Into the Mist (Falcon Mercenary Group #1)(66)

Again, the explosion sounded, and she backtracked to the room. This time, no one hit the hallway so she slowed and raised her rifle. Back to the wall, she eased around the doorway then bolted in, ready to shoot the first person who moved.

Her heart fell to her feet when she saw Eli, caged in a clear, plexiglass square that looked to be airtight. A long tube ran from the ceiling and was attached to the top. Was it to pump in oxygen? Was this how they prevented him from escaping if he shifted?

Rage made her tremble, but she forced herself to calm down and move quickly to the box. He opened his eyes when she approached, but his vision was unfocused. He looked to be heavily drugged. Fuck.

She couldn’t blow it without risking injury to Eli. She could shoot it but it could send pieces of the plexiglass into his body.

“Goddamn it, D, I need you,” she said in desperation. “I found Eli. They’ve got him in some kind of a damn box. It looks like it’s linked to their computer system. Can you figure out how to open it?”

“Give me a minute, Ty. I’ve locked on to your location. Let me see what I can do.”

A few seconds later, the security pad on the face of the box lit up and then the top popped up with a whoosh as the airlock was broken. She ran over and looked down over the edge.

Eli stared up at her, anger glinting in his dark eyes. She didn’t have time to hash it out.

“Get your ass up,” she hissed.

She reached down to tug at his arms. He was heavy and lethargic. He struggled to get to his knees, hanging on to the edge with white-knuckled hands.

She tossed one of his arms over her shoulders, careful to keep her gun up with her free hand.

“Step over, I’ve got you,” she said.

She staggered under his weight but refused to let go. She held him up by sheer force of will.

“Why are you here?” he rasped, his voice hoarse and pain-filled.

“I don’t have time to get into it with you, Eli,” she said as she hauled him toward the door. “I’m more concerned with saving your ass, so shut the f**k up and help me out here.”

Damiano chuckled in her ear. “Rock on, girl.”

Damn. She’d forgotten D could hear everything she said.

They ducked into the hallway, and she looked both ways.

“I need you, D. Help me get him out of here.”

She listened intently and navigated while dragging Eli along. What the hell had they done to him? Fear clogged her throat.

As they veered into another hallway, Tyana looked up to see an armed guard pointing his rifle right at her and Eli. Reacting quickly, she shoved Eli to the floor and shot at the same time the guard did.

Pain slammed into her leg, and her knees buckled. The guard went down with a thump. Her aim had been truer than his.

Jesus, it hurt. She looked down to see blood pouring from a hole in her upper leg. Another few inches and it would have hit her femoral artery, and she’d be on the floor bleeding out.

“Ty, talk to me, goddamn it. I heard gunfire. What the f**k is going on?”

“I took a hit,” she said faintly.

D swore viciously in her ear. “Get the hell out, do you hear me, Ty?”

“D, I’m okay. Took a round in the leg. I can make it. I’m coming with Eli.”

She staggered over to the guard and used her knife to cut his shirt off. She quickly fashioned a long bandage and wrapped it tightly around her leg several times to apply pressure and slow the bleeding.

The adrenaline buzz was fast wearing off, and her entire leg felt like someone had tossed her in petrol and lit a match.

She made it back to Eli who was trying to pull himself off the floor.

“That…was…stupid,” he growled. “Leave me, Tyana. You can’t make it out with me.”

“Listen to him, Ty,” Damiano urged. “I’ll send Jonah and Mad Dog to get Eli.”

“Fuck that,” she snarled. “I’m almost there. If Eli will shut the f**k up and get moving.”

She looped his arm back over her shoulders, and ignoring the searing agony each time she moved her leg, she started forward again. Eli was gaining strength. He seemed to be helping her along more.

“Can you shift?” she asked. Damn sure would make it easier to get him out if he could.

“No. Too drugged. They used a paralytic. Only reason I can move at all right now is I was due for another injection and the last one is wearing off. You showed up before they did.”

“Lucky you.”

They burst out of the exit, and she did a quick survey to make sure they weren’t walking into more trouble. She hobbled to the wall where she’d climbed over. No way was she going to get Eli over that wall. Fuck.

She eased him behind a hedge of greenery and laid him on the ground. “Talk to me, Eli. Where are the others? Do you know?”

“Ty, forget the others,” D barked in her ear. “You get your ass out of there and let Jonah and Mad Dog find them.”

“Shut it, D, or I swear I’ll turn your ass off.” She grabbed Eli by the shirt and shook him. “Think, Eli. Tell me where the others are.”

“They couldn’t have been far,” he said. “I heard them once when my door was opened.”

“You stay here,” she said as she shoved him back down on the ground. “D, I’ve stashed Eli where I went over the wall. Make damn sure someone comes for him. I’m going back in after the others.”