Elizabeth shoved a gun into the waistband of her jeans and used a special belt to hold the paralyzing darts and the royal daggers her father had given her. Emeralds lay embedded in the handles of the deadly weapons. She still wasn’t okay with the man and what he’d done, but she didn’t have time to dwell on her jacked-up family dynamics. Finding the women took precedence over the anger she harbored.
Evan, Striker, and two of the other Protectors, Kane and Jager, were going with her. They had four more operatives at the lab ready and waiting to join the fight with another team set up at an extraction point. She’d seen their pictures and knew who not to kill. The only people who were walking away were the innocents and her team.
“You look like you lost your puppy,” Striker teased, gazing at her through the rearview mirror.
More like her bear. “I’m fine.” She turned her gaze back toward the window, watching as the moon rose in the night sky.
She heard Evan in her mind. Get out of your head. You need to focus.
Bite me, she answered back. There was no coming back from what she’d deliberately done to Rhys. He’d never forgive her, never trust her again. How was she supposed to fight with that weight on her shoulders?
The SUV pulled off on the side of the road, and they all unloaded, grabbing knives, guns, and their weapons of choice. Hers were her gun, paralyzing darts, and the daggers. Not because her father had given them to her but because they were small and effective.
“We all know the plan. Lizzie, you’ll focus on getting the girls and getting them out. We’ll handle the rest,” Evan announced, his gaze landing on her.
“Get in, get the girls, and get out. I know,” she called over her shoulder and started in a jog toward the tree line, not waiting for the others to follow. She sniffed the air. The scent of pine tingled her nose, making it twitch. She dug her boots into the mud, making a path through the trees toward where the satellite images the senator had provided indicated the building sat.
She slowed as she approached the end of the clearing, Evan by her side and the others spread farther out.
The mic in her ear crackled to life with Striker’s gravelly voice. “Hold your position. Wait for the signal.”
She crouched down in anticipation. Her animals growled loudly in her head, pacing below the surface of her skin. Her gaze was glued to the power box on the side of the building. Two seconds later, the bullet hit. Red sparks flew from the metal, throwing the building into complete darkness. The darkness wasn’t an issue for her or the boys and probably not half the shifters in the building, but it knocked out the security, unlocking the doors on their side of the building.
Evan grabbed her arm and used hand signals toward the door. Seconds later, it opened, and a man stepped out, waving them in. She recognized him as one of the inside Protectors that was there to help. Evan stepped into the building first. Her gaze turned a red tint thanks to whichever animal could help her best. She pulled the gun from her waistband, holding it pointed toward the ground as they hurried down the hall, taking several different twists and turns. She’d be lost if the inside agents hadn’t provided the layout. She might still get lost trying to get out.
They both slowed, pressing their backs against the wall, moving effectively and efficiently toward their goal, only stopping to peer around the last corner where the hall opened up to where the holding cells were situated. He held up three fingers, and she sniffed the air. Two wolves and a cat, she said in her mind.
He nodded and drew his sword. She shook her head, pulling three of the tranquilizers from her belt.
They won’t even see me coming, she said.
Gunshots sounded from the opposite direction while screams echoed down the hall.
“Shit, they tripled security. We’re hit, and the bastards have us cornered. They’re firing tranqs,” Striker growled into their ears.
Ambush? she asked.
Evan hesitated, his gaze going back down the hall as he said, Go help them. I’ve got this. We’ll rendezvous at the SUV.
He hesitated, but she didn’t. She gave him a shove toward the corridor, saying, In and out, go help the others and pave me a path to the exit.
He nodded and started jogging down the hallway, leaving the three weres for her to deal with.
I’m not human she reminded herself and tightened the grip on her darts. She peered around the corner and came face to face with a slobbering wolf, baring his pointy yellow teeth. A growl rumbled from deep in his chest. He crouched, and his muscular legs bunched seconds before he jumped on her, knocking her off her feet. She scrambled, using her dragon strength to hold his snout closed as she reached for the nearest dart she’d dropped with his impact and shoved it into the side of his neck. “Sweet dreams.”
Seconds later, his large heavy body collapsed on her, and she shoved him to the side while searching the floor for the rest of the darts she’d been holding.
The other two guards were still in human form as they ran around the corner. They stopped and eyed the dog on the ground, giving her time to pull the daggers from behind her back. She didn’t wait for them to attack. She used her vampire speed and ran between them, holding each blade at throat level.
She spun as she passed, preparing her stance for another attack. Their bodies fell, blood spurting from their throats.
She pressed the button on her ear com as she turned. “I’m in.”
The room was built like the one holding the cells at her precinct. Ten cells lined both walls with thick metal bars made from silver. Only two were empty, with the doors standing open. She didn’t have to guess the human women from the shifters. The humans had tears in their eyes and were clutching the bars. The shifters looked ready to fight.
“Who had the key?” she asked the nearest shifter.
“The wolf,” she answered.
Elizabeth glanced over her shoulder back into the hallway, where she should have seen the legs of the wolf she’d jabbed with the dart. He was nowhere to be seen.
“Looks like we’re doing this the hard way. Can you shift?”
She shook her head. “No, they pumped us full of some type of sleeping sedative that targets only our animals.”
Elizabeth shoved the daggers back into their sheaths and used the strength of her dragon and her immortal speed, yanking the doors off the hinges and throwing them toward the two empty cells. “I’ll lead,” she hollered over her shoulder as she yanked the last door off.
The missing women were among them.
The last woman was crouched in the corner. Her dirty brunette hair hung in her face.
“Leave her. She’ll just slow us down,” the woman from the first cell yelled.
“We’re all leaving this hellhole,” Elizabeth answered. She stepped into the cell and lifted the woman off the ground.
She brushed the hair out of the woman’s face and paused. The woman’s violet eyes stared back at her, but she still didn’t say a word.
Elizabeth guided the woman by her arm leading her to the others. She met the woman’s gaze. “You need to keep up.” She pushed her will toward the other woman, just to find herself hitting a brick wall.
Elizabeth glanced at one of the other shifters. “Help her.”
She left her, moving to the front of the pack. “Stay close, and stay low.” She pulled out her gun, holding it in a tight grip in front of her. She moved swiftly down the halls, backtracking toward the exit. She paused at each hallway, taking out a few of the shifters, charging them before ushering the girls past. By the time she got to the end of the hall, her clip was empty, and smoke was filling the halls. She pushed through the door and ran out, the women hot on her heels. They made the tree line, and about half a mile to the extraction point, she yelled to the group. “Head 100 yards north.”
“Wait. What about you?” the woman with the violet eyes asked, trying to urge her to continue with them.
“I’ve got to help the others. Head to the extraction point.”
Shots rang out in the night air behind her, coming from the warehouse. “Run, and don’t stop.”
Elizabeth shoved the gun into her jeans with no bullets left in the chamber. She pulled the daggers off her back and headed back toward the others. She wouldn’t leave the others behind if there was a remote chance they needed her help. Ten yards to the clearing, she skidded to a stop. The barrel of a gun pointed at her chest.
“I knew you were going to be a problem,” Jennifer Smith sneered. “I told Patrick we hadn’t seen the last of you.”
“Jennifer?” Elizabeth tightened her hold on the only weapons she had left. The scent of bear made her heart hammer in her chest. The unmistakable smell of Rhys drifted to her nose on the wind. She needed answers before she killed this bitch. Needed to know if there were more labs, more people she would kill. “Why are you doing this?”
“To rid the world of your kind,” she smiled. “That’s right. My husband told me what you are.” She paced to get a better angle. “The General hates shifters as much as I do.”
“You’re the one behind all of this?” Elizabeth asked, narrowing her eyes. “No…you aren’t, are you? You’re not smart enough for this.”
“Smart enough to see you coming a mile away. It’s a shame I can’t kill your animals before watching you die.” Jennifer narrowed her eyes and lifted the gun, ready to pull the trigger.
Rhys sprinted from behind a tree, covering Elizabeth’s body and blocking her from the weapon as Jennifer pulled the trigger. He grimaced as he held on to her with one hand, using the other to cover the blood pooling out onto his shirt.
“She’s using silver bullets.” He grimaced. His words were whispered. “I love you.”
“No….” the woman screamed. “That was meant for her.”
Elizabeth didn’t wait another second. She used her strength to propel the dagger, slicing it through the air, and the silver landed directly in the woman’s chest. The gun fell from her hand, and Jennifer gripped the handle as if to pull the dagger free.
“Not this time.” Elizabeth threw the other dagger, embedding the blade into the woman’s brain. Her body dropped to the ground.
“Rhys.” Elizabeth eased him over. His eyes were closed, and his head lolled to the side. She felt for a pulse. It was faint beneath her fingertips.
Evan, she screamed in her head. He’s dying.
Seconds passed that seemed like minutes. She’d shoved up her sleeve, ready to open her vein and have him feed from her as a last resort, when Evan appeared by her side, moving her out of the way to get a better look.
“No, you’ll kill him. He’s not immortal.”
“The bullet was silver. He’s dying,” she breathed out with tears streaking down her face. She watched in horror as Evan ripped Rhys’ shirt open.
“Good thing we’re immune.” He glanced up at her. “I have to change him. He’ll be just like us. Well, just like me.”
She nodded. “Save him.”
Evan gave her the royal nod before using his teeth to slice open his wrist. He held it to Rhys’ mouth. She heard Evan order Rhys to drink. Evan’s face became paler as Rhys took more enzymes from his blood. He didn’t have enough.
Elizabeth shoved up her sleeve and held her own wrist to Evan’s mouth.
He turned his face.
“If you don’t save him, we’ll both die.” She held his gaze. “I won’t live without him, and you’re tied to me.” She shoved her wrist to his mouth.
His teeth clamped down on her inner arm, and she dropped to her knees and lifted her head to the stars in the night sky. She felt her life force draining. Her eyes slid closed. Her body was heavy as the darkness sucked her into a black void.