Page 73 of Bad Blood Alpha

Flynn unhooked the laptop and stuffed it into his pack, then started going through the filing cabinets. He had to pick and choose which paper files he took—he couldn’t carry much without weighing himself down. But they needed to know what Ragnor been doing—and what Gen-X might be doing at other locations.

Flynn checked his watch once more. Three minutes.

At that moment, he heard the big doors at the front of the lab open. He switched his flashlight off, cursing mentally.

Then he heard a howl. Fucking hellhounds.

He burst out of the office and saw three hellhounds in their leather armor, eyes glowing, spread out in front of the big doors. They were all focused on Kira and Mayah.

Magic crackled around Kira’s hands, looking jagged and out of control. Flynn grabbed a grenade from his vest, but before he could pull the pin and lob it toward the hellhounds, he heard a noise behind him.

He leaped to the side, turning in the air. Ragnor burst out of the office, his face a mask of fury. Fucker must have come up the secret staircase.

Flynn landed, ready to lunge at him, but the sorcerer made a throwing motion with his right hand. Black lightning flashed, and Flynn was knocked halfway across the room, crashing into a metal table. The grenade skittered off across the floor, the pin still in it.

Flynn tried to scramble to his feet. He could see Kira blocking Mayah, trying to muster her magic. He knew he needed to get to her, but everything was happening in slow motion. His arms and legs wouldn’t work right; it was like all the bones had been taken out and replaced by ice water, cold and floppy.

He looked down and saw a dozen black darts lodged in him. Some had been stopped by his combat vest, but some had hit his chest, and he could feel others in his neck.

Icy cold oozed from them, spreading through his body. Ice, and pain.

The wizard advanced on Kira, the hellhounds blocking her from the other side. She aimed her magic at Ragnor, the blue fire flashing out of her hands, but he batted it away, laughing.

Then Flynn saw strands of shiny black appear, coiled in his hands, like ropes made out of serpents. He threw them like lassos, one after the other, and they looped around Kira’s neck.

She screamed, and the fire in her hands went out.

Flynn roared, scrabbling at the stone, trying to make his body obey. He had to get to Kira. Had to…had to save her… A vision flashed through his mind—her sitting in the chair, beautiful lips sewn shut, screaming and screaming with no one to hear her…

His radio came on, Sloan’s voice saying quietly, “We’re set. We—” His voice cut off.

Using all of his strength and willpower, Flynn moved his hand to his radio. He tapped the call button with his fingers: two short, two long, two short.

The signal for, Get out now. We’re completely fucked.