She’s a clairvoyant. I’ve blocked the flow of her power intoyourmind.
Sean squeezed his eyes shut, clawing their phased forms back into the hangar and out of the molasses thickness of the earth. People were yelling all around them as the first jet took off, the backwash from the engines in such a tight space blowingpeopleover.
Wraith, you need to get out of there. You’re running outoftime.
Sean got an elbow underneath him, then a knee, managing to haul them both to an upright position beneath the jet. He wondered if he’d damaged the jet enough in his phased state that any reroutes of its systems wouldn’t work. The engines turning on disabused him of thatnotion.
Phased, the backwash and heat couldn’t hurt them, but the girl screamed anyway, struggling in Sean’s weakened grip. He dug his fingers into her skinny arms, hating that he was hurting her, but it was the only way to keep her within his phase field and safe from the launch ofthejet.
The engines roaring made his ears pop, practically deafening him. Sean got his knees underneath him, then his feet, rising up with the child in his arms. She kicked him in the shins; he could barely feel her weak blows through the tactical armor he wore. Pulling her close, Sean bent his head and tried to get her tolisten.
“I’m with the MDF,” he told her. ”I’m here tohelpyou.”
He didn’t think she heard him, or if she did, couldn’t comprehend his help in the terrified state she was in. Taking a deep, steadying breath, Sean looked up at the circle of night sky far above them that the jet was flying through at high speed. Around them, the fighters who hadn’t made it onto either jet were panicking, racing for the exit that would lead them back into the base. Sean knew they wouldn’t make it outalive.
Sean picked the girl up and held her tightly in his arms. He bent his legs and, with a grunt, jumped into the air, altering their density enough that they could float towardfreedom.
But escape was a long way from the bottom of the hole they were in, and the timers on the bombs never stopped counting downtozero.
Wraith!
Sean pushed his power to its absolute limit, the world blurring around them as they grew lighter and lighter. They just couldn’t rise fast enough to make it tosafety.
Down below, a red-orange eruption sparked beneath his feet as the bombs Declan’s people had set throughout North Star International’s training facilityexploded.
Fire rushed up to meet them in a searing column of heat they couldn’tescape.
Sean!
* * *
Alexei rammedhis knife into the throat of the man he was fighting before tearing it sideways. The thick splash of blood slicked his gloved fingers as he flipped the knife in his hand for a better grip. Spinning on his feet, he lashed out with a kick to the last fighter’s chest that sent him stumbling backward right into Jamie’s waiting arms. The crunching sound of his neck breaking could barely be heard amidst the rapid-fire sound of guns going off at the end of the hallway where their squad was holding the line. Trevor had a telekinetic shield up, firing holes open for their Strike Force fighters to take out the enemy without taking hits oftheirown.
Jamie dropped the body, already turning his attention to the others. Alexei holstered his knife before reaching for his rifle and bracing it against his shoulder again, guardingeveryone’ssix.
“How close?” Alexei asked as he walked backward afterJamie.
“Last push to the center of the labs. Viper says some people are still inside,” Jamiereplied.
“Hayes?”
“Won’t know until we get inthere.”
The grim determination in Jamie’s voice didn’t bode well for the enemy. Alexei couldn’t find it in himself to be sorry about that considering the number of Splice-afflicted bodies they’d come across in locked biohazard rooms, double-layered plas-glass window walls smeared with blood and liquefied organs. By unspoken agreement, they weren’t handing out mercy to theenemy.
“Clear!” barked the soldier onpoint.
They moved as one, quickly rounding the corner and advancing toward the secured lab doors up ahead. Alexei held his position while two soldiers attached explosives to the heavy-duty door on a fifteen-second timer. Safe behind Trevor’s telekinetic shield, the resulting explosion wasn’t harmful. Alexei pushed the fire into the main lab, not caring about the hazard that might cause with who knew what chemicals lying around. Trevor would keepthemsafe.
The concussive wave lasted only seconds. Once it faded, they pushed into the lab amidst a hail of gunfire they returned with better accuracy. At least a dozen Sons of Adam fighters were scattered around the immediate area. But men and women playing at being soldiers had nothing on Strike Force operatives who lived their lives on the front line of war, to say nothing of MDFmetahumans.
Scientists in white lab coats ran for the nearest exit or cowered in fear. Mindful of the need for evidence and someone alive to take the fall, Alexei opted for disabling hits on them. If a couple of them bled out before Trevor stabilized them, well, Alexei wouldn’t cry over the fuckers. Normally he had greater respect for scientists, but not when they put their skills toward tortureinstead.
Their group cleared the lab with deadly focus. Alexei was mindful of his power and opted not to use it, resorting to his weapons and his hands to take out the enemy. The cavernous space housed a lot of machines and several empty, clear plas-glassprisons.
In the center was an array of computer terminals and several primed with an uplink showing a familiar face. Declan’s angry visage made Alexei wish the other man was within range of hisrifle.
“—get out of there, Val!” Declan yelled. Alexei could make out the familiar space of a flight deck beyond Declan, and he wondered if Declan had managed toescape.
