Page 79 of The Enforcers: NOAH

Chapter 31

Crouched at her place under one of the living room windows, Mina heard the rattle of gunfire. Bullets smashed through what was left of the glass; others embedded themselves on the outside of the log walls, making them shake.

A voice came over a megaphone.

“We have you surrounded,” it said. It was a man’s voice, but she didn’t recognize it. He sounded more like a fussy college professor than a badass invader.

But the next part made her blood run cold. “Come out with your hands up, or we’re coming in.”

The dining room table was on its side, the three-inch-thick solid wood top pressed against the door.

Flynn pulled it away on one side and opened the door far enough to slide his body out. He was wearing giant-sized body armor and bristling with weapons.

He did not have his hands up.

Mina peeked out the window. He was standing on the porch, assault rifle in hand. “You’re on my territory,” he drawled. “Get the fuck out.”

The fussy voice said, “You’re in no position to make demands, Shifter. We are numerous and well-armed, and we have you surrounded. Whatever weapons you have, you cannot stand against us.”

Above them, from the second-floor window, came a whoosh and a screaming sound. A grenade streaked through the air in the direction the voice was coming from. A second later a tree exploded at the edge of the clearing. A body fell to the ground, and people screamed.

Flynn waited until the hysteria died down. “You were saying?” he boomed.

Holy frack. He was crazy. They were just going to shoot him down, right there, and then come in and kill them all.

But Flynn didn’t even care. He was still out there, legs straddled, assault rifle held loosely.

It was a few minutes before the voice resumed.

“You’re only buying yourself time, Shifter,” it said. “But in the interests of avoiding total carnage, we’ll make you a deal.”

“Better make it snappy,” Flynn said. “I got a pregnant woman with a grenade launcher in there, and I think she’s having a hormone surge.”

There was a short silence.

“Give us Jesse Travis, Terin Barnes, Tristan Barnes, and Brock Wells, and we will save their lives. We will withdraw from your territory and leave you in peace.”

Flynn waited a long moment. “I’ll think about it,” he said. “How long do I have?”

The voice gave an evil chuckle. “Well, that depends on whether Robert Wells succeeded in his mission of infecting our targets with a shifter toxin.”

“He might have,” Flynn said.

“Indeed. Well, by now they will be showing marked symptoms. Within, oh, six or seven hours, without the antidote they’ll be dead. And I am the only one who has the antidote.”

Wrong. Mina felt a surge of gratitude when she thought about what could have happened to Brock, and about Jesse’s selflessness.

The smug voice went on, “So I’d say you have about that long to make up your mind, or you’ll get to watch them die, and then you’ll get to die yourself.”

Flynn said, “Come back at eight. I’ll let you know then.”

“I think we’ll wait,” the voice said, sounding amused.

“I think you won’t,” Flynn said. Another grenade shot out of the second-floor window and exploded into the forest, this time in a different place. More bodies. More shrieking. Mina didn’t even feel sorry for them. She really was turning into Mama Wolf.

After the hysteria died down once more, Flynn said, “We’ve got a whole fucking arsenal in here. So back off and come back at eight tonight, or I’ll blow every last fucking one of you out of my forest.”

He came back inside.