Page 25 of Black Bay Protector
Stepping back so that Jace could get out, the General bellowed over his shoulder, “Lark! See to ourguest’scomfort.“ That emphasis on guest meant that Paige being with him was going to be on the General’s most likely long list of complaints. Time to get his ass chewed…
“I won’t be long,” he told Paige with a reassuring smile. And just in case she was worried about being abandoned to strangers, he added, “And you’re going to love Lark. You’ll be in good hands.”
Resigned to his fate, Jace exited the vehicle and followed General Davies’ stomping strides to the administrative building. In the years since they’d met, the older man’s face had gained some lines and his hair had gone from having a few hints of silver in the sea of dark, to full gray. He still kept it buzzed high and tight though. He’d also kept in shape. The now sixty-two-year-old could hold his own in a fight with a man half his age.
Close to the admin building, they passed Matt who was shoving a handful of popcorn in his mouth with a devilish twinkle in his eyes. Jace flipped him off, while the General barked, “Do I need to give you something to do?”
Matthew Davies appeared unaffected by his father’s bellow. He just swallowed the mouthful, grinned, and drawled, “No, sir.”
The General’s expression must have been stormy though because upon entering the building, the few staff that had been milling about took one look and quickly scattered. Smart.
This wasn’t the first time Jace had been called on the carpet. It wasn’t even his first time being reprimanded for going rogue. He and the others had been keeping tabs on Doctor Dietrich since the beginning. But this was the first time they’d had intel that she was working on human experimentation again. This time they had something concrete… Or, at least Jace hoped they had something in those files he’d copied that would nail the sadistic bitch’s ass to the wall.
Entering the familiar office that was done in dark shades of wood and held an impressive collection of antique military weapons on the wall, the General slammed the door closed and turned on Jace. His fists planted on his hips, the General yelled loudly enough for anyone to hear, “Are you out of your goddamn mind?”
Jace knew better than to answer. The question was rhetorical so he stood at attention and waited.
The General scrubbed a hand roughly over the top of his head. “You can’t keep doing this. I get it. I do. That bitch getting away with what she did burns my ass too. But you and the others seem to think you can just run around doing your vigilante bullshit with no consequences. She made a deal, Jace, and yeah, it sucks donkey balls, but Doctor Dietrich is off the table. You need to accept that and move on.”
“I’ll work on that, sir.”
The General eyed him for a moment before letting out a derisive snort. “Sure you will.” Pointing at his gray hair, he grumbled, “This is your fault, you and the others, and there’s none left to turn gray. What’s next? I’ll go bald from stress?” With a shake of his head, he muttered, “I don’t know why I put up with this. I should be retired and playing golf right now.”
Jace bit back a smile. The General acted all gruff but for some reason, he’d chosen to adopt that motley group of beasts he’d first helped liberate. He’d been more than just their commanding officer. He’d been their father, and they all knew damn well that retirement would have bored him to tears.
Pulling out his desk chair the General took a seat and motioned for Jace to do the same. Only once he was seated did General Davies say, “Fill me in.”
Jace started with the intel Lark had discovered that pointed to Doctor Dietrich’s involvement in a new experiment and their plan to get eyes on the facility. “Was she able to decrypt the files?”
The General nodded. “Early this morning. She’d been working on it almost non-stop.” He shook his head. “I had to order her to get some rack.” Those eyes narrowed on Jace. “Ithoughtshe was decrypting something for me only to find out she was working for you.”
Jace just barely held back a sympathetic wince. That meant when Lark confessed to what they’d been up to, the General had probably chewed her ass out too.
“What was she able to find out?”
“Not much of anything yet. There’s a lot to go through.” There was a pause as the General eyed him thoughtfully. “How does the woman fit into this?”
Jace cleared his throat gruffly and just barely managed to keep from squirming in his seat as he explained his fuck up. How he’d taken too long searching the facility after he’d sent the files to Lark. The armed response from the guards he’d engaged with, and his unintended crash into Paige’s apartment. “They were going to execute her.”
The General tapped his fingers on the desk blotter. “Huh. Sounds like there must be something in those files they don’t want getting out.”
“My thoughts exactly.”
“You’re sleeping with her though. Don’t try to bullshit me.” The General leaned forward in his seat. “Instead of getting her out of the mess you put her in, all you’ve done is dragged her in deeper. This facility is top secret.”
“She’s already in deep.” Jace told him about the soldier they’d encountered that had been sent after them, the visible modifications to his body, and what he’d been capable of. “It turns out that was Paige’s brother. A SEAL that the family had been told was killed in action last year.”
“Jesus fucking Christ,” the General griped. Sitting back in his chair he blew out a hard breath. “We need to get into those files.”
Jace had told Paige about Lark, but the picture in Paige’s mind hadn’t even come close to the reality of the woman. She was dressed in dark, olive-green cargo pants that were tucked into combat boots and cinched tightly at a small waist with a heavy nylon belt that had a holstered pistol attached as well as a knife. A black tank top was tucked into her pants, showing off a lithely muscled torso. The scales she’d been warned to expect glittered under the sun and were oddly lovely. They started on the back of her hands and moved up the outsides of her arms, disappeared briefly under the straps of her shirt, but reemerged to run up each side of the woman’s neck and around her hairline, framing a rather beautiful face. Her eyes were slitted like a reptile’s, as Jace had warned her, but they were a green so bright they almost glowed. Paige would have stared had her full attention not been caught by a rather amazing head of hair. It reminded Paige of fire. Thick orange locks interspersed with heavy bands of yellow. “Is that natural?” she blurted before she could think better of it.
Lark didn’t take offense. Laughing good-naturedly, she fluffed her hair. “As natural as a genetically altered hybrid can get.”
“Hello, little human.”
Paige turned at the first word and looked up. Way up. Wow. He was a big one. Close to seven feet if she had to guess and not just tall but broad. He was beaming down at her with a huge smile. Like Jace, he had fangs, but surprisingly, Paige was no longer frightened by the dental anomaly. Maybe she’d gotten used to them? Or maybe because that smile looked so eager and friendly she couldn’t help but be charmed.
His nostrils flared and that smile got even wider. “You smell like Jace and sex.”
