Charity gave the other woman a knowing look. She knew well her friend’s dedication and affection for the Breeds she worked with. As she started to reply a shrill alarm blasted through the compound, imperative, shrieking in its loud demand.
“In the cabin. ”Nikki jumped up, pulling at her shirt as the two guards rushed around her.
“Inside, Ms. Dunmore. ”The automatic rifles were raised in readiness as Nikki dragged her into the open door of the cabin followed by the guards.
“What is it?” Charity bit out as the door slammed behind them, the guards moving to the kitchen and living room windows to peer outside them with narrowed eyes.
“Fly by,” Nikki bit out. “We’ve been getting them with increasing regularity. ”
Charity moved to the other side of the window, peeking out carefully. Jeeps were racing through the compound, several with mounted guns and rocket launchers. It was like a war zone now. Men and women raced through the compound as the sound of heavy aircraft coming in low began to vibrate through the cabin.
“Council?” she asked the guard worriedly.
“Mongrels,” he bit out. “They have hired guns now. Wolfe, Jacob and Aiden are under constant threat. ”
Charity turned back to Nikki. “What is he talking about?”
“Mercenaries, Charity,” she said softly. “We can’t trace them to the Council, but we know well who is behind it. Don’t worry, Aiden would have called in our government reinforcements the moment the aircraft hit the radar screens. ”
Chapter Twenty-Six
The sound was coming closer. The hard, pulsing beat of a jet-powered helicopter seemed to echo through the frame of the house.
“Do they attack?” She could feel her heart throbbing in her chest, fear racing through her blood stream.
“Sometimes. Get back from the window. If there are sharp shooters watching for you, you’ll make too easy a target. ” Charity jumped back before the words were out of his mouth. She stared at Nikki across the room, seeing the other woman’s concern.
“They rarely attack in the daylight,” she said carefully. “They’re getting desperate. ”
The words were no sooner out of her mouth than the cabin trembled as a hard, shocking explosion sounded outside.
“They hit Wolfe’s cabin!” the guard yelled furiously. “Sons of bitches. They hit Wolfe’s cabin. ”
“Hope,” Charity breathed out desperately as she turned to the guard. “Give me your fucking weapon. Get out there and see if they need any help. I don’t need a damned babysitter. ”
“Charity, stop. ”Nikki moved quickly to her,then stumbled as another blast rocked the building. “We have to get to the Labs. The underground shelter there will protect us. ”
“What are they doing?” Charity was enraged, furious. She could hear the screams outside, the sounds of returning fire. “We have to get to Hope, Nikki. ”
“They are trying to draw you out,” Nikki yelled furiously. “Don’t worry about Wolfe and Hope. Wolfe knows how to protect his mate. I promise you, our best men, as well as Wolfe, are guarding her now. ”
“They’re turning. Get the hell out of here, they’re heading in our direction,” the guard at the window called out as he turned and jerked the front door open quickly.
“The Labs,” Nikki called out. “We’ll only be safe in the Labs. ”
“Come on. ” He grabbed Charity’s arm, rushing her for the door. “They took out Wolfe and Jacob’s cabin and are heading back. ”
Charity moved between the guards, making no move to question them or to delay their plans. She was aware of Nikki behind her and the sound of the helicopter as it moved in once again.
“Sons of bitches have to have a plant,” one of the guards cursed as he rushed her from the porch and under the cover of the trees that grew alongside the gravel path. “Let’s move. ”
The helicopter was moving in faster now. Charity could hear it, the motor throbbing, rotors beating in time to the desperate throb of her own heart. The guards were runningbeside her, checking behind them often, as curses sizzled from between their lips.
One minute she was running with him, the next she felt as though some unseen hand had picked her up, throwing her through the air as another explosion sounded behind them.
She heard herself scream a second before she hit the ground, the air expelling from her body with the force of her landing. She lay still, fighting to breathe, blinking against the blinding pain that attacked her body.
“Move. ”She was picked up unceremoniously and hauled backward at the exact instant that a spray of bullets littered the gravel where she had lain.