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I didn’t miss the slight flinch, the move back away from me like he knew I was going to hurt him. Even if it wasn’t my intention. Even if it was the last thing I wanted. I was going to hurt him.
Chapter 26
Shan
Therewereonlysomany ways I could work out my rage. The punching bag I’d set up in the dingy hotel room had a hole in the shell now, so it wasn’t much use. Fucking Freya was out of the question, considering how pissed off she’d been at me at Club Chaos. Caspian was making up for lost time and spending gods knew how long with her, and I would feel bad if I fucked him too roughly, anyway. I was jealous of Caspian for being able to spend time with her without her wanting to rip his head from his shoulders.
It was my fault she had that reaction to me, but I was just doing my job.
Or trying to.
We’d made next to no progress since starting this case. The murderer was no closer to being discovered and Freya was no closer to trusting me. Not that she should. Our entire goal for this mission was to ask her protector to do something that would likely end in them dying, though it would do more to protect her than anything else.
Hell, I was tempted to do the job myself to keep her safe. The only reason I wouldn’t was because it would come back on the Next Life Company, even though we worked for an obscure branch. Innocent people would die if I broke protocol.
I’d broken enough protocol on this case already.
Growling under my breath, I stepped out of the hotel room, recklessly outstretching my wings in the bright sun before I’d fully wrapped the light around myself to hide me. She made me fucking crazy. I lifted off into the sky, soaring across the city to the high-rise building housing the Next Life Company’s clandestine affairs headquarters for the West Coast.
There was a landing pad on the top of the building and I plummeted toward it with a dangerous amount of speed, adjusting myself at the last second for a clean landing. The force of impact made my joints hurt, but that was good. At least I felt something. Emmett would make me feel something, too, which was why I was here. Unlike a punching bag, he would fight back, and was going more stir-crazy than I was.
“Sir, you’re not supposed to land here…” The frail angel security guard shied away from me when I turned my glare in his direction.
Knoxwell would find out I’d broken the rules, of course, since everyone here knew my face. All entrances and exits via the rooftop had to be pre-approved beforehand. I was past the point of caring. Not even bothering to respond, I swiped my key card to enter the building and made a beeline to the room where Emmett was staying. Everyone moved out of my way, expressions ranging from fear to confusion. They’d never seen me angry and were probably terrified of whatever had pissed me off.
If only they knew it was my damn feelings that irritated me.
Emmett was staying on a lower floor and I took the elevator down, storming down the hallway of temporary housing for agents. When I got to his tiny unit, the door was open, and he was wearing athletic shorts without a shirt. Cocking an eyebrow at me, he gestured down the hall. “Training area’s empty. My next-door neighbour is clearing them all out to go train on different floors. You being angry really got around fast. I’m curious for you to tell me how she pissed you off this time.”
I only grunted, turning on my heel and making my way down the hall. Em was right about the training room clearing out, the last few people scrambling out the opposite exit as I swung the door open. It stank of sweat and a mishmash of Alpha and Beta scents, heavier because of the exercise. Around the edges of the room were free weights and machines, a few treadmills in the corner. I headed to the centre of the room, kicking off my shoes at the edge of a giant mat.
This area was for sparring practice, something people in our profession had to do a lot of before they were allowed out to the field. A small metal box sat on a podium on the edge of the square mat, giving the ability to turn on a magical barrier around the field. It wasn’t often necessary, since only physical fights were allowed here. There was a different floor for magical training, with a hell of a lot more precautions.
“No kid gloves, right?” Emmett asked, swiveling his neck and bouncing between his feet to warm up his body.
“If you keep the kid gloves on, I’ll end up knocking you the fuck out,” I said. Removing my shirt, I made sure my wings were tucked to my back and properly hidden by my magic. They were sensitive and a pain in the ass during a fight.
“Got it, chief.”
He didn’t waste time waiting for me to ready myself, barrelling forward toward me. I darted out of the way, narrowly missing being tackled to the ground. When Em took me down, he took me downhard. Bear shifters were all about bulk and power, even while in human form. He’d gained some speed with training, but it would never be his natural gift.
Speed was mine. Sliding around to his exposed back, I sent him stumbling forward with a chop between the shoulder blades. He tried to turn and grab me, but I jumped back and we ended up circling each other again. “How’s the case going? You haven’t updated me in a few days,” he asked, not yet out of breath.
“Freya is pissed we can’t tell her anything, and so is Cas.”
Running forward, I faked a punch to his stomach before changing direction at the last second, grabbing around his neck with my forearm and jumping onto his back. It brought my mouth close to his ear, and I whispered the next part to him. “We’re going to compromise. Tell Freya everything about the current case once you’re back in the field, assuming you don’t remember anything that makes her untrustworthy.”
He threw us backwards, tearing a pained groan from me as I hit the ground underneath his weight. Em stayed close enough to whisper too, neither of us wanting anyone to eavesdrop on our potential plans to do something against orders. “That’s crazy. I understand Cas falling head over heels this fast, but you? Shan, you barely know this woman. She’s hiding her designation. What else is she hiding?”
Wrapping my legs around him, I tried to flip him. It wasn’t my finest moment. Flipping a bear when they don’t want to be flipped is next to impossible. “I fucking know, but we’re running out of time and she’s involved in this. She won’t tell us anything unless we trust her first.”
More than us running out of time, she was. Jitara wanted her. That much was clear. He was going to capture her eventually and we couldn’t always be around to fend off the men who came for her. Neither could her protector, despite how good of a job they’d done so far.
“She’s likely dangerous.”
We grappled on the floor, just enough to make it seem like we weren’t staying down here purely to have a private conversation. “She is,” I said. “But Jitara is worse. It’ll be safer for her if she knows what’s going on, and we can help the murderer save her damn life.”
“What if they’re lovers? She won’t let them do something dangerous.”
