Full Moon Rising

“It is. When you come down, we’ll enlighten you.”

“And just what am I supposed to go downstairs in? My birthday suit?”

He grinned. “We retrieved your bag from Misha’s car. It’s on the chair near the stairs.”

He headed back downstairs. Once I’d eaten the mess he’d laughingly called a meal, I shifted shape to help the burns along some more, then threw on some clothes and followed him down

Everyone was sitting at the table, including Liander

“How you feeling, darlin’?” Jack asked, his green eyes sweeping me in a concerned, fatherly way

“A little achy, but otherwise fine.”

He nodded. “You want to tell us what happened?”

I sat on the last remaining chair and proceeded to do that

Rhoan frowned. “Genoveve and Libraska aren’t research facilities I’ve ever heard of.”

“Nor I,” Jack agreed. “We may have to go through the records to find them. If they are on the record, that is.”

“What do you mean?” I reached for one of the apples sitting in the middle of the table. “I thought all research facilities, whether government or private, had to be listed?”

“Only in the last fifty years. There were a lot of places, particularly military ones, that were built in the twentieth century that were never recorded—for security reasons. It was a volatile era.”

“What about the thing that attacked her?” Quinn asked. “That doesn’t sound like any creature I’ve heard of.”

“No. But if they’re playing around with the basic building blocks of life, who knows what they’ve come up with?” Jack glanced at me. “You up to a little more investigating?”

I raised an eyebrow. “Like I have a choice?”

“There’s always a choice.”

I snorted softly. “Between you trying to railroad me, and these nutters coming after me, I think choice has temporarily flown out the window.”

He didn’t bother to deny my allegations, merely smiled. “You are going to make such a wonderful guardian.”

“You’re better off chasing after Liander than me—you’d have more hope.”

“He’s already come after me,” Liander commented, his silver eyes sparkling with a combination of amusement and annoyance. “And I have temporarily been seconded into this outfit, whether I like it or not.”

“Well, you were military, and you do slide in rather well.” Rhoan’s smile was decidedly wicked. “And just think of the advantages—me, primarily.”

Liander grinned. “Why do you think I’m here? At least I don’t have to share with the lush.”

“Bitchy.” Rhoan’s smile widened

“The truth,” Liander said, voice dry

“Enough,” Jack said, and glanced at me. “We’re planning a two-prong attack. An accident has been planned that will wipe out the power in the Ferntree Gully area. Rhoan and I will break into Moneisha and do a little investigating.”

Which left me with Quinn. The thought had my hormones doing an excited little dance. “Surely Moneisha will have backup generators?”

“And probably handheld scanners,” Quinn added

Jack nodded. “But the generators only handle essentials, and we can avoid any guards, whether or not they’re holding scanners.”

“And in the meantime, I’ll be doing what?” I asked

“Searching the paperwork in Alan Brown’s office.”

“How? All the offices upstairs have eye scan locks.”

“They do. Except the scanners have mysteriously started acting up the last twenty-four hours, and all staff have been issued with special keycards and codes until the problem is resolved.”

“Convenient,” I said dryly

He merely smiled. “Alan Brown has a long-known habit of bringing prostitutes into his office. Unfortunately, Brown took some coffee that didn’t agree with him earlier this afternoon and went home sick. He won’t wake until tomorrow.”

“And how was this managed? You and I both know Brown wouldn’t touch anything you gave him with a ten- foot pole. And you couldn’t exactly ask any of the guardians to tamper with his coffee, because you don’t know whom to trust right now.”

Jack nodded. “But I know I can trust the director.”

I raised my eyebrow. “Alex Hunter? The woman is a bitch.”

“And that bitch is my sister.”

Trust me to put my foot in it. Or open my big mouth, as the case might be

Rhoan laughed, and Jack reached across the table, patting my hand comfortingly. “It’s okay. She is a bitch, most times. But she wants to know what is going on every bit as badly as us. The Directorate is her baby—she was one of those who pushed to get it set up—and she has no intention of letting it be used for nefarious purposes. As of this weekend, you, Rhoan, and I are on special assignment and reporting directly to her.”

Meaning I was taking the first step down that guardian path. And there wasn’t one damn thing I could do about it. If I said no, he’d lock me away somewhere safe, and that would be almost as bad, not only because I was a wolf who couldn’t stand enclosed spaces for long but because some warped part of me wanted to be involved. I might not want to be a guardian, but these bastards had come after me twice now, and the wolf wanted revenge

I glanced at Quinn. “But how are we going to get into Brown’s office when Quinn looks nothing like Brown?” He was far, far too handsome, for a start

“He will by the time I’ve finished with him,” Liander said

“You think you can do something tarty for me as well?” I couldn’t risk wearing the blue wig and makeup again, just in case it set off alarms somewhere

Liander grinned. “You have no idea how long I’ve been wanting to redo your look. You have to keep up with the times, Riley.”

It was a comment he’d made more than once. I stuck my tongue out at him before looking back at Jack. “When are we moving?”

“As soon as everyone is ready. Liander will be holding the fort here.”

“And we meet back here afterward?”

Jack nodded. “Let’s move it, people.”

I grinned. He sounded like the old army sergeant he’d once been. I rose, munching on my apple as I headed back upstairs for a shower. Raiding Alan Brown’s office wasn’t exactly what I’d been hoping to do tonight, but at least I was with Quinn

And come hell or high water, it was going to be the night I rocked his staid little world

Chapter 9

“You could have hired a less conspicuous car,” I said, accepting Quinn’s offer of help as I climbed out of the Porsche

He shrugged and slammed the door closed. The doors locked automatically, and the car beeped softly as the alarm was set. “It’s fast, comfortable, and besides, I’m half-thinking about getting one. This is a good way of testing it.”

The stiff breeze caught the thin gray strands of hair that had been combed over his newly bald cranium, standing them on end like flags. Match that with a goatee beard, puffy cheeks, and a small beer belly, and you had the picture of a man well past his prime. It was hard to believe that under all the makeup there was one incredibly handsome individual. I grinned