Authors: Eve Langlais
Croc and the Fox (8 page)
Renee could tell Viktor didn’t care for the turn of events. But it wasn’t her fault. The crazy blonde insisted she needed proper clothes, and truthfully, Renee wanted some too. Something pretty like the other women wore. Something to make Viktor’s eyes look at her with the same warm light Chase and Mason’s did when they glanced at their mates.
His boss Kloe, when Viktor reached her by phone in a desperate attempt to forestall the expedition, said nothing needed his immediate attention and when he still begged for an excuse, ordered him to go. Penned in by bears, a slightly lunatic pregnant lady, a smirking Jessie, oh, and one scowling croc, Renee ended up piling into a large vehicle with tinted windows, a minivan, Mason announced when she eyed it. Even though it had enough seating, Renee still preferred her spot in Viktor’s lap, which for some reason had Miranda laughing so hard tears ran down her cheeks.
At least Renee no longer wanted to scalp the perky bunny – even if she overheard Chase mention that rabbits made the best muffs, a discussion Mason disagreed with claiming swans down was a better place to lay his head. Not understanding the conversation, or the laughter, she nevertheless relaxed and dropped her plan to maim because when she’d first seen Miranda enter, and toss herself at Viktor, she’d seen red. It didn’t help the woman kept mispronouncing his name with a familiarity that made Renee grind her teeth. The fact the bunny turned out mated and harmless – if you didn’t mind your teeth aching from her sugary personality – eased Renee, but not enough to want to go somewhere alone with the woman. Loud, bouncy bunny, grizzly bear of a husband or not to accompany them, Renee trusted only Viktor to keep her safe, because as she well knew, the mastermind was still out there.
A part of her wondered if she should speak up and tell them the little she knew. But really what could she add to their repertoire of information that they didn’t already know. It wasn’t as if she was privy to the mastermind’s secret plots. Renee didn’t know where the mastermind fled. She really knew nothing at all other than the unforgettable face of evil and bad acne.
She kept silent as they drove to a place Miranda called a mall, listening to the banter between the couples, Jessie having elected to join them for a lunch break while her computer decoded more of the information downloaded from the lab.
When Viktor quietly mentioned her phobia of the open sky, Chase, with a nod, drove into a covered parking area with a sea of cars. They piled out of the vehicle and Renee held Viktor’s hand as they entered the shopping place, trying to walk without looking like a fool in the flip flops Miranda gave her to wear. Apparently, slippers weren’t meant for public places. Viktor groaned when Miranda added shoes to their shopping list.
The vast amount of people moving in the mall gave her a miniature panic attack and Renee tucked herself under Viktor’s arm. Her heart rate quickened as her eyes scanned the many faces. Did the mastermind hide among them? Minions? Did the people all look at her, knowing she was different?
She peeked up at him. “But there’s so many. How can you be sure?”
Miranda snorted. “Oh please, if I wasn’t pregnant, I could take these humans on by myself. With a little help, Victor could too.”
“Gee, thanks for the vote of confidence,” he replied dryly. “But seriously, even the mastermind would hesitate before acting in front of the humans. We’ve all got a vested interest in keeping our shifter identity secret. And if I’m wrong, that’s what my Magnum is for.”
“You’ve got a Magnum?” Mason said. “Nice. I just brought my Browning.”
“Freaks,” Jessie muttered. “A good Taser is all you
When everyone looked at Chase, he shrugged. “I’m old fashioned. I prefer to use my fists.”
Renee blinked at their casual discussion of weapons and implied violence. They were all crazy. Just her kind of people.
Easing out from Viktor’s arm, she threw her shoulders back, kept a firm grip on his hand, and followed as Miranda and Jessie taught her how to shop. Or as Mason called it, making a credit card scream. She’d never had so much fun in her life.
As they browsed racks of clothes, the vibrant colors jumping out at her, Miranda babbled. Aimlessly, or so it seemed
Jessie rolled her eyes. “What Miranda is trying to say is, are you and Viktor an item? You know, dating?”
“Or boinking. Lots of relationships start out that way,” Miranda added sagely, a wisdom marred only by the smirk on
“How romantic,” Miranda sighed. “It sounds kind of like how I ended up with Chase. Except, I was his uber killer bunny, and he was a grumpy ol’ bear. I saved his butt. He mauled some minions to save mine. Some carrot cake and awesome sex later, we were mated and in love.”
“And screwing everywhere,” Jessie added with a snort. “It’s how she got knocked up so quickly.”
“Knocked up?” Renee’s nose wrinkled at the expression. “Pregnant.”
“Oh.” Renee peeked at Jessie. “And how did you and
Mason end up as mates?”
“Um, we were kind of working a case together and my,
um, dad forced him to marry me.”
“So you’re not happy?” Renee asked, puzzled because
she’d seen the intimate and heated looks between Jessie and her
about it.”
“Liar!” Mason yelled from across the store where he
apparently eavesdropped. “She’s a screamer.”
Jessie glared.
“And violent too,” he added. “Love you.” His sheepish
grin did nothing to erase his mate’s glare.
“He is a dead bear,” Jessie growled.
A giggle escaped Miranda. “You sound just like Chase
when you say it like that.” She sobered. “But seriously, Renee, if
you’re interested in Viktor, don’t let his grouchy nature keep you
away. A man like him is worth the trouble.”
Finally, someone who could answer some of her
questions. “How do I know if I’m interested?” she asked, casting
a glance at Viktor who stood at the opening of the store, arms
crossed, scowling. Despite his fierce demeanor, she noted the
women who cast him appraising glances. She didn’t like it one
Jessie snorted. “He might be saying that to help himself keep his hands off of you, but trust me, he’s interested. If he wasn’t, not only would he already have found you a place to stay, he wouldn’t have come shopping.”
Miranda and Jessie shared a look before bursting into gales of laughter.
“What’s so funny?” Renee asked.
“You are with me, Mason and Chase. Between the three of us, even with me pregnant, we could keep off a small army. Add in Jessie with her tech skills and we could take over this
Renee and she glanced over again to find his eyes on her. She smiled, and ignored the nudges as he returned it, a light lipped version, but still, for her.
But how to get him to see her as more than a charge – and past her age? “What should I do?”
“Jump him,” Miranda volunteered.
“I did that this morning and he almost shot me.”
Jessie coughed. “Um, not literally. She meant, seduce
meant jump on his bone. I like to get a little distance before I do a running leap. Oh, and it works best naked.”
“Pervert.”
“I wouldn’t talk, swan. I hear Mason had to replace his cuffs. I wonder why?”
A ruddy color brightened Jessie’s cheeks.
Renee watched the byplay with fascination. She didn’t quite grasp all of it, but she stored it for later use. Use with
blonde bunny, “Don’t usually try to tackle their love interest to the ground. They kiss first. And then let things go from there.” “Kiss. Gotcha.”
“And grope,” Miranda added. “They like that.”
Jessie nodded in agreement.
The conversation on how to seduce ended at that point as Viktor approached. Snickering, Mason and Chase closed in too, but they wouldn’t tell their friend what they found so funny. A relief to Renee, because despite all the advice, she didn’t know if she had the courage to take the first step.
But if she didn’t, would she regret it for the rest of her life?
Elsewhere…
The mastermind played dumb in the corner while the doctors talked. It went against the grain to melt into the background. Years of calling the shots was hard to stifle. But care was needed with the next level of plotting and deviousness. It wouldn’t do to get caught, not now, not when the enemy held all the cards.
The safe house they’d taken all the least damaged prisoners too – including one wily plotter – wasn’t exactly the heart of FUC. A nondescript building, converted into a temporary hospital, it teemed with agents and guards determined to keep the prisoners safe. The irony that they also inadvertently protected their greatest threat was almost too delicious to bear. Not so entertaining was getting out of the safe house without causing suspicion. That proved harder than expected.
Because the agency feared the mastermind coming after the failed creations, they guarded the place better than the White House. And yes, the mastermind knew about that first hand. Damn the secret service for foiling the plot to change the president into a shifter!
However, while escape didn’t lie in the cards, other things, interesting things were still happening. For example, the doctor – Nolan Manners, aged thirty one, an almost pure blooded male from one of the larger feline breeds – made an interesting discovery about the experiments, something all the other scientists, employed over the years by the mastermind,
“Can I help?” the mastermind asked in a squeak. Would the idiot in charge fall for the smallest ploy in the world? Underestimating.
The doctor’s gaze peered around, aiming too high, as usual. A wave of the hand on tiptoes and Dr. Manners looked lower. Then frowned.
– er victims. Appalling.”
“Aren’t you a victim, too?”
Oops. “Yes. Yes, of course I am, but once they did this
to me…” A sweep of a hand towards a long hated, diminutive figure, and the suspicion in the doctor’s eyes eased. How easily they were fooled. “…they didn’t bother with me after.”
“We’ll do our best to reverse the conditions and bring you back to your regular state. But it will take time, research and tests, tests best done by qualified personnel. Thanks for the offer to help, though.”
It was grade school all over again. Always acting as if size and appearance were all that counted. How those years still burned. The humiliation still fresh, even after all this time. Hide the smallest creature’s lunch bag. Laugh while they hunted for it. Those who thought themselves so cool paid for their jest, going home with their faces green and pants heavy because small didn’t mean stupid, and the ingredients for screaming diarrhea lurked everywhere.
Things should have changed with age. Gotten better. However, despite all the money, and power, people still laughed. Didn’t respect the large brain hidden in the small body.
If only the formulas would work. If only the scientists could have figured out how to replicate X081’s condition. If only they could have gotten a sample of that stupid saber toothed bunny’s DNA. Damn, that FUC agent and all her
doctor, a doctor who looked at the data with more than the knowledge he’d learned by rote, who cast a fresh perspective on an old problem. A doctor like Nolan Manners.
Eyes narrowed behind thick lenses, the mastermind watched the doctor as he wrote on his whiteboard, showing his assistant the problem with the genetic code in the lovely experiments. Saw as he highlighted the switch to turn the experiments back to their previous physical state. Or even better, if the switch was reversed, turn them in to a more evolved one.
The final answer in a lifelong dilemma. At last, physical size and deadly power could belong to the mastermind.
Muah-ha-ha-ha. Oops, figured the laughter would slip out with just the right cadence at the wrong time. When eyes turned to peer with suspicion, a shrug of small shoulders and a lame, “I’m just so happy you’ve found a solution,” appeased them.
Fools.
A tomato sauce simmered on the stove. The bread, slathered in garlic butter, toasted in the oven. The grated cheese overflowed in a bowl while Renee lounged on the couch watching Viktor’s favorite cult movie – Rogue, a violent flick about a man eating crocodile, based on the life story of his uncle Jack. Maybe not the best movie for a recovering victim, but, he’d put it on in the hopes of defusing the silly – gratifying – crush she seemed to have developed for him. He wasn’t stupid. How could he miss the way she clung to him? The way she watched him? Snuggled him? And worse, he wasn’t the only one
urging him to go for it. But he couldn’t. Shouldn’t. She needed to see the world. Live a little before she could know what she truly wanted. Who she wanted. Problem was, once she got a taste of what life could offer, she’d soon forget her interest in an ornery old croc, which was for the best. He didn’t need some timid fox hanging off him at every turn. Nor did he need the trouble of caring for someone else full time.
As Renee gasped and oohed at the various action sequences, Viktor puttered around the kitchen, alone, prepping dinner. Time to drain the pasta before it went past its al dente stage. Despite his attention to the task – and his resolve to stay away – his eyes kept flicking over to her, watching as she leaned forward at the intense parts. Lips quirking when she jumped at the scary – for her – scenes. A part of him wanted to join her and indulge in some relax time. He didn’t. He’d finally peeled her off. Convinced her, well, more like she decided, that she didn’t need to hang on to him at every turn. At least not inside the condo. A great step forward for her. He should have celebrated, instead, sick croc that he was, he missed the feel of her pressed against him. Watching her just wasn’t the same as wearing her.