Read Online INVISIBLE PRISON (INVISIBLE RECRUITS) by Mary Buckham - Free Book Online
Authors: Mary Buckham
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much. He was the one who divided us into two groups of seven each. Vaughn led one and I was in her group this time. Kelly was in the group, too. Downside? So was Dyslexia.
Reyes headed the second team with Jaylene Smart the Amazon woman, Serena, Brenda, and another three women. I hoped we weren’t going head-to-head in any physical competition because, except for Dyslexia, the Reyes team had all the muscle. In a bar fight I’d bet on them. On the other hand we had the smarts, which mattered in some battles.
I stared at Stone, waiting to see what he had up his sadistic sleeve.
“New session today,” he said, his tone very even and serious. It gave me goose bumps.
He continued, “Since we’re still in training, anyone who doesn’t want to take part in this exercise can opt out.” He nodded toward the door. “Exit is that way.”
Sounded very generous until he added, “But if you leave, you’re out of the program.”
No gray area with this guy. I glanced at the two huddles of recruits, noticing the wary glances ping ponging back and forth. Something was up. Something most, if not all of us, weren’t going to like.
Get on with it, I wanted to prod him along. Not that I wasn’t worried; I was. But waiting for a threat always seemed worse to me than facing one, patience not being one of my strong suits.
“What’s he going to do?” Kelly whispered next to me. I noticed she was dissipating tension by stepping back and forth and flexing her hands.
“Nothing we can’t handle,” I replied, aware of Vaughn’s quick look and cautious smile.
As team leader she had to think not about her own skin but the rest of us answering to her. Not a spot I’d like to be in with Stone being cagey.
As if waiting for the tension to get to a level between high-alert and run-like-hell, Stone finally nodded toward a set of other doors to the gym, those leading from the hallway.
“Come on in, guys,” he shouted, causing us all to straighten to attention.
The minute the first guy stepped in through the doorway, and before the woman behind him followed, I knew what we’d be facing. Shifters.
I could smell them, knew the way they moved, braced myself even though they were still across the room and acting as casual as a shifter can. Which wasn’t very.
If you’ve ever been around a bunch of military personnel waiting for or looking for trouble, you know what I mean. Testosterone radiated from them, muscles flexed, ready to spring into action, body language screaming bring it on.
The guy coming to a halt on Stone’s left side wasn’t as tall as I was, but his rangy build meant speed, strength, and trouble. The woman was broader, as if she had Viking for ebearers, wide across the shoulders, big boned. and ice blue eyes. Running full tilt into her would be like smacking into a concrete wall.
Stone glanced at Vaughn and Reyes, then swept his gaze so it touched on every recruit before speaking. “We’re here to fight the good fight,” he said, adding, “With a twist.”
He glanced to his newest instructors. “Up until now we’ve been learning how to physically take down the bad guys. Human ones. Today we’re taking the game up a notch.”
He smiled, waiting for the low murmur sweeping through the group to subside. Wariness and fear. It wasn’t that every one of us recruits wasn’t different in some way, but possessing some abilities didn’t mean all of us had come up against non-humans. Besides we hadn’t practiced, or even acknowledged publicly what else we could do. Were we supposed to start here?
Being different growing up meant most of us hid our true natures so revealing them, even in an environment that theoretically appeared safe, was not easy. It was one thing to admit you were fae or a Were, and a whole other to morph into what humans considered a monster.
So what was Stone up to?
“Rolf and Bitsi are here to help us learn what it means to go up against beings stronger and more dangerous than the
Reyes headed the second team with Jaylene Smart the Amazon woman, Serena, Brenda, and another three women. I hoped we weren’t going head-to-head in any physical competition because, except for Dyslexia, the Reyes team had all the muscle. In a bar fight I’d bet on them. On the other hand we had the smarts, which mattered in some battles.
I stared at Stone, waiting to see what he had up his sadistic sleeve.
“New session today,” he said, his tone very even and serious. It gave me goose bumps.
He continued, “Since we’re still in training, anyone who doesn’t want to take part in this exercise can opt out.” He nodded toward the door. “Exit is that way.”
Sounded very generous until he added, “But if you leave, you’re out of the program.”
No gray area with this guy. I glanced at the two huddles of recruits, noticing the wary glances ping ponging back and forth. Something was up. Something most, if not all of us, weren’t going to like.
Get on with it, I wanted to prod him along. Not that I wasn’t worried; I was. But waiting for a threat always seemed worse to me than facing one, patience not being one of my strong suits.
“What’s he going to do?” Kelly whispered next to me. I noticed she was dissipating tension by stepping back and forth and flexing her hands.
“Nothing we can’t handle,” I replied, aware of Vaughn’s quick look and cautious smile.
As team leader she had to think not about her own skin but the rest of us answering to her. Not a spot I’d like to be in with Stone being cagey.
As if waiting for the tension to get to a level between high-alert and run-like-hell, Stone finally nodded toward a set of other doors to the gym, those leading from the hallway.
“Come on in, guys,” he shouted, causing us all to straighten to attention.
The minute the first guy stepped in through the doorway, and before the woman behind him followed, I knew what we’d be facing. Shifters.
I could smell them, knew the way they moved, braced myself even though they were still across the room and acting as casual as a shifter can. Which wasn’t very.
If you’ve ever been around a bunch of military personnel waiting for or looking for trouble, you know what I mean. Testosterone radiated from them, muscles flexed, ready to spring into action, body language screaming bring it on.
The guy coming to a halt on Stone’s left side wasn’t as tall as I was, but his rangy build meant speed, strength, and trouble. The woman was broader, as if she had Viking for ebearers, wide across the shoulders, big boned. and ice blue eyes. Running full tilt into her would be like smacking into a concrete wall.
Stone glanced at Vaughn and Reyes, then swept his gaze so it touched on every recruit before speaking. “We’re here to fight the good fight,” he said, adding, “With a twist.”
He glanced to his newest instructors. “Up until now we’ve been learning how to physically take down the bad guys. Human ones. Today we’re taking the game up a notch.”
He smiled, waiting for the low murmur sweeping through the group to subside. Wariness and fear. It wasn’t that every one of us recruits wasn’t different in some way, but possessing some abilities didn’t mean all of us had come up against non-humans. Besides we hadn’t practiced, or even acknowledged publicly what else we could do. Were we supposed to start here?
Being different growing up meant most of us hid our true natures so revealing them, even in an environment that theoretically appeared safe, was not easy. It was one thing to admit you were fae or a Were, and a whole other to morph into what humans considered a monster.
So what was Stone up to?
“Rolf and Bitsi are here to help us learn what it means to go up against beings stronger and more dangerous than the
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