boiled down to one person. The tight curves of her bottom felt supremely perfect in his hands, and with just a little prompting, she pumped her hips as if riding him. Pressing his lips against hers in a hungry, desperate kiss, he pounded into her until her back thumped against the door. Paige leaned her head back and let out a long, contented moan.
“Artists,” Vihtori muttered before shuffling away.
Chapter Thirty-Two
Raton, New Mexico
Eighteen hours later
The hill where Cole and Jessup had met Rico was now completely cordoned off by the military. In fact, most of the town had become a base inhabited by men wearing fatigues adorned with a mix of Army and Marine Corps insignias. The only thing those uniforms had in common was a patch on the shoulder bearing the wolf and skull insignia of the IRD. Helicopters roared through the air. Armored vehicles rattled down the streets. Command centers had been set up in spots that were formerly in the quiet section of town.
“Well,” Cole said as he and Paige were escorted by Adderson and three soldiers carrying large caliber machine guns, “at least we don’t have to worry about news choppers getting too close.”
Dressed in simple khakis that could have been lifted from any Middle East conflict over the last couple of decades, Adderson displayed nothing but the IRD insignia and a colonel’s eagle pinned to his shirt. “You obviously haven’t been watching the news,” he said.
“No. We’ve been busy.”
“I’m sure you have, but it’s all out there. These creatures have taken over entire towns, which has made our jobs that much more difficult. What happened in Atoka is still under review. In the last twelve hours several Class Two shifters have been spotted throughout the country.”
“Half Breeds,” Paige said to Cole.
Grimacing as if her use of such common terminology hurt his ears, Adderson continued, “There have also been several reports of spontaneous transformations occurring in neighboring states.”
“Do we really have to go through all this official talk?” Cole asked. “You’re just adding syllables and wasting time.”
“You want me to cut down on the syllables? Fine. How’s this? FBI. Manhunt. Escaped prisoner. Oh, sorry. Was that last one too long for you?”
“Nope,” Cole replied. “Point taken. Continue.”
“You’re taking care of that escaped prisoner thing, right?” Paige asked.
Adderson nodded. “Already done. Just try to steer clear of Colorado for a while.”
They’d reached the center of the IRD barricades, which put them within eyeshot of a crude stone statue. Esteban still crouched on all fours and snarled at something roughly at Cole’s eye level. The Full Blood’s stone covering was a little dusty but mostly intact.
“We want to contract your services on a regular basis until this crisis is dealt with,” Adderson said to her.
Paige looked around at the uniformed soldiers. “Don’t you have enough bullets to throw at these things?”
“Bullets don’t help. I don’t need to tell you that. Since you and your associates are the only ones to have hurt these creatures, I’ve been authorized to make an offer. You’ll be compensated for your efforts, but trust me when I tell you we can’t afford to take no for an answer. Things have gone way past the point of people like you sneaking around and covering up vampire raids as gang fights, or werewolf sieges as wild dog attacks. We’ve already been covering those tracks and now our entire unit has been forced into action, so you might as well come along for the ride. It’s either that or get rolled over by the machine you see around you.”
Paige closed her eyes, unable to think back to simpler days when changing a license plate or laying low for a while was enough to shake unwanted attention from the authorities. “I’ll have to contact some of the others to see what they think about this.”
“You could always give us their information so the IRD could—”
“Or,” she cut in, “I could do it myself. Nice try, though.”
“I’ll give you time to think it over, but don’t take long. We’re launching an offensive within seventy-two hours, with or without your help. Between you and me, your help could save a lot of soldiers’ lives.”
“Or you could just stick to lying to the media and keeping the cameras away from us while we do our job.”
Adderson shook his head. “Too late for that. And before you tell me about how tough it is being a Skinner, just know that I’ve got an appointment with several highly ranked officials to try and