Page 43 of The Incubus and the Bodyguard

That’s five guys in one vehicle and four in another.She narrowed her eyes.Which means theBlack Devilseither took the van out or are still engaged with them.

Delphine signaled the number to Vlad and Cortes and motioned at them to follow her. They twisted and fell into her steps as she circled quietly around them.

She guided them to a junction between the containers and pointed. Vlad and Cortes exchanged a wary glance before dipping their heads.

They separated and headed for the rungs in the walls of the containers she’d indicated.

In warfare, a higher vantage point was always better than a lower one.

Tarang’s muscles bunched as he prepared to leap. The tiger jumped with fluid grace and landed atop the metal box Vlad had climbed with the faintest thump.

The sound made their enemy pause where they’d been searching the warehouse.

“You guys hear that?” someone said tensely.

Delphine scaled the container she’d chosen as her shooting platform and rolled silently across the surface to the edge. She stopped, braced her elbows, and gripped her gun tightly.

Her shots brought down two men before they could react.

Vlad and Cortes fired, taking out another couple of armed figures.

The remaining men dove for cover.

The way the shots echoed around the warehouse meant it took a moment for their attackers to pinpoint where they had come from. Delphine eliminated another guy while they were still looking.

“Over there! On top of those containers!” someone yelled.

Sparks erupted as bullets slammed into the walls of the metal boxes, the enemy converging swiftly on their location.

Delphine stayed low, as did Vlad and Cortes. She clenched her jaw.

There goes half our advantage.

The hairs rose on the back of her neck. She twisted sharply.

The shot that would have bored a hole into her head pierced metal an inch from her shoulder.

“Vlad, Cortes! Three o’clock high!” Delphine barked.

She cursed and moved as more bullets rained down around her.

The incubus's and the Colombian’s heads snapped around, their gazes finding the armed figure on the gantry thirty feet above them. The man’s aim shifted to Vlad.

Vlad rolled as metal pinged next to him. He grunted when a shot slammed into his nanorobot vest and crumpled on contact.

Gold exploded in Cortes’s and Popo’s eyes, their magic washing across Delphine’s skin on a warm wave. A whip appeared in the sorcerer’s hand. Popo rose as he snapped the weapon, the cord extending impossibly high.

The figure on the gantry cursed when it wrapped around his ankle. He flailed wildly, his vision obstructed by the parrot pecking at his head. Cortes yanked hard and brought him to the ground in a sickening thud of smashing bones while Delphine and Vlad took out two more armed figures on the main floor.

Her stomach dropped.

Where are the other two?!

Tarang’s roar shook the air as he leapt from the container.

The men who’d circled behind them cried out when the familiar’s shadow engulfed them. Delphine grimaced as the sounds turned into wet gurgles.

The tiger might not be able to use his magic, but there was nothing wrong with his fangs and claws.

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