Page 6 of Visions, Paws, and Claws

“And you were going to share this informationwhen?” Aric scuttled out of the tent.

Another raid over, and hopefully, a lesson learned.

He wasn’t thinking about the Gerans.

BRICK ACHEDlike a son of a bitch. Everywhere hurt.

And for what?

Sure, they’d freed countless shifters and annihilated countless bad guys, but for fuck’s sake, how many more of these camps could there be?

He tried to get comfortable, except he knew that was a nonstarter. Transport planes weren’t put together for comfort. He glanced at the faces of those around him, seeing his own emotions reflected there.

There aren’t enough of us to even make a dent in the enemy’s forces.

Maybe someone needed to say that out loud, especially when H and Saul were in earshot.

Someone like Brick, who was long past giving a shit.

“Hey, H?”

Across from him, Horvan raised his head. “You’re awake. How’s the pain level?”

“Bearable.” He managed a smile. “See what I did there?”

Horvan didn’t need to see how bad Brick was really feeling.No onegot to see that, not even Aric.

Horvan groaned. “That was bad, even for you.”

“When is Duke gonna find us more men?”

An eerie silence fell as heads turned in their direction.

Apparently Brick wasn’t the only one who wanted to know.

Saul glanced at Horvan, who nodded. “We’ve already started recruiting more bodies,” Saul told him.

“More mercs? Vets?” Horvan’s business partner, Duke, seemed to have a never-ending supply of those.

“Not exactly.” Saul cleared his throat. “We’re getting a lot of interest from an unexpected source.”

When nothing else was forthcoming, Brick glared at him. “Well, don’t stop there, Mr. Joint Team Leader. Spit it out.”

“When we closed down the school in Massachusetts, I think it shook up a lot of shifters. The fact that the Gerans up andabandonedmore than nine hundred kids without hesitation…. Word got around. That was maybe a step too far for some folks. And when the same thing happened in Croatia, it created even more waves.”

Brick did the math. “Are you saying we’ve got people wanting to join us who were on theother side? Seriously?”

Saul nodded. “We’re gonna vet them all rigorously.”

Brick blinked. “Oh, I’msohappy to hear that. I thought you were all set to give ’em the keys to the armory.”

Horvan snickered. “Get you with the sarcasm.”

“I’ll be helping with the interviews,” Hashtag piped up.

Brick snorted. “Great. Now I’mreallyworried.”

Hashtag gave him the finger.

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