Deathtrap (Crossbreed #3)(37)
It was in the hospital cafeteria that Shepherd met with destiny. Maggie was the most stunningly awkward woman he’d ever encountered. She wore large, square glasses with black frames, but it was her wavy blond hair that he noticed first. She had it pulled up in a messy knot, and there was a pencil dangling from the back as if she’d forgotten about it hours ago. He stood behind her at the register, and when the pencil slipped out and dropped to the floor, he picked it up and felt her emotional imprint on his fingertips. That was how he discovered she was Breed, like him.
Shepherd rubbed his face and wondered if the fates were punishing him for striking a deal with Patrick. He had two choices. He could hand over the photograph to Patrick and let him honor his end of the deal, or he could take matters into his own hands and risk losing his position with Keystone.
Either way, that green-eyed Mage was going in the ground. It wouldn’t bring back Maggie, but maybe her soul would rest in peace. As Shepherd stared at the candle across the room, his thoughts drifted back to that fateful night, and his stone-cold heart ached for the first time in years. If someone had pushed him into the ocean, he would have sunk to the bottom from the weight of his sorrow.
The doorknob jiggled, snapping him out of his thoughts. The hinges creaked, and a slim figure tiptoed in, a sheer duster floating behind her. The candle on the desk illuminated Gem’s small frame, and his eyes drifted down to her floral leggings that she sometimes wore with her crazy-ass sneakers.
Gem approached him as she might a wild animal. Without a word, she squatted in front of him, her knees against her chest.
She held up the photograph to catch the light from the desk behind her. “You know him, don’t you?”
He gestured toward the door. “I should have never taught you to do that.”
She tucked the bobby pin back into her hair, and a long stretch of silence elapsed before she finally spoke. “Keystone wouldn’t be the same without you. We need you. Viktor needs you. I know you don’t take me seriously half the time, but I’m a good listener. Niko’s the one with all the good advice, but if you ever want to bend my ear, I’m always around the corner. Viktor probably knows more about you than I do, but nobody wants to dump their feelings onto their boss’s lap.” She set the picture back on the floor. “If you know this guy’s name or how to find him, I can help come up with a plan so they won’t know where we got the information, and you won’t have to deal with questions.”
“I don’t know his name,” Shepherd said, barely recognizing his own voice.
She touched his hand. “The fates brought him back into your life for a reason. Maybe it’s so you can get your revenge, but maybe it’s not. We still have a little baby out there whose life depends on us.”
That brought Shepherd down to earth.
Gem rested her head across his arm and smiled at him. She batted her lashes in that endearing and playful way that was all Gem. “Please help us find the baby.”
Shepherd nodded, suddenly feeling embarrassed about his outburst. He didn’t like people thinking he didn’t have things under control. “If anyone asks, just tell them I was mad I missed breakfast.”
She patted his hand and stood up. “There’s plenty left over. I’ll just tell Raven to heat up the sauce.”
His lips twitched. “Sauce?”
Chapter 12
Niko pinned me against the mat. “You’re losing focus.”
Exhausted, I simply lay there while he stood up and wiped his face and chest with a towel. After Shepherd’s meltdown, I had decided to extend my morning session with Niko. I enjoyed our time together even if we spent most of it knocking each other down. When working out, he had me focusing on upper-arm strength by climbing the rope or doing pull-ups. But during our one-on-one sessions, he taught me how to fight. It wasn’t that I didn’t know how to protect myself, but I fought dirty. Niko wanted to demonstrate actual maneuvers, which would probably take me centuries to perfect. He said that relying heavily on Mage energy could be a weakness, and only a true warrior could fight without it.
He tossed me a bottle of water, and I caught it in my hand before sitting up.
“What was that about upstairs?” I asked, unscrewing the lid.
“Do you mean with Shepherd?” Niko heaved a sigh and hiked up his loose black pants so he could sit down in front of me. “He’s never spoken about his past or personal life. I’ve never known him to lose control.”
“How are we supposed to help him if he won’t let us in?”
Niko swept back a wayward piece of hair and tucked it through the elastic band holding his hair in a knot. “We must leave it up to Viktor. If he’s too unstable to work on this case, Viktor will pull him out.”
I gulped my water down and set the bottle aside. “Has this ever happened before?”
Niko’s blue eyes looked through me. “Shepherd has always been emotionally stable, and I’m good at reading energy. He has a unique relationship with Wyatt because they’re partners, but he’s always gotten along better with Christian. Perhaps they enjoy each other’s company because they are more alike than not.”
I leaned on my arm. “Maybe Viktor’s taking a big risk hiring a team of secret agents who have the kind of criminal record we do.”