“Incoming security,” Slater snapped.
“Extraction team, move faster,” Solon barked through the comms.
The doors slammed open into the corridor, and human guards rounded the corner.
Their rifles lifted.
Dimitri and I were the only line of defense to protect the captives.
Dimitri shoved the captives behind us with a snarl.“Get down!”
I moved on instinct, launching forward. My hand struck the first human’s exposed neck, and my venom flooded into his veins.
He dropped without a sound.
The next human swung his rifle up to take a shot, but he was too slow. I caught the barrel and drove my knee into his ribs. His rib cage shattered.
He wheezed, and I touched his jaw to finish the job.
Just as another group of humans rushed in, Ivy and Solon breached through an exterior access door at the end of the hall with Koa in tow. Phoenix fire flashed around Ivy’s fists, and Solon immediately started punching humans, knocking them out.
Koa moved behind them, hands glowing faintly with blue healing flames, his breath steady.
He dropped to a captive troll immediately, pressing his palm to their chest. His healing power healed the worst of the troll’s injuries enough for them to stand.
“Breathe,” he murmured to the troll. “Stay with me.”
Zuko appeared at the edge of the hall, already dragging a struggling scientist by the collar. “I found the lead scientist trying to escape,” he announced cheerfully through the comms, over the chaos of the fight. “He’s going to tell me everything.”
“No! Get away from me!” the scientist screamed.
Zuko kicked him in the gut, and the scream turned into a choking wheeze.
“Non-lethal,” Eleanor reminded us, her voice strained.
“Too late for that,” I mumbled guiltily.
Zuko sighed. “I’ve kept him mostly intact.”
A human lunged at Dimitri from behind with a syringe, the silver needle catching the fluorescent light.
I shoved Dimitri aside and took the needle to my shoulder. The needle pierced deep, and cold liquid flooded under my skin.
For half a second, the human’s face twisted in triumph, but then he saw my smile.
I grabbed his throat with my free hand and let a fatal venom out.
His eyes went wide before he collapsed dead at my feet.
Dimitri’s head snapped toward me, fury blazing through the matebond. “Rune.”
“I can take that hit better than you can.” I yanked the syringe out of my shoulder and tossed it aside. “It’s tourmalyke.”
His jaw clenched so hard I heard his fangs click under the glamour.
“You have got to stop taking hits for me,” he snarled, grabbing my arm.
I bared my teeth at him. “You want to lecture menow?”
