Songs of Nightmares and Snow

3- New Faces

Thane

I stare in stunned silence as the door swings the rest of the way open, exposing a red haired girl in what looks like combat gear, a black leather jacket, camouflage pants, and black combat boots. Her black leather gloves are fingerless, and her bright red hair is pulled into low pigtails so her black baseball cap can stay low on her forehead.

"Honestly Astrea, I thought you'd be happy to see me. But if you really want to know, I'm here because if you're going to go rogue then I'm joining you...no questions asked." The girl chuckles, and I relax a little at the realization that they know each other.

"Nesryn..." Astrea scowls as she returns her gun to its holster, and the girl shakes her head as she puts her hands on her hips, pulling my attention to both of the guns on her belt and the hunting knife strapped to her thigh.

"Don't you start, I've known you for years Star, the only way you'd go rogue is if their is something hinky going on in the agency." She argues, and I watch silently as Astrea grunts and let's her in.

"Don't get moody, I come bearing gifts." She chuckles as she saunters in with two duffle bags stuffed to the brim, dropping them on the tiny couch as Astrea shuts and re-locks the door.

Who exactly is she? She seems to understand Astrea without her having to utter a single word.

"And a little friend who's missed you terribly." She continues, and I continue watching in surprise as the hood of her jacket starts squirming before a ball of white fur appears, and Astrea's eyes sparkle with silent adoration as she carefully takes the tiny creature into her hands as it squirms and whines, licking her face enthusiastically.

I think this is the first time I've seen Astrea smile, ever seen her expression soften from its frozen blank state...her eye and body language has been my only way of reading her emotions before now.

"Ivory has missed you Star, it's not often you leave your sweet familiar behind on a mission. She tore half of my pillows to shreds because of separation anxiety of hers...little beast even growled at me when I tried to touch the toy you left for her." Nesryn mutters as she watches the fox act like a sweetheart towards my mate, looking a bit miffed. I chuckle at the interaction, which draws the red heads attention to me.

"You're Thane right? The name is Nesryn, I work with Astrea." She says as she holds a hand out to me, and as I take it I catch the woodsy scent of a shifter...not sure which one.

"Nice to meet you...how exactly did you track us down?" I reply, and she chuckles.

"One, me and Astrea are partners...this is our little hidey hole for long term missions, we stash emergency gear here just in case something goes wrong. And two, I'm the best Tracker in the agency...I can find anyone."

"The best?" I question, and she smirks triumphantly.

"Yep...and Astrea is the best Enforcer, which is why we're partners." She answers, and I watch in awe as she turns to the wall beside us and removes the small painting hanging there to reveal a screen of some kind. After pressing a few buttons and letting the thing scan her eye, the sound of a lock releasing draws my attention to a large compartment that appears behind a large chest near the floor.

"I'm glad this thing worked, it's been here for years." She chuckles as she pushes the chest to the side, and as she pulls the compartment open I stare open mouthed at the large amount of stuff crammed in there.

Hand guns, ammo, knives, walkie talkies, a few cellphones, two large folders stuffed to capacity, and other cases whose contents are unknown.