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36. Zan

Viggo looked through binoculars. "The vehicle is driving through the gates now."

"Great," I muttered. Everything was going to plan. Jasper had already radioed us to announce that he and Amaros had gotten the armored truck. Unlike Project Hope, this city didn't check each person as they entered. As long as it was the same vehicle coming in that left, and there were no known threats, they didn't bother to be careful. The presence of Clovers in this city was low, and for the last year, we'd kept vampire activity in this area nearly nonexistent for this reason.

Their guard was down just like we wanted.

We were waiting at the back gate, high up in a tree. Viggo and I had already done what was required, and Pax should be joining us in a few minutes.

"They're driving toward the armory. I give it three more minutes before they park and shit hits the fan." He glanced at me, keeping one hand on the branch he was balancing on. "Everyone better be in place."

"They will be," I answered gruffly.

Viggo snapped his fingers. "You with me, Zan?"

"What are you talking about?"

"You're distracted."

"I'm fine."

"She's perfectly safe in your bedroom." He sighed. "We can't fuck this up. I need your head here."

"It is," I growled. "You're the one talking while you should be waiting for the signal."

His jaw clenched, but he went back to looking through the binoculars to wait until Amaros stepped out of the vehicle. I wasn't going to admit it, but my brother was right. Kali was in my head. Leaving her on my father's property was something I never fucking wanted to do. One rogue vampire could decide he didn't want to follow my father's orders, and she was a sitting duck. I had confidence that she could protect herself, but I didn't want to chance it.

"What the hell…" Viggo trailed off, his voice full of shock.

My spine straightened. "What?"

"Uh—nothing. It's all good. They opened the armory." His voice was back to normal, but I knew him well. He was hiding something. "It's time. Right now."

Giving him a look, I raised the flare gun, shooting it off. The flare went high in the sky, and I watched as the bright light fizzled out. By now, PARA knew the vehicle had vampires in it. Amaros and whoever he'd brought with him would have to fend for themselves for exactly two minutes.

The air suddenly rang out with loud booms. The explosions shook the ground, and I didn't need the binoculars to see the parts of the wall start crumbling. As I climbed down the branches, I counted the explosions. When it got to twelve, the noise halted. In its place was the siren that PARA must have set off. A warning to the people in the city that they were under attack. It wouldn't help them now.

"Ready?" Pax asked as he appeared from the darkness.

I grabbed the backpack I'd placed at the base of the tree and slung it over my shoulder. "Let's go."

Viggo was right behind me, and we ran to the destroyed part of the wall closest to the tree we'd been in. The smoke was still billowing around, and there was a small fire, but we avoided it as we climbed over the rubble. A few humans ran through the streets, but most were still inside their homes since it was the middle of the night.

PARA was coming out in droves as we made our way toward the armory. But they weren't the only ones with large numbers. Vampires were climbing into the city from every weak point we'd just blown up. Hundreds of them. Soon the screaming started as vampires began attacking. Bullets whizzed by as PARA members tried evening the playing field.

One masked man set his sights on me, and I ducked when he took aim. His next bullet hit me in the side, and I gritted my teeth as I ran through the pain. Viggo pulled ahead, rushing at the guy and ripping his neck protection off after he knocked the gun from his grip. The man screamed as Viggo bit into his throat, not stopping until there was zero chance of him getting back up.

We weaved through the fighting as the siren continued to blare. The vampires were here to fight PARA members. My brothers and I had a different goal to accomplish. The armory came into sight, and I spotted Amaros throwing a body through the air before he ducked inside.

"Left," Pax said once we hit a fork in the road.

Viggo and I followed Pax until we were standing in front of a fortified door. Dropping to my knees, I opened my bag and carefully took out the explosive. I hooked it up to the door, and we backed away before I hit the button to detonate.

The door shattered, and we forged inside. My head was on a swivel, and I pulled out my own gun, knowing PARA would appear any second. This was their main building, and it was never left without security.

A separate siren was ringing in this facility, and Pax led the way as we searched for the room we needed. A group of PARA members appeared at the end of the hall, and we exchanged fire until Viggo threw a smoke bomb, affecting our sight, but not nearly as much as humans. We disappeared down another hall, and Pax nodded toward the door on the right. I placed a small explosive device on it, and the second the door was blown, Pax ran inside while Viggo and I stood guard.

"So far so good," I muttered, pulling the wooden bullet out of my side. I hissed out a breath as I dug it out, but the second I did, my skin began closing up.

"Right," Viggo mumbled. "All according to plan."

His sarcasm wasn't lost on me. "You know something I don't?"

Before he could respond, the lights were cut off, leaving the building in darkness except for a couple of emergency lights. Now we'd have the advantage the next time we ran into PARA.

"Locks are disengaged," Pax announced as he exited the room. "And there was a blueprint on the wall. We need to go down two floors. Stairs are two halls over."

We took off, letting Pax lead since he was the one who saw the blueprint. Thanks to the dark, we had the element of surprise when we ran into more PARA members. They had night goggles, but since our attack was so sudden, they didn't have time to get them before we infiltrated the city.

We rounded the first corner, and I could hear their racing hearts before four men entered the hall from one of the doors on the left. The three of us kept our steps light, concealing our presence until we were close enough to attack. Not wanting to waste any time, I grabbed the closest guy and twisted his neck, snapping it before he realized what was happening. Viggo was much more dramatic, and he made the guy scream bloody murder before killing him. Once they were all dead, we kept going, listening for others.

It didn't take us long to reach the stairs, and we descended, taking two steps at a time. I couldn't hear any outside noise, meaning we were underground.

"Over here." Pax pushed open the door, and we entered the correspondence room.

Letters and mail were how all the cities kept in contact. They didn't want to risk us listening in on the radio. For the most part, it worked well, since we never knew which trucks carried their mail.

"Anything from and to Project Hope, we need to grab," I said, repeating my father's words.

We all began sorting through the piles and files full of letters. It didn't take long, but it felt like forever when I had no idea what was going on outside. I wasn't worried about us losing. We'd made sure to include enough vampires that PARA wouldn't be able to regain control. I was sure that, by now, they called for backup. But these cities were spread far apart. We'd be long gone before reinforcement arrived.

"Got it," Pax exclaimed, hauling a pile of paper out of a filing cabinet. "Recent too. All from within the year."

Viggo helped him shove it all into a bag that Pax had brought, and once they were done, we headed out. The siren was beginning to irritate me, and as we raced back up the stairs, I threw my hearing, listening to the slaughter happening outside. From the sound of it, PARA had completely lost control. Screams of terror were interrupted by vampires hollering in excitement as they chased their prey.

The main floor was empty, and it didn't take us long to get back outside. The armory was nothing but a giant fireball, and because of everything inside, I was sure there were explosives that were going to detonate once the fire reached them.

The city center was a bloodbath. PARA was still fighting, but their numbers were dwindling. They were attempting to throw hawthorn smoke bombs, but it wasn't enough.

I spotted Amaros fighting with three men, and he had a grin on his face before he dropped his head, tearing the throat out of the one he had in a headlock. His right hand, Jasper, was making sure the armored vehicle was ready to go. My gaze swung to the left, and I froze.

I blinked, positive I was fucking imagining what I was seeing.

Because there was no way Kali was fifty feet in front of me with a gun in her hand, fending off a PARA member that was coming for her.

"Focus, Zan," Viggo murmured from beside me.

"You knew," I accused, feeling myself losing control. "You saw her with Dad when he got out of the vehicle, didn't you?"

He sighed. "Yes."

"You should have fucking told me."

"Why?" he shot back. "If I did, then you would have gone straight to her instead of doing what we needed. You could have fucked everything up."

I opened my mouth, only to snap it closed again when I spotted Amaros staring at me. The three men he was fighting were now dead on the ground. He was closer to Kali than to me, but I heard his words perfectly.

"I was going to keep her in the vehicle, but I wanted to see how well she fought," he said, his eyes cutting to Kali as she shot the guy in the head. "What an asset she can be. Don't you agree, son?"

It took everything to stay where I was. Red edged into my vision as I forced myself to calm down. This was punishment for lying to him. Even if it was possible that I was bonding with her, Amaros was still furious. And if I went to her now, it would prove that I couldn't control myself around her. That he wouldn't be able to trust me when it came to her. And that was the only reason I stayed put. He didn't want her dead. She was as safe as she could be right now.

"Finish it," Amaros demanded, nodding his head at me. "Now."

Keeping his stare, I pulled my bag off and dug around for the small control. Flipping up the cover, I pressed the button.

"Zan."

Kali's voice cut through the air, and she moved toward me until Jasper caught her arm, yanking her back roughly. The monster in me took over, and I was sprinting before I knew what I was doing. My brothers were yelling, but their voices sounded far away.

Out of the corner of my eye, I spotted two masked men rushing at me. In their hands were stakes, and when one of them jumped onto my back, I flipped him over and grabbed the stake. I tore his vest off before sticking the wood right into his heart. He choked out a breath, and I straightened back up, keeping the stake buried in his chest.

"Son, calm down." Amaros halted in front of me. "She's fine. I want you at my side when we finish this."

"I'll take her back." Pax spoke up as he strode past us, giving me a nod.

I wanted to shove my father out of the way and take Kali away from here. But he was testing me. Something Pax had known from the start, which was why he was stepping in. I blew out a shaky breath, not moving when Amaros's hand landed on my shoulder and he squeezed firmly.

"Did you get it?" he asked, watching as the vampires around us took down the last members of PARA.

"We got it. Viggo has it."

"Good."

Kali was fighting against Pax, her eyes finding mine before she looked around at the bloodshed around us. Horror was plastered on her face, and she wasn't even trying to hide it. Pax picked her up and headed around the building where he had another truck waiting.

Deafening explosions cut through the air, and I could hear civilians who had ventured out start screaming in terror. Their wall was falling. All of it. There was no safety for them anymore. We wanted the fear. The knowledge that PARA couldn't protect them.

A bullet caught me in the back of my shoulder, and I stumbled a step. Amaros let out a growl, catching the man by the neck who'd tried sneaking up on us. I yanked the gun from his hand and put a bullet in his head.

"Time to go," Amaros yelled.

"I can't hear Pax," Viggo called out. "Something is wrong."

Before my father could stop me, I bolted forward, rounding the building. The truck was gone. But a body was lying on the ground. My heart thundered as I dropped to my knees next to my brother.

Pax groaned. "Get it the fuck out."

"She did this?" I asked in disbelief.

Lodged in his spine was a wooden stake. In the exact spot I'd taught her on where to paralyze vampires.

"Are you surprised?" Pax gritted out before letting out a hiss when I jerked the stake out. "After what she just saw, I should have known not to turn my back on her."

"I need to find her."

I helped Pax up, and then I was searching for another car to take. I needed to catch up to her before she got far.

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