Page 79 of Sergi
Devon cursed. “They’re holding us off until they can destroy documentation of everything they’ve been doing here.”
Remus growled. “Now we know what they’ve been up to while waiting for us.”
Devon and Remusfound Bella in a conference room around the corner from a hallway that led to the command center. Several team members sat in the hallway, their heads leaning against the wall as they waited for new orders.
“The blockades are almost cleared.” Bella stood over a table, studying a map.
“Already?” Devon asked.
“The teams had excess energy they needed to burn off. The barricades confirm they were waiting for us, but even with the two hours we gave them, they were sloppy.”
Remus grunted. “We caught them shorthanded, and they weren’t prepared.”
“All to our advantage.” Bella pointed to the map. “We found this in one of the vehicles in the garage, and we’re having copies made. The facility has three levels. We’re on level one where security, housing for the staff, and the labs are located.”
She frowned, and Devon prepared himself for bad news. “Levels two and three are cells. One of the captured guards admitted they keep the shifters in them until they’re needed for experiments.”
Remus’s howl was followed by a punch through the wall. Bella waited for the dust from the drywall to settle before she continued as if his outburst was an everyday occurrence.
“There’s one elevator and two staircases, and we believe guards are stationed at all of them.” She grinned at Remus, who only growled in response. “Oh, I think you’ll like this.” She gave Devon a quick grin. “The shifters mounted an uprising. They’ve taken control of the two lower levels, supposedly led by a vampire, who was one of the prisoners.”
“Sergi?” Devon asked.
“I assumed so, except…” She pulled out her satellite phone. “A red dot has appeared on our map. It appears to be coming from somewhere on the other side of the facility.”
Devon pulled out his phone, and Remus looked over his shoulder.
Remus ran a hand through his hair. “There’s only one signal.”
“Is it inside or outside the facility? Maybe there’s a back door.” Devon wasn’t sure what was going on, but an uprising wasn’t what he’d expected. He glanced at Remus, understanding what he was going through, knowing shifters were being held for experiments, but unable to do anything for him until their mission was complete.
“This might be something.” Bella pointed to an area on the third level. “There’s nothing specific on the map, but most of theengineering and mechanical rooms tend to be in the basement, or in this case, the third level. It wouldn’t be surprising to have a door there when the facility was being built. The only ones who can tell us for sure are the shifters. We need to get control of the command center and remove the guards blocking the entrances.”
“Agreed.” Devon had to find evidence before it was all destroyed. “Continue to work on that. I need access to the labs.”
Bella tapped a spot on the map. “You should be able to get through to this hallway by now.” She trailed her finger from the conference room to the hallway that led to the labs. “Be careful. There could be guards anywhere.”
“I’ll take a small team. Me and two others. You’ll need the rest to secure the facility.” Devon turned to Remus. “I assume you’ll want to lead the effort to clear the entrances at the stairs and elevator.”
Before Remus could answer, Rafael rushed into the room.
“We broke through to the command center. They’ve set a self-destruct for the facility. I have one of our guys working on it, but he doesn’t think he can override it in time.”
Devon’s gut clenched. “How long?”
“One hour.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Sergi stoodnext to a pool of water large enough to bathe in, but he didn’t like the steam rising off it. When Alex squatted as if she would drink, he yanked her back so quickly she fell on her backside and glared up at him.
“I just wanted to see if it was drinkable.”
“You don’t have to get that close to know it isn’t. Look at the vegetation around it.” He pointed to the brown leaves and grasses that encircled the pool. “It might be drinkable, and it was only the heat that killed the grasses. The other possibility is acidic water created by gases, toxic enough to burn the flesh off you. There will be more pools that are safe enough to refill our water bottles and warm enough to bathe.”
She stood and brushed off her backside, still irritated but no longer glaring at him. “How do you know so much? Are you from this area?”
He shook his head. “I’ve fought many battles in the Carpathians. This area is rife with volcanic activity, which creates these pools.”
