Not that she actually intended to run.
All she could do now was fight--and pray like hell she survived the next few minutes.
Her pistol was already in her hand. Without warning, she opened fire, three rapid shots that would have been bullseye hits if her assailants had been anything but Breed. Two of the males dodged, but the third let out a roar as her bullet struck him dead-center on the chest.
A burst of red blooming over his sternum, he dropped to the ground.
“Yes!”
One down, two to go.
The largest of the trio grinned at her through the darkness. He was a monster of a male, massive shoulders and dark, menacing features that looked far too amused as he loomed closer.
Kaya started to squeeze the trigger again, but in a blink of motion too fast for her to follow, the big male knocked her gun out of her fingers. It sailed off into the trees. “Now, what are you gonna do?”
Her fingers went to one of the knives sheathed on her belt. He lunged. She threw the blade, but had no chance to see if she made her mark. While her attention was focused wholly on the big male in front of her, she’d lost track of the third one.
“Too bad for you.” Large hands clamped around her neck from behind. “You’re dead, sweetheart.”
“Fuck!” Kaya snarled in frustration, her body sagging as the certain death-grip loosened from her throat and her would-be killer chuckled. She pushed some of her long brown hair out of her face, her breath racing. “Let’s go another round. I can do better.”
The Breed warrior she’d shot with a paint bullet got up from the ground, peeling out of his red-splattered shirt with a curse. He shook his head. “Count me out. You’d go at us like this all night if we let you.”
Kaya arched a brow. “What’s the matter, Webb? Afraid I’ll drop you again?”
He laughed, giving her one of his grins that made the tall male go from basic handsome to pure Adonis. “Lucky shot tonight, that’s all. But you’d better watch your back. I’ll get you when you least expect it.”
“She’s getting better all the time,” his comrade added. One of the large hands that had been poised to twist her head off a moment ago now cuffed her shoulder in praise. “Good job, Kaya.”
“Thanks, Torin.” She smiled at the exotic-looking warrior with the shoulder-length mane of burnished blond hair. Although he was as deadly as anyone in the Order, the laid-back warrior had been nothing less than welcoming the past couple of weeks she’d been training with their team.
The biggest member of the squad, the olive-skinned, dark-haired behemoth named Balthazar, walked over and returned Kaya’s lost weapons. “Next time, keep your eyes open to your full surroundings.”
“All right, Bal.” With a nod, she took the paint gun and blade from him, holstering both on her belt.
Applause sounded from the sidelines as Kaya’s friend, Mira--the sole female of the Order team Kaya desperately wanted to be part of--strolled over to meet the group. Accompanied by her mate, Kellan Archer, Mira was garbed in all-black like the rest of the warriors, her combat boots crunching softly in the bramble as she approached from her observation post.
“Dammit, I screwed up,” Kaya admitted. “I’ll keep practicing. I can do this.”
“I have no doubt, or you wouldn’t have gotten this far.” Mira smiled. “You’re an excellent combat fighter, Kaya. No one expects you to be able to take out three of the best Breed warriors in the field to prove yourself to the Order.”
Kellan gave Mira a proud look. “Besides, there are other skills that are just as valuable to a team.”
The couple spoke from experience. As capable as Mira was with her daggers and physical agility, she wasn’t Breed. She didn’t have the sheer brute strength and power of their kind. That hadn’t stopped the ambitious female from getting promoted through the Order’s ranks, however. Mira had made it all the way to captain, a feat Kaya couldn’t help but admire, even envy.
All her life, Kaya had dreamed of having somewhere to belong. A child of the streets from the time she was a little girl, she’d longed to find a place where she felt needed and respected. A place where she mattered. Where she could feel safe.
During the more than year since she’d met Mira, she’d seen a glimpse of what that life could be like. After training under her friend for the past two weeks, Kaya couldn’t think of anything she wanted more than to be a full-fledged member of the Order.
Mira gestured to her team. “Let’s wrap up and head back to base.”
They’d been running her through the paces since sundown, so despite Kaya’s eagerness to prove herself and hone her skills, the thought of a hot shower and clothes that weren’t caked in dirt and forest debris sounded like heaven.
As a group, they trudged up the wooded incline. The Montreal command center sat at the top of the city’s eponymous hill, land given to the Order in exchange for its protection in the years following First Dawn and the violence that became epidemic afterward. Kaya had never seen anything as impressive as the enormous mansion and the labyrinthine nerve center beneath it. She’d spent half a month there and she doubted she’d covered even a fraction of the massive compound.
Mostly by design.
Until she was a full member of the team, her clearance restricted her to the residence and patrol squad areas unless she was accompanied by Mira or another warrior. Kaya didn’t mind the lack of trust. It only made sense. They had a right to be cautious when it came to Order business. After all, the warriors had been under siege from one enemy or another for decades. Far longer than that, if you counted all the centuries that the Breed had been trying to keep the peace between their kind and man before the secret of their existence had been revealed twenty years ago.
