Into the Light (The Admiral's Elite Book 2) (2 page)

Becca’s eyes searched the dimly lit space to find Black easing out of his office, a nearly invisible opening in the wall on the far side of the room, and gliding forward to stand at the head of the long rectangular black table in the center of the room. An overhead set of lights washed his alabaster skin clean of details until she got close. A thick bunch of tan folders were set neatly on top of the black surface.

“Admiral Black, Sir.” Becca refrained from saluting when she reached the far end of the table; she learned in the beginning they didn’t do that here.

Obsidian eyes showing no whites, only an expanse of flat black set into white skin and topped with equally under-pigmented short hair, regarded her without expression. By some trick of the light, the immortal, soulless creature appeared strained. Could it be? She shook off the thought as impossible.

“Please, take your seat, Rebecca.”

His towering six-foot-four frame stationed at the head of the table was even more daunting when she sidled up the table to take her usual seat on his right. She tried not to be obvious as she scanned the room for Michael.

“I have asked Michael to give us a few minutes alone, if you don’t mind. We have not had the opportunity to speak without his company for some time.” Tapping a long white finger on his pointed chin, he appeared to think for a minute. “Not since you returned from the hospital, I believe.” Those flat black eyes turned toward her and his thin lips tightened into what might have been a smile. On him it was more of a grimace. Then, gracefully, he folded and took his seat.

That simple act had her heart racing. Becca had never seen the man sit before, much less smile. It freaked her out even more than his hovering aloofness. Keeping herself from making direct eye contact for long enough for him to manipulate her mind, she glanced to his nose and back every few seconds.

“Calm yourself, Rebecca. I assure you, you have nothing to fear from me.” The corner of his mouth twitched again. Another smile. “We have not had an opportunity to discuss how you are finding things here with us. You have had ample time to settle in and see how things are done here, I trust.”

If the admiral wasn’t the admiral, Becca might have been tempted to laugh. It wasn’t like she’d had a choice in her place here. Once Black decided he wanted someone that was it. It didn’t matter whether she liked it there or not. One thing was for sure, if she had to be around the chilling admiral as often as she had her previous commanding officers, she would have had a breakdown or at least developed a nervous tic or ten by now. Fortunately, she had Michael acting as a buffer between them. While that would have bothered her in her old unit in the Navy, it didn’t so much now. The less time she spent with Black the better, and Michael was her immediate supervisor. That was another can of worms entirely and not one she could open while she was with Black. One stress case was enough, thank you.

“Things are fine, Sir. Everyone is teaching me about the sorts of creatures I’m encountering and we train every day we aren’t on a mission.”

Black blinked. With his coloring and lack of visible corneas it lent him an uncanny resemblance to a snake. “Yes, Michael has kept me apprised of your progress. He reports that you are a quick learner. What has it been, five missions in two months? All presenting different obstacles, none quite so challenging as the one that nearly cost us your gift.” His white fuzz covered head wagged, more disturbed by his unit’s possible loss than the pain of the human who wielded said gift. Trust Black to leech any hint of sentimentality out of something. “However, I did not ask
what
you were doing. I asked
how
you are doing.”

“Uh…” Becca’s heart and mind went into overdrive. Immediately, she tried to calm herself. The fact that her eyesight wasn’t dancing lent her a tiny modicum of solace. If she were in danger from the admiral, her preternatural sight would have let her know. Only recently she’d discovered she could somewhat control how debilitating the effects were and since mastering that control, she hadn’t lost her vision for more than a few seconds at a time. That didn’t stop her stomach from clenching nervously now. She feared she knew where this was leading. They hadn’t spoken about the new twist on her ability since she’d jumped into Michael right in front of the their scary boss. If her damned vision hadn’t been so blurred at the time with her lover and old partner about ready to face off, she would never have done it. Now she realized what a mistake it had been. “It’s good, Sir. Everyone is very helpful and I find the work challenging as well as rewarding.”

The black eyes narrowed slightly. “Thank you for the sanitized version, Rebecca. However, I know that you are an intelligent woman. You know very well what I am asking you. Have you learned more about this jumping ability of yours?”

Chapter 3

His voice never rose. It didn’t have to. Becca caught the uptick in intensity. That Black knew she called it jumping meant he’d gotten it from Michael. She couldn’t be angry he’d told. He had to. And that was exactly why Michael asked her to tell no one, including him, about how it all worked. That she was unable to tell him she understood why, that she knew Black could pry anything out of him and he would be powerless to resist, troubled her. Her thoughts turned to the new scar he carried and inwardly she winced. He was her ally here. He had been from day one, even if there were a few hiccups. Out of a need to keep him from the further punishment sure to be doled out if he continued to defy Black’s information requests, she complied.

“I haven’t jumped since the fire demon, Sir.” That much was true. Sure she’d tried on a number of unwitting participants. Random people on the street, in a restaurant, even Gabrielle, all to no avail. Thus far only Ryan and Michael were open to her, and with no one to ask about how it all worked, she had no clue how to proceed.

No sound came from the admiral’s seat and Becca let her eyes rove nearly all the way up to the soulless eyes, catching herself when they hit the top of his cheek. From her indirect scrutiny she could see that he had gone “dead” in that that creepy vampire way of his. A little voice inside her head reminded her Michael could do it too and she shook it off. Michael was a different kind of vampire. He was caring. He had a soul. Other than Black’s unexplained desire to help keep the monsters from outright attacking humans, he’d shown no signs of any sort of compassion at all.

Miracles happen. A shoe scuffed on the stone at the base of the steps and Becca could breathe again.

Black didn’t move. “Michael, well timed.”

***

As he approached, Michael’s expression remained blank, giving away nothing of the carefully controlled feelings he wrestled. His nature threatened to flare, had been doing so since Black altered his request that he leave them alone for fifteen minutes before he join them. A quick flick of the eyes and he saw that, although clearly stressed, Becca was unharmed. She moved and he caught a flash of faint silver lines spiderwebbed over her cheek from the mission that nearly took her from him. Gritting his teeth, he held back his vampire need to take his woman far from where Black or anyone could touch her. It was impossible. Black could find her anywhere and Michael couldn’t take one step if Black ordered him to stay. His rage threatened to compromise him and, falling back on skills developed over many years, he quieted his body and mind. “I’ve come as you requested, Sir,” he said, benignly. “The others are on their way.”

Black waited several heartbeats before switching the subject. “I wonder, Rebecca, if Michael has informed you as to the nature of our business in Washington?” A faint glimmer of amusement twisted his lips and Becca caught sight of his fangs. Unlike Michael’s, Black’s never fully retracted. It was an age thing, Michael had told her. “I’m confident his first stop after returning was your quarters?”

Blood rushed to her cheeks and Becca ducked her chin. With her hair up, Michael could watch the red wash over her face. “We didn’t discuss the details of the trip, Sir.”

A deep rumble from Black’s chest sounded vaguely like laughter, maybe the closest the sick bastard got. “Then tell me, my dear, what did you do?”

For some reason Black was endlessly amused with the fact that they were sleeping together. He was actually pleased; he’d even told Michael to bed her to secure her loyalties. After some initial adjustment issues, she believed him when Michael reassured her that his desires were entirely his own.

“All due respect, Sir,” Michael spoke up from the other end of the table where he stood by his chair. “Our visit was personal and your affairs were not the subject of our private discussions.”

The admiral averted his gaze from where Becca squirmed and stared at his second in command. “Then I will leave the subject matter of your visit to my imagination.”

Michael was grateful the admiral had yet to show a sexual inclination toward anything. If he wanted to take her, Michael would surely die trying in vain to protect her. The rapid heart rate of the sole human in the room was the only response to the admiral’s crude insinuation. Both of them waited for the admiral to move on.

“Rebecca, you are new to us and might not comprehend our unique relationship with the rest of the United States government.” Black resumed his standard upright position and pushed his chair aside with a foot.

Becca’s eyes followed the admiral, careful not to touch his eyes for more than a second at a time. She remembered what Michael had told her about his ability to get into her head with anything more than that. Thus far she hadn’t asked if he had the same capabilities and he hoped she wouldn’t. It would pain him to have her compare him to the vampire that ruled them all.

“You have seen firsthand that we serve the needs of our soldiers, protecting both human and otherwise among our ranks as well as civilians around the world.”

She nodded. That was true. Confounding as he may be, Black had proven he would go to any lengths to protect those serving. Especially the supernatural beings who found places within their ranks. With their strength and intelligence, the military had shown itself to be a perfect match for many non-humans; Special Forces and wet work being a particularly well-suited destination for those with certain thirsts.

“We recently learned there are those in Washington who question the relevance of our work.” He let that hang.

Her uncertainty at where this was going was visible in her pinched brow. The freckles he could see in the bright light and the puzzled expression made her look young and Michael felt that same protective instinct he’d gotten the first time he met her, helpless in a hospital bed.

“Your recent discovery of this new ability of yours affords us a rare chance. It would be helpful to be ‘inside,’ so to speak, to determine the source of this sudden dissension.”

Predictably, her frame tightened and the glance she aimed his way was glazing already. Her sight was warning her the danger of Black’s proposal, or maybe it had more to do with what might happen if she couldn’t perform. His own insides twisted at the thought of the admiral bringing harm to her.

Becca took a deep breath through her nose and lifted her chin. “I’m not certain how it works, Sir. It’s possible I wouldn’t be able to jump into a stranger, on command.”

Leveling a heavy gaze upon her, Black gave her objection no regard. “Your goal over the next two weeks is to figure out how it works, master it, and be ready to use it at
my
command.”

“Hey Mike, when did you get back?” Ryan called, moving to take his seat across from Becca. Gabrielle sashayed a few steps behind and took her seat beside the big Marine.

Ryan’s casual air was clearly meant to distract and diffuse. He was the only one who got away with that sort of thing, though typically he was more subdued in front of Black. It must have been pretty obvious the tone their little “catch up” session was taking.

Black tracked the newcomers with a pointed stare. Michael cast another appraising glance her way and she caught it. Becca lifted an eyebrow and widened her eyes in question. He raised a shoulder, subtly trying to let her know he hadn’t known this was coming. It was unknowable if she believed him or not. He wished it could be otherwise and hid his disappointment in himself that he wasn’t the man she deserved.

Their exchange ended when the admiral opened his mouth. “Now that we are all together, I would like you to familiarize yourselves with our next mission.” Gliding in his creepy way around the table he passed out the files, pausing a moment longer behind Becca. She sensed without knowing what he’d done exactly, that something had transpired between Michael and himself. It had only taken a second but the mood of everyone at the table changed. Frowning, Ryan gave Becca a curious look confirming her suspicions it involved her. Gabrielle feigned boredom. And the heat rolling off of Michael was palpable. Becca shot him several nervous sideways glances.