Warwick knew enough of the area I was in, and Opie could find my exact spot.
That meant . . .
A howl of the alarm screeched through the bunker, announcing the base was being invaded.
And I knew exactly by who.
“Fuck!” I yelled, scrambling off my bed.
“Oh yeah, we should probably warn you... he’s really, really grumpy,” Opie added.
Chirp!Bitzy waved her middle fingers in the air, bobbing her head in agreement.
I flung the door open.
“Have a good day, Fishy.” I heard Opie yell after me as I charged down the hallway, racing through the labyrinth of passageways, past people stumbling out of their rooms, shouts and commotion filling the air with tension.
Reaching my uncle was my only thought before he sent out his top team to fight. Even if just one man stood on the other side, I was afraid for the seven who would be out first to fight the enemy.
“Get out of my way!” I yelled, shoving past people, taking the stairs up. I felt fatigue setting in the higher I climbed, but my determination barreled me through the door to the top floor.
Tracker, Ava, Lea, Jak, Sab, Blade, Luk, and Mykel were already in the ops room. The screen filled with images from outside the bunker as they flipped through all the cameras’ angles. The squad was loading themselves with weapons as Mykel laid out a plan.
“Tracker, Ava, and Luk, you three head out the northwest exit and come around. Sab, Blade, you two take the south exit, and Jak and Lea, you go up through the church. Don’t hesitate. Shoot to kill.”
“No!” I stepped into the room, every head snapping to me, my heart thumping in my chest. “You don’t want to do that. It’s not what you think.”
“I don’t know what to think except every alarm has been triggered, and one of our guards is lying at the entrance, either dead or unconscious,” Mykel exclaimed.
“And this all started whenyouarrived,” Tracker shot at me.
Suddenly, I noticed guards come up behind. My muscles twitched as I felt them move on me, and several arms clamped down, pinning me in place.
“What are you doing?” I tried to get out of their grasp.
Mykel stared at me as Tracker stomped over to me, getting in my face.
“It’s interesting that a few days after you show up, our mission goes bad, and our base that’s been safe for over a decade is suddenly found.” Tracker’s chest puffed with hatred, accusation glaring from his eyes. “I think you are a fucking traitor and spy.”
My eyes shot around the room. Everyone stared back at me with the same disgust. Luk’s eyes were also filled with betrayal. Disappointment. That hurt the most. He saw me fight. He knew something wasn’t right about me. But I would never betray them.
Tipping my head to look at Tracker, not one molecule of me fearedhim. I had taken on much greater threats than him. And, honestly, I would have accused me of the same thing.
“I get why you think that, but right now is not the time,” I spoke to him while looking over at my uncle. “I do know who is attacking the base, but it’s not who you think it is.”
“I think we know exactly what this is,” Tracker spat.
“Put her in the cell until we have dealt with this,” my uncle ordered the guards. His voice was cold, his eyes already slicing away from me, like he had cut any family tie between us.
“No!” I thrashed against the three guys holding me. “You don’t want to do this. I know who is out there. He will kill all of you! Send me out instead.”
There was a good chance if they went out, none of them would come back. Warwick would kill whatever was in his path, thinking they were holding me prisoner. I tried to reach out for him, the link hummed between us, but I couldn’t seem to break past it.
“Send you out so you can run back to your people?” Tracker barked out a laugh, cocking one of his handguns, his confidence saturating the air. The Wolf would kill him in a blink.
“Warwick is out there!” I yanked against the guards, dragging them a few feet forward.
“Warwick? You mean the legend Warwick Farkas?” Blade burst out laughing. “This girl... she’s fuckin’ crazy,” he howled. “Next she’s gonna say the Easter Bunny and St. Nicholas are out there too.”
