hard. Sean yanked her backward, off balance, spinning to the side to avoid her knee, whirling her around as he did so, his arm sliding beneath her chin in a choke hold.
Mari kept going, using her weight and momentum to put pressure on his arm, bending it away from her neck to try to get leverage against him. He had been trained in the same school as she had. and he was bigger and stronger. He knew exactly what her reaction would be and he was prepared for it. He wrapped his arm tighter and exerted pressure, succeeding in getting her in a headlock. Mari turned her head and bit him hard in the ribs, at the same time driving her thumb into the pressure point at the back of his knee. His leg buckled and he swore, folding in half quickly to keep from going down, dragging her with him. refusing to let go.
They ended up sprawled on the floor. Mari breathing hard, trying to ignore the pain shooting through her at the awkward position.
'Stop it, Mari,' he hissed. 'I'm not turning into another Brett.' He leaned his weight on her. pinning her down.
She gathered her strength and was preparing to push him off of her. when the hall filled to a choking point with dark malevolence. The floor beneath them rippled and the walls around them undulated. Mari knew that presence and went very still beneath Sean, her heart pounding so hard she was afraid it might shatter. She knew that scent. That aura. The scent of his cunning malevolence. There was only one man that could make her stomach churn with such bile. Brett was coming.
'Sean.' She whispered the name in despair. Sean had been a good friend and now he had betrayed her. Brett was coming, and if he touched her. she would never be able to stop from silently screaming, from spilling out waves of energy at the revulsion she felt at his touch, and Ken would know, and he would come, and the escape she had so carefully planned with the other women would be impossible.
Sean moved fast, faster than she imagined possible, leaping to his feet, yanking her up, and thrusting her into her cell with one hand, while he slammed his palm against the lock with the other. The heavy metal door slid closed with a terrible clang, leaving her in shock, helpless to do anything but watch as the two men circled each another.
Chapter 14
Ken moved back into deeper shadow, his gaze steady on the guard. The man was certainly engrossed in his book, and that told Ken a lot about the situation at the compound. Working at a secret laboratory was slow, tedious work. No one really considered that they come under attack or that anyone might try to break in. Most of the compound was underground, so any lost or stray hunter would find the fence, a small airstrip, and a few outbuildings. No one had come near the place for years, and Whitney had some pretty sophisticated warning systems. Apparently, the guards had been too long without incident. They had grown lazy and bored. He watched as the guard put his book down, but not once did he do more than give a cursory look around before walking along the fence line.
Ken waited until he was gone before consulting with his brother. 'I'm not going to be able to hold off much longer before going in after Mari, Jack. We have to get this done and fast.'
'You know we need better intel.' Jack said. 'I've asked for satellite views of the entire compound as well as infrared camera images to time the movement of the men. We have to have exact schematics of the entire compound-the layout, the height of the fence, and Lily will need to find someone who put the underground buildings together, so we know what we're facing before we expose the team to danger. This base is very deceptive.'
'It's layers. The top layer is what the outside world sees.'
'Yes, a guarded facility with a few outbuildings and a landing strip. You've got to get Mari to tell you what's belowground.'
'I already gave you what she told me. Four levels, Jack. It's made of concrete, so we know there are going to be a few hollow places like we've found in the military bases. It isn't as impregnable as Whitney would like.'
'Look, Ken, we can't just storm in guns blazing. Clearly there are civilians working here, and Whitney has regular military soldiers mixed with his own personal army. I'd like to get the women and get out without anyone spotting us. The last thing we need to do is hit or get hit by a friendly.'
'As far as I'm concerned, anyone working at this place is fair game.'
'They're soldiers obeying orders. They don't have a clue Whitney is a madman. My guess is most of them have never seen him, talked to him, or even know he's here. Their assignment is top secret, the location is, and they do their rotation and get the hell out when the opportunity presents itself.'
'You know, Jack, I really don't give a damn. You know as well as I do that when you've spent time somewhere, you know what's going on-and if you don't, you hear the rumors and you guess. That guard didn't give a damn if innocent women were being used for experimentation. And where the hell is the loyalty of the team Mari and the others trained with?'
Ken's voice was turning to ice. His gray eyes were glacier cold. Jack chose his words carefully. 'I agree these are all questions we need to answer, Ken, but not here. Our primary mission is a rescue. That's why we're here.'
'Someone has to take out Whitney. You know it's got to be done, Jack.'
'Yeah, I know. I don't want to be the one explaining it to Lily, though.' Jack took a slow swig of water and let it trickle down his throat, giving his brother a little more time. Jack had always been the one pushing for a quick answer, and the role reversal wasn't comfortable. 'We have a lot of work to do before we bring in the team. They're standing by, Ken, so if we want to pull her out, we have to get to work. It'll be completely dark in another half hour or so.'
'I can feel her. She's very upset. I've tried to reach out to her mind, but she isn't answering me. Whatever is happening, she doesn't want me to know about it.' Ken's voice was strained. 'And if she doesn't want me to know about it, something bad is going on.'
Jack automatically touched his mind, as he'd been doing since they were toddlers, just as Ken knew he would. Ken was prepared and kept his shields high. It wasn't easy keeping Jack at bay: they'd been shadows in each other's mind for as long as either could remember, but both had worked hard to build shields once they became aware others had psychic power as well-and the practice paid off.
Jack didn't need to know just how close to cracking he was. In that moment, Ken didn't care about the other women, or even any innocents working as techs, researchers, or guards. If Mari didn't let him know she was all right very soon, he was going in after her, and God help anyone who got in his way. He felt murderous, not cold and unemotional. Discipline was going out the window fast.
'Ken, you think I don't know how you're feeling with her locked up with madmen?' Jack crawled into a better position, his gaze sweeping the route the guard had taken.
'Whitney went after Briony because she was pregnant; he wasn't stripping her naked and laying her out on an exam table for some perverted doctor to photograph. Damn it. Jack, I could feel him touching Mari. He wasn't acting like any doctor I've ever met. And Whitney has men in there willing to rape a woman if she isn't cooperative.' The knots in his belly tightened into hard lumps that threatened to climb higher and choke him.
'You have to step back, bro,' Jack said, keeping his voice steady. 'We'll get the intel and get the women out as soon as possible.' Ken didn't answer, and Jack sighed and glanced over at him. 'You know I'll go in with you and pull her out if anything goes wrong. Tell her that, give her something to hang onto.'
'If I told her that, she'd freak on me. She's willing to sacrifice herself for the other women. She considers them family and she's not going to willing come without them.'
'Then we make it work,' Jack said. 'I wouldn't leave you behind. We can't ask her to do something we wouldn't be willing to do ourselves. She wouldn't be able to live with herself.'
Ken bit back a retort. He hated it, but he knew Jack was right. He wanted to go in and haul Mari out over his shoulder and lock her somewhere safe, but he couldn't do that to her-at least not right now. She wouldn't be able to live with herself if something happened to the other women, so that meant getting them all out before he went off the deep end and took her out without her consent-which would make him nearly as bad as everyone else who had taken her life away from her. He had to give her time and the opportunity to get those she considered family safely away.
