Haley

“Haley!” he hissed, calling her back as she moved toward the far side of the building.

Haley skidded to a halt as she heard the voice call out from behind her. Spinning, she spied Maximus emerging at the top of the stairwell she’d just passed. Practically sagging in relief, she darted back down the hallway to him.

“We need to go!” she said nervously, wondering if he could see the fear she knew had to be etched into her features.

“How bad?” he asked, not even bothering to ask for details. That was something she admired about him. He knew when to simply do what was necessary without waiting for more details first. As they walked she gave him all the information she had, which wasn’t much. But it was enough.

“The truck pulled up and they just started piling out. There’s a lot of them, Maximus. I don’t know how they aren’t inside yet, but they were almost ready to come in when I came to warn you.”

He nodded, his legs moving in what was for him a walk, but had her almost jogging to keep up.

“I’m not surprised it’s a trap,” he said, looking down at the man he carried in his arms.

Haley was insanely curious about the body he was holding in his arms, but she knew now was not the time for questions about it. Whoever they were, they were allies she supposed.

“They left them here for you to find, didn’t they?” she asked as her brain finally clued in to what Maximus meant.

“I can only assume so,” he said.

“The Institute must be getting pretty pissed about all the damage you’ve been inflicting on them,” she said. “Reashallow has finally had enough I suppose, between this and the public pressure being exerted upon them.”

Maximus nodded, focusing on keeping his arms as still as possible so he didn’t jar the shifter any more than necessary. Haley wondered at that, until she looked closer and saw the misshapen bones and the way his body was healed improperly.

No wonder he’s unconscious, the pain must be incredible.

Her anger at the Institute rose even higher, becoming a towering inferno. “Do you think he’ll make an appearance?” she asked, referring to the reclusive Institute leader.

“Maybe. He was always content to work from the shadows and let Burnatawiz run the show publicly. But with him dead, I’m not really sure what to expect.” His expression hardened. “But I sure hope so.”

Haley didn’t reply, instead jogging ahead to hold the door open. Pushing through, she turned to the side, looking back at Maximus as he and his brothers came over. But it was what she saw behind them that made her cry out.

“Run!” she shouted.

Black-clad shapes were flowing down the corridor behind them, coming on in near silence. She’d not heard a thing, and the attacking shifters weren’t far away at all. Maximus didn’t look behind him; he simply shot forward as he accelerated. Behind him his brothers did the same, heading for the cars to stow their cargo.

Haley didn’t wait until Gavin, the last in the line, had passed before she brought her tranq gun up.

“Get to the cars,” the big shifter snarled, but she ignored him, lining up her gun’s sights with the nearest shifter.

Her finger caressed the trigger and six inches of steel infused with something several times stronger than an elephant tranquilizer sped down the hallway. Haley felt a small blast of pride in herself as it buried itself in the shifter’s abdomen, spilling him to the floor. His sudden tumble caught up three more shifters, all four of them going down together. Haley moved her aim and dropped another enemy. Then she picked out a massive man running in the center of the group. She took careful aim, knowing this would have to be her last shot before she fell back, and stroked the trigger once more.

The gun bucked as it spat out a dart, and it flew down the hallway on target. She started to smile until the shifter’s hand came up at the last second and knocked the dart out of the air. A stroke of luck sent it into the shoulder of the shifter nearest the big one, dropping him for eight hours or so, but her astonishment at what she’d seen almost proved to be the undoing of Haley.

“Haley!” Mila screamed from behind her.

She turned to see the other women halfway between the cars and the doors, each with guns in their hands. Behind them the brothers were trying to stow their cargo in the vehicles as quickly as they could. Haley ran back from the door, taking up a stance with the other women. It was obvious to her that the brothers weren’t going to be done before the shifters arrived.

“We need to buy them some time,” she said firmly, switching out her half-empty magazine for a new one with a full complement of six darts.

“Get back here!” one of the brothers was yelling at them, but even if they’d been inclined to obey, it was too late.

The double doors burst open, torn off their hinges as the Institute shifters emerged, still attacking in total silence. It was the weirdest thing Haley had ever come across. But she didn’t let it slow her. Instead she took aim and together the women dropped the first two shifters to emerge, three darts riddling each of their bodies.

More continued to come though, and she fired as calmly as she could, despite the limited training she’d been given by Mila on how to use the tranquilizer gun and how to stay calm in battle. She was honestly shocked at her own performance. The numbers would soon turn in the Institute’s favor though. More darts were missing than hitting, and the enemy shifters continued to rush them. Just how many had they brought?

The door was beginning to clog up with dart-infested bodies, but that didn’t matter. With a huge roar of what she assumed was anger, the entire wall to the right exploded outward. She cried out as concrete cinderblocks exploded under the attack, showering them with debris that cut exposed skin and threatened to knock them out.

One particularly large chunk hit her gun, and Haley couldn’t keep a grip on it, shrieking as her fingers went numb. The massive shifter she’d tried to shoot earlier emerged from the hole in the wall, bearing down on her. Haley scrambled backward, even as the other women around her retreated as well. Their magazines were dry and the shifters would reach them before they could reload.

It was over. They’d failed.

The huge shifter roared again, and others pushed forward, looking to overwhelm them.

I’m sorry, Maximus. I tried.

She watched him loom closer, his eyes lit with a fury that she would never comprehend, even if she could make out his intentions easily enough. He was going to kill her.

In what she knew to be the final instant of her life, Haley felt one emotion rise to the surface: sorrow. The sadness that she hadn’t ever told Maximus just how she truly felt about him. She would carry that regret with her, all because she’d been too afraid to speak up. To—

A massive shadow bigger than any man abruptly blotted out the dark gray sky above her. The ground trembled as it landed, interposing itself between her and the oncoming Institute shifter, before it cut loose with a bellow of anger that made her clamp her hands over her ears. She watched, her eyes finally registering the fact that it was a bear. But not any bear. She’d seen those at the zoo. This creature was easily twice the size of the largest polar bear she’d ever seen. And it was mad. Paws the size of her head dug at the ground as it challenged the leader, indicating that she was under its protection.

All around her more shapes flowed by as a solid line of angry predators moved forward, each one taking up a stand in front of one of the retreating women. It took a moment for Haley to realize what had happened, but when she did, her heart soared with joy.

Maximus and his brothers had returned.