Minka didn't know enough about military tactics to say whether the plan was a good one, but regardless, she didn't like the idea of her angel being down there without her. Angelo said she wasn't trained for this, though. She understood it, but that didn't mean she liked it.
She pulled her braid to the side and nervously ran her hand down it, watching as the teams slipped down the hillside in the darkness, moving quietly from rock to rock like ghosts. Even knowing they were there, it was hard to see all of them, especially Angelo and the other Special Forces soldiers. She was tempted to try to shift her vision so she could see Angelo better but stopped herself, worried she wouldn't be able to keep the beast under control.
Instead, she listened in on the radio earpiece Diaz had given her. She didn't have a microphone to talk into like the rest of them, but at least she'd be able to hear what was happening. Unfortunately, at the moment, nobody was saying a word.
The facility was a lot bigger than she'd remembered. Then again, she hadn't looked around much when she'd escaped. In addition to the three main buildings, there were nearly a dozen smaller ones, including one that Angelo had told her likely held ammunition and explosives and another that probably held fuel.
Below, the three groups split up and went their separate ways. Minka took deep breaths as a sense of panic she didn't understand began to build inside her. It felt like every hair on the back of her neck was tingling and standing on end. Worse, her instincts screamed that something was wrong.
But she had no idea what it was or what she could do about it. It had only been a few minutes since Angelo and the others had left her on the hilltop, but she could already see him, Ivy, and the others darting from shadow to shadow as they ran for the building where she'd been held captive. Just thinking about what the doctors had done to her in there made the beast start growling inside her, and she had to focus on thoughts of Angelo to get the rage back under control.
Even from where she was hiding, it was easy to pick out Angelo from the others. He was simply bigger. Ivy was easy to spot, too. She moved like a cat-quick, quiet, and deadly. Minka was so focused on them that she didn't realize the attack had started until there was a blinding flash from the guards' barracks and the office building as the front doors blew in.
Through the smoke and fire, she saw Landon and the others rush into the buildings. A moment later, the shooting started. Minka knew nothing about guns, but even to her inexperienced ears, it sounded like there was more than one kind of weapon being fired in there. The skin on her neck tingled even more.
Then, Minka's ears picked up a sound worse than any automatic weapon fire-deep, rage-filled, growls. And they were coming from the building Trevor and Watson had gone into. Her heart raced. Oh God, no. From the sounds of it, there were at least five or ten hybrids down there. How could there be so many of them on the same compound with her and she had never known?
She jumped to her feet, not sure what she was going to do, when she caught fast movement out of the corner of her eye. She whipped her head around toward the building Angelo, Ivy, and Derek had entered just in time to see a half-dozen fast-moving figures racing toward it. They were all big, but the one in the lead was head and shoulders taller than the others. He was even bigger than Angelo.
From where she was, she could clearly see the red glow of their eyes. But even if she hadn't, she would have known what they were. They moved too fast and too aggressively to be anything other than hybrids. And they were heading straight for Angelo and his team.
Cursing at Angelo for not leaving her a way to call him with a warning, she raced down the hill. She didn't know what she was going to do when she got there, especially since she didn't have a weapon. But she sure as hell wasn't staying up on a hill while Angelo was about to be attacked by a group of monsters he didn't even know were coming.
* * *
Landon knew they were screwed the second they blew in the front door of the barracks and found the guards already waiting for them, weapons locked and loaded. But he and Diaz were trained for this shit and didn't stand there waiting to get popped. They spread out into the big, open room and started engaging targets.
"Watson," Landon shouted out over his radio as he dived for the floor and popped a round through a big-ass guard who was dumb enough to run right down the middle of the hallway. "We're facing a lot of hostiles over here. Any chance you two can break off what you're doing and hit them from the back side of the building?"
Instead of an answer, all Landon heard was the sound of weapons fire in his ear-and the growl of hybrids.
"I'm going to have to get back to you on that request, Captain," Watson finally shouted back. "This isn't just an admin building. It's like some kind of backup lab. There are about a half-dozen holding cells full of hybrids, and unfortunately, someone forgot to lock the cell doors on them. So we're all a little busy right now."
Shit.
"Copy that," Landon said.
He got up and darted behind a square column as one of the guards sent a full magazine worth of rounds buzzing down the hallway. The bullets punched holes in the walls, the furniture, and the ceiling, but fortunately, they didn't hit anything soft and squishy.
Fuck, he hoped things were better for Ivy and Angelo. He'd purposely put his wife with Angelo, knowing his best friend would do anything to take care of her. But if things were as bad over there as they were here, that might not be enough.
* * *
Angelo swore the moment he, Ivy, and Derek entered the research building. The urge to hurry and find the doctors had taken a momentary backseat at the scene in front of them. Even in the dim light, it was impossible to miss the holding cells along both walls, and the six people locked in them. Of their own accord, his hands slowly clenched into fists and the desire to punch someone was suddenly overwhelming.
He wasn't the only one. Beside him, Ivy growled as she looked at the abused and broken hybrids.
On the other side of her, Derek was already reaching for his medic's bag.
Angelo had expected all of the doctor's test subjects would be locals-Tajiks or Pashtuns-but four of the six hybrids seemed fair-skinned enough to be from Europe or North America. Only two of the hybrids-a woman with long hair and eyes that were completely feral, and a muscular man with deep slashes all over his chest and an American flag tattooed on his right shoulder-were even strong enough to stand and growl at them. The other four were in such bad shape that all they could do was lie there. All of them were chained to the wall or floor by their ankles. The torn, bruised, and bloody skin around the manacles showed how hard they had fought for their freedom.
Anger welled up in Angelo. This was how Minka had been treated. Suddenly, punching the doctors wasn't enough. Landon had told him in a general way how they had hurt Ivy, but now he really understood it. He decided then and there that he would kill both Klaus and Renard if he got the chance-unless Ivy got to them first, of course.
Ivy ran to the first cell and yanked on the door. Even though Angelo knew she was pulling with more force than he could ever manage, the heavy steel bars barely budged.
The sound of gunfire grew louder outside, and Angelo winced as he heard Landon shouting over the radio that they needed backup … and Watson telling him that backup wouldn't be coming from their direction.
"The guards must have figured out we were coming," Watson added. "They've unlocked all the cages over here. The place is crawling with hybrids that are acting like they haven't eaten in months and think we're dinner."
Shit.
It was getting heavy out there, and they were taking too long in here. Powell and Moore had peeled off to cover the rear of the building, and the vehicles near the back of the facility. The plan had been for Powell and Moore to come running if he, Ivy, and Derek needed help, but now it sounded like Watson and his team were going to need them instead.
"Powell," Angelo called into the radio, hoping to be heard over the chatter coming from the other teams. "Can you get to Trevor and Watson?"
Angelo hoped the animosity between Powell and Trevor wasn't going to get in the way here, or things could get real ugly, real fast.
Powell's voice came back over the radio immediately. "We'll try, but it might take us a bit. We're pinned down by at least four guards back here by the fuel dump. They were waiting for us the moment we came around the side of the building."