“Way too much,” Liam grunted.
They turned a corner and raced toward Warehouse 275, under heavy fire until they weren’t. Someone had taken out the long-range threat the Reborn IRA was fielding. Liam and Glenn hit the receiving yard, taking in the carnage of burned bodies, a damaged side of the warehouse, and Reborn IRA fighters trying desperately to hold their ground.
Liam let go of his assault rifle, letting it bang against his side as he called forth his electrokinesis. Glenn made him a hole in the force field, and Liam sent jagged bolts cutting past the flames toward the people barricaded behind a circle of parked cars near the warehouse entrance. All five fighters jerked and dropped their weapons as they were electrocuted to death.
The sound of thunder echoed in Liam’s ear as the teleporter from the bridge appeared in front of them with a crack of displaced air. Liam raised his fists, electricity brighter than the reflected firelight, ready to fight, when the woman abruptly jerked and went absolutely still.
We have her,Katie said into his mind through a mental link.
“Want me to take her out?” Kyle asked through the comms. “I have her in my sights.”
Negative, Reaper. We’ll block her mind and get her into custody.
The teleporter’s eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she collapsed to the ground, forced unconscious by telepathic interference. Liam and Glenn stepped over her and continued toward the warehouse.
Jamie’s voice came through, sounding a little out of breath. “Entering the warehouse with Peregrine and Europa. Any sign of Bennett?”
The empath is keeping them both hidden, but we got a spike of thoughts when Knight’s truck exploded. We’ll lead you to that location,Katie replied.
“Think they’re inside?” Liam asked as he signaled for Glenn to follow him into the warehouse.
“Have to be,” Glenn said with a grimace.
They vaulted over the cars used as barriers, dodging the smoking bodies lying on the ground. Glenn shot out the lock and control panel on the door and kicked it open. Stealth wasn’t really an option anymore, not with the fight happening outside.
“Need a route,” Liam said as he raised his weapon, bracing the butt against his shoulder.
Someone back at headquarters promptly provided the information to his tactical goggles, the blueprint cycling through the levels before minimizing all but one. Their position pulsed a steady blue, and Liam only paid slight attention to it as he and Glenn advanced.
They didn’t have time to clear the entire warehouse. Their priority was finding and taking out Bennett and Murphy. Liam placed his trust in the telepaths monitoring their location and kept moving. But despite all the manpower the UMG had deployed against the threat, telepaths couldn’t see the future.
Neither could Liam.
The comms suddenly became a mess of static and voices so loud it made him flinch. He tapped at the side of his hard helmet to lower the volume, but he couldn’t stop the pounding of his heart as an order he had hoped never to hear came through on the command channel override.
“All outside perimeter units, remain where you are,” Chapman ordered in a curiously flat voice. “Code Zero is now in effect.”
Liam stumbled to a halt, trying to get air into his lungs. Glenn turned to look at him, the furious grief in his friend’s face impossible to ignore.
“What happened?” Liam got out harshly.
His comms went silent, the general channel muted. Chapman’s voice came through to his ears alone on a private channel, bearing a message that made Liam want to scream.
“The Reborn IRA deployed IEDs filled with Splice and shrapnel within the perimeter zone. We’re still getting numbers on who was affected.”
Liam closed his eyes, one name burning through his mind.Oliver.
Code Zero was a death sentence to those humans affected by it. Every government agent and military personnel knew what Code Zero meant, and what they were obligated to do.
Stand down. Stay in once place.
And die.
“We have Bennett,” Samaira snarled over the comms.
Too little, too late to matter.
Liam opened his eyes, holding on to his rifle so tightly he popped a knuckle. Glenn didn’t move until Liam did.
