Adare nodded, his head hurting as if he’d taken a bullet between the eyes. “Yeah. I can’t explain it.”
Ronan leaned back against the building, blending almost into it, his gun in his right hand. “The Ledoni shifters are for sale to the highest bidder, but I thought you had an in.”
“I thought so, too,” Adare growled, his brain pounding. Had Jacki set him up? He couldn’t believe it. But it wasn’t possible that every single one of the explosives had been faulty. “A problem for another day.”
Ronan nodded.
A whoosh sounded, and they both ducked as a missile crashed several yards to the left, exploding. Heat flashed over Adare, and he stood, wavering slightly. “Ready?”
“Yes.” Ronan grasped the doorknob, crouched, and yanked the metal door wide open to reveal a long hallway with red doors set several yards apart down its length.
Adare went in high, shooting a Kurjan guard between the eyes and then sweeping left.
Ronan went in left and swept right. They kept their backs to each other, maneuvering up the hallway and kicking in doors. A Kurjan squad burst in through another door, well protected with hats and skin guards, their movements still slowed from exposure to the sun.
They fired immediately, and Adare flattened himself on the concrete, shooting up. He took out two while Ronan took out the other two. The concrete heated and then cooled beneath him, and then the red doors spun around and around. Nausea filled his belly and blood echoed through his ears.
Ronan tapped his shoulder and stood.
Adare forced himself to stand and sucked down bile, blinking until his vision cleared.
“You good?” Ronan asked.
“Yes,” Adare snapped, hurrying down to the last doorway. His body ached as if he’d been dragged behind running horses, but they had to find those women. More Kurjans would be coming, and only the sunny day outside had helped him this time.
A missile flew through the wall and continued through a red door, detonating in the exterior wall.
“Shit,” Ronan bellowed. “They’re trying to take out the whole building.”
Adare ducked his head and kicked in the final door. The women huddled on what looked like sleeping bags on the other side of the concrete room, except for two who stood in front of the others, their faces dirty and bruises on their arms. He didn’t have it in him to smile, but he tried. “We’re here to get you out. We have to go. Now.”
The women in front of the others appeared a little older, maybe mid-thirties. The first one spoke. “Who are you?”
The room wavered.
Ronan stepped forward. “US Army, ma’am. We’re under attack, and we really need to move. Now.”
The women nodded and helped the others up, edging warily toward them.
Adare could feel their power, their enhancements, especially with all ten of them in one place. It was lucky they’d been found so quickly. Not one of them had been mated, or he’d sense it, so at least they’d been spared that, although being kidnapped and held in a cell like this one would surely cause some nightmares. He tried for a smile again. “We’re going to get you to safety. I promise.”
Ronan turned and led the way toward the undemolished part of the building. “Plan D?” he yelled back, shooting a Kurjan who ran in from the outside front door.
“Affirmative,” Adare said, taking the rear and turning to fire at another squad that came in through the back. Their enemy’s equipment was top of the line, allowing the Kurjans to be outside so long as they stayed covered. He followed the last woman out and slammed the door, edging to the side.
Benny barreled up in an FMTV that looked like it had been stolen from the US military. “Let’s go,” he bellowed from the driver’s seat.
Ronan hustled the prisoners to the back and helped them up.
The door to the building opened, and a soldier emerged, machine gun first. Adare grabbed the barrel and jerked him out, ripping off his headgear and shoving him into the sun before turning and firing into the building again, hitting one soldier in the neck and another between the eyes. It wouldn’t kill them, but they’d hurt for a while. The fourth soldier ducked back into the room that had housed the women.
The Kurjan in the sun screamed, his skin frying. He struggled to get back inside, but Adare turned and kicked him in the face, sending him sprawling across the snow. The sun beat down, eating him alive.
Benny tossed a black bag out the window at him. “Explosives I found in the rear building. These work.”
Adare yanked out a black hand grenade and ripped the pin off before throwing it inside the building. Then he jumped onto the back bed of the vehicle, setting the women in the middle. He fired from one side, while Ronan fired from the other, and Benny drove crazily, dodging Kurjans and land mines with his glasses on.
Adare threw hand grenades as they moved, blowing up as many buildings as he could. He threw several at the main lodge, which no doubt held more Kurjans. He hadn’t seen a Cyst. Not one. Had they known of the attack? Jacki had a lot of explaining to do.
