“This plan is going to hell!”Bryn snapped, watching as another enhanced soldier tore through a group of people trying to flee toward the side chapels.
There was a sudden screech of tearing metal and the van’s rear doors were ripped clean off their hinges.Bryn had just enough time to see a figure in tactical gear, moving with inhuman speed, before Gunnar threw himself forward with a guttural growl.
“Bryn, get down!”
The enhanced soldier was larger than the ones they’d seen in the cathedral.He reached for Bryn but Gunnar intercepted him mid-lunge.The two of them crashed into the van’s equipment banks in a tangle of limbs.Beth was thrown from her seat, hit her head and slumped to the floor unconscious.Bryn scrambled to get out of Gunnar’s way but in the tight confines of the van he couldn’t avoid the kick that connected with the back of his knee, and he went down.
It wasn’t a fair fight.The enhanced soldier was stronger and faster than Gunnar, and seemed immune to pain.He grabbed Gunnar by the throat and lifted him off the ground with one hand until Gunnar’s head and shoulders were bent against the roof of the van.
Bryn didn’t think—he moved.He ripped off his gloves and his glasses then lunged forward and grabbed the enhanced soldier’s exposed wrist.The soldier dropped Gunnar, apparently distracted by Bryn’s eyes.
What Bryn found in the soldier’s memory was horrifying.He had ripped apart another man at Russo’s command and had enjoyed it.
“Fuck,” Bryn spat out, but his actions had achieved his goal and given Gunnar time to regroup.
“Get out of my fucking head!”the soldier snarled.A backhanded blow caught Bryn across the chest, sending him flying out of the van.He hit the pavement hard, pain exploding through his ribs.Winded, he struggled to breathe.
His dramatic exit gave Gunnar the opening he needed.With a growl, he pounced and grappled with the soldier.They crashed around the interior of the van, destroying equipment and generating sparks from damaged electronics.
Bryn’s chest felt like it was on fire.He could taste blood in his mouth, and when he attempted to stand, the world spun.Through the van’s shattered doorway, he could only watch as the fight raged on.Gunnar had managed to wound the soldier.Blood streamed from several gashes, but the man’s enhanced healing was already beginning to close the wounds.Worse, he was starting to adapt to Gunnar’s fighting style.With a violent blow, he knocked Gunnar to the floor.The soldier turned toward Bryn with predatory focus.
“Russo wants you alive, but he didn’t say you had to be undamaged.”
Bryn spotted movement in the back of the van behind Gunnar.Beth rolled onto her side then fired several shots at Gunnar’s attacker.Bryn lay flat as bullets flew.Behind him the sound of gunfire from in and around the cathedral intensified, punctuated by screams and the crash of falling debris.
“We need to get to Russo,” Bryn yelled.“If he’s directing this, maybe we can force him to call them off.”
With a roar of fury, Gunnar launched himself at the soldier, using all his lupinestrength to tackle him.As they rolled in a tangle of limbs, Gunnar yelled, “Go!Get out of here!”
Bryn didn’t argue.He hauled himself up then limped across the street, moving through the chaos as more and more emergency vehicles screamed toward the cathedral.He made his way to the building that had been pointed out as Russo’s observation post, a red brick office complex from the early 1900s.Inside, the reception area had been abandoned.Ignoring the elevator, Bryn made his way up the narrow stairs, his breathing getting more labored with each step.He wrapped his arms around his torso in an attempt to squeeze away some of the pain.
“Third floor,” he muttered to himself, “northeast corner.”He reached the right floor and moved down the hallway.Through a partially open door, he could hear Russo’s voice.He sounded excited and pleased.
“Magnificent,” he was saying.“Look at them work.Each one worth a dozen normal men.”
“How did the FBI get here so fast?”another voice replied.“They’re making headway.”
“Doesn’t matter,” Russo said.“My men won’t stop until I tell them to.”
Bryn took a deep breath, ignoring the pain from what were probably cracked ribs, and pushed through the door.The room beyond contained equipment not dissimilar to that in the observation van, with monitors showing feeds from inside the cathedral.Russo stood by the window that looked across at the cathedral.He was wearing an earpiece and watching the chaos with obvious pleasure.
“You!”he snarled when he saw Bryn.“The augur.Perfect timing—you can watch your friends die.”
“Call them off,” Bryn said, realizing he had no idea what to do next.He had no weapon and was in no condition to fight Russo or his companion, who didn’t seem to be gene-enhanced.
Russo laughed.“Call them off?Why would I do that?They’re doing exactly as I ordered.”
“Stop and I’ll go with you.Give you what you want.”It was a desperate move.
“You’re more trouble than you’re worth.I appreciate you saving me the time to track you down.I suppose it was you who discovered what I was going to do?You’re the reason the Feds are here making my life difficult.You’ll have to pay for that.”
Bryn glanced around for something he could use as a weapon but there was nothing to hand and Russo’s very large friend was moving toward him.Fuck, I should have thought this through.No more improvising, Bryn, you idiot.
“Kill him,” Russo commanded.“He’s more trouble than he’s worth.But make it slow.”
The hulking man lunged.Bryn jerked sideways but not fast enough to avoid being struck on the shoulder by the edge of a thick forearm, spinning him into a metal cabinet.Pain flared white-hot in his ribs, and he slumped to the floor with a hiss.
“Rude,” he wheezed.“I think that dislodged a kidney.”
