Act of Surrender: An Immortal Ops World Novel (PSI-Ops / Immortal Ops Book 2) by Mandy M. Roth Page B

but there are nothing but hipsters hanging in here. Are you a hipster?” she asked, turning, facing him. “Say it ain’t so. I have standards. I’d rather date a clown.”
    James watched her mouth move, syncing up to the words he was hearing. As he put it all together, fear raced over him. He’d had the vision of her being in danger and he had a deep connection with her.
    “You there?” she asked.
    James took a step forward, and the moment his booted foot touched the street, his sensitive hearing returned tenfold, taking him to his knees. He twisted, dropped his phone and covered his ears as the sounds of the city crashed into him. Through the fog of it all he heard the distinct sound of squealing tires and smelled exhaust fumes.
    He blinked open his eyes open, his hands still on his head as he turned just enough to see two large black vans speeding in his direction. For a moment, he could do nothing, realizing who they were—the Corporation. They were just like the vans that had come when he’d been ambushed and taken prisoner. Just like the ones that had changed his life, and they were back. It would have been so easy to permit the panic welling to overtake him.
    But something tugged at his gut, forcing his gaze to Laney, who was standing at the door of the cafe, about to head out, her phone pressed to her ear, confusion on her beautiful face.  
    He heard it then—her voice coming from his cell phone on the street. “Hagen? Hagen, are you there? What’s wrong? Something is wrong. I can feel it.”
    She stepped out of the cafe and her gaze whipped across the street to him. He shook his head as the vans came closer. The realization hit him that they weren’t there for him. They were there for Laney.
    No , his beast roared from within.
    “Laney, run!” he shouted.
    She froze in place, looking stunned, her phone moving from her ear as she stared across the street at him. “Hagen? Ohmygod, what’s wrong?”  
    She didn’t run from the area. Instead, the crazy fool of a woman ran at him. He forced himself to his feet and pulled his hands from his head. “Go! Run!”  
    She kept coming, hitting the midway point of the street just as the vans lined up with her. They weren’t going to stop. They were going to run her down. Something snapped inside him.
    She was not to be harmed.
    With a speed that shocked even him, James shot forward, going at her head-on. He wrapped his arms around her gently, the sweet smell of her filling his head as he swept her up and off her feet, racing forward with her in the direction of the coffee shop. The racing vans buzzed right past him, exactly where she’d been standing, before they screeched to a halt.
    James didn’t stop. He kept running, right past the coffee shop. He darted into a side alley with her. Raced down it, reaching out with his senses, hoping they wouldn’t fail him.
    The telltale sound of weapons being prepped for firing reached him. Whatever the Corporation had done had left his abilities and his wolf feeling supercharged and out of control. He couldn’t worry on that now. His only concern was Laney.
    Twisting, he pushed her body against an alcove in the building, using his own body to shield hers as bullets whipped past them. One grazed his shoulder, the bite of it stinging slightly. Within seconds the sensation was gone, his body hopped up on adrenaline and testosterone.
    His senses on overdrive, he zeroed in on the enemy’s location. With one hand and countless years’ worth of muscle memory he grabbed for his ankle holster and realized he wasn’t wearing his weapon. It was in his car, which was parked across the street from the coffee shop. He’d not wanted to scare the shit out of Laney by packing heat. He didn’t want her running screaming from him thinking he’d arranged a face-to-face with her, only to bring a weapon.  
    Fuck.
    James reached out via the mental pathway he’d established with his teammates long ago. One he’d not used in over