Chapter 3
A BOOMING crash echoed through the room as Sloane hit the floor along with the ten-foot display, everything from wooden bokkens to bo staffs landing on him and clattering around him. When the Human agent had collided with him, Sloane’s instinct had been to throw his arm around the man in the hopes of regaining his equilibrium, but instead, the man’s flailing sent them both toppling over. With a groan, Sloane rolled over and smacked his head against someone else’s.
“Son of a bitch!” Sloane spat out at the idiot on the floor next to him rubbing his own forehead. “What the hell?”
The man’s eyes opened wide and for a moment, Sloane was speechless. They were the palest crystal blue he’d ever seen, a sharp contrast against tan skin, dark brows, and dirty-blond hair. The agent, however, was unfamiliar to him. Must be new, or Sloane would have remembered him.
“Shit,” Blondie exclaimed, his face going bright red. The guy was embarrassed, but Sloane didn’t have time to ask questions as Blondie let out a yelp and was hung upside down from his ankles by a pissed off looking Therian agent.
“Give it here!”
Blondie twisted and pulled at his legs. “Fuck you, Baloo!”
Sloane quickly got to his feet, the rest of the team running up to join them, their expressions of stunned disbelief mirroring Sloane’s.
“What the hell is going on?” Ash asked.
“Good question.” Sloane crossed his arms over his chest, his eyes narrowing at the seven-foot agent. “What are you doing, Agent Zachary? Put him down.”
Zach’s bottom lip jutted out pathetically as he motioned to the agent dangling from his grip. “He stole my Cheesy Doodles.”
Sloane’s jaw dropped. Behind him, his team snorted and giggled like schoolchildren. “Are you telling me all this—” he snapped, thrusting a finger at the mess of equipment on the floor, “—is over a pack of cheese snacks?”
Blondie pulled himself up by his legs and attempted to loosen one of Zach’s hands with no luck. “In my defense, I was eating, minding my own business, when Yogi Bear over here tries to kill me!”
“Why did you steal his snack?” Sloane asked, mystified. Was the guy crazy or stupid?
“I didn’t!” Blondie cried indignantly. “I bought them, but apparently he called dibs on a whole fucking vendi-ng machine!”
“Fine. Why didn’t you give them to him, then?”
With a groan, Blondie stopped struggling and went back to hanging upside down, his arms folded over his chest and his chin set stubbornly. “Because they’re mine.”
“Everyone knows they’re mine,” Zach growled.
“Oh for the love of….” Sloane pinched the bridge of his nose and summoned patience. “Where are they?”
Blondie reached into his back pocket, pulled out the cause of this ridiculous event, and held it out. Sloane snatched the packet from the Human agent and stuffed it into Zach’s front breast pocket. “There, now put him down.” Before he could tell Zach to do so gently, Blondie was released. They all cringed as the agent hit the floor with a painful thud.
“Ow! Motherfucking piss buckets!”
“Thank you,” Zach said with a wide grin.
“Share next time, okay?” Sloane patted Zach’s arm and sent him on his way. He looked down at the mess of an agent on the floor. God help the team this guy was on.
“Dex!”
Sloane glanced up sharply. Oh fuck no. “You?” He gaped at the blond man bitching and cursing as he got up.
“You don’t have to look so happy about it,” Dex muttered, brushing himself off.
It couldn’t be. “This has to be a mistake.”
“Try using your inside voice. Less awkward.”
Cael ran over and grabbed Dex’s arms. “Are you okay? I was in the bathroom when I heard what happened. The minute they said “crazy guy” I knew it was you.”
“Gee, thanks.”