He held up his ruined hand. Fifteen years with this steel fused into his flesh. fifteen years of blood and sweat in order to pay for it; his brother's life; his sister's suicide; it had seen him through all of it. "Hell."
It felt like losing the bloody hand all over again, and his forearm ached from the impact.
"I'll buy you a new one," Malloryn barked, returning fire.
"All good," he breathed, meeting Ava's eyes. "Just winded me, and shattered my hand."
Her face was so pale. "I couldn't see you! When the vat exploded, you and Malloryn vanished and-"
"I'm here. I promise, luv," he said.
She sucked in a shaky breath, and then helped him sit up.
"Gemma?" Malloryn snapped. "Byrnes? Are we all alive?"
"Get out of there!" Byrnes's voice echoed in all their ears. "Ulbricht's rigged all the vats. We're too late."
Not only too late-they'd walked into a frigging trap.
"Where's Ulbricht?" Malloryn demanded.
"Evacu-"
Another whoosh of hot air, and the second vat went up, a fireball of heat blossoming out from its base. Shards of metal hammered into the tanks on either side of it, and glass shattered, spewing waves of blood across the floor.
Ava screamed. Kincaid hauled her to her feet, using his body and mech-suit to protect her. "We've got to get out of here!"
"Working on it!" Malloryn yelled back.
"Kincaid!" Ava cried, as he scanned the room.
"What?"
"I think there's a bomb under here," she said in a very quiet voice.
Both he and Charlie looked at each other, and then knelt where she'd been to see. A small case was attached to the base of the filtration device, and it was ticking.
"Come out, come out, wherever you are, Malloryn," a voice called.
"Above us!" Kincaid croaked. And there on the mesh walkway was a figure wearing a black cloak. Ulbricht.
"We're pinned down." Malloryn shot a look at the door.
"The bloody bomb's ticking down! We have to get out of here!" Kincaid eyed the distance. "How good a marksman are you?"
"Tolerably good," Malloryn replied, "though I'm better with knives."
"Can you shoot him from here?"
Malloryn eyed the distance. "Perhaps."
"Charlie?"
The lad shook his head. "I'm out of bullets too."
Kincaid sighed. "I have an idea, but you're not going to like it. I can make that shot, but I need a moment to take it. I need his mind on something else."
"I want him alive," Malloryn snapped.
"I want to get out of here alive," Kincaid snarled. "That bomb's about to go off any moment now."
"It's got a minute on the clock," Ava called, kneeling in front of the case.
Malloryn's lips pursed. "Blood and bloody ashes! Fine."
"Come out, Malloryn. Let's settle this once and for all."
They looked at each other.
"I'll distract him," Malloryn said tersely. "You kill him." Then he bolted across the open floor. He aimed a scattered shot toward Ulbricht, and the lord ducked, then strode across the walkway, tracking Malloryn with his pistol.
Kincaid eased out of the shadows. He was packing Firebolt bullets. Ulbricht rained bullets down upon Malloryn, forcing the duke under cover.
Come on. Turn this way just a little bit. Sweat dripped down his face, and Kincaid focused on the lord's head, the rest of the world vanishing around him.
"Hurry!" Ava called.
He eased out a slow breath, squeezing the trigger. The shot exploded out of his pistol.
Ulbricht's head burst like a ripe melon. The headless body stiffened, and then slumped forward onto its knees and hit the walkway.
"Got him!" Kincaid screamed. The other SOG members seemed to have vanished.
Malloryn sprinted to his side. "Let's get out of here! Ava, how much time?"
"Twenty seconds!"
Kincaid grabbed her by the hand and hauled her to her feet. "Run!" he said, shoving Charlie ahead of him.
* * *
Hell bloomed around them, fiery with rage. Ava's eyes stung, and she couldn't suck in enough air to breathe. The oxygen in her lungs was hot and thick.
"Keep low," Kincaid bellowed, shoving her through the smoke.
"This way!"
A hand yanked her forward. Malloryn. She had no idea where Charlie and the others were. Behind her another explosion rocked the factory. Then another, like some sort of chain reaction.
The force drove them all into the nearest wall. There was a hand pushing her, a huge shape behind her that yelled in her ear, "Run!"
A doorway loomed ahead of them.
The second she was through it, the heat and light cut down, leaving her in the relative darkness of the back room. So much... smoke. Ava coughed.