Page 103 of Warrior's Cross

Lancaster cocked the gun.

Without a sound of warning, a heavy block of scrap wood flew out of the darkness and smacked against Lancaster’s bicep with a dull thump. Lancaster jerked away from the doorway, and the gun went off, the bullet noisily hitting the concrete near Cameron’s side and ricocheting away as Lancaster grunted insurprise and pain, stumbling back and losing his hold on the weapon, which clattered to the floor.

Blake began to struggle with the zip ties that held him. “Get down, kid,” he grunted as he pushed his metal chair toward the far wall of the office. “Get down and stay down,” he ordered through gritted teeth as he tried to rock his own chair and tip it over.

Lancaster righted himself with a curse and turned to face the doorway as he pulled another gun and aimed it. Cameron gasped when Julian appeared in the doorway. He was dressed all in black, and his angry eyes shone like polished black marble. He was like a ghost, materializing out of the gloom. He stood in the doorway, angry and massive andalive.

Lancaster fired, hitting Julian square in the chest. Cameron and Blake both shouted wordlessly, but the shot merely caused Julian to stumble backward. Lancaster stared at him in obvious surprise. Julian smiled slowly as he cocked his head at the man and stepped closer.

“You wore a vest?” Lancaster asked in an offended voice as he lowered his weapon slightly. “Cheater.”

“Next time try the head shot,” Julian advised.

Cameron stared at Julian in utter shock. It didn’t feel real, hearing him. Much less hearing him speak in that beautiful, accented voice.

Lancaster raised the gun again, but Julian lunged at him in a movement that was so sudden and fierce that Cameron flinched away from it as well. He had never seen anyone move like that. It was like a lion attacking.

Julian shoved Lancaster into the back wall of the little office, cracking the cheap drywall and sending dust and plaster flying into the air. Cameron tried desperately to tip his own chair over like Blake had told him, but he couldn’t drag his eyes away. The battle between the two men wasn’t graceful like fights he’d seenin movies. It wasn’t precise and silent. It was fast and ugly and chaotic and loud.

Every time a man landed a blow there was a sickening thud of flesh on flesh. It was brutal, making it difficult for Cameron even to listen to, much less watch. He couldn’t believe that the man who’d been so gentle with him was capable of such frightening strength and violence.

Cameron closed his eyes when he felt his chair tipping, and he crashed to the ground with a grunt as pain lanced through his shoulder and arm. He had no sooner hit the ground than he saw Lancaster catch Julian’s arm in mid-swing. He heard the snap of bone breaking as Lancaster put pressure on both sides of Julian’s arm.

Julian didn’t shout in pain; he wrapped his other arm around his opponent and turned them both bodily, picking Lancaster up and swinging him, tossing him through the glass window of the office. The action didn’t even look to have caused him much effort.

There was a crash from the darkness outside, followed by a wordless shout of pain and anger. Julian pulled his own gun and fired repeatedly into the darkness until the chamber clicked empty. He dropped the gun and extracted a long black dagger as he turned on Cameron.

Julian bent over him, grabbing for the arm of the chair and slicing at Cameron’s wrist hastily. He ripped the zip tie away and leaned over Cameron to cut the other one. A shot rang out, and Julian gave a low oomph as he fell into Cameron and rolled slightly.

“How’s that one?” Lancaster called from somewhere in the darkness. “That one work better with that vest?” he spat sarcastically.

Cameron grasped at Julian as the other man lurched against him and the knife went skittering across the floor. He could see the outline of Lancaster’s body moving toward them.

“Julian,” he breathed in warning. “Julian, he’s coming.” He pushed at Julian with his free hand, which came away wet with a stream of blood.

Julian slid to the floor, his arm bleeding freely and leaving smudges of blood on the concrete as he scrambled for his backup gun.

Lancaster broke into a run, bursting through the office door to knock the weapon out of Julian’s hand. Julian rolled and kicked at his leg, sending Lancaster crashing into the old desk against the wall. He slid to the floor as the desk splintered beneath him.

Julian was on his feet even as Lancaster fell and tried to get back up, and he tackled him as soon as he got to his knees, grappling for the weapon.

As the two men rolled around, Blake writhed in his chair, trying in vain to get loose. His wrists were bleeding from the effort, but he didn’t stop. Cameron turned his chin to try to find the knife in the dim light.

He caught sight of it about five feet away, near the back wall of the office, half-hidden under an old filing cabinet.

He started scooting toward the knife, using his free arm to drag himself and the chair forward, glancing back at the two killers as they fought.

Julian was bigger and stronger than Lancaster, but Julian was wounded and bleeding freely and Lancaster was all wiry muscle and grit. And he played dirty. As Cameron watched, he pulled a knife from a sheath at his ankle and sank it into Julian’s side, sliding the blade under his arm, above the vest he wore. Julian howled in pain, his back arching as he fell to the side. Lancaster pounced him, pinning him to the ground with onehand as he used the other to push the gun they grappled over toward his face. Julian grunted in pain and tried to guide it away with the hand of his broken arm.

“Hit me with a goddamned piece of wood,” Lancaster said through gritted teeth as they struggled.

The gun went off again, causing both men to jerk and roll away from each other in a momentary truce as their ears rang. Cameron pushed himself closer to the knife, reaching for it desperately even as he tried to watch the two men. Lancaster jumped Julian again as Julian contorted, trying to yank the knife out of his side, and he hit him hard across the face with the butt of the gun. Cameron winced and looked away. His fingers just barely slid over the blade of the knife as he heard the solid thump of Lancaster hitting Julian again.

Cameron cursed and stretched until his entire body screamed with the effort, and he managed to knock the blade sideways, spinning the knife until he could grasp the handle without risking it sliding under the cabinet. He finally got it in hand and quickly used it to cut the zip tie restraining his other hand and his ankles.

When he was free of the chair, Cameron scuttled across the dusty floor toward Blake, the knife still in his right hand. But his eyes were fastened on the two men fighting just feet away. Lancaster straddled Julian as the bigger man held the gun in both hands, pushing it away from his head as Lancaster tried with all his strength to aim it. He had Julian pinned beneath him. If Julian used any energy to dislodge him, Lancaster would be able to fire the gun and finish him.

The gun fired again, hitting the concrete beside Julian’s head and sending shards of concrete everywhere. Cameron covered his head, and Blake flinched away. Julian shouted in rage and pain and tried again to swing at Lancaster, only to catch his hands just in time to prevent the gun being aimed at his headonce more. Cameron swiftly cut through the ties that bound Blake’s hands, and Blake took the knife from his shaking fingers and went to work on his own ankles.

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