Knowing what I did of shifters, especially an alpha, I wouldn’t be surprised if Rys turned up at the compound.
“We need to move,” Gabriel hissed.
The fighting showed no signs of calming down. Magic clung to the air, thick and heavy. Gabriel’s armour protected him from bullets but it wouldn’t stop spell damage and I wasn’t sure how easily a half fae could heal from near death. My inner magic would keep me alive even when it looked like I was dying. Would Gabriel’s?
I didn’t want to test that theory now.
“There’s too much magic,” I said, facing him. “I have more protection than you.” I patted my uniform and Gabriel swore under his breath. I was about to suggest that he wait here when an almighty roar split the air and an enormous light-brown wolf shot past us, charging towards the rear of the compound.
“Max,” Gabriel whispered.
Screams followed a moment later. The magic onslaught cut off abruptly and that was our chance.
“Go!” Gabriel yelled, jumping up and barrelling across the open ground between the buildings and what looked to be some sort of training area. We reached the last building just as magic slammed into me from behind, catapulting me forward.
“Dathal!” Gabriel yanked me to my feet, half dragging me the rest of the way round the side of the last building.
I leant against it, trying to catch my breath. Heat flared across my back, and I didn’t need to look to know that my uniform was in tatters, the protection it had afforded me no longer there.
“You okay?” Gabriel peered down at me. He glanced over my shoulder and winced at whatever he saw there.
“I’m fine.” It hurt, but I’d heal. We still had a job to do.
I turned to see Gale lying on the ground beside me. Definitely a shifter, judging by the size of him. The witch who stood over him was about half his size. No wonder he couldn’t move him. Gabriel and I might struggle if we couldn’t wake him up.
“Wyn,” Gabriel said, addressing the witch. “Can you make it to Cara?”
Wyn nodded. “My shields are strong enough.” He glanced down at Gale, obviously unwilling to leave him.
“We’ll keep him safe,” Gabriel assured and, with a quick nod, Wyn disappeared around the back of the building. Gabriel touched his earpiece. “Cara, Wyn is on his way.”
“Thank fuck,” she hissed.
I glanced down at the still unconscious Gale. “Now what?”
Gabriel grimaced. “We can’t stay here, but I’m not sure we’ll be able to move him either.”
Another roar, this time so close the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Footsteps sounded a second before two hunters rounded the corner. Gabriel threw himself in front of Gale, covering him with his body as the first hunter opened fire.
My dagger hit him in the neck, slicing through his artery and killing him instantly. Shock registered on the face of the second hunter a moment before a wolf skidded around the corner and knocked him to the ground. It pinned him there, one huge-clawed paw pressed against his throat.
The hunter went limp.
The air shimmered, magic scenting the air, and then Max stood where the wolf had been. Naked and covered in blood and dirt. Reaching down, he hauled the hunter up off his feet and pinned him against the wall. “How many hunters and how many witches?” Max growled.
The hunter laughed. “Fuck off.”
Max extended his claws until they broke the skin. “How many?” His top lip curled back to reveal teeth way too sharp to be human. “I won’t ask a third time.”
I didn’t think for one minute that Max would actually kill him—he didn’t seem the type and he’d already said the goal was to take them in for questioning.
Judging by the way the hunter paled considerably, he didn’t agree.
I pressed my dagger against the hunter’s groin. It usually had more of an effect than one to the throat. “Tell him.”
His eyes flashed, but then his shoulders sagged in defeat. Max didn’t loosen his hold. “Five witches. Twenty-five hunters,” he gritted out.
Max’s eyes narrowed for a moment, then he nodded. “I don’t think he’s lying.” He then proceeded to knock him out and let him slump to the ground. “We’ve killed two witches and contained one, along with six hunters. The beta team have them at the south of the compound. I don’t know how many hunters are dead, but that still leaves two witches unaccounted for.”
