Page 35 of Silver Fire

Not sure of the extent of her injuries, Derek carefully pulled Sophie the short distance into the lab.

Once inside, Stephen belly-crawled toward them. His face was pale and dazed.

“What the hell happened?” Derek asked brusquely.

“IED,” Sophie croaked beneath him. Her eyes were still closed, but it was a relief to hear her voice.

Resisting the urge to crush her to him, Derek whispered, “Angel.” He shifted her hair away from her face.

“My ears hurt, damn. My head hurts,” Sophie muttered. Her eyes were hooded as she tried to sit up.

“Sophie, stay down,” Derek ordered as he gently but firmly pressed on her shoulders. He glanced up and saw Jack attending to the wounded Braden Connelly and briefly noted the irony of the situation. “Where’s Agent Guerrero?”

Stephen shook his head. Derek clenched his jaw.

“Stay with her,” Derek told Stephen as he approached Jack, who was presently wrapping a a piece of torn shirt around Connelly’s leg wound.

“We lost Thalia,” Derek informed him grimly as he positioned himself by the doorway and leaned past the frame to assess their situation. He saw an assailant’s muzzle flash and quickly ducked back into the room.

“Damn it!” He dragged his phone out and realized he had several missed calls from Maia. He punched her number; she answered on the first ring.

“Are you and Jack all right?” Maia asked tersely.

“Yes, where are you guys?”

“SWAT is in position, we’re still seven minutes out.”

“We made it to the lab. The attackers sustained heavy casualties, but there are a few stragglers. Tell the SWAT to go slow on the approach.”

“Is everyone all right?”

“We lost Agent Guerrero.”

Silence.

“We’ll be there soon,” Maia said and hung up.

* * *

It was over in minutes.When the SWAT team moved in, the three remaining gunmen surrendered their weapons. Fifteen had stormed the compound, the explosion had taken out five, Jack and Derek took out one each, and Guerrero or Connelly shot down the rest.

Braden Connelly was getting loaded up on a gurney when Maia arrived with several Guardians. Connelly saw her and immediately called her attention.

“Maia.”

“Braden.” Maia took his hand in hers while with the other, brushed his sandy blonde hair from his face. “You’ll be OK.”

“Sorry about Thalia,” Connelly whispered.

“Don’t even think it’s your fault,” Maia said roughly. “Look, you need to get to the hospital. We’ll talk later.”

When Maia tried to pull away, Braden grasped her hand tighter. “Promise?”

Derek couldn’t believe Connelly would pull the wounded-puppy card after what Jack had done to save his life. What a douchebag.

“Ow.” Sophie’s yelp brought Derek’s attention back to the blonde beside him. An EMT was cleaning her head wound and other minor lacerations she had sustained in the explosion.

“Be careful, will you?” Derek snapped.

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