Page 63 of Sergi
Devon called for a break while they waited for news. Even though he expected it, he jumped when an explosion interrupted the early chorus of birds as it echoed through the trees. Everyoneturned toward the sound but held their positions. It didn’t take long before a ping came from Bella’s phone.
She answered it immediately. “Report.” Within a few seconds, she responded. “Hold the line. Don’t let anyone get past you. We’re on our way.”
When she turned to Devon, her expression was stone-cold hard. “The team is greatly outnumbered.”
“Move out,” Devon yelled, and they all raced for the road, which was a quarter mile away to their east.
With the rough terrain, it took five minutes to reach the road and then follow it to where Team Two had set the charges. Remus and the shifters had dropped their packs and morphed into wolves almost instantaneously with Remus’s powerful magic. Remus’s wolf let out a loud howl as they ran, which sent shivers along Devon’s skin. Thank the heavens the shifters were on their side.
When they reached the cargo vans, the back door of one had been slid open. It was empty. He didn’t have to run far before he saw the guards. Too many for the seven team members trying to hold them from getting past their line. Four wolves flanked the fighting to join what remained of Team Two while the remaining members of Teams Three and Four approached from behind, squeezing the guards between them.
Devon found one of his vampires leaning against a tree.
The vampire gasped for air. “I think there are shifters in the back of the other truck.” He was severely injured, and with no healer or fresh blood source, Devon wasn’t sure he’d make it.
Bella, who’d also ran up to check on the vampire met Devon’s gaze with rage flashing in the dark yellow glow of her eyes. He nodded, and she was gone in a flash.
Devon turned to survey the situation, it was easy to see they were outnumbered, but the guards’ fighting skills weren’tanything special. The only reason they’d been effective was sheer volume.
The wolves wasted no time. They killed quickly before moving on, not bothering to howl or take relish in their kill.
Devon’s vampires had already engaged the enemy, most fighting two or three at a time. This was bad. He couldn’t afford to lose team members if they had any hope of infiltrating the facility. He spotted a vampire holding off four guards and losing ground.
He didn’t have his sword, but he could do enough damage with his daggers. The wolves could finish the job. He swept in and grabbed one of the unsuspecting guards by the neck and stabbed him in the kidneys until he dropped, shoving him against one of the other guards.
The male lost his footing as he tried to catch the guard or step out of his way, it was difficult to tell which. It didn’t matter because Devon was on him in a flash.
His rage was so violent, he didn’t bother with a dagger and went for the vampire’s throat. Fangs sank deep, and he ripped the flesh as he brought his dagger in for a strike to the heart. With any luck, the guard would bleed out if a wolf didn’t finish him first.
The fight was bloody as Devon’s team slowly beat back the guards over mounds of dirt and rock where the road had been decimated by the C4. Devon, now heavily engaged, lost track of who was winning or who was in trouble.
The rage he’d seen in Bella’s gaze focused his own. His only mission at this exact moment was to take down as many guards as possible. He was so micro-focused that he was shocked when he was pushed aside as he closed in on a guard who’d sliced a shifter along its side, its fur stained red.
Devon didn’t have time to turn toward the danger and grimaced when a dagger pierced his side before the guard wastrampled by shifters. Not one or two, but as he glanced around, there were a dozen or more shifters than they’d brought on the mission. Then he saw Bella, running behind them with Remus’s wolf at her side.
She’d made it to the back of the trucks and had released the captured shifters. After that, the battle was over quickly, but not without losses.
Remus’s wolf let out a long, eerie howl that quieted the landscape. Not a single bird could be heard.
Devon dropped onto a log covered in moss to check his wound. There was blood, but not as much as he’d feared. The blade had caught his hip bone. It would take a few minutes for his body to heal, and he took the time to calm his beast.
Bella found him, staring at nothing in particular. “We lost two vampires and two shifters. Many are injured, but most can heal on their own. One vampire and two shifters are severely wounded. I don’t think they’ll make it without blood.” When Devon didn’t speak, she continued, “On a positive note, we’ve gained shifters. Remus has two shifters getting a count, including who they are and where they’re from.”
She waited, allowing Devon to digest the information and consider how this incident had changed their mission. They had been ahead of schedule before the explosion. It was likely at least one guard sent a message to the facility. They could be gathering guards to assist. But would they know Devon’s team was aware of the blinds? Maybe they planned on waiting for the invading force to come to them, especially if they didn’t hear back from their guards. They would have no way of knowing how many they would be battling. When he’d turned it over and over, he came to the same decision. Not much of their plan had changed. Bella was right. They might have lost some, but gained many more, assuming these new shifters could fight.
“Give the minimum blood required to heal the least wounded. Take half of what’s left of our reserve and give to the three critically injured. We’ll check their status in an hour.”
“Yes, boss.” She strode away. Bella was always better off with tasks to perform during emotional crises. She was still raging, and knowing his cadre as well as he did, that rage would hold until well after they infiltrated the labs.
He returned to reviewing their plan. Why would Venizi be trucking in shifters? Cressa’s strange dream about a dinner on Lorenzo’s island came to mind. The stranger at the table, who they suspected was someone from the lab, had mentioned experiments. Was that what they were doing here? Not just creating drugs and serums but running live experiments?
If that were true, that might explain what happened to Remus’s shifters. Once again, they sacrificed the most. He considered his options but required Remus’s report before he could discuss changes in the plan. And of course, determine how many vampires could return to the mission after receiving bagged blood from the supply they’d brought with them.
He was so deep in thought, he knew someone sat next to him, but it took several minutes before he realized it was Remus.
When The Wolf seemed convinced that Devon was aware of him, he shared his report. “We were lucky to have only lost the four we did. I was able to get the worst of the injured wolves to shift a couple of times. The others were able to shift on their own. They should all be ready to continue in the next hour or two. I think your injured vampires will survive once they receive blood.” When Devon merely nodded, Remus added, “Rafael fought as if he had a score to settle.”
“More like guilt he needed to shake off.”
