Page 61 of Unchained

Brooks gave him a shove. Not enough to send him down the stairs, but enough to let him know he was standing his ground. He wasn’t letting the woman die. “She has nothing to do with this.”

“She does now.”

“You’re wasting time!” Nash shoulder-checked Cole. “Let’s go.”

Cole brushed Brooks’s hands off him. “Fine. It’s your ass anyway.”

“Cops are coming.” Dare’s voice vibrated in his ear. “If you don’t get out of there now, I’m leaving.”

Brooks descended the stairs with Nash and Cole right behind him. Adrenaline chased Brooks’s blood through his veins. The hair on the back of his neck stood up, and his stomach curdled at the sight of the dead bodies in his wake. He’d spared the woman. At least he had that going for him.

“Freeze!” A flashlight hit him in the face. The guard who’d run off to check the fuse box stood in their path, a gun pointed at Brooks’s chest.

Sirens screeched in the distance. Fuck. Brooks’s finger tightened on the trigger, but he didn’t dare lift his gun.

“On the ground!” the guard yelled.

An arm shoved Brooks to the side. Cole stepped forward and fired, but Wally dodged down the hall. Brooks kept his gaze locked on the corner of the wall that shielded the man. Wally’s arm lifted. He jerked around the corner, the weapon aimed at Cole.

Brooks fired.

Wally howled, and his gun skittered across the floor. Nash and Cole ran for the side entrance. Brooks kicked Wally’s gun before rushing after them. He barreled down the hall and smacked his palms against the side entrance door. Nash and Cole waited for him.

“You guys need to hurry.” Dare’s voice crackled with excitement. “I made it back to the car. Three cruisers just sped toward Conrad’s.”

Brooks pounded his feet into the crusher dust at the side of the house and then into the small strip that separated the cedars from the fence. Branches hit him in the face as the trees’ thick scent surrounded him. The fence came into view. Cole was battling to lift his body over it. Brooks grabbed one of Cole’s ankles and supported his weight. Cole climbed the rest of the way, dropped down, and ran. Then Brooks boosted Nash over. Finally, he grabbed the cool metal in his palms, hoisted himself over, and hit the ground running. His heart pumped rhythmically, his vessels expanding with every breath, the sensation increasingly similar to that of being on the drug.

In seconds, he passed Cole. Sirens split the night, and bubble lights blipped in the darkness. Dare started the truck as they approached. Brooks launched himself at the front passenger door, got in, and clicked his seatbelt into place. Seconds later Nash and Cole clambered in the back.

Without a word, Dare drove away from the curb. The movement painstakingly slow compared to the urgent rush of Brooks’s nerves. He gripped the dash to stop himself from leaping out of the car and running.

“You okay, dude?” Dare asked. A baseball cap now donned the top of his head, shielding his identity from anyone who might be watching the area.

“Fine.”

“You look like you’re going to dive through my windshield.”

“Can you go any faster?”

“No.” Dare flicked his gaze to the rearview mirror then back down again. “Don’t want to look suspicious, do we?”

Cole and Nash wheezed from the backseat. “How the fuck did you run so fast?” Cole said, gasping. “You were way behind us.”

Silence stretched out. “Lots of practice.” The night vision, speed, and recovery ability still lingered, days after he’d been injected with Axalantheum. His body could be changed for good.

Dare dropped his hand to the bottom of the steering wheel. How he could be so relaxed was messed up.

“You’re not even out of breath,” Cole declared. “Seriously. You on steroids or something?”

Brooks turned in the seat. “Like you said, no offense, but I’ve known you what? Five minutes?”

Nash let out a hoot of laughter. “Ha! You got told.”

Cole’s face relaxed. “After tonight, we can add some time to that.”

Brooks smiled. He could get used to this. Having family, having brothers . . . most importantly, having Cam. Dare stopped at a stop sign then turned onto the main road that would lead them to the interstate.

They were done.

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