31: Cocktails, and Not the Fun Kind
I sent Luke and Nathaniel straight down to the gym and shooting range when we hit HQ, before calling the rest of Sierra and Dr Bauer up to meet me. “Okay people. So, sierra one, two, three and alpha six are all staking out the centre of the territory. We’re trying to find out what the hell Edward and Maximillian are up to, and what we can do to fix it. Two members of the team are incapacitated and currently MIA. At the moment, we don’t know if they’ve been killed or are under Maximillian’s control, both are possible. All we know at the moment is Lyla has lost contact with two of her people. I need you all to head out there as backup for Lyla. Dr Bauer, can you please brief these guys on the samples you need?”
I called Lyla back on the radio whilst Dr Bauer was briefing the team. “Sierra one, how are we doing?”
“No change, alpha one.”
“Roger that. Sierra four through six are currently being briefed and will be out of the door in a couple of minutes. Let me know if anything changes.” I sighed, I hated what I was about to say, but it was necessary. “On the way out, sierra four, please stop by the lab for the doctor’s special chloroform cocktail. If our missing people have been taken over, they’re going to be aggressive and we need to get them back here and keep them sedated until we can get some kind of cure ready.”
“Of course, alpha,” four and Dr Bauer said simultaneously.
I turned back to the team just as Dr Bauer was wrapping up. “Sierra four, you’re on point until you catch up with sierra one.” I’d left the radio link open so Lyla was up to date. “Please keep in touch with sierra one, ideally we need to keep this on the down low as much as possible. Make sure both you and sierra one call the second anything changes, we have people ready to go at a moment’s notice.”
“Roger that, alpha.” He nodded to the rest of the team, before turning and heading out the door, five and six on his heels.
“Is that all, alpha?” Dr Bauer asked. “I’d like to get back to my research.”
“Of course, Dr Bauer. Keep me posted.”
I winced at the thought that it was very possible that in just a couple hours, I’d have two members of my team, if not more, being brought back to us sedated using a chloroform cocktail we’d created to work effectively on witches, wolves and vampires, I just never expected to use it on my own people.
Rather than wallowing, I headed downstairs to the gym. I might as well join Luke and Nathaniel in the gun range. Burn off some energy and all that.
I had only been leaning against the door frame for thirty or so seconds when the two of them noticed my presence. Luke was teaching Nathaniel the best stance, and Nathaniel was struggling, and getting frustrated. “Nathaniel, this is new to you,” I said, moving to stand next to him. “Both Luke and I have been doing this for a very long time, and it took us a long time to get to where we are. Please don’t get discouraged, you’ve been down here less than fifteen minutes.”
He nodded. “Show me, Effie?”
I nodded, taking the handgun off him, standing in the lane next to him. I didn’t even have to think about stance and positioning anymore; I was on par with Luke with handguns these days. The two of them watched as I delivered three shots precisely to the middle of the silhouette’s chest, followed by two to the forehead for good measure.
Nathaniel’s eyes were wide. “Remind me never to piss you off.” I smirked at him.
“She’s even more terrifying with knives, Nathaniel. That’s what you’d have to watch out for.”
“I can train you on that one when things are a little calmer, Nathaniel. Guns are just easier to pick up to a reasonable level than knives are.” I handed him the gun back, and he nodded as he turned back to his lane, body tense.
“Let me try,” I whispered to Luke, who nodded, taking a step back. I stood behind Nathaniel, my body pressed against his. I used my legs to correct his stance, and my hands to adjust his upper body. With me behind him, his body relaxed.
“When you’re ready, Nathaniel. Deep breath out, and squeeze the trigger.”
He nodded, doing exactly as I said.
The shot just missed his target of the chest, but it wasn’t far off. “That’s good, Nathaniel,” Luke’s voice came from behind me.
“I still missed,” he responded.
“Perhaps, but your target wouldn’t be getting up from that any time soon. You’d have bought yourself enough time to take a second shot or for someone to give you a hand. That shot on its own might not be lethal, but it would save your life.”
Nathaniel gave Luke a small smile, turning to look back at the target. He lifted the gun back up, taking a deep breath out before squeezing the trigger twice in quick succession. They were closer to the target than his last, and that was a major step for him.
In between the two shots, I’d managed to step backwards, giving Nathaniel the space to try on his own. He was so far in the zone that he didn’t notice I’d move until after he’d had a chance to take in his second two shots. He met my gaze where I stood on the other side of the room, eyes wide.
“I told you that you could do it, Nathaniel.” I gave him a small smile. “Keep going, practice makes perfect. Luke and I are both here in case you run into trouble.”
He turned back to the target, face determined. His next two shots hit the middle of the target within a couple inches of each other.
Luke had been counting shots, and he was there swapping the handgun out before Nathaniel had even realised it was empty, before turning towards the table at the back of the room to reload it. Nathaniel was getting more confident, his stance relaxing, face less tense.
It had been an hour since I sent the rest of Lyla’s team off to find her. I was starting to get twitchy. Rather than let the nerves build up, I raided the cupboards behind us, pulling out a handful of throwing knives and heading to the far end of the range, where we had the sturdier targets set up.
I felt Luke and Nathaniel’s eyes on me as I worked, each knife perfectly meeting the bullseye. Luke was smirking at me when I looked over, Nathaniel, however, looked a little flustered. The kind of flustered look that said “she’s terrifying, but I definitely would”.
I rolled my eyes at them, before gathering the knives back up and starting over again.