Generation 18 (Spook Squad 2)

Oddly enough, it reminded her of Gabriel.

Why, she had no idea. The woman’s hair was dark brown and curly, her eyes almost catlike and mint green in color. But it was in her eyes that Sam could see the kinship, if nowhere else. Her gaze was at once sympathetic, demanding and hostile—a look Sam had seen all too often in the warm hazel depths of Gabriel’s eyes.

“Who are you?” she asked.

The woman raised a dark eyebrow. “A direct, lucid question when you should be screaming in agony. Interesting.”

“Would screaming in agony get me an answer any quicker?” Truth was, she probably would be screaming in agony if she didn’t have the feeling that it wouldn’t matter one jot—not to this woman, and not to the man who paced so angrily beyond her line of sight.

“Probably not.” A smile that was impossibly white flashed briefly. “My name is Jessie McMahon.”

No wonder she could see a similarity to Gabriel—the woman was his sister. No doubt the angry pacer was Stephan. “Where am I?”

“At SIU headquarters, in holding cell number nine.”

Which was probably the most secure area in the whole of the SIU. Even if Sam screamed her lungs out, no one would be the wiser. The room had more shields than Parliament, and was generally reserved for the most dangerous criminals.

What a laugh, when all she’d done was try to stop an enemy. They were the ones who should be locked up, since they were the ones who’d undoubtedly let the enemy go.

“Why aren’t I in the damn medical center?” Her voice came out cracked, harsh. She swallowed, but it didn’t ease the burning dryness in her throat, though a dry throat was the least of her problems. She stank of burnt flesh, and her whole body ached—even if in a lackluster way. But once the numbness from the laser burns wore off, she would be screaming in agony.

Jessie’s smile was cold. “Because, my dear, you tried to shoot my brother. You’re lucky it was security firing at you and not anyone else.”

Like Stephan, she surmised. Anger washed over her, a wave of heat that momentarily echoed in Jessie’s cat eyes.

“God, have you two any idea what you’ve done?”

Jessie grabbed her hand, her grip like steel, her skin like ice against the heat of Sam’s flesh. “We stopped you from killing my brother.”

Sam laughed harshly. She couldn’t help it. These people supposedly dealt with the supernatural all the time, yet they were willing to believe the obvious without questioning.

“I bet you haven’t even bothered looking at the tape, have you? You dragged me down here and just can’t wait to beat the so-called truth out of me.” She tilted her head back a little, but she still couldn’t see the man who paced behind her. “Well, the truth is, I’ve had enough of you people. I fucking quit.”

“You can quit after you’ve told me why you shot at Gabriel.” Stephan’s voice was unemotional, yet it sent a chill down her spine all the same.

“You’re incredible.” She tried to wrench her hand free of Jessie’s, but couldn’t—because her arms were strapped down, as were her feet. “Go view the tape and see if you can’t guess the goddamn answer yourself.”

“We’ve both seen vid-footage. And all we’re actually sure of right now is that Gabriel has left the building and can’t be contacted, and that you shot at him. Security shot you when you ignored their order to lower your weapon.”

“And did you bother rewinding far enough to see him shooting at me first? Did you hear me tell security it wasn’t AD Stern, but a shifter? Did you bother going far enough along the tape to hear the girly scream he emitted when I actually hit him?”

Stephan finally came into her line of sight. Though his face was emotionless, his blue eyes were stormy with anger. “How do you know it was a shifter? He passed all the security checks.”

“Meaning you didn’t view the tapes properly.” She snorted softly and shook her head. “I would have thought that you, of all people, would not have let emotion cloud your judgment.”

“Just answer the damn question.”

“The shifter who took Finley’s form in the labs a month ago passed all security checks, too, but that didn’t make him the real Finley.”

Jessie regarded her intently. “Why do you think it was a shifter and not Gabriel?”

Sam frowned. “I don’t know. It’s just something I sense sometimes.”

“Gabriel did mention this ability, remember?” Stephan shared a brief glance with his sister, then his gaze returned to Sam. “Why didn’t you alert security first?”

Because that would have been the smart thing to do. She blew out a breath. “I didn’t stop to think. She was heading for Gabriel’s office, probably to get the relocation list of the adoptees.”

Stephan’s gaze narrowed slightly. “You keep saying ‘she.’ Why?”