Broody didn’t look pleased. He shook his head and started to walk off when his blond friend took hold of his arm. He kept his grip on his larger partner, his head tilted to one side and back as he was forced to look up to meet his teammate’s glower. Whatever he said made the large Therian nod and soon, a small smile came onto his face. Well, at least they’d worked out whatever it was that had been bothering Mr. Broody. He didn’t look like the kind of Therian you wanted to piss off. Then Dex looked over at the heavy mat in the cente
r of the room and changed his mind. Nope, that was the kind of Therian you didn’t want to piss off.
With his back to Dex stood a large Therian over six and a half feet tall, dressed in a black T-shirt and matching sports pants. His knees were slightly bent, and his muscular arms were up as he took a fighting stance, waiting for the cursing Therian sprawled on his back to get up. It was pretty clear the guy on the floor was pissed as hell. The mark on his neck stated he was a lion Therian; he was also strangely enough wearing a blue T-shirt with a distressed image of Tony the Tiger on it. With a growl, Mr. Frosted Flakes—who had equally beefy arms and was actually bigger than black T-shirt guy—shot to his feet and charged.
Frosted Flakes drove into his opponent with such force, it should have sent them both crashing to the floor, but instead, Dex gaped as black T-shirt guy threw his arms around his attacker’s waist, swiped his legs out from under him, lifted him and slammed him down onto the mat with enough strength to momentarily stun the larger Therian. Clearly, black T-shirt guy was his new Team Leader, Agent Brodie. Dex remembered what Pearce had said about the Therian, but even so, Dex had to admire Agent Brodie. He exuded confidence, calm, and a quiet strength Dex hadn’t been expecting.
“Watch your temper, Ash.”
Ooh, Agent Brodie had a sexy, gravelly voice. Dex quickly pushed that thought out of his mind and watched as Agent Ash rolled over with a groan. “Fuck you, man. You’re not supposed to be able to do that shit. I’m bigger and heavier than you!”
“How many times do I have to tell you, that doesn’t mean anything if you’re not focused.”
“Fuck this shit.” Ash got to his feet and took a swing at Agent Brodie, whose face Dex still hadn’t managed to get a look at. Damn it, why couldn’t they swap places or something? Not that Ash was bad to look at, but it was lost underneath all the snarling. Oh God, what if this Agent Ash Whatever was his new partner? Well, he wasn’t exactly spoiled for choice. Being Human, his only options were Ash, Mr. Broody, or Agent Brodie sexy-voice supposed-asshole.
Awesome.
