Administrative Control (Immortal Ops) Read Online Free Page B

and powerful, seemed a bit more like child’s play to him. Then again, he had run with a very different crowd the majority of his life.
    While the warehouse area was bloody, Asher had seen worse.
    Much worse.
    Truth was, this was hardly a drop in the bucket for him. At least he could still acknowledge the brutality around him. Many like him had lost that ability to be sensitive to the deaths of others. There had been a time, not long ago, that he too was in danger of losing the skills needed to relate to those thought to be lesser.
    He had been put in his place and had his eyes opened wide.
    He began to shake slightly as his mind threatened to take him back to the events of old—to remind him of what had been his turning point. He couldn’t do it. He couldn’t mentally return to it all. He was a broken man now because of it. His self-imposed punishment didn’t seem like enough.
    It would never be enough.
    The entire dock area smelled like a mix of death and fish. Neither were great on their own. Combined they were nauseating. He avoided any further deep breaths as he surveyed the situation. The mess should have already been cleaned. He could have done it much faster than the current cleanup teams, but there were rules in place for a reason, and exposing himself to those around him wasn’t allowed.
    No one had seen Asher arrive. They never did. It was how it should be. He needed to be someone the supernaturals he worked with trusted fully without fearing or questioning his loyalty. Besides, he was forbidden from telling them the truth of himself. The pact between the remaining members of his kind included secrecy. That was fine by Asher. He’d stopped claiming to be one of them long before they’d decided it was best to allow everyone, including supernaturals, to believe them nothing more than mythology. It was for the best. They did not need the insanity he and his kind brought to the table.
    His allegiances were his own and not up for debate with the group or the organization. When he’d been brought into the Immortal Ops program, it had not been lightly. The people who thought they had control of it were wrong.
    Dead wrong.
    Controlling immortal soldiers wasn’t something that could be done easily. Making sure the scientists involved in it all didn’t change sides was apparently even harder—as had already happened.
    Bad decisions had been made. Good people had lost their lives.  
    He checked his watch. The current cleanup crew should have already been done with the warehouse and the pier. That spoke to just how big of a cleanup issue they were dealing with.
    Your men all returned alive. You can’t ask for anything better.
    He could ask that the violence stop—period, but that would never happen. Since the dawn of time good had been pitted against evil. It would continue to be until the end of it all. There was no changing it.
    He knew.
    He’d tried.
    Asher approached the cleanup crew and then stood among them. They had yet to notice his arrival. He’d have a talk with them later about that. They should always be on the alert. They may not be the most skilled fighters the organization had, but they were trained to protect themselves and their surroundings.
    This was hardly a secure location.
    “Speed it up,” he barked. The two men nearest him nearly jumped out of their skin.
    They needed to get their shit together and clear out soon. He wouldn’t risk any of them learning personal information about him. He’d been alive too long and seen too many turncoats to trust anyone with what he held precious.
    Or rather who .
    You should probably start by telling her you have the hots for her , he thought to himself.
    Coward.
    With as many years as he’d lived and as many battles as he’d fought, he thought himself a strong man. Not when it came to one tall redhead with curves in all the right places.
    She had a way of making him feel weak and vulnerable, something Asher wasn’t used to at all. He’d tried