The road was curving around the ridge ahead, and Siren’s heart slammed in her chest.
“What’s wrong?” Reed asked, noticing her heightened agitation.
The curve approached, and she took it at speed, not answering. She didn’t want to scare him. But there may be no other option.
Around the corner, two black SUVs blocked the road. The men were already out of their vehicles, weapons raised and ready. Behind her, the SUV closed the distance, blocking them in. Three vehicles. Six men minimum. Maybe more.
Siren’s mind went cold and clear. No fear. No hesitation. She slammed the brakes, threw the Suburban into a controlled skid, angling the vehicle to use it as cover. Her tires screeched against the asphalt.
“Stay in the vehicle.” Her voice was flat. “It’s armored. You’re safe inside.”
She was out before he could respond, weapons drawn. The first shots came immediately. Bullets slammed into the SUV’s panel and sparked off the reinforced steel. With her guns in hand, she moved quickly, using the SUV’s bulk as cover while she assessed the field. They’d expected her to cower behind the wheel while they closed in. They hadn’t expected her to come out fighting.
Their mistake.
Her first shot took one in the shoulder, spinning him sideways. Her second dropped another before he could get his weapon up. Center mass. A clean kill.
Return fire erupted, and more bullets plunged into the SUV, pinging off the armored panels. She was already moving, circling around the vehicle, keeping the engine block between her and the heaviest fire. If they focused on her, they weren’t focused on Reed. That’s all that mattered.
One of them came around the vehicle too fast, eager and stupid. He was on her before she could bring the gun up. Too close for clean shots. She transitioned without thinking. Her body knew what to do. Thousands of hours of training took over, muscle memory deeper than thought.
She caught his gun arm. Twisted. Heard the joint pop. He screamed, and she was already behind him, her arm around his throat, her other hand on his head.
One sharp motion. The crack of vertebrae. He dropped.
She didn’t pause. No time to feel anything. More were coming. She grabbed her weapon and kept moving.
Then she heard the passenger door open.
“Reed, stay in the?—”
But he was already stumbling out onto the asphalt, his face twisted with something that looked like pain.
“I can’t—” His voice was strained. “It’s coming. I can’t stop it.”
He made it three steps from the vehicle before the shift took him. The transformation was violent. Explosive. One moment he was a man, the next he was an eight-hundred-pound grizzly bear, roaring at the sky, spinning in confused circles on the asphalt.
He hadn’t meant to shift. She could see it in the wild roll of his eyes and the frantic quality of his movements. His bear had taken over. It was a panic response. Completely uncontrolled. And it was drawing fire.
The operatives saw the bear and opened up. Bullets sparked off the road around him. The bear roared louder, enraged, and charged toward the nearest shooter.
“Reed!” She shouted his name, but there was no recognition in those black bear eyes. Just fear. Just instinct. Just rage.
The grizzly slammed into the operative and sent him rolling. The man hit the asphalt hard, tried to rise but couldn’t. The bear kept moving, swiping at another man, catching him across the chest. It wasn’t a killing blow, but enough to open him up and send him screaming to the ground.
Reed wasn’t fighting. He was just destroying everything in reach.
Siren moved while the bear had their attention. She shot the first one in the forehead and did the same to the second.
One of the operatives tried to flank her while she was putting down the wounded. She caught the movement in her peripheral vision, pivoted, and fired twice. He went down.
But the distraction cost her. Pain blazed along her left arm. Her shoulder had been grazed by a bullet. She registered it and kept moving. Blood soaked her sleeve.
Another operative came around the front of the SUV, between her and the chaos, between her and Reed.
She closed the distance before he could react. Grabbing the knife at her belt, with a swift automatic motion she stabbed him under the ribs and twisted.
The man’s eyes went wide and then empty. She pulled the blade free and let him fall.
