Predatory

RIKA POV

“Shit shit shit shit shit,” I repeat under my breath as my phone starts beeping and flashing: EMERGENCY ALERT FROM SASHA SUKOSHKU.

“What’s going on?” Zoe demands as I press a couple buttons on my tablet, activating the remote microphones in Sasha’s jewelry. Zoe grabs my phone to get Sasha’s location from the alert software, punches it into the SUV’s GPS, and shifts into drive.

With the rumble of our motor comes an even deeper rumbling from my tablet, a rumbling that’s forming words in Russian, followed by Sasha’s voice, also speaking Russian and using the contemptuous tone she reserves for our Commanding Officer.

“What’s he saying? What’s his problem?” Drake’s voice demands, a sentiment I echo.

“Anselm’s there. Why the fuck is Anselm there? What are we going to do?” Zoe exclaims, vocalizing my own thoughts.

“Hang on. Let’s see if I can get the translation software going….” I mutter, tapping more options on the tablet screen. “Closed captions are the best I can do with Russian on the fly like this. As for what’s going on…shit on a stick, she’s challenging him to a duel for his position. She called us to keep Drake out of the way, I’d guess. He can’t be part of that, and they’re not going to do it here, anyway. Seems Anselm has a couple fae assistants who’ll take them somewhere else—”

“You’ve got to be kidding me! What the hell are we supposed to do with Drake? What do we even say to him at this point? And what about Sasha? Do you think she can really—”

“She’s been preparing and planning for this since Anselm first brought her into WASP to train as a special operative.” Memories of Sasha as a ten-year-old waif with stony eyes and a breathtaking aura of negative energy flash through my mind. I was Anselm’s personal assistant then, working with him to develop technology to enhance WASP’s special operations. Back then, if he wasn’t personally training her in combat skills, it was my job to keep her out of trouble, but we quickly became friends despite our age difference. “She doesn’t need us casting doubt on her abilities—”

“How would she know—”

“—Even from afar. She’s always planned to wait until she was sure she’s ready. Either she believes that moment has arrived, or this duel is the option she hates least of the ones she sees in front of her.”

Meanwhile, Anselm has granted five minutes for Sasha to handle her business with Drake and meet him for their duel.

“We’re getting close. Maybe we can catch her before she goes in.”

“We shouldn’t. She knows what she’s doing, and she trusts us to handle the mess here for her. That’s what we should focus on.”

“Rika, I don’t like this. Anselm’s literally the worst, but he’s still our C.O., and Sasha’s choice puts us in a really sticky situation.”

“Anselm wanted her to execute Drake then and there, without sufficient evidence. Under WASP law, she has decent legal grounding for the choice she’s made, though that won’t stop the powers that be from prosecuting her for treason if she survives this duel.”

“And us, as her teammates and her friends.”

“As her friends and as special operatives, though, we have to continue the mission. Allegations of treason can be dealt with after we handle this business with Drake. And his friends. They’re a couple streets over.”

“What the fuck are we going to do about them? Showing up directly will compromise the mission—”

“Realistically, Sasha’s doing a bang-up job to try to salvage this thing, but the mission was shot to shit as soon as Anselm interrupted them.”

While Zoe struggles for words, both of us resume listening to the audio from Sasha’s body mics. “…if you come with me, I don’t think I can save you,” Sasha is telling Drake. “Stay here. I’ve sent Effie and Angel an SOS. They should be here any second now. They might be able to tell you more.”

“Wait. Please. This doesn’t make any sense. And when we…. Did you feel….” Drake protests, and then a strangled noise of frustration escapes his throat.

“Oh fuck,” Zoe whispers.

Poor Sasha.

“And then there’s that,” I hiss.

“Do you think Anselm caught them—”

“More than likely.”

“He HATES it when Sasha ends up doing seduction work. Not that she had to do any seducing this time, but—”

“Yeah. That’s probably why this duel’s happening, why he pushed her into issuing the challenge. But…with all this in mind…I think we should tell Drake the truth.”

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.”

“Do you have a better idea?”

“No, but it’s not our place! Sasha has built this incredible house of cards—seriously the best on-the-fly false history construction I’ve ever witnessed or heard of—and you want to torch it while she’s in a death match with the devil—”

“Drake thinks Sasha is his mate, and based on what we’ve heard, Sasha has chosen to initiate this duel at least partially to save his life. We give him at least the bare bones details, and he’ll tell us everything we need to know. At that point the mission is wrapped, either with us executing three lycans, or with us having three new battle partners when we go to Sasha’s aid. And the sooner we wrap this, the sooner we can help her.”

Zoe parks the SUV next to the building where we dropped Sasha off. According to the data from the virus in Drake’s phone, he should be just down the hill from here. “This is as close as I can get us to Drake. Where are they taking Sasha for the duel?”

“Doesn’t matter right now. My tracking devices work in all the realms, and she’s wearing several of them. Even if she shifts for the duel, following their signal will at least get us close. We’ll have no trouble finding her, with your driving and my technology. But first we have to close this mission.”

“Right. Let’s go shatter Drake’s dreams to smithereens.”