Cloud Rebel (R-D #3)(73)

Strength was quite tall, with light-brown hair and a beautiful, ageless face. Wisdom was slightly shorter, with dark hair and more than handsome features.

Love was the only female, with dark hair and a pale, lovely complexion. This was how they'd look if they were to appear—those who'd defeated the enemy during the God Wars, in order to save the universes from chaos and death.

With the events happening on Earth in the past, that victory was threatened. For a moment, my vision wavered and I witnessed a change—as if the Three in reality lay before me instead of their replicas.

I had to think on this.

Ilya was gone.

Fuck Earth.

*

Captain Brett Walker

As long as I remained wolf, they couldn't work their mojo on me. I'd attacked them twice, and managed to rip an arm off one of them.

It didn't matter—they'd ordered Rafe to kill Jen and I wasn't going to let them get away with that. They'd have to kill me first.

They'd already shot me twice. I howled at them in return. They learned not to come into the room where I was; I finally killed one of the f*ckers.

Instead, they had something new up their sleeves. If I wasn't going to behave and do as they ordered, they'd just send me elsewhere.

I yelped when I hit the floor inside the Oval Office. If one of the Secret Service agents hadn't stopped his buddies from firing, I'd have died immediately.

My consciousness fled before I could consider turning human.

*

Notes—Colonel Hunter

"So we're depending on a veterinarian to save his life?" Opal and Matt had shown up unannounced at my office to let me know that Brett had been dumped—in werewolf form—in the oval office.

Not only had he been shot twice, but there was evidence that he'd attacked some of his attackers.

I was grateful he was still alive, wolf or not. The President had called Matt, shouting gibberish after Brett's sudden appearance. Matt had gone to the White House immediately.

I still hadn't figured out how he'd gotten Brett out of there so fast.

We needed Farrell, but he was just as dead that afternoon as he'd been that morning.

"Screw that, we need Cori," I muttered.

"Corinne is unavailable," Valegar appeared inside my office. "I will heal Captain Walker for you, in her stead."

"Where is she?" I asked.

"She is thinking and cannot be disturbed. We should have considered her role as Vhanaraszh all along, instead of keeping her away from those things." Val's eyes carried sadness, and I couldn't say particularly why that was.

"What's that?" I said.

"We must tend to Captain Walker," Val brushed away my question and transported us to the animal hospital where Brett's wolf was being tended.

*

"Do you know where you were?" Matt asked when Brett woke. He lay on a hospital bed inside the ugly building in Arlington. Val had effected the change from wolf to human before healing Brett of his wounds.

"Hmmph," Brett snorted and named an Asian country I'd suspected all along. "I guess they think I don't recognize it when somebody speaks the language."

"Phillips is calling in his favors," Opal muttered from her seat nearby. "Toss a few crown jewels in somebody's direction and Bob's your uncle."

I'd forgotten about those, to be honest. Somebody hadn't forgotten, though.

"Tell me what happened with Rafe," Matt said.

"Agent Smith," Brett growled. "He was leading us in, his rifle in his hand, when he turned back. I thought he was going to tell us something. Instead, he knocks Rafe out with the butt of his rifle and his agents have their guns trained on Jen and me immediately. They forced us into Phillips' house, two of Smith's agents dragging Rafe between them. Phillips and several others were there waiting for us. They knew we were coming."

"Fuck," I wiped a hand across my face. Rafe had gone to protect Jen and Brett. Instead, he'd ended up killing Jen.

"The minute Rafe woke, Phillips was there, telling him he'd only do what he said from now on. It was uncanny how fast it happened. His eyes just went dead—as if he wasn't who he was anymore. When he killed—Jen, I knew it for certain."

"Did you see the other one—Rafe's doppelganger?" Opal asked.

"Dead—at least two days, if my nose was correct. Shot multiple times, as near as I could tell. Looked like he'd gone nuts and tried to destroy everything around him before it happened," Brett shook his head.

"So they were desperate to get their hands on Rafe," Matt sighed. "As a replacement. The other one went animal on them and they couldn't control him any longer."

"Has anyone told Katya—about her father?" Opal asked.

"I don't think so," I said. "This will kill her."

"Maybe she shouldn't know—it's not his fault. It isn't him anymore," Brett said and stared at his hands. "It happened so fast—nobody expected Smith to turn on us like that."

"Who is this Smith guy?" I asked. "Matt, do you know?"

"Not one of mine," Matt said. "If the President had any sense left, I'd ask him. As it is," he shrugged. "Smith could be anybody."