Chapter 26

chapter

twenty-six

Rylan blinked awake. His head felt like it had been split open with an ax, but he was alive. He supposed that was a win, though it didn't really feel like it now.

He opened his eyes in time to see Zak dragging himself up to his hands and knees in the dewy grass several feet away.

Zak coughed and spat, wiping a trickle of blood from the corner of his mouth. "Damn. That could've gone better."

Rylan pushed himself into a sitting position and took stock of his surroundings as the world spun around him. The safe house was a smoldering ruin behind them.

They were lucky to be alive.

Rhiannon.

No.

Where was she?

He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the wave of dizziness that threatened to send him back to the ground. "Rhiannon!"

"They took her," Ethan Voss said. He and Trent were a few feet away, helping one of their wounded men to his feet. "Pierce, too."

"Any casualties?" Zak asked.

Ethan's lips thinned. "Only on their side, but we're not in good shape." He nodded toward his medic, who was working with calm determination over Gage. "Gage might not make it. Took a bullet under his vest."

Zak swore long and loud, then turned in a limping circle and called, "Cal!"

"Here." Cal limped around the side of the house and groaned. "Remind me why I hang out with you guys again?"

"Because you love the thrill of near-death experiences?" Zak suggested.

Cal snorted, then winced. "Right. That must be it." He glanced around at the destruction, his expression grim.

Police sirens screamed closer. A green Tahoe with Lost County Sheriff painted on the side skidded to a halt at the curb.

Cal nodded toward it. "Cavalry's here."

"A little late," Zak muttered.

Ash and Donovan shoved open their doors almost before the SUV rocked to a stop, and Raszta shot out, his black cords sticking up in every direction.

Ash's gaze locked on Ethan, dark as a storm cloud. "What the fuck happened to safe house?"

Ethan glared right back. "It was safe until your fucking deputy gave the enemy our location. This is why I didn't want you involved. Your department has more leaks than a sieve."

Ash skidded to a halt, and an expression of genuine shock passed over his face. "Izzy?"

At her name, a spike of pain lanced through Rylan's chest. He'd trusted Izzy, had even started to feel the stirrings of something for her. How could she have betrayed them?

Ash's face hardened. "That's impossible. I've known Izzy for years. She's one of the good ones. She wouldn't?—"

"She did," Ethan cut him off. "She was contacted by an untraceable unknown number right before the attack."

Rylan couldn't believe it. She'd looked him right in the eyes and lied. "She said it was her mom."

"It wasn't. And now Pierce is in enemy hands. It's only a matter of time before the weapon is deployed again."

"You're underestimating Pierce," Zak said. "He'll do everything in his power to make sure the weapon can't be used."

"Maybe so. I hope so. But, fact is, the stakes are too high to rely solely on him," Ethan said grimly. "If Rhiannon is threatened…" He didn't finish the thought.

Rylan's stomach churned at the thought of his sister in danger. He'd never worried about Pierce breaking her heart. Pierce wasn't the kind of man to lead a woman on and make promises he didn't intend to keep. If he said he loved her, he loved her. Full stop.

But this —Rylan scanned the blood-spattered front yard of the safe house. This carnage, this danger was why he had wanted to keep them apart.

And now Rhiannon was in the hands of the enemy.

Rylan's stomach pitched as he imagined all the horrible things they might do to her to force Pierce's cooperation. He clenched his fists, fighting against the wave of helplessness threatening to overwhelm him. "We need to find them. Now."

"Right now, we need to exfil," Ethan said. "The local LEOs will be here any minute, and we can't afford to waste time explaining."

Ash nodded grimly. "I'll handle the locals. You get your people out of here."

"What about Gage?" Zak asked, glancing at the wounded man.

Ethan's jaw tightened. "We'll have to risk moving him. Alistair," he called over to his medic, "stabilize him for transport. We're Oscar Mike."

Everyone moved at once, the least wounded helping the more seriously injured into the SUVs. As they loaded Gage into the back of one of the vehicles, Raszta whined and paced anxiously, his nose to the ground.

"Wait," Rylan said, an idea forming. "Raszta can track them. We just need a general location, and he'll find them."

Ethan's eyes narrowed skeptically. "That mop?"

"That ‘mop' is a highly trained search and rescue animal," Zak said with all the protectiveness of a proud papa. "He's smarter than most people I know, and he loves Pierce. If anyone can pick up their scent, it's Raszta."

Ethan considered for a moment, then nodded. "All right. We'll take the dog."

Rylan opened one of the SUV's doors and whistled. Raszta leapt into the backseat.

"How many of your men are operational?" Zak asked, opening the passenger side door.

Ethan scanned his men over the hood. "Anyone want to sit this out?"

"Fuck that," one guy said viciously.

"Not a chance," another said.

Trent hoisted his weapon to his shoulder and gave a feral smile. "We're in this to the bloody end, boss."

"And," Oz added, finally looking up from the laptop he'd be carrying around. "I've narrowed down their location."

Ethan grinned. "You heard them."

"All right, then," Zak said. "Let's go stop the apocalypse."