“Have a seat and we’ll explain.” The man Slade called Jax dismissed her as he walked by.
Glaring at the man, Jill felt her hands itch to plaster him to the wall. If he made one move toward her, she would do just that. He was as tall as Slade, but leaner. He had a dark, exotic look about him and she thought of Sam Elliott when she heard his voice. “You ripped my shirt, asshole.” Was out of Jill’s mouth before she could pull it back, but man, she had to do something to let some of the anger out and plastering him against a wall may be a bad move.
He stopped, turning slowly. His dark eyes glinting in the overhead lights. Ripping his shirt off, he walked toward her. “Take mine.”
Jill’s eyes stayed on his; they didn’t even waver toward his naked torso. She knew his type. He thought he was God’s gift to women, and oh, he was handsome all right, but not her type at all.
Before she could toss it back at him, Slade grabbed it out of her hands and slammed it into the man’s chest hard. “You went too far, Jax,” Slade growled, taking an aggressive step forward.
Jax laughed deeply. “So it’s true, ah.” His eyes went from Slade to Jill, his eyes running over her. “Nice, real nice.”
Jill wasn’t exactly sure what all that meant, but at the moment, she didn’t care. Pulling her shirt closed, she headed toward Steve and Adam, who were sitting in the chairs. Adam looked exhausted, his head hung down, his arms on his knees.
“You guys okay?” Jill asked, kneeling between them.
“Yeah, but I think I shit myself.” Steve whispered, glancing up at all the Warriors who were huddled with Sloan.
“When did Sloan get here?” Jill also watched, looking over her shoulder.
Adam finally looked up, his fangs still enlarged. “This was part of our training.”
Jill looked back surprised. “What?”
Steve nodded. “Yeah, this was all part of our training.” He snorted, rubbing his eyes. “What the fuck did we sign up for?”
Sloan walked up, stopping them from talking further. “Jill, take a seat,” he said and waited for her to follow his orders, which she did quickly. “This was your first test, and I have to say I’m impressed. It was a little chaotic, but not bad.”
All the Warriors, who had lined up behind Sloan, nodded their approval. Jill’s eyes roamed each of them stopping on Slade who was staring directly at her with a pissed expression on his face. She wondered what the hell he was pissed at now; she was the one who was almost gang raped. She was getting sick of his mood swings. Hell, he had more mood swings than a premenstrual teen girl. A smile tugged her lips at that thought, but she quickly wiped it from her mouth when Slade snarled at her. Turning her attention back to Sloan was the safest thing she could do at the moment.
“You have a lot of work ahead of you, but what we saw so far is that you have what it takes to train further without wasting our time.” Sloan glanced over at the new man. “This is Jax Wheeler, one of the best and toughest interrogators with the VC Warriors.”
Jax nodded his head at them. “Nice to meet you, guys, but I’m sure you’re not feeling the same at the moment.” His eyes landed on Jill with a wink.
Jill glared at him, not liking him very much. He seemed way too sure of himself, and well, he ripped her favorite damn shirt. He just grinned at her before looking away.
“I’m going to let Jax and Slade take over for now.” With that, Sloan turned and walked out of the room, as was his nature to always do: say his peace and leave.
Slade stepped forward. “Each Warrior here has had their first true start of training for initiation. Today was that day for you.” He eyed them each before continuing. “You actually did very well, but there were things that could have gone differently in the situation you were placed in.”
Jill waited to see if Adam or Steve were going to say anything, but a sideways glance at them showed her they were keeping their mouths shut, so maybe she should follow suit and do the same.
“Let’s start from the beginning. Did any of you, once placed inside the vehicle at the start of the drive, keep track of turns, time and noises so if you could contact anyone you would be able to give them some type of location?”
Jill knew she had, but also knew she had screwed it up halfway and lost track. Her mind right now was still on what happened and she still wasn’t thinking straight.
“You need to block out what just happened to you right now.” Jax stepped in, his eyes narrowed on them. “Get over being pissed, frightened or whatever emotion you had, and answer the fucking questions. In order to be a Warrior, you have to be able to adjust from one issue to the next without thought or emotion.”
“No, I lost track,” Adam replied, his voice hoarse, but firm.
“So did I,” Jill replied, not looking at Jax. “I lost it halfway through.”