So what the hell was going on here besides the fact he thought he’d won?
In fact, that evil fucker was grinning at my mates, no doubt impatient for their torture to begin.
Over my dead body.
Focus, Webster.
I scooted back a few inches and Kiel followed. When we were face to face again, I didn’t waste time and I didn’t give him a chance to argue. My whisper was barely audible, but I knew, with his supposed advanced Hunter hearing, he’d have no trouble deciphering every word. “You get the Integration Unit. Let Rezz and Marz take care of the other two. Krael is mine.”
Kiel didn’t argue, he smiled, and I decided right then and there that we were going to be friends. “How are you getting down there, Lady Zakar?”
“You’re jumping, right?” There was enough ledge that we could run around to a point where it dipped close to the floor of the cavern, but that low point was halfway across the room. We’d never make it without being seen. At this location, we were between ten and fifteen feet off the ground. It was high, but I’d landed worse.
“Yes.”
I peeked over the edge, saw that Tyran’s gaze was scanning the room, looking for something. Me. Meanwhile, Hunt was allowing them to lead him toward the first operating table like a lamb to slaughter.
Fuck. That.
I turned to Kiel. We were out of time. “Ready?”
He nodded, the movement almost imperceptible. I nodded back, our gazes locking for a moment. I wasn’t going home without my mates, and I needed him to understand that fact. “Go.”
With that one word I rolled over the edge of the ledge and leapt to the ground as quietly as I could. The impact was jarring, but I knew what to expect, allowing my knees to bend so I didn’t absorb all the impact, then rolled twice and came to my feet. Adrenaline pumped through me, so I wasn’t even dizzy. I fired immediately at Krael.
He grunted as I hit him dead center in the chest, but the Prillon didn’t go down. I hit him again in the thigh before he could move or process what was happening as Kiel was already across the room, leaping on the Integration Unit. Behind me, Rezz’s roar filled the cavern like the rumble of a helicopter, making my ears hurt and my bones rattle, but it startled the Scout escorting Hunt.
I fired on Krael again, heard a scuffle from the direction of Tyran and the Hive Soldier I knew he was most likely fighting. My mate had been wearing manacles of some sort, but I knew those wouldn’t stop him. Not for long. He’d been biding his time. Smart.
Krael staggered back against the rock wall as I hit him again in the shoulder, but he still didn’t go down.
Damn this Coalition armor!
He met my gaze for a moment before slipping into the darkness of the cavern beyond him, a small, nearly black abyss that made seeing impossible. The path was unknown, and he would have the advantage. While I wanted him dead, that hadn’t been the goal of this mission. It was rescue and recover, and there were more enemies to deal with before we could pursue that rat.
Cursing, I turned to find Hunt locked in a struggle with the Hive escort, a huge Soldier unit. That was, until Rezz walked up behind the Hive, picked him up and literally tore his body in half, the sound making me gag as blood sprayed everyone within range, covering Hunt and the stark white and silver of the operating table next to them.
I was frozen in place, unable to move as I took in the change that had taken over Rezz’s body. The Atlan had been big before, ridiculously big. Comic book big. But now he looked like a nine-foot tall, non-green version of the Incredible Hulk.
“Dead.” That one word held a whole lot of satisfaction and the air left my body as my mind processed what had just happened and I imagined it happening on a battlefield over and over, hundreds and hundreds of times as hundreds and hundreds of beasts charged or attached together. I couldn’t imagine anything more terrifying.
No wonder my mates were so protective.
The pounding of boots sounded behind me and I heard Captain Marz shout as I turned to see two more Hive Soldiers emerge from a tunnel. The opening had been hidden from view by our vantage point directly above it.
Shit. They were close and they’d sneaked up behind us.
I lifted my gun, backing away and firing as the first one clashed with Marz. The second was headed straight for me.
“Kristin!” My name was a roar, and I knew it came from Tyran, his rage and fear for me buckling my knees as it blasted me through the collar. We’d all tempered our emotions, until now. I sank to one knee, fighting to keep my weapon raised and pointing at the Hive sprinting toward me because of the strength of the feelings through the damn collar.
“Control yourself!” Hunt yelled at him, and the overwhelming barrage of pain and helplessness faded enough that I could move.