“Well, what have we here? We just came for you and the woman. Didn’t know we’d get lucky and score some accessories to treason. Aiding and abetting a known enemy of the Council. I expect we can come up with some charge or other that will get this crew tossed into a dark hole for a while.”
“That’s not the mission, Alarik.” A second Shadow Walker stepped into view, his weapon held at the ready but not actually on a particular target. Regret flickered across his face as he glanced at Ian. Suggesting that maybe he didn’t want to go through with the mission?
“Fuck the mission parameters, Auggie,” snarled Alarik. “This is about retribution.”
“This isn’t about Nico.”
“The fuck it isn’t!” another soldier exploded. Marley saw him phase in behind the warlock, a big, hard-faced beast of a man, with burnished espresso skin and eerie green eyes. “Nico’s dead because of this bastard’s poor decisions. It’s time we exacted payment for that, for our brother.”
“Just calm the hell down, Ridge,” said a fourth soldier. “Let’s be reasonable about this.” Marley twisted to see him stepping out of the narrow strip of shadow at the base of the rock face. He was fair, his auburn hair bound in a queue, revealing pointed ears.
Four. Ian said the squads are four. Is this all of them?
“A hell of a lot you know,” snarled Ridge. “You weren’t even fucking there.”
“Neither were you,” said Auggie.
“Nico was family, man.”
A tiny muscle twitched in Ian’s cheek. “Nico was a regrettable casualty.” His voice was even, calm.
“He died because he was trying to save your sorry ass,” proclaimed Alarik. “Because you didn’t take the shot when you had it. It should’ve been you who died in that blast.”
“I know.”
The simple acceptance of the statement chilled Marley’s blood.
“You think I don’t blame myself for his death as much as you do?” Ian went on. “He was a good man. A good soldier. But doing this won’t bring him back.”
“No,” acknowledged Alarik, “but taking you out is a nice side benefit. You committed treason. It’s our job to bring you in using whatever means necessary. And to ensure that you fight rather than come peacefully, seems only fitting to take out the little bitch who holds your misplaced loyalty.”
Marley barely registered the shift in Alarik’s aim. Ian was moving, shouting. But though he was fast, he wasn’t faster than a bullet. The gun fired. She didn’t hear the shot, but she saw the recoil against Alarik’s shoulder. Someone screamed, a high, furious sound. Then she was on her butt, staring at an explosion against a shield of shimmering green. A tawny flank bounded toward the shooter. Alarik went down, rolling, cursing and screaming as the cougar ripped into his shoulder. Beyond the barrier, the warlock’s hands glowed the same emerald shade, his mouth moving fast with words Marley couldn’t read. Behind him, Ridge took aim. Marley opened her mouth to shout a warning, but Scarface got there first, somehow impacting the gun just enough to throw off Ridge’s line of sight. The shot went wide, bullet slamming into the tree. The warlock leapt to the side, and the shield went down.
Ian rushed toward her. “Stay down!”
Marley flattened as he sailed over her, intercepting the Shadow Walker looming behind her.
Too fast. Too fast. Her brain couldn’t keep up, couldn’t keep track.
Fists flew, a blur of motion. Ian’s leg didn’t seem to slow him down as he struck, blocked, and spun. It was like a dance. A beautiful, deadly dance that edged closer by the second.
God, she was a liability. She needed to get out of the way, get armed. Though how the hell she was supposed to fight these guys, she didn’t know. She crawled, keeping low, making herself as small a target as possible. Something thumped at her leg and she jolted, almost rolling over with the force of her own reaction.
The stun gun.
Marley jerked it free of the case. It felt hardly more substantial than a flashlight in her hand, but she held tight and kept crawling. Lightning speared out of the sky, slamming into a tree not twenty feet away. The sound deafened her. The scent of ozone and charred wood burned her nose. Paralyzed, Marley watched as smoke curled up, flames licking their way down the trunk, along the branches. The gusting wind carried sparks to neighboring trees, until the forest went up like so much dry tinder.
Behind her, Ian continued to move, fast and furious, holding his own but not gaining the upper hand. A roar dragged her attention back to the others. Where Ridge had fought with Scarface and the warlock, a grizzly now reared up, swiping forward with deadly claws. The shaman had disappeared, but the warlock ranged himself…with the cougar? Blood stained the animal’s fur. Beyond him, she could see Alarik—or what remained of him. His head was all but severed, blood soaking the ground.
Sparks and burning needles showered down to hit the bear as the cougar and warlock drove him back into a tree. A branch above snapped, and all three of them dove to avoid being flattened by the giant torch. It hit the bear’s back leg and he kicked, bellowing in rage and pain before rolling free and swiping a massive claw toward the mountain lion. It danced out of range and screamed in what could only be challenge, tail lashing as it waited for the next move.
A pair of combat boots stepped into her line of sight.
Shit! She’d forgotten about Auggie, the reasonable one.
He’d shouldered his weapon, held up his empty hands. “I don’t want to hurt you,” he said, the apologetic air still evident, despite the bandanna he’d tied around his face to block the smoke.
It wasn’t guarantee enough that he wouldn’t or that he could stop the rest of his squad if they did. When he held out a hand to help her up. Marley braced herself and took it. “I don’t want to hurt you either.” She slammed the stun gun against his bare wrist.