Page 8 of Zeus

When Kincaid steps forward, his eyes also glued on Nyx, I get the distinct feeling that our angry teammate is going to be fired. I've thought he was out the door numerous times since I joined Cerberus because the man is like a raging bull in a China shop, always tearing shit up with a kill-now-and-ask-questions-later mentality.

Instead, I watch in awe as Kincaid's frustration fades away, a slow smile turning up the corners of his mouth before he speaks.

"Okay, Nyx, you can go first," Kincaid says.

Nyx shifts in his seat, drawing every eye in the room, and I know I can't be the only one waiting for him to tell Kincaid to go to hell.

I sense Jericho leaning forward in his seat because the two of them don't exactly get along after Nyx got in Aspen's face and screamed at her a while back, accusing her of knowing more about the bad shit her ex-husband was doing with his employees' missing kids than she was saying. It didn't go over very well, and there's clearly still some bad blood there.

"Nyx," the man says, not bothering to clear his throat, his voice coming out like he spent the morning chewing on glass. "Former Marine."

Silence grows for a few beats, but it becomes clear that the man isn't going to offer anything else.

"Lark," the man to Nyx's right says. "I hate people in masks, and clowns make my skin crawl."

A warm chuckle rolls through the room, and some of the tension cuts away.

"Echo. I'm from Dayton, Ohio."

"Jersey, former ICE."

"Jericho, also former ICE."

"Casper. IT. Come to me with anything you need. If I can't find it, I can find someone who can."

"Hemlock, president of the Tennessee chapter. Glad to have you here."

"Ace. Former Cerberus. Former ICE, now current Cerberus member."

I nod with each introduction until I feel everyone’s eyes on me, and my heart starts to race with so much attention.

"Zeus," I mutter. "Former Marine."

"With that out of the way," Hemlock says, his voice tinged with disappointment, telling me this little exercise didn't go as he had intended. "First order of business is seeing if anyone wants to move over to the new cabin before we bring others into the chapter."

"No offense," Lark says, looking in Zayne's direction. "The idea of moving all my shit exhausts me."

A murmur of agreement makes its way around the room.

"None taken," Zayne says.

"Next," Hemlock says. "We need to get into this next big project. We were going to have Fury and Zeus together for this one, but since Fury is out of pocket at the moment, I'm sending Zayne in. He's got the most experience with this sort of organization."

My blood runs cold, my hands sweating the second the words leave his mouth.

"We can wait until Fury is available," I find myself saying.

Just the words leaving my mouth make me feel like a piece of shit. I know this is a suspected trafficking organization, and I also know that any delay could allow them to create many more victims. Our group's entire goal is to save people, not worry about our own personal shit, and let it get in the way of saving others.

I'm once again the center of attention as everyone in the room turns to look at me. Well, all but one person, because Zayne's eyes are locked on the front of the room. Something inside of me clenches in a way I'm not going to spend my time analyzing right now with more than half a dozen witnesses.

"Never mind," I mutter, feeling like an insolent child not getting their way.

"Zayne, why don't you give us a little information on your history?" Kincaid says.

I look for any place in the room to lock my eyes, but on the man who clears his throat as if he's about to spew some rehearsed speech.

"I've spent the last ten years working with a task force that infiltrates paramilitary organizations and helps break them down from the inside out," Zayne says, making it impossible for me to avoid turning not only my eyes but all my attention to him.