He glanced at me before adding, “They’ll be waiting for us. Proceed with absolute fucking caution.”
We paired off at his signal. Max led the way, Cara alongside him. I followed with Gabriel, daggers drawn.
We split up into the trees as we approached the end of the driveway. Shouts came from up ahead, gunfire following along with the sounds of splintering wood. Magical energy crackled on the air around us like electricity.
Gabriel pulled a gun from the holster strapped to his thigh. “Ready?”
I nodded just as a roar sounded off to our right, answered by another as two wolves tore from the trees in the direction of the main building.
“Over there!” I raced into the yard, Gabriel alongside me as we bolted towards where Cara was flattened against the side wall, throwing spell after spell at those inside.
She hadn’t noticed the two hunters coming at her from our right, guns drawn, and I couldn’t tell if she had her shields up or not.
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the hunters raise their guns. Unsure whether they were now aiming at Cara or us, I steeled myself anyway as we raced across the open land between the trees and the main building.
Turning at the last minute, I threw my daggers as Gabriel fired his gun. Bullets glanced off my shielded uniform, knocking me sideways, but the two hunters dropped to the ground, my knives buried in the chest of one, the other bleeding from his neck.
Gabriel lay on the ground beside me, motionless, and for one heart-stopping moment, I thought he was dead. But then he groaned and struggled to his feet, his tactical armour ripped where bullets had hit him.
“Are you all right?” I asked, pulling him with me towards the side of the building.
“Winded, but I’ll live.” Which was more than I could say for the hunters. As soon as we reached Cara, magic settled around us like the softest blanket.
Shielded.
I took advantage of the reprieve and closed my eyes, calling my daggers to me.
“I can only hold it for a minute,” she whispered, leaning against the building, breathing heavily. “We need to move. Whoever’s inside there has stronger magic than I do, and I’m going to need help to subdue them.”
“Where’s Max?” Gabriel asked, looking around. “I thought we were supposed to stay in our pairs.”
Cara managed a wry smile. “I foolishly told him I could handle this.” She touched the earpiece Max had issued to everyone except the shifters before we’d left. “I’m at the east side of the main building. Strong level two, maybe level one witch inside. I need help to neutralise.”
Silence greeted her words at first, then, “Sorry, Cara.” Shouts and more gunfire sounded in the background. “Team two are pinned down at the south of the compound. The hunters have two magic users with them. On my way to help them.”
“Fuck,” she cursed. “Anyone else?”
“Gale’s hurt and unconscious,” came another reply, and I frowned, trying to place the name. Shifter, maybe? “I’ve got him shielded behind the building on the far right of you. I don’t want to leave him and I can’t carry him on my own.”
I glanced at Gabriel and he nodded. “We’ll come and get him,” I said, already moving.
“Hurry,” Cara hissed behind us. “I can feel magic building inside and I can’t hold him off on my own for much longer.”
I ran around to the back of the building, Gabriel hot on my heels. The sounds of fighting echoed all around the compound. Either Yates’s hunter group was a lot bigger than we’d been led to believe or he was working with more than just the three witches we knew about.
I crouched behind the abandoned SUV that Yates had used earlier. Where was he now? As much as I wanted to hunt him down, Max’s orders were to clear the compound, and for now, I was going to do as he said. From our vantage point, we could see three smaller buildings next to the main house. Gale and whoever he was with were hiding behind the one at the end.
Between us and them, though, was a barrage of gunfire and magic. The magic infused in my uniform had depleted a little from the bullets, but it should hold up enough to get us through the fighting. But it didn’t cover all of me, and neither did Gabriel’s body armour. I had no desire to face an alpha shifter if anything happened to his mate. I noticed a streak of red along the base of Gabriel’s throat. “You’re hurt,” I whispered, nodding to it.
He reached up and wiped at it, shrugging. “I think a bullet nicked me. I’m fine.”
“I’m surprised Rys let you come,” I muttered, watching for a break in the fighting.
“He doesn’t own me,” Gabriel snapped. “We might be soulmates, but we don’t dictate what the other does.”
“Fair enough,” I conceded. “I bet he wasn’t happy about it.”
Gabriel’s scowl evaporated and he shot me a wry smile. “Nope. I think it took all his control to let me walk out of the door this morning.”
