Pierce

She loved him.

It was odd that after everything that had happened—the lies, the double- and triple-crossing, the imprisonment—all he could focus on was the fact that she loved him. Mila loved him. She’d said so, to his face, unguarded and raw.

He knew she could be lying. Again. But what point would that serve? If she was gloating, and lying to him, the odds were that he’d never see the bars in front of him move in a few minutes’ time. He’d know then that she lied to him. On the other hand, if they did open, it meant she was telling the truth.

All of it, including the part where she said she loved him.

Pierce had desperately wanted to tell her he loved her, but he hadn’t been able to. His brain was still reeling from the truth behind everything, from the way she had completely played him, but had done so for his benefit.

“Why do women have to be so complicated?” he raged out loud, pounding a fist impotently into the concrete walls.

He knew that she had a point though. Acting was not Pierce’s strong suit, and he doubted he’d have been able to play up the surprised, betrayed lover angle well enough to fool someone versed in picking up deception, as this director fellow seemed to be.

Still, it hurt to be lied to, to not know what was going on, and to have to believe that Mila truly had betrayed him. That part still hurt his heart, even though he was—once again, for some crazy reason—giving her the benefit of the doubt and believing her.

“I really need to learn to stop doing that. One of these times she’s going to be lying for real and I’ll never see it coming.”

The cell bars began to retract into the floor at the same time the reinforced security door at the end of the short hallway began to hiss open.

“Well shit,” he said, emerging from his cell. “I guess she was telling the truth.”

There was a roar from one of the other cells.

“I know that voice,” he said out loud to himself. “Maximus!”

His eldest brother was here, alive and well. Which meant that the others were likely here as well!

Then he frowned as the tone of the roar registered.

“Oh shit!” he cursed and flung himself from his cell.

Maximus emerged wild-eyed from the little hallway in his section and charged straight at Mila.

There was no time to be diplomatic about it. Pierce darted forward and leapt into the air.

He hit Maximus in the midsection, and the pair of them hit the ground hard and slid into the corner.

“Maximus, it’s me. It’s Pierce!” he shouted as his older, and stronger, brother tried to attack him.

For as long as Pierce could remember, Maximus had always walked nearest the wild side, slightly more feral and animalistic than the other brothers. It was what made him the perfect leader. He was ruthless and brutal, willing to stamp out any competition no matter what.

But just then, he was trying to kill Mila, and Pierce couldn’t let that happen. Maximus tried to fling his brother aside, at least recognizing him enough that he didn’t hit him.

Unfortunately, that left Pierce with only one option. He hauled back his left arm and slugged Maximus as hard as he could in the stomach. The big shifter doubled over and began to retch at the unexpected blow.

“Maximus, she’s on our side. She set us free.”

“She’s also the one who took us captive,” another voice said.

Pierce spun to see another huge form. This one had Mila by the throat and was holding her against the wall. Mila, for the most part, seemed able to breathe, but her eyes were wide and she was struggling to free herself from the vise-like grip.

“Kassian,” Pierce said as he rose to his feet, ignoring Maximus for the moment. “Let her go. She’s with us.”

“Pierce, she’s the one who led the team to abduct us.”

“She’s also the one that just freed you, after taking out the guard,” Pierce pointed out furiously. “Now let her go,” he said, advancing toward his brother.

Kassian looked at Pierce, then looked at Mila. Pierce glared at his brother. He didn’t want to fight him, but he would if it became necessary.

“Enough,” Mila barked, speaking up at last. “There is precisely no time for this. You want to interrogate me or whatever? Fine. But save it until we’re out of here. Got it?”

Kassian reared back in surprise. Then his eyes narrowed as he caught a nervous glance sent Pierce’s way.

“Holy shit, boys. She’s sweet on Peecee!”

He shuddered at the nickname.

“It’s more than that,” he snarled. “Now remove your hand.”

Kassian looked ready to challenge him, but Maximus spoke at last.

“Let her go, Kay.”

The hand fell from around Mila’s throat, and Pierce instantly inserted himself between her and the others.

“Mila got me in here, now I’m going to get you out. I’ll explain more once we’re free,” he said. “You follow me, you do as I say, until we’re out. Got it?” he growled, the word turning into a wordless rumble that bounced off the walls.

Maximus smiled evilly. “Little Pierce is growing up. Look at the alpha grow into his own,” he said, a trace of pride in his voice.

“Whatever, Maximus. Now, follow me. There are upward of two dozen human guards that are likely going to be mobilizing shortly to stop us.”

There were some barks of laughter.

“We can’t kill them.”

The sounds quieted.

“We have to leave them all alive, and relatively uninjured. If we don’t, they’ll use it as an excuse to go after Cadia. You can bet your ass on it,” he snapped before any of them could object.

“Time to go,” Mila urged as they still stood around.

“Let’s go,” Pierce said, not waiting around any longer. Coincidentally it also didn’t give any of his brothers, all of whom were older, time to protest.

He jogged from the room and back out into more white-washed hallways.

“Is everything in this fucking place white?” Gavin muttered as they moved down the hallway as fast as Mila could keep up.

“Yes,” he replied. “It’s rage-inducing, isn’t it?”

There were mumbles of agreement from all sides.

Up ahead a door opened and two guards stepped out into the hallway. They looked up at the clattering of boots on the floor. Eyes widened in alarm and the pair tried to bring their guns to bear, but they were caught completely unawares. Pierce was between them before they could react.

He grabbed the nearer man and bodily threw him at his partner. The pair went down in a heap and he leapt after them to finish the job. A swift punch and both of them went limp.

The whole encounter had taken perhaps a second.

Mila knelt next to them, but Pierce wasn’t waiting around. He kept moving down the hallway. Moments later alarms began to blare throughout the hallway.

“Well, I guess someone discovered we were missing,” Kassian quipped.

Two doors opened up in the hallway ahead, and men in all black gear began emerging. They were in various states of undress, and only one of them had a gun on him. He was, fortunately, obscured by the men in front of him.

“Remember, no killing!” Pierce reiterated to his brothers.

After that, they were among the humans.

It wasn’t a fight.

The Koche brothers went through the two-score human guards like a bandsaw. Bodies flew everywhere, impacting on walls, the ceiling, and with each other. Pierce pulled his punches and kicked with a fraction of the strength he could muster. Bones broke, he was sure of it, having heard and felt some go. But in seconds the twenty human guards were on the ground, moaning in pain or flat-out unconscious.

Either way, they were no longer a threat.

“Well that was easy,” Gavin crowed. “I’m not even breathing hard.”

More footsteps sounded, and half a dozen men came around the corner ahead of them. Pierce swore. They were almost at the exit into the underground. A few more seconds and they would have been piling into Mila’s SUV and making a clean getaway.

Now they had half a dozen armed and aware guards between them and the door.

“They aren’t armed,” Kean said, speaking at last.

Pierce followed his brother’s gaze and realized he was right. None of them had guns. Or knives. They also moved with a deadly grace. More of a confident amble than anything a human could manage. Their steps had a predator’s look about it.

“Did someone else send a rescue squad?” Maximus asked, casually kicking out with his boot as one of the humans on the ground stirred back to consciousness.

The body jerked and then lay still once more, the chest slowly rising and falling.

“I don’t think they’re here to rescue us,” Pierce said as the six of them came down the hallway at a slow, measured pace, not rushing into combat.

“Well, shit. A real fight then,” Kassian growled happily.

The alarms continued to make a racket. Pierce looked over at Mila. “We’re going to have to fight them,” he said. Then quieter, “These are the special surprise you’d heard rumors of, aren’t they?”

Mila looked unhappy. “It would appear that way, wouldn’t it?”

A shout sounded from behind them. More human guards.

Mila knelt, and began to roll one of the unconscious guards onto another.

“What are you doing?” he hissed, glancing in front of them where the approaching shifters continued to close.

“Making a barricade,” she snapped. Then he saw her pull a gun from her vest and begin sending darts down the hallway, sending the oncoming guards scrambling for cover.

“That’s my mate,” he growled happily, and his muscles twitched as he piled half a dozen unconscious bodies together with a swiftness Mila could never have matched.

“I’ll hold them off,” she said. “You go kick some ass.”

He bent down to kiss her, earning him a surprised cry, muffled by his lips.

“I love you,” he stated fiercely, and then charged back up the hallway just as his brothers engaged the enemy shifter team.