Hoodwinked Read online

  Hanging up the phone, I looked at the time, seven in the morning. Poor Janet. She got the grumpy, sleepless Gwen who needed coffee. Coffee that made me think of he-who-will-not-be-named because I refused to think about the dream. But how the hell was I really supposed to forget someone that hot, a virtual stranger, who had smiled at me with that much warmth? Something Derrick had not shown me during our entire relationship. Damn, these guys better be paying well for this job at the very least. Ugh, guess I had better get up.

  I settled on wearing a pair of light colored skinny jeans and pale blue one-shoulder blouse. Just because it’s business doesn’t mean I can’t look fabulous. Luckily for me my hair was perfect today and all I had to do was brush it. Looking in the mirror at my hazel eyes and freckled face, I decided I really needed to learn to do makeup. Applying a touch of lipgloss was about all I could do. Guess that’s why I enjoyed my work so much, I didn’t have to worry with all the girly nonsense.

  As soon as I hit the living room Whiskers ran to me meowing. As usual, the little demon was hungry. I swear he was gonna end up eating me out of house and home one day. Pouring food in his oversized bowl I contemplated what I was gonna eat for breakfast. I settled on a toasted bagel with cream cheese. See, I could eat healthy occasionally.

  Finally making my way to the bus station, I got onto my usual ride to the Paraoffice. I wondered what kind of job these people had in mind for me? I hoped it was something that paid well. I would really like to get a shed built in my backyard. Then I could have a special place for my weapons. I have a hoarding problem. Most women had too many shoes or clothes. I had weapons. It really was a beautiful thing. Right now they were locked in one of my small hall closets. Not really the best place for them, but I had to put them somewhere. I just needed somewhere where I could actually admire them instead of them just being crammed away.

  When the bus finally came to my stop, I stepped onto the street in front of my office. It was just a giant, grey, six-story building with way too many windows. I had always hated the outside of this building. It was just so blah. You would think a place that housed a company who did something like hunt badass paranormal creatures would have a little more pizazz.

  The smell of coffee hit me as I opened the glass door and headed in. Ah, the one good thing about this building: coffee on tap. I grabbed a cup and headed to the elevator, scanning my work card in the process. Something about being confined into those little spaces freaked me out and of course my office was on the sixth floor. Even though I was fitter than most, there was no way in hell I was trotting up six flights of stairs. So I had to ride the damn thing all the way up.

  The doors finally opened and I stepped into the small death machine. It shuddered as it headed up to the floor my office was on. Of course, I was graceful when it jerked and did not throw out my free hand to grab something. If only that were true. When it finally stopped on my floor, I got out as quickly as possible. Not watching where I was going in that tiny moment of panic, I slammed into a wall that I didn’t remember being in this spot of the office. I was really sick of running into stuff and getting run over by people.

  “Oof,” came a grunt from the wall. Wait, walls make sounds now? “If you wanted to meet me, all you had to do was introduce yourself,” said a deep voice that sent shivers down my spine.

  I had, in fact, not hit a wall but run into a man whose body was just that hard. Again?! This must be a new record for me, slamming into two men in less than twenty-four hours. I couldn't help but be sad that I couldn't stay pressed against him. I found myself not wanting to pull away from him. As I slowly looked up into the blue eyes of the man I had run into, the first thing that popped into my head popped out of my mouth.

  “Wow! I thought I had hit a wall. But nope. Just ran into a man hard enough to feel like one.” I felt my cheeks heat immediately after I had said it. I swear one of these days I am gonna buy a muzzle and wear it. Maybe make it a fashion trend for people who don’t think before they speak.

  The man full out belly laughed at me. It was such a nice sound, and it gave me a few seconds to admire him. He had short, curly, dark hair that looked so good against his tanned skin. His eyes were crinkled with laughter and they were the prettiest ones I had ever seen. His nose was a touch crooked, so I assume it had been broken at some point in his life, and he had such nice, full kissable lips.

  “ Are you done staring yet?” he asked mid-laugh. However, it looked like he was doing plenty staring of his own. Looks that were making me feel sensations similar to when I pressed against another stranger. What the hell was going on with life lately?

  “At the moment, yes. Can’t say I won't do it again though,” I attempted to flirt a bit. As usual, it was terrible, and one of the many reasons I was still alone. His laugh was so deep and for some reason made me want to jump him right in the middle of the office floor. I'm not sure what was going on with my hormones but they needed to calm down.

  "I am Ethane. It's lovely to meet you." He said as he reached out and caressed my hand, bringing it up to his mouth for a light kiss. I felt my cheeks heat and looked around the office. I am pretty sure every woman in there was looking at me with envy. I had to take a second to compose myself before replying because his kiss to my hand had left me standing there in shock.

  "I'm Gwen." Super original, I know, but damn did he look good in his crisp black suit. I really needed to work on talking to attractive men, because I was too flustered to get out anything other than my name. He just took me by surprise. That's my story and I was sticking to it.

  "We have been waiting on you, Gwen,” he said with a smirk. "Follow me to the office and we can get you introduced to the team."

  I followed in silence. I wanted to be angry because they had woke me up at the ass crack of dawn with no appointment. Making me have to come into the office and deal with Derrick and who knows what else. However, if I was being honest with myself, I didn't mind much because I got to stare at his nice ass on the way to Derrick’s office. Man, what an ass it was.

  3

  I'm pretty sure I stepped into an alternate universe when I stepped into Derrick’s office. It was set up like a standard office, normal; but now contained four sexy men in suits. Definitely not a sight you see everyday. Derrick was currently in a heated debate with one of them. The stranger had a buzzed head and I could only see him from the back. It was a very nice backside, though. I could see hints of a tattoo poking out at the end of his shirt sleeves.

  Standing to his left was another very handsome man with brown and blond dreads. I never knew purple eyes were a real thing, but his could only be described that color. He was tall, probably around 6'3, with a cleft chin, and plump lips. I could feel his calculating stare returning mine. Sitting in the back of the room, looking out the window, was Donovan. Last night I couldn’t get him off my mind, no matter how hard I tried. Then there was the dream. And now here he was. He was still just as sexy, maybe more so because now he was in a navy suit with his long hair pulled up into a man bun. Why did I not take him up on his offer for coffee last night? In the dream you did. Shut up subconscious. It was going to be a bitch today, I could already tell. An annoying voice brought me out of my musings.

  "Ah, here she is. This is Agent Taylor, but don't let her human status fool you. She is one of the best hunters we have. I see that you have met Ethane but this is Draven," Derrick said, gesturing at the man with the dreads and purple eyes, "Barrett, and Donovan."

  What was with the “She is one of the best hunters we have.” statement? Derrick had never given me undue praise. Who the hell were these guys for him to kiss ass?

  "Hello, everyone, you can call me Gwen. Would someone care to let me know what this is about and why I was brought in at this ungodly hour?" Finally getting over the stupor all these new men put me in, my irritation rose to the forefront of my mind. I was made of sterner stuff than this and had a job to do. I was not going to let guys, no matter how delicious they looked, distract me from
it. ‘You could only rely on yourself’ was my motto and I was sticking to it. My hormones could go screw themselves.

  "These men are here to request your services for a case down in Florida. There have been over thirty kids that have disappeared in the middle of the night. In each of the children's rooms there has been a strange pentagram symbol found," he replied.

  I took a second to go over what he had said. Everyone knew that demons didn't really exist, but that didn't stop some of the darker witches from trying to summon one. I hated dealing with witches. They were a crafty bunch. The last one I had to bring in had cast a language spell on me. He had thought by spelling me to speak German, it would keep me from capturing him. The bastard. It took me a month to track down someone to fix it because I was stuck speaking the foreign language and the two witches I had known didn't want to be found. However, I got my revenge. I still brought him in and he really hated losing to a human female. Plus I met a new witch to help me for future cases.

  "Alright. What else is there other than the symbols?" I questioned. Usually if there had been some kind of ritual, one of the witches we had working for us could feel the residue that was left behind. I was around a witch once who was looking for the residue, and he explained that it was a sludge feeling, like you were walking through mud.

  "We have had witches, seers, and just about every other supernatural that we have working for the Paraoffice in the homes to check. No one has found anything other than the symbol. There have been signs of a disturbance though. We have all of the information in a file for you. We would like to head back to Panama tomorrow. And we would like it if you would come and help us track down these kids," the man with dreads replied with a serious look on his face.

  Although his answer was sharp, I could feel the tension from him and the rest of the men. Their frustration at not being able to find the kids, or stop the kidnappings, apparent. Despite any misgivings about my mixed feelings of lust and fighting a longing to be far away, I knew I would help in some way. I felt a deep pull to their emotions, which was honestly freaking me the fuck out. Damn it! I could not get attached to these men. The kids were more important, but I could not rush into the situation.

  "Give me the file and I will go over everything. Give me y'all’s numbers and I will call after I decide if there is anything that I can do," I replied knowing deep down that I was going to help.

  "Our personal numbers are in the file. Please let us know as soon as you can. Thank you for your time. We look forward to your call." Barrett said, staring me down with his chocolate brown eyes.

  "Thank you," I replied.

  Looking around the room, I found all the men staring at me, including Derrick. Derrick was looking at me like I was a new specimen he had never seen while the guys just looked hungry. And not for food. Again, it was like I felt their emotions. A deep pull to walk to them. So I did what I always did – left as quickly as possible while still looking like a badass. Yep, that’s me. The lily-white liar even to herself. I know, I know. I am super cool.

  Abandoning the room and all of the hotness, I could not believe that had really just happened. I decided that Dunkin Doughnuts was a great idea. It was also a good place for me to calm my hormones and focus on the case file currently clutched in my hands.

  Twenty minutes, two doughnuts, and a large coffee later, I was finally opening up the case file on the missing children. It was way smaller than it should be with the amount of abductions. It was about fifteen pages of the same thing: child goes missing in the night, their bedroom is wrecked, and a pentagram style symbol is found painted in blood over the bed. Every case file had the same exact information. It was sounding more and more like a witchy occurrence. However, it bothered me that no one could sense the residue from the magic that had to have been used. Unless it was just some humans. The whole situation left my stomach feeling like I had eaten rocks. Where in the world were those poor kids? I had to pull myself out of this overly sympathetic mindset if I was gonna be able to help.

  Sipping my coffee, I headed towards the bus. I guess it was time for me to go home and pack. Trying to take my mind off of the missing kids, I thought about the fact that I had never been to Florida before. I was gonna make it a goal to go to the beach at least once while I was down there. The whole way back, I thought about the beach and all the hotness of my soon to be partners. I hadn't had a lover other than Derrick in over three years. So there wasn't a thing wrong with me fantasizing about it.

  Once I finally got home, I checked to make sure Whiskers hadn't gotten into anything. Of course, he greeted me at the door with his usual high pitched meow. I have no idea how he wasn't fat. After feeding my little heathen, I called and scheduled him a stay at the pet boarding place. I hated leaving him, but I would not take him with me due to his destructive habits. Hotels frown on having all of their furniture scratched to hell. I needed to quit stalling and call up the guys to let them know that I would be taking the job. The first name on the file was Donovan's, so I called him. Maybe I could get through one conversation without making an ass of myself.

  "Hello. This is Agent Donovan speaking."

  His voice, even through the phone, sent tingles straight down my spine. I could imagine him sitting here, calm and relaxed, waiting for my response.

  "Hey, this is Gwen. I was calling about the case. I'm not sure how much I can help, but I am willing to try. I only hope that we can find the children.” I said, bringing my mind back to the case. I had to find a way to be immune to his voice or I would never be able to concentrate when he spoke to me.

  “We will be leaving tomorrow at eight in the morning from the airport. You need to bring plenty of clothes for warm weather and be prepared to jump right into it as soon as we land. There has been another abduction since we have been up here. Until now, only children ages nine to eleven had been taken and they all share the same blood type. However, the latest child was younger, so we need to get this figured out fast.”

  What he said sent chills all over my body. So many missing kids, it was just devastating. Once again I felt myself being pulled in to the dire nature of the case. I had to work on being more unfazed by all of the cases that I had to work on. In reality, none of them were cut and dry. All of them had to deal with death, and I was okay with those. It was just the kids that tore me up inside. I didn’t want to miss something because of those feelings though. So I brushed them away as best as I could and moved on.

  “I’ll be there. See all of you then,” I said, hanging up the phone. I cheered myself on because I had been able to keep the conversation short and not make an ass of myself. This was a big win for me. Chuckling at my inner thoughts, I started to pack. Luckily I hadn't ever gotten around to putting my summer clothes up in storage. Wait, who was I kidding? That was never gonna happen because I had a bad habit of putting it off. To put clothing in storage, I would have to fold it. And folding clothes is evil.

  Finally packing up two suitcases worth of what I would need, I decided it was time for me to train. Since I was just a human, I didn't have super strength or anything else to rely on but my skills. I had to keep fit because if I didn't, it could be the end of me. Personally, I would like to continue living, so I trained at least three hours every day. I had started slowly, as soon as I was out of my parent’s house at sixteen. I had gotten really lucky and found a job at a martial arts studio where the owner, Jarald, paid me cash and let me take classes for free when I wasn't working. Now, it was not only a way for me to ensure that I could take care of myself, but also a stress reliever. The routine exercise had become such a big part of my life that it was the only way my mind ever really focused on anything.

  As soon as I started warming up, I got lost in the past due to my body being used to going through all the motions. A few months after working at the studio, Jarald took me in. He made sure I had anything I needed and forced me to study and get my GED. He was the only reason I ever went to college, even though I ended up dropping out sophomore
year to work at the Paraoffice.

  I used to want to be a doctor, but it took one night for my entire life to change. Jarald had come up for one of our weekly dinners at the Pasta House. It had all been going great. We had sat in there talking too long and it was late when we left. As we were walking back to his old beat-up truck, a vampire had come out of nowhere and attacked us. We had tried to defend ourselves but at that point I had stopped all of my training and Jarald was just too old to do much damage. By the time the Paraoffice had arrived, it had been too late for my mentor and father-figure. It had almost been too late for me. I still have scars running up and down my arms from the severe damage the vamp had caused. After that attack, I started training vigorously and started working for the Paraoffice. Now, three years later, I had saved some people and stopped their families from going through that pain of losing someone that they loved.

  When I was done with my training, I headed to the kitchen to eat. I had worked out for longer than usual, and it was already five in the afternoon. As I started to make myself something quick, I heard a knock at the door. Damn it. I was not in the mood to deal with salesmen or some kid trying to sell me something.

  Walking to the door, I got my “I do not want or need this” speech ready. I didn’t want to be a bitch, but if pushed, I had no problem with it, except for if it was a kid. Then I usually just scared them into thinking I was a crazy cat lady. Whiskers’s antisocial behavior helped.

  However, when I opened the door, I saw Ethane standing there. I pinched my arm to see if I was dreaming again. Shit! That hurt. Nope, not dreaming. It was really Ethane, still in in his suit, standing on my doorstep. How is it that I was with Derrick for three years, and during that time saw not one guy that I wanted enough to back out of that twisted relationship. Now I had four, who I could not seem to quit literally running into or attracting to my house. The dilemma was how do I convince myself and the delectable, smirking Ethane, that I do not need or want what he was trying to sell or offer. Unintentional or not.