King Tomb (Forever Evermore, #3)(64)
Antonio was at the north end, using his power to run interference on their security system. Elder Jacobs was to the south, creating a small wind disturbance, nothing major or unnatural, just enough to distract the small number of guards who had been circulating the premises. No one had kicked his ass yet. I was pretty sure Ezra was waiting until after the mission was through, so Elder Jacobs was able to do his part.
Knowing Antonio had the security system in hand, I jerked open the massive steel door, easily breaking its locks, the steel handle crushing under my grip. We moved inside quietly down the stairs to the first floor. I could hear Coms throughout the building, but they could wait until we let in Ezra and Elder Cahal. Exiting the stairwell, I quickly slit the throat of a Com who had the misfortune to be walking by, dragging her body into the stairwell and stuffing her in the corner under the stairs. We glided against the walls until we arrived at any corners, following the layout we had memorized. Elder Merrick silently took out two more Coms while I took out the other two standing post at the east entrance. Elder Merrick opened the office door behind them, taking out the three techies there, then tossed the bodies littering the floor into that room while I swiftly unlocked and opened the door for Ezra and Elder Zeller. They both entered silently, their nostrils flared, eyes intent, and faces as serious as Elder Merrick’s and mine, while I lifted and tossed the bodies they had taken care of outside the entrance into that same office. I left the door unlocked for Antonio and Elder Jacobs to enter, which should be precisely in…a glance at my watch… “Ten minutes until Antonio and Elder Jacobs arrive.”
One nod by all, then we moved to exterminate.
Elder Cahal was taking the fourth floor, Ezra the third, Elder Merrick was taking the second with later help from Elder Cahal and Ezra thanks to their speed, while I took the back half of the first floor. The front section we would all do together in ten minutes.
Entering the back half of the first floor, I came to a halt. “Well, shit.” From our intel, the back half was supposed to be mainly offices, a few labs, and another computer center…but it wasn’t.
With drying blood all over me, I waved my gloved hand, waggling my fingers at the, at least, forty Coms in lab coats who all slowly stopped working at their sterile workstations lining the area. The room reminded me of a large steel cage, a continuous steel desk rimming the room for their computers and microscopes and other miscellaneous medical equipment, the names of which I was completely ignorant of.
“Hello, everyone.” I didn’t think lying was an option, appearing as I did, so I told the truth. “I’ve come to kill you all. It would be much easier if you would kindly stand still.”
Predictably, they didn’t listen, but my little distraction gave me time to grab my weapons. I had been in worse situations this past year, much worse, but still, forty against one was pushing it. I knew I wasn’t going to make it out unscathed, that was for damn sure, especially with no place to really hide, and the small fact that even though these Coms were obviously scientists, it didn’t stop each and every one of them from pulling weapons from their person, hidden under their lab coats.
I cracked my neck and instantly jumped to the first few, right as they started firing at me. “Your deaths,” I shot three, jumped again, “would be much easier,” shot two more, “if you would just stand,” I kicked a wheeled chair at one while killing three more, “still, dammit.”
I felt the agonizing burn slice through my left shoulder, knowing I had been hit, and I growled, firing at will while using a Com’s dead body as a shield. Dropped him, then flew through the air again, grabbed a long light fixture hanging from the ceiling, and fired from above before flipping and landing in a crouch to continue firing. Another bullet sliced my right calf, and my wolf huffed as I spun and took that bitch down. And I most certainly didn’t appreciate the damn silver knife that was jabbed into my right thigh, slowing me down. That person quickly ate one of my bullets, then became a shield as I held his bloody body against me while I backed up and continually fired. Now, the bullet I took to my right hip from a f*cker hiding under a few of those wheeled chairs really pissed me off, because it stayed inside me, hindering me even further. And that was when the cavalry arrived, thank God, the Vampires most definitely being able to hear all the gunfire. Too bad there were only eight Coms left now, instead of the forty.
When Elder Zeller and Ezra quickly took care of those, I held up a hand, pointing at the hiding puissant. “Don’t hurt that f*cker.” I dropped my body shield, wavering on my feet. “He’s mine.”
Ezra blurred to my side, his eyes glowing fiercely, expression furious as he jerked the knife from my thigh. I grunted, teetering further, and he quickly lifted my arm that hadn’t been shot, placing it around his neck, holding me up. He peered at his dad, who had the lone survivor — my kill — restrained on the ground by easily placing his gun at his head, and Ezra shouted, “Who the f*ck did the intel on this place?” He waved a hand around the room, which was splattered with blood and littered with bodies, even as Elder Merrick and Antonio and Elder Jacobs arrived. “This sure as f*ck isn’t a one person hit.”
I patted his chest, my vision beginning to blur. “Don’t yell. It’s hurting my ears.” My head tipped in Antonio’s direction. “A little help, please? I’m bleeding all over the place.” The wounds from silver bullets and knives, dammit, didn’t heal quiet as quickly. “And one bullet’s stuck.”