Page 85 of Defiance
Get through tonight and maybe they won’t send me on another for a while.
He needed to look on the positive side. Things were finally moving in the right direction. He’d finally get to meet someone from the CEG, even if it would be only a quick greeting.
It was a start.
Cole pushed off the door and took his uniform into the bedroom to hang up.
He had a little over four hours before Smith would come for him. It sounded like ages and yet not nearly long enough.
What the hell am I supposed to do for the next four hours?
Apart from worry about what was ahead.
Food.
That would be a place to start.
Not that he was especially hungry, but after being bitten he’d discovered he could always eat. And it might take his mind off things for a little while.
* * *
Cole looked in the mirror,unsure how to feel.
The HRU uniform fit him like a glove. All in black, he felt a bit like a cat burglar, except he was weighed down with far too many weapons to be stealthy. As well as a form-fitting long-sleeved T-shirt and cargo pants, Cole’s uniform consisted of a shoulder holster and gun, a sheath strapped to his right thigh, housing a seven-inch serrated monster, and a similar but smaller knife strapped to his left. They’d also given him a set of shifter handcuffs. He’d seen the damage they caused, and the idea of using them on anyone made him uneasy, to say the least.
Shifters healed, but that didn’t make seeing them injured any easier to bear. Not for Cole anyway. Even after weeks of training, where broken bones and cuts were commonplace, he still wasn’t used to the blasé attitude at causing someone physical pain.
He had the distinct impression some of his team enjoyed it far too much.
The knock on the door startled him, and after taking a breath, trying to calm down, he walked out of his room and met Smith in the living room.
“You ready?” Smith gave him a quick once over.
“Yeah.” Cole followed him out the door and down the corridor.
When they hit the stairwell, Smith quickly turned to face him. “They can’t hear us in here. When we get to the pub, stick with me. I told Paul you could shadow me, so there shouldn’t be a problem. If everything goes to plan, you should get a few minutes alone with one of the CEG members. The HRU has no proof that’s who they are, so we should be in and out with no drama.”
“And if it doesn’t? Go to plan, I mean.”
Smith shrugged. “Then we abandon that plan and wait for the next opportunity. Don’t do anything stupid. And don’t leave my side.”
“Okay.” Cole swallowed down the rising feeling that something was going to go horribly wrong. It wasn’t instinct, it was just nerves. That was all.
Two black SUVs waited outside the front of the McKillan pack house. Paul stood talking to two members of his team next to the front one. He looked up at their arrival.
“You two ride with me.” He opened the driver’s side door and motioned for Smith and Cole to get in the back. Rich walked up to their car and got in the passenger side.
Wonderful.
Cole hadn’t seen much of Rich since his parents’ funeral, and he’d have been quite happy to keep it that way.
Wanker.
They set off, and Cole’s heart rate increased with every mile.
He hadn’t even asked where the house was.
Turning to Smith he asked, “Where are we headed?”
