Her Fierce Warrior (X-Ops #4)(42)

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."