Her Fierce Warrior (X-Ops #4)(44)

Her legs threatened to give out on her as all the fear and terror came  rushing in to crush her under its heavy weight. The beast that always  raged to get out so it could claw at anything it could reach suddenly  ran back into its cage and cowered.

Minka heard Angelo shouting at her, telling her to get away. She almost  did it, too. But the knowledge that Angelo would gladly face pain and  death himself if he knew she was safe kept her from running. While every  instinct inside her said to get as far away from there as she could,  her love for him made her stay and fight.

She locked her gaze on Angelo as she forced herself to take a step in  his direction. He shook his head, telling her to run, but she ignored  him. Instead, she used the sight of him struggling against the two  hybrids to feed the panic inside her, praying it would encourage the  beast to come out.

One of the hybrids raked his claws across Angelo's chest again. Blood spattered against the wall. That was all she needed.

Minka launched herself at the hybrid, her fangs and claws coming out as  the beast took over. She didn't know what to do when she landed on the  creature's back, but her inner beast did, so she swung the door wide to  set it free. She bared her teeth, sinking them into the side of the  hybrid's neck.

The hybrid howled in pain, spinning around and trying to wrestle her  off. She ignored him, wrapping her legs around the creature's waist and  locking her ankles together over his midsection. Digging the claws of  her left hand into his back, she got her right arm over the hybrid's  shoulder and sunk her claws into his chest.

She'd always hated her claws, had wanted them to go away and never come  back. But now, with Angelo in danger, she gloried in having weapons she  could use to protect him. She urged her beast to extend the long, curved  claws as far as they would go, urged it to shred and destroy anything  it could reach.

The hybrid fell backward to the hard floor, trying to smash her under  his weight, yanking and clawing at her arms and legs. She dug in even  deeper with her fangs, subduing the creature. The moment the hybrid went  limp, she sprang to her feet, intending to lunge for the other creature  still attacking Angelo.

He glanced at her. "I got this. Help Ivy."

Minka hesitated, torn, then spun around and sprinted across the room.

Renard had the needle already buried in Ivy's arm and was saying  something to her, toying with her before he pumped the drug into her.  Minka knew exactly what was in there. It was the same drug they'd pumped  into her many times when they wanted her docile for their experiments.  The drug had immobilized her while leaving her totally aware of what  they were doing to her. The fear that had come with being paralyzed  while they did things to her was worse than any nightmare.

Minka wasn't going to let Ivy experience that.

She leaped on the smaller of the two hybrids holding Ivy down, the claws  of one hand digging into his shoulders as she reached out to claw at  Renard's face at the same time. The doctor reeled back, the syringe  ripping out of Ivy's arm and skittering across the floor.

Minka wanted to jump on Renard but knew she had to take care of this  hybrid first. But before she could rip into him with her fangs, the big  hybrid holding Ivy's arm grabbed her and yanked her off, flinging her  across the room as if she were a kitten. She smashed into the wall, then  fell on a cart filled with medical instruments before tumbling to the  floor. Ignoring the pain, she jumped to her feet and ran back over to  where Ivy was struggling against the three hybrids.

The big hybrid moved to block Minka, growling and showing fangs that  were much larger than her own. She darted to the right, hoping to get  around him, when a loud boom shook the building. It was immediately  followed by a sharp, explosive crack, like lightning hitting. The dark  windows positioned over the metal table shattered, and some of the  overhead lights crashed to the floor.

Minka's beast took a step back into its cage in confusion, and she was  barely able to keep her feet. She looked around to see that everyone  else in the room seemed as stunned as she was. The scent of smoke filled  her nose-something nearby was on fire.

She was wondering if the building they were in was on fire too, when the  big hybrid suddenly lunged at her. Her beast charged out of its cage,  and she ducked under the hybrid's outstretched hands, slicing her claws  deep into his calf as she bounded past him to get to Ivy.                       
       
           



       

Minka let the beast have a little more control, trusting she'd be able to rein it in later.

She darted up behind the hybrid she'd clawed earlier and swung her hand  at the back of his legs. The creature screamed in pain as her claws tore  into his muscles. She jumped over him as he fell to the floor,  desperate to get to Ivy. But her friend was already slashing at the  other hybrid who had been holding her down, her claws moving in a blur  as she struck at his face, neck, and chest over and over in rapid  succession.

Ivy easily avoided the hybrid's clumsy counterstrikes, tearing into the  creature with calm precision. Ivy's claws found the hybrid's throat so  fast even Minka's enhanced vision could barely see the blur of motion.  Once that hybrid was down, Ivy dealt with the one Minka had hamstrung  just as quickly.

Minka turned, looking for the doctors. As much as the big hybrid  concerned her, it was the doctors the beast inside her wanted. A  movement over by the double doors that led outside caught her attention.  She snapped her head around just in time to see Klaus and Renard flee  into the darkness. The big hybrid raced after them. The sight of the men  who had tortured her escaping was too much for the beast. With a growl,  the beast took over, and she ran full speed toward the doors.

Minka knew she should stay and make sure Angelo was okay. But she  couldn't. No matter how much she tried to fight the beast and lock in on  Angelo's scent and the image of him in her head, it did no good. The  beast wanted the two men who had tortured her, and now that Minka had  set it free, there didn't seem to be anything she could do to stop it.





Chapter 15


Landon and Diaz had just finished clearing out the remaining guards from  the barracks and were hauling ass over to the other building to help  Trevor and Watson when the whole freaking world exploded.

The resounding boom was like a punch in the chest, sending him and Diaz  flying. Fireballs and metal fragments flew through the air, smacking  into the buildings and ground around them. All Landon could do was hug  the dirt and pray nothing landed on top of them as munitions from the  ammo dump kept cooking off and throwing crap everywhere.

The worst of it was just starting to slow when something else blew up on  the far side of the compound. From where he was lying on the ground,  Landon could feel the blast wave sweep over him. He lifted his head in  time to see a big, flaming fuel drum smash into the side of the building  Ivy and Angelo had gone into. Oh God. Whatever had blown up the ammo  holding area must have gotten to the fuel area, too.

Before he could radio either of them to check in, more fuel drums  started raining down, splashing liquid fire around like some kind of  pissed-off medieval dragon. The whole damn compound was going to go up.

"Get to the admin building!" Landon shouted at Diaz.

He and Diaz had just scrambled to their feet when another fuel drum hit  the ground where he'd been lying just seconds before and burst into  flames. Shit.

Landon heard a thud somewhere overhead and turned to see another fuel  drum hit the admin building. Fuck. They needed to get those guys out of  there.

He and Diaz rushed into the building to find the place was already on  fire. Even through the haze, Landon could see that while this place may  have started as an office, it wasn't one now. It was more like a cross  between an emergency room and a prison cell block. A handful of cells  closed off by steel bars lined the wall on the far side of the big room,  while the entire center section was filled with carts of medical  equipment, computer stations, and metal gurneys.

Right now, though, it looked more like something out of a madhouse.  Flames raced and licked along the ceiling and far wall, and heavy smoke  was already curling around the ceiling, making his eyes water.

Landon blinked and looked around for his guys. Trevor was crouched  behind a table, ripping a big computer apart with his bare hands. A  moment later, he yanked out the hard drive and dropped it into his  rucksack.

A couple feet away, Watson was keeping two enraged hybrids busy by  popping off shots at them every time they poked their heads out of their  cells. The bodies of three dead hybrids lay on the floor halfway  between the cells and where Trevor and Watson had barricaded themselves.  The creatures had obviously died trying their best to get to his guys  and rip out their throats. Landon and Diaz raced over to help.