I’m excavating his mind,Katie said.
“Did he detonate the bombs?” Liam asked.
Half of them. Murphy handled the other half.
“Where’s that bastard?”
“Dead,” Kyle said in a cold voice. “Abigail located him. One of the jets strafed his escape vehicle and then the boat he had on standby in the water.”
That was cold comfort overall. Liam picked up speed, trusting in Glenn’s force field to keep him safe in case any other threat arose between them and where Samaira was with Bennett. They passed by biohazard tubs with their lids unsealed and tossed aside, the sheen on the inside a sickly familiar shade.
Liam swallowed against the knot in his throat as they wound their way through pallets of empty crates that looked to have held weapons at one point. Once they got clear, they found themselves in an area against the side of the warehouse that had tarps covering the floor. In front of them was a plastic containment tent, and Liam could see people moving around inside.
He and Glenn entered the biohazardous area, finding Samaira, Jamie, and Tariq inside. The body of who might have been the empath was sprawled on the floor. Standing frozen in the middle, looking far less put together than Liam remembered him from the state dinner last year, was Carter Bennett. His slack face and empty eyes were the result of telepathic interference.
Liam wanted desperately to kill the bastard.
Kyle did it for him.
A fifty-caliber bullet shot at close-range obliterated Bennett’s face into so much meat. Samaira and Jamie turned to face the corner where the shot had come from. Liam watched as Kyle deactivated his tech camouflage, an unrepentant look on his face as he lowered his sniper rifle.
Jamie unclenched his hand and let out a heavy sigh. “Reaper. We needed him alive.”
“Viper got what we all needed,” Kyle replied defiantly. “I gotusclosure. The president can yell at me at the next family dinner for all I fucking care.”
Jamie’s shoulders slumped, but he didn’t reprimand Kyle, and Liam knew he wouldn’t. Liam stared at the body on the ground and the pool of blood slowly spreading outward. If he stayed where he was for much longer, the blood would reach his boots.
Liam turned and walked away.
Their mission was over, the fight beyond the warehouse would end soon in the UMG’s favor, but this wasn’t a win.
It never would be.
Liam keyed his comms to a private line, reaching out to the only person who mattered to him right then.
“I’m on my way, Raven.”
20
Not Built to Shoulder the Pain
Oliver never registeredthe explosion until he was on the ground, the SAS soldier in front of him having taken the brunt of the unexpected blast. His rifle went flying out of his hands and out of reach.
Oliver’s vision swam as he stared at the dark, early morning sky, the thunder of explosions echoing in the air growing distant. His lungs had locked up from the crash to the ground, and it took effort to clear them. The second he could breathe, he realized how much ithurt.
Pain radiated from his side, and he touched a shaky hand to where it hurt. His fingers brushed against a sharp piece of metal protruding from his side. The shrapnel had ripped through his tactical vest from the force of the explosion and probably would’ve done more damage if someone else hadn’t been blocking its path.
Oliver raised his hand and stared at how his fingers looked wet in the green tint of night vision. A spray of something had rained down on him at some point, and wet streaks were smeared across the outside of his tactical goggles. He tried to wipe it away, but that only made it worse.
Groaning, Oliver rolled to his other side. He hissed as his muscles pulled against the shrapnel in his right side. He curled his hand around the bit of metal there, trying to process how the rest of him felt. He got an elbow underneath him, managing to raise his head and move his legs without too much pain.
Then his comms kicked in, and everything went to hell.
“All outside perimeter units, remain where you are. Code Zero is now in effect,” Chapman said in a too-calm voice.
Oliver froze, staring down at the wet ground as his mind tried to make sense of that order. Because the ground waswet, and it hadn’t rained.
“No,” he breathed out in a tight voice, heart pounding in his chest. “Please, no.”
