43. Forty-three

forty-three

My head dropped back against the couch cushion. After finishing the water, I'd laid back down. The room still spun, but it had slowed down. I had to believe my message had been received. I couldn't hear a commotion, and the warehouse floor was just as empty as I first saw it.

Our bond lights bunched tightly together. Drym was close, but waiting. The ‘fangs were bred for this, raised for this. I trusted they knew what they were doing.

A loud knock reverberated through the building. The world seemed to stop and hold its breath.

I heard Robert outside my door and hurried to press my ear against the metal.

"Of course you open it, idiot. They've figured out the situation and we can only assume they're surrendering."

I bit my cheek to keep from laughing as the saying about assuming things ran through my head.

I went back to the observation window and saw two figures moving through the gloom to a spot underneath me. The window faced a set of large, rolltop doors, so I guessed the walk-through door was beneath this office.

For a few seconds, all was quiet.

Then the entire space lit up as a wide river of flame swept from one side of the floor to the other. I didn't have time to wonder where they managed to get a flamethrower, since the door to the office was flung open and Robert hurried inside.

Screams seemed to ring out from every direction, the sound pinging off the metal walls.

I smiled as Robert rushed across the room, yanked me in front of him and anchored me to his chest with an arm.

I nearly gagged being so close to him. Instead of Drym's hard muscles and soft fur, I felt like I sank into a marshmallow. I pushed against his hold until I felt the cold steel of a gun barrel press into my temple.

"I'll kill you if I must, so stay still."

"Coward," I hissed.

"I prefer the term realist. I know what I created, and I have no chance of winning against them if they make their way up here."

The man at my back seemed calm, but the gun shook. He was smart to be afraid.

Orange light lit up the room and I wished I could see the floor. Robert held me in the far corner, so all I could see was the glow from the flames and the smoke that drifted in a thick sheet under the ceiling.

I don't know if it was five minutes or thirty, but soon all the noise ceased and the whole place got eerily quiet. I squeezed my eyes shut and prayed to whoever would listen that Drym and his brothers were okay.

I started when the door opened, revealing a man dressed head to toe in tactical gear, his gun held at his side. I felt Robert relax behind me until the man fell forward like a plank of wood, the door slamming shut behind him. Even in the dim light I could see his back was ripped open down the spine.

The gun jammed into my head, and I winced. Robert shuffled us sideways to the window and we both looked out.

The floor was littered with bodies. None of them were large and covered in fur.

Even as he tensed, I relaxed. He might not have flinched before, but he was now. He jerked me around to face the door and we both watched as the tips of five claws punched through the thin metal. The door yanked backward with a screech and disappeared to the side. Roul stepped through.

I grinned and gave him a finger wave.

"Kendal. You are unharmed?"

"I am."

"Your leg?"

"Scraped when they shoved me into the van. Nothing serious."

Roul's eyes swung to the director. "It is still an injury."

The gun pulsed against my temple.

"I'll injure her a lot worse if you and the others don't stand down immediately."

Roul drew himself to his full, impressive height and crossed his arms. He didn't respond.

"Did you hear me? I know you aren't one of the bright ones, but even you have to see that this is an impossible situation for you to win."

His lips drew back in a snarl. "You were arrogant enough to create us. You of all people should know that there is no situation we can't win."

"I will kill her!"

He shoved us forward a step and before I could blink, the gun fell away. I wasted no time sprinting into Roul's open arms. He caught me and shoved me behind him, but I peeked around his massive body and grinned.

I stepped to the side so Robert could see me. "I told you they would kill you all."

His shoulder was almost separated from his body, the gun useless on the floor. Behind him stood Drym, who had his hand wrapped around the director's throat. I felt stupid for never looking up. The office ceiling was open to the floor below.

"They have only killed me and my men. This is so much bigger than any of you know."

In a low growl next to Robert's ear, Drym said, "Give us time."

Then he drew the tip of a claw across the man's throat and stepped over him as he dropped to the floor. I threw myself at him and he caught me, wrapped his big arms around me and held me tight.

"You are truly unharmed?"

I chuckled in his ruff. "You would know if they'd hurt me."

"A wise woman once told me that times like these weren't for logic."

I wrapped a hand around his muzzle and kissed the end of his nose. "That was an intelligent woman, indeed."

I laughed as he swung me into his arms and carried me down a set of rickety stairs to the warehouse floor. I blinked against the light as he stepped outside, but I could still see the other four wyrfangs and five members of Superhuman Security standing around a group of mercenaries who were on their knees with their hands behind their heads.

Drym joined them. He didn't put me down and I didn't protest. As far as I was concerned, he could hold me until the end of time. Or at least until I needed to pee.

"What happens to them?" I directed my question at no one in particular, but it was Zeus who answered.

"The council will decide."

He shrugged like he didn't care one way or the other, and I found I didn't either. They'd had a hand in keeping Drym and others confined, so they were as guilty as the rest.

"I guess y'all are the ones who brought the flamethrower?"

The shifters looked confused, and then Wasp dissolved into fits of laughter. Even Zeus chuckled.

"What's so funny?"

Zeus shook his head. "We don't own a flamethrower."