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would slap him around some and then force him to anyway. "I'm flattered."
    "Don't be," Black replied curtly. "You're more likely to be killed joining us than if you continued with what you're doing now. I'm giving you the option to back out now."
    Calyx arched an elegant eyebrow. "Captain Dickwad didn't mention anything about having a choice in the matter."
    Black frowned. Calyx wished for a second that he hadn't taken the Bliss. He would love to know what was putting that look of consternation on the other man's face. "It's my team so it's my call. In or out, Starr?"
    Yes, Black was definitely younger than any ranking officer Calyx had seen but he also realized why. He didn't act young. He acted painfully mature, so much so that the empath doubted whether the other agents even realized how young Black was. In that gorgeous, lithe body was a control that made Calyx's jaw ache. Intimidating really. Except that Calyx had seen what the others hadn't. He'd seen underneath.
    "If I join your team," Calyx began, dropping the cigarette and letting it smolder on the pavement, "will I be your plaything instead of Captain Dickhead's?"
    A muscle jumped in Black's jaw. Oh, so he didn't like the mention of his captain's indiscretions, did he? Again, Calyx regretted the psychic deadening effects of the Bliss.
    "No."
    Calyx straightened away from the wall and stepped into the circle of light that held the other man.
    "Not even if I want to be?" He was only an inch taller than Black but the boots gave him an added advantage. He looked down at the younger man and ran a hand up the black leather jacket. "I think I wouldn't mind being your plaything. You strike me as the kinky type. You could cuff me to your bed if you wanted." When Black didn't respond he cooed, "Or I could cuff you , if you prefer that instead. Would you like me to take control, sweetheart? Sometimes all of that fearsome responsibility can be a bit too much to handle. What do you say? Want to be my plaything?"
    Nothing. Calyx might have sighed in disappointment if it hadn't been for that brief glimpse into the man earlier. Outwardly, Black was good. He gave nothing away. But no one could hide from an empath. No one could hide from Calyx Starr.
    His body stirring with the challenge, he took a step back. "Alright. I'll join you, Black. I get the feeling it may be fun working with you and your boys."
    "This isn't about fun," Black told him, eyes narrowing.
    Calyx smiled, amused by his stubbornness."Ah, but maybe it should be. I'll see what I can do for you, sweetheart."
    No response but that didn't upset Calyx in the slightest. He had the advantage here in every way possible. All that was left now was to prove it. He had a feeling working with Black and the boys of JC2 might be more fun than he'd had in a long, long time.
     
     

CHAPTER ONE
     
     
    The nightmare again. It was bitterly easy to recognize it now: the unlit hallway with the familiar pansy wallpaper, the sickeningly sweet scent of the gardenia air freshener. The nightmare. Even while immersed in it his dream-self protested that it had been weeks since he'd last endured this. What had brought it back? Why now? No one answered.
    He was walking down the hallway, hemmed in by jittery bodies that eagerly herded him forward. Under the cloying aroma of gardenia were other smells: a sticky and sharp scent like copper, the acrid smoke of gunpowder. Below it all like the bottom note of a perverse perfume was the strange lemony tang of addiction as it sweated through skin pores. In this nightmare it was all one big stink. He'd walked this hall a hundred times and inhaled the same gagging smells. He knew what lay ahead and it never changed.
    When he entered the bedroom they were kneeling on the carpet just like always. The man was dressed in a white T-shirt and blue striped pajama bottoms. She was wearing a plain cotton nightgown. A gift , said a whisper in his mind. He looked down at their bandana-covered faces; he listened to