Page 4 of Sparks Flying

“Dammit David, don’t do that shit. You know it freaks me out.”

David was a mimic. Where all of us in Ravenden could shift from our human form into our raven form, David could literally shift into anything. It could be another person, like now, any animal, or even an object. He was the absolute worse person on the planet to play hide-and-seek with.

“You’ve made your point. Now shift back to yourself. It’s creepy staring at Gia knowing it’s actually you.”

He chuckled as he morphed back to himself.

“You should have seen the look on your face. Priceless.”

“Shut up,” I said as I shoved a fry into my mouth.

Bailey

Chapter 2

“Listen up,” Patrick said as he called the meeting to order. “I know you are all very excited to be here and all. Most of you probably thought this internship was going to be a cakewalk. Spend some time being cool here at headquarters so you could go brag to your professors and friends next semester. And as the first class to do this, we’re all still learning and trying to figure out how to run things.”

I still couldn’t believe I’d gotten in. No other freshman had. The rest of the team were juniors and seniors, and two of them had already graduated. It was a little intimidating, but I had worked hard to earn this spot and I was proud of myself for it.

It was a little disappointing to be missing out on my first semester of college with my friends, but I was optimistic that this early internship would pay off long term. I already knew I wanted to work for Westin Force, or at the very least be on the Pack security team.

“So, with that said, you all know that our field teams are all in Australia right now. I hope I don’t have to remind you all that this is a top secret facility. What you learn here cannot be shared outside of these walls. You may discuss amongst yourselves, but that is it. Am I clear?”

“Yes, sir,” we all said in unison.

“Good. Now, when I call your names, please pair up.” Patrick started calling out two people at a time until all but four of us were standing around the room. “Here are your assignments. Please report to your designated leader forfurther instructions.” He handed out an envelope to each pair. “Dismissed.”

As they left, I looked around to find Jude, Chandler, and Luka still sitting there as well.

“Excuse me, sir. Do we have an assignment as well?” Chan asked.

All three guys were seniors at the ARC and absolutely gorgeous. I could stare at them all day long, even though I knew I’d never actually act on it. I was saving myself for my one true mate anyway. The only person I would have made an exception for was my best friend, Oscar. That hadn’t exactly worked out well. He thought I should give dating a chance, but I just wasn’t sure I understood the point. If I were looking for a compatible mate, then sure, but I’m not.

Still, they were fun to look at and flirting with them might even be fun, but even that wasn’t worth doing something stupid and losing my spot in this internship.

“Sir?” Luka asked.

Patrick looked up from the file he was reading. “You four. Yes. Well, I supposed you’re stuck with me. Who’s ready for a road trip?”

He tossed us each a file from the stack he was reading through.

“Pack up. We leave in an hour.”

“Leave?” Jude asked.

“I know that wasn’t part of this job. Hell, I specifically said not to even ask me about such a thing during your onboarding. But things change. All my top teams are currently in Australia on a very important mission involving the Collectors. They’ve turned up some disturbing news and we need to warn a few of our allies and double down on security in certain areas. Think you lot can assist me with this?”

“Yes, sir,” we all said.

My heart was starting to race with excitement.

A mission? We were being assigned a real mission?

He had asked for help, not just observation. I was so giddy it was difficult to stay put in my chair.

“There’s some basics you need to know there. Save it for the plane. You don’t have much time to pack your things and meet me back here. We’ll ride to the airport together.” He sighed. “Don’t make me regret this. I picked you four because of the promise you’ve shown in this program already. So make me proud and do as you’re asked and we’ll all be just fine.”

The second he dismissed us, we all ran from the room and straight to the elevator.

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