Free Shadowed Threads by Shannon Mayer Page A

werewolf, a young girl ready to light the whole place on fire with her magic. Yeah, not so well at all.
    “No, I’m waiting on my best agent.”
    I cringed and he let out a barking laugh. “Not you, Adamson. O’Shea. You’re going after him, aren’t you?”
    The muscles in my neck and jaw tightened. “You going to be a pain in my ass if I say yes?”
    “No. I’m not. But if you manage to bring him back, I want you working with him.” He let go of my arm and tipped his head back so he could look me in the eyes.
    “I’m not agreeing to that. I don’t know why you would even bother asking.” I tried to brush past him, but he moved to stand in my way.
    “There is a movement for supernaturals to come out to the rest of the world. Do you know what kind of chaos would ensue? I need the best of the best to be working with me on this, to keep a lid on this clusterfuck that is trying to ensue.”
    I paused, crossed my arms over my chest, the leather of my new/old jacket squeaking. “Why are you being so open with this?”
    “Denning wants the world to know about the supernatural. The FBI does not. Interpol is in the middle, not sure what to do. You can help them decide. I want them to see the chaos that is your world, let them see how very bad it would be and how bad it would get if we humans truly understood.”
    He was confusing the shit out of me, and to be having this conversation in the open, where anyone could hear us? I glanced around, saw that no one was close enough, at least no one that I knew would be able to hear.
    “The zombie attack didn’t work?”
    “No. Denning brushed it off as a freak accident and panned it to the media as a flash mob gone wrong.”
    I couldn’t help it. I let out a laugh. “A flash … mob?” Son of a bitch, Denning was dumber than he looked.
    Agent Valley wasn’t laughing with me, so I made an effort to pull my shit together.
    “Adamson, this is not funny. The world isn’t ready for the supernatural, maybe won’t ever be ready.”
    I wiped my hand across my lips as if to brush the last of the laughter from me. “You’re right, but you have to admit, it is kinda funny. Zombies as a flash mob? I can’t believe the media would buy that shit.” His lip twitched, but he didn’t smile, he didn’t laugh.
    “Are you with me on this?” His eyes were serious, his lips no longer twitching.
    I let out a snort and was about to answer him when the screaming started. Shit, why was it always the screaming that tipped me off?
    We spun as Deanna came running around the corner, grenades in her hands. Yes, I said grenades.
    “Rylee, run! He’s here for you.” She slammed into me, shoving the two grenades into the deep pockets of the trench coat.
    “What the hell, Deanna!” I dug at them to get them out.
    She smacked my hands. “The spells are inside, pull the pin, throw the grenade and use the ignition word, Capio .”
    I didn’t ask any more questions, just bolted for the stairs. The roar of the Beast behind me pushed me faster and made me angry. Denning popped his head out of a doorway, his eyes widening when he saw me, then narrowed with anger.
    I ran past him, couldn’t resist slapping him as I passed him by. “Denning, you’re a fucking idiot if you want this out with the general public!”
    Deanna was yelling for people to get out of the way, screaming actually, for them to stand down. No point in getting in the Beast’s way, he was only after one thing.
    Me.
    The stairs flew under my feet and when I reached the top, I careened through the door, slamming it behind me. I ran to Eve and leapt onto her back. I didn’t have to say anything. She launched herself into the air as the Beast burst out onto the roof.
    His silver eyes followed us as we rose higher, never leaving my face. Eve used the currents to lazily circle upward without much effort on her part. And I warred within myself. I needed to find O’Shea, but I hated that I had to leave Alex and Pamela behind.