Around us, the Pack took the few precious moments necessary to shift into their animal or between forms. Dia stood beside Robert. She’d decided to join the fun and he was taking it upon himself to watch her back.
She and I were the only non-shifters and we were responsible for eliminating any remaining psyker threats. At first, I’d thought she’d hang back. She might have known some of the psykers inside. But she didn’t have the same loyalties Jason did.
Her loyalty was to her brother and him alone. The H.A.C. had come for him. She was all too ready and eager to hit back.
Jason had cleared out as many of his people as he could. The rest was up to us.
The complex in front of us was heavily fortified. There were four guard towers, each manned by three men sporting heavy artillery machine guns. Unless they were packed with silver, they shouldn’t kill a shifter, but it was a risk we didn’t want to take.
We didn’t know the exact model of the guns but I had a sneaking suspicion they might be M16 rifles. I’d seen one of them when my mother’s men attacked Clan Wolf.
They were in the family of military rifles, adapted from the ArmaLite AR-15. If you knew what you were doing, they had a maximum range of thirty-six hundred meters but were at their most accurate within six hundred yards and could shoot between seven hundred and nine hundred rounds per minute. Loaded with silver or not, no one wanted to get hit by one of them.
With everyone in position, Declan signaled four men and two women forward.
They knew their orders, and with a quick nod, they took off like shadows in the night.
I could barely make out one of the women climbing the tower like a lizard before she cleared the wall.
I held my breath.
Seconds ticked by as we waited for the signal.
A chill rolled down my back and I worried my lower lip.
What was taking so long?
I leaned forward on the balls of my feet.
“Not yet,” Declan said.
Gah, something must have happened. I knew Dia and I should have taken care of their lookouts, but Declan had insisted we wait until we breached the gates before using our abilities.
“Not yet,” he said again.
I pulled my fire to me and wrapped my telekinesis around me like an invisible cloak.
“There —”
The guard tower lights winked out of existence, plunging the already dark surroundings into complete darkness. That was our cue.
Thank God.
“When this is over, you, me, we’re going on a vacation.”
I snorted. “We don’t have time for a vacation.”
Declan leveled me with his Alpha stare. “We’ll make time.”
We took off at a steady jog. Two hundred bodies filled the clearing.
Declan moved beside me. His steps were silent. There was a lethal edge to every movement.
This felt right. Going into the fight together. Guarding each other’s flank. We were a team, and we would tear down anyone who stood in our way.
And dammit, fine, we would go on that vacation.
Ten yards.
We were almost to the gate.
As we neared, the doors opened thanks to the men and women still positioned in the towers and we poured inside.
Before we’d even cleared the entrance, the alarm was sounded.
It didn’t matter. We were already inside.
Soldiers poured out of the building, some with startled expressions and others ready for a fight. I pulled both my daggers from my hip sheath and waded into the fray, Declan right beside me.
No longer concerned with silence, the wolves howled, the cats roared, and I screamed my battle cry as I dashed forward, following a line of wolves as they ripped into the enemy.
Two men in black tactical uniforms surged toward me through a gap made by the wolves. I tightened my grip on my daggers. Using a concentrated burst of telekinesis, I knocked one soldier back and lunged at the other.
He swung a katana with a two-handed grip. Shit. I swung back but his reach was longer.
Pain seared my left arm and I hissed.
A quick glance down showed a thin bead of blood. Just a scratch but I’d have to be careful.
With a weapon that was twenty-four inches long, he was going to have the advantage if I relied solely on my blades.
I dipped low, avoiding his strike, and countered with a swipe across his midsection. My blade met resistance. Armor of some sort. Damn.
I dodged a fist aimed for my jaw and danced out of striking range.
He smiled.
“Is that all you’ve got?”
A chorus of enraged snarls surrounded me.
I didn’t respond to the barb. Instead, I faked left while spinning right and sank my dagger into his trapezius muscle—where his neck and shoulder met.
Blood spurted from the wound and I twisted, sinking my second blade into the back of his knee. He dropped to the ground.
I pulled both of my blades free and made a vicious cut across his throat and moved on, not bothering to wait for his body to hit the ground.
When it did, he wouldn’t be getting back up.
The second man had stood by and watched, eyes now wide with apprehension.
I walked toward him, my steps sure and steady.
He turned around and ran. Coward.
I didn’t bother chasing after him. As long as he stayed out of my way, I couldn’t care less where he went.
Bullets tore through the open space. I ducked behind a stone column as bullets sank into the concrete beside me. A shifter’s howl of pain had me gritting my teeth and peeking around the edge of the column.
Three shifters were on the ground bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds.
They didn’t get up. Silver. Shit. Shit. Shit.
Where was he? I scanned the roofline. There had to be a—there! Nestled beneath an alcove was a lone
