A Friend in Need (Gift of the Ancients Book 3) Read online

  Happy firecrackers. Crazy bottle rockets. Incendiary flowers of primal passion that went on and on, bursting and exploding inside her body. She felt Carter stiffen and heard his deep groan. This time, he was with her, and she felt a sense of completeness in the moment. In the man.

  As far as she was concerned, being with Carter was the best experience she’d ever had with sex. Although, if she was being honest with herself, it felt like much more than just good sex. It felt like…forever.

  Damn. She was in deep here and not sure where it would all lead. What had happened to playing it cool and protecting her heart? She didn’t want to come out of this with a broken one and have to put together the pieces. She was getting too old for that. She’d suffered little heartbreaks with boyfriends from her youth, but she was older and supposedly wiser now. Right?

  Then, why was she falling so hard and fast for a man that had told her flat out that he’d have broken things off forever had circumstances not worked against them? She was being a fool, but she didn’t know how to stop. The feelings inside her weren’t under her own control. It felt like something was driving her toward him, regardless of the fact that he’d have left her life forever, if only the enemy hadn’t put her in their sights.

  But she couldn’t think about that now. Not while the afterglow was making her feel all warm and fuzzy and fatigued. No, she would sleep now, and think about things later. Preferably, much later.

  She was aware of Carter wrapping her in his arms sometime later, cuddling close in the aftermath. He was such a great guy. The last thought she had before sleep claimed her was that it would be kind of nice to have this—to have him—in her life on a long-term basis. She could easily imagine waking up in Carter’s bed when they were both old and gray. He’d smile, and his blue eyes would dance with deviltry, and each day with him would hold a new adventure.

  It was a nice dream to carry into sleep.

  *

  After the morning exercise session, made all the sweeter by having Hannah, once again, running by his side, and later, sitting next to him at breakfast in the mess hall, Carter spent a couple of hours on guard duty. The prisoners were kept apart, in separate cells, and weren’t talking, so Carter’s skills didn’t come into play, but he was glad to see them looking miserable and tired. The night guards hadn’t bothered being quiet and had deliberately woken the men up every two hours when they changed shifts. It was a tactical decision, to keep the prisoners off balance. A little broken sleep wouldn’t hurt them, and it might make them less guarded when they were questioned later.

  Carter left Mike in charge of the prisoners at eleven hundred and headed straight for the unit meeting. Mike had been the unit’s best interpreter until the tower. Now, he could read minds if he was close enough and the thoughts were strong enough. Nothing would happen with him on guard.

  Carter wasn’t too worried about what Hannah might be doing, either. Hal had probably made sure Casey would keep Hannah occupied while the guys ironed things out. Casey could be counted on in situations like that. She wasn’t a soldier, or psychically gifted, but she was a stand-up gal who was steadfast and true.

  The meeting was already in progress when Carter walked in, quietly taking a seat at the back. Hal and Jeff were up front, with Commander Kinkaid, the Naval officer who was in charge of the base. Carter was surprised by the other man’s presence, but Hal knew what he was doing. He’d come to some kind of understanding with Kinkaid, Carter was sure, though he didn’t know exactly what that entailed.

  Hal nodded to Carter as he took his seat. He’d know that Carter had just been relieved of guard duty.

  “What you’re about to learn is something ranked right up there with our own secret, which I’ve briefed Commander Kinkaid on, fully,” Hal said, much to everyone’s surprise. “You’ll understand in a moment why we can have such faith in Commander Kinkaid’s discretion—and why he’s trusting us just as much as we are him. The time for secrets, I am informed by Jeeves and his lady, is at an end here on this island.” Hal looked around the room, meeting everyone’s gaze in turn, to impress upon them what a big moment this was. Carter felt the impact of that gaze and began to feel a bit of apprehension regarding whatever it was they were about to learn. “Commander, you have the floor,” Hal said, inviting the Navy commander to speak.

  “I’ve not met all of you yet,” the commander began. “I’m Lester Kinkaid. This entire island is my command, and you were given room here at the request of Admiral Morrow, to whom I report directly. This base was set up as a location where personnel with special abilities could recuperate, receive special training, and be housed when not on active field assignment. It is one of a very few special locations used for those, like you, who have abilities that are not common—or known of—in the regular human population. Everyone here has a secret. The fact that you all have similar, if not the same, kind of secrets, is why you were allowed to come here.”

  Carter wondered just what the commander was driving at. What other kinds of secrets could there be that would require this level of security and secrecy? He was drawing a blank.

  “Sergeant Carter.” The commander startled Carter out of his thoughts. “You and Sergeant Sullivan were observed walking along the beach last night. Did you see anything out of the ordinary?”

  “Sir,” Carter replied immediately. “Sergeant Sullivan thought she saw some sort of animal, but it was a flash from a set of eyes, quickly extinguished. Can’t really be sure it was there. We didn’t see any personnel at all.”

  “Oh, those eyes were there, all right. And they did belong to one of my personnel, as you put it. Only, the soldier wasn’t in their human form when they saw you,” Kinkaid said, much to Carter’s surprise.

  “Not in human form, sir? I don’t understand,” Carter said, hoping for clarification.

  “Have any of you heard of shapeshifters?” Kinkaid put the question out to everyone. “I’m not familiar with all of your abilities, but one of you can manipulate matter, right? Walk through walls and such?”

  “That would be me, sir,” Dan spoke up from across the room.

  “If you’ve seen him do that, then you can probably believe that other people have been born with the ability to change their forms from human to animal and back again,” Kinkaid said, as if it was the most normal thing in the world.

  “Like werewolves?” Zeke spoke up, his eyes wide.

  Kinkaid nodded. “Not exactly like the old horror movies, but yes, werewolves do exist.”

  “This is why I stopped you last night, Zeke,” Hal put in. “You said you saw wolves. I immediately thought about what I’d learned from Commander Kinkaid. I forwarded your report to him about what you saw, and he’s made some sense of it for us.”

  “Is everyone on this base a…um…shapeshifter?” Zeke asked the question that was foremost in Carter’s mind.

  The commander nodded. “As you might imagine, my people are used to having this island to themselves. We’ve had to curtail ourselves since you’ve been here, but now that you know about us, don’t be alarmed if you see some apex predators roaming around. We’re fully aware of our human sides when we are in our animal forms. I assure you, you’re not in any danger from us, as long as you’re one of the good guys.” He smiled, but Carter felt the intensity of the predator that was likely behind Kinkaid’s smile and felt a chill down his spine.

  “We have the occasional seer among our people, and we’re familiar with magic of many kinds, but some of you men have abilities we have never encountered before,” the commander went on. “Don’t be surprised if some of my people ask you about them. Some of us are big cats, and I’m afraid the curious streak in felines is one myth that is actually true.” Kinkaid chuckled, and just like that, the tension in the room dissipated a bit. As he’d, no doubt, planned.

  “Now, I understand from Captain Haliwell that you plan to bring Sergeant Sullivan more fully into your confidence sometime today. I trust that you are the best judges of whom to share
your own secrets with, but I ask that you do not reveal to her what I’ve just told you,” Kinkaid went on. “I’ve got authorization to bring your unit in, but for anyone else, I’ll have to clear it with my chain of command, which includes not just Admiral Morrow, but my Clan Alpha, as well.”

  “Commander, respectfully, what is an Alpha?” Hal asked.

  “Each group of shifters has a leader of one kind or another. As an example, I’m the Alpha of my family group. It has to do with age, experience, and most of all, dominance. I’m also the local Alpha for every shifter on this base. My authority is absolute here. But my Clan has an overall Alpha to whom all others answer.” Kinkaid paused a moment. “Like I said, I’m going to clear this with him before we go any further. Morrow has a lot of authority, but each species of shifter has their own Clan or Pack obligations, as well.”

  “We look forward to learning more about it,” Hal told the man, “and we won’t mention your people to anyone. This intel is compartmentalized within the unit, men,” Hal told his people. “Until further notice.”

  “Yes, sir,” they all answered, in unison.

  Hal took Carter aside after the meeting adjourned. “I think you ought to tell her about us at lunch,” Hal said, surprising Carter. “With all of us there to back you up.”

  “Are you sure that’s wise?” Carter asked his friend and commanding officer.

  Hal ran one hand through his hair. “Can’t say for sure, but there’s strength in numbers. I think she’s less likely to think you’re insane if we’re there to verify your claims.”

  Carter nodded. “You’ve never steered me wrong, Captain. Thanks for the backup.”

  Chapter Eleven

  Hannah sat next to Carter at lunch. She hadn’t seen him since breakfast that morning, and she was glad to have him back by her side, if only to eat lunch together with the rest of his unit. Casey and Hal were seated across from them, and Rose and Jeff were to one side.

  “We’re going to try some more questioning of the prisoners this afternoon, Sergeant Sullivan,” Hal told her as they neared the end of the meal. “I think you have a right to observe, considering you were their target. Also, it’ll give you a chance to see some of the guys in action. Particularly Carter.” Hal took a sip of his coffee and went on. “We’re going to try some new techniques, and with any luck, Carter will get a chance to use his full abilities.”

  She wasn’t sure exactly what the captain was referring to, but she was glad of the chance to find out more about the men who had tried to abduct her. Carter and his buddies were all so mysterious sometimes. She definitely felt that there was more to the group than met the eyes. They were protective of their doctor and the miraculous things he could do, but it was more than that. They were protective of each other, too. As if every man in the unit had some sort of secret.

  But, maybe, that was just her mind playing tricks. Sometimes, she let her imagination get the best of her. Maybe this was one of those times. Like last night on the beach and that flash of animal eyes she thought she’d seen. She hadn’t wanted to tell Carter exactly how much that had startled her, but she was grateful when they’d left the beach to…whatever large animal that had been…and gone back inside.

  Carter cleared his throat, redirecting her attention. “You know how Doc can heal, right?” he asked, his words somewhat hesitant. Hannah nodded, wondering why he was bringing that up. “Well, the thing is, Hannah, Rick wasn’t the only one who was changed.”

  “Um…what?” Hannah asked, since he seemed to be waiting for an answer. In fact, as she looked around the table, everybody was looking at her, listening to their conversation.

  “When we were scouting forward of operations in the desert, we encountered an ancient city,” Carter launched into the story again, filling in a few more details this time. “It wasn’t on any maps. There had been a notation about some ruins, but this place wasn’t in ruins. It was empty, though.” His gaze took on a faraway look, as if he was remembering. “And there was this big tower at the center of the city. I think it was the actual Tower of Babel.”

  “Not all of us agree on that point,” Rick put in from the other end of the table.

  “Agree to disagree,” Carter said, flicking his friend a glance, and Hannah got the impression that this was an old argument. “The thing is,” he went on, looking back at her, “we all were changed in various ways.”

  “How?” she asked, looking around the table, then focusing back on Carter.

  “We went into the tower and there was a single man sitting on a small Persian carpet. I already told you some of this. Remember?” Carter asked and she nodded slowly. “That man asked us questions, and we talked for a long time, though none of us could say later exactly how long. We were all acting out of character—answering questions, instead of asking them, for one thing. It was like we were under a spell.” Carter shook his head as he remembered. “Toward the end, he seemed to make up his mind, and then, he spoke a word over each one of us, separately. He got to me toward the end, or I would’ve been able to translate all the words. I know he said sky to Wil, and earth to Jake, though the language was completely foreign to me before the man spoke over me. I think what he said to me would have translated to speech or language, though I can’t be sure.”

  “And that’s probably the last time you’ll ever hear someone say something you don’t understand,” Hal noted, a slight grin on his face.

  “Do you mean that this man in the tower gave each of you a gift? Like Rick’s healing ability?” The idea was fascinating.

  Carter nodded. “In my case, I can hear any language, understand it, and speak it back like a native. Any language. Any dialect. Even the most obscure,” he told her. “We’ve been testing it ever since we got back to the States, and I haven’t missed a single one they’ve thrown at me yet.”

  “That’s amazing,” she told him, wondering at the implications of someone who could speak and understand any language. “What about if it’s written down? Can you read them, too?”

  Carter nodded, smiling just a bit. “Doesn’t matter. Written or spoken. If it’s a language, I can understand it.”

  “So, what did sky and earth mean to Wil and Jake?” she wanted to know.

  “I can control the weather,” Wil answered easily, smiling at her as she met his gaze down the other end of the table.

  “And I can sense things in the earth. I think I can either start or stop earthquakes. Maybe both,” Jake replied quietly. “We’re still testing, but we have to go cautiously, because I really don’t want to cause a tsunami via an undersea earthquake.”

  “Oh.” She frowned. “Yeah, that would be a problem.”

  Jake chuckled, as did Carter, at her response.

  “We’re still learning our way with these abilities, and the military has stashed us here until we figure out exactly what we can and can’t do,” Carter continued. “There’s a team of doctors and scientists in the next building over, who have been working with us individually.”

  “You seem to be taking this well,” Hal observed in a leading way.

  “To be honest, I’m not sure what to think. I mean, I know Rick has got some kind of amazing medical mojo, but the rest of it… I just don’t know.” She shook her head. “No disrespect intended, but it all seems just a bit farfetched.”

  Lunch was pretty much over, and a few of the men got up and started to leave for their afternoon duties. Carter stood, as well.

  “There’s only one way to prove this to you, I guess. Let’s go see the bad guys we caught. At the mall, they were speaking a somewhat rare dialect. I heard them and that’s how I knew what they were planning. We’ve kept them apart since we brought them here. Today, we’re going to put them together and observe,” Carter told her as she stood beside him. Hal got up, as did a few others.

  Hal kissed his wife and then came around the table to join Carter and Hannah, leading the way out of the mess hall. A couple of the other guys fell into step behind them.

>   “We questioned each of the men individually last night, in English. Neither said anything of value. In fact, they were both pretty tight-lipped,” Hal told her as they walked along. “Plan is, to give them a meal and let them eat together in one of the rooms where we can listen in and observe. They probably think we won’t be able to get a translation for whatever they say without serious effort and time. But Carter here, is playing the role of our secret weapon today.”

  Carter chuckled, as did Hal. Hannah was reserving judgment. The story they’d told her sounded incredible, but she’d seen things in her time that were inexplicable. Up to, and including, her experience with Rick and his healing of her ankle. She was willing to suspend disbelief and see where this might go. It sure would be seriously interesting if what they claimed was true.

  They walked to the other side of the building and down a flight of stairs. There was a holding area down there that she hadn’t expected. Built into the basement was a set of cells with connecting rooms that looked like they could be used for interrogations or even just conferences. These guys had quite the facility at their command.

  Hal led the way into an observation room while the other guys moved the prisoners around. He took a seat as Carter politely offered another chair to Hannah then took the empty chair at her side.

  “They can’t see us,” Carter told her. They were facing a very large window that looked in on the conference room. “The mirror on their side is one-way and the whole thing is made of very thick Plexiglas. They can’t break through, even if they had a firearm. It’s bullet-proof. Their table is also bolted in place,” he went on.

  “And their chairs are flimsy plastic that couldn’t make a dent in the wall without some serious effort,” she finished for him. “I see you’ve thought of everything. I wouldn’t have considered using cheap plastic patio chairs.”

  “We’re on a budget,” Hal said, his quick wink indicating he was teasing.