Page 19 of Exes, Hexes, and Strategy
If it hadn’t been for Logan’s timely intervention, that vampire would have tasted the full weight of Rafe’s displeasure. He would have had the man begging for mercy – once he’d apologized sufficiently to Nina.
He hated bullies. He’d lived under the thumb of one of the biggest bullies all his life. It continued to gall him that he couldn’t immediately go and confront his father for his crimes, but that would have been the height of stupidity. As the saying went, revenge is a dish best served cold, and when Rafe finally faced his father, he planned to be ice-cold. So, he swallowed his rage and held the image of Nina’s smiles close to his heart as he made his daily progress reports to Vincent DeMarco, speaking to the man with the utmost respect in his voice. It made him want to gag, but he did it. For her. For them.
Chapter Eleven
Morgan Rhys sat with the other trainers at a conference table loaded with open containers of take-out food. Ripping open a bag of chips, she grabbed a handful as she glanced at Keegan Bishop, who was in charge of the witches. “How are they coming along?” she asked, before popping a handful of salty, crunchy goodness into her mouth.
Keegan grimaced and Morgan couldn’t help but laugh. “That bad, huh?”
The other woman shook her head. “They’re notbad,” she returned, emphasizing that last word. “But even though they’re all mid-level in strength, it’s obvious that none of them have had any training beyond the very basics. Even their natural-born gifts have been left to mostly stagnate as far as I can tell. They’ve never truly stretched themselves to see what they can do.”
“We saw one of them make it rain inside,” Morgan’s mate, Travis spoke up. “And I saw another one control the wind.” Circling his finger around above the table, he added, “He made little tornados.”
Keegan nodded. “Nina and Ethan. Nina’s gift is erratic at best, she can’t create a storm at will, at least, not yet, and Ethan can’t sustain his for more than a few seconds right now.”
Morgan nodded thoughtfully as she chewed another mouthful of chips. Swallowing, she finally said, “Push them. Whatever it takes.”
Keegan’s look turned considering, probably contemplating how best to push her students as she absently nodded.
Turning her attention to Keegan’s mate, Jeremiah Durand, who had charge of the shifters at the facility, she asked him, “Any problems?”
Jeremiah leaned back in his chair and swiped a hand through his short, dark hair. “One of the wolves isn’t going to make it,” he stated bluntly. “Too angry. He already had one altercation in the dining hall with a vamp.”
Morgan’s mate snarled, the scent of sulfur hitting her nose, a sure sign that her dragon was riled up, and she placed a comforting hand on his knee under the table. “Travis told me. He also said that it was another shifter who helped break it up, so I assume there’s tension there now too, am I right?”
Jeremiah nodded. “The bear shifter, Logan. Now,himI like. The nose on that guy,” he continued, a touch of awe in his voice. “As a tracker, he puts everyone to shame.”
“He’s also a berserker when he fights. Strong,” Cam chimed in with approval, standing to grab a slice of pizza out of an open box. “He could easily take the head off a vamp.” Folding the slice, he stuffed a good half of it in his mouth and chewed.
“The problem is,” Jeremiah tacked on, “I canseehim taking the head off a vamp if he gets pissed enough and that’s not going to go over too well if his team is looking to get paid on a retrieval.”
“Asset or liability?” Morgan asked both Jeremiah and Cam.
“Asset,” they both replied in unison, with Jeremiah adding, “For tracking.”
Eyeing Cam who’d stood once more to grab another slice, she asked, “Any other strong fighters?”
“The witches are pretty much a no for hand-to-hand combat,” he said with a shrug as he sprawled back into his seat. “Not against a vampire at least, but I don’t suppose that’s what you wanted them for anyway. Shifters are better in their animal forms I’d say, no surprise there.”
“And the vampires?” she prompted.
“A couple have previous training, and are already excellent, a handful more have definite potential if I work with them.”
Nodding, Morgan added her own thoughts, “I’ve pinpointed five vamps that most likely won’t make it past the next stage. Classic narcissists. They won’t do well on a team.”
Turning her attention to Jamie, who had thus far been silent, she asked, “Any future tech wizzes in the bunch?”
Jamie held up a finger indicating she needed a moment to finish chewing the bite of food in her mouth. Only once she’d swallowed did she say, “One of the shifters is incredibly talented, but isn’t too keen on staying behind the scenes.” She shrugged. “Wants to be out in the field, but that may change. I also had some interest from one of the witches – Melanie Harper – but her previous computer experience is mostly posting on social media. I can get her up to snuff, but it’ll take time.”
Morgan nodded in response, not really surprised. All Hunters had to learn tech basics, but a good ninety-nine percent preferred the field. That was why Hunters typically recruited hackers from the human population and later Turned them to fill that position.
Returning her attention to Keegan, Morgan said, “Take the rest of this week to push your witches, see what they can do. Next week,” she continued, glancing at the others, “we split them into teams, at least one witch and one shifter on each team. I’m thinking of a mock hunt to test what they’ve learned so far. Find their weak spots.”
With the meeting portion over, Morgan grabbed up a slice of pizza before Cam could demolish it all and sat back in her seat only to discover the angel staring at her with those metallic silver eyes. “What?” she asked.
“Raphael DeMarco.”
“What about him?” she asked with narrowed eyes.He better not be recruiting for his father, she thought to herself.
