“Yeah, hold your fucking horses,” Ash grumbled. He went as fast as he could, satisfied when there was a click. He’d barely gotten the door open when Hobbs propelled himself against the door, knocking Ash onto his ass. Hobbs landed over him and licked his cheek.
“Fucking gross. Yeah, I’m happy too. Come on, get off.” Ash stood and turned to his friends. “Ready?”
There was a collective round of hisses.
“Okay. Let’s do this.” He had no weapons, but that didn’t mean he couldn’t get his hands on some. He sidled up to the door and peeked out. The hall was wide, with several closed doors and too many corridors leading into other corridors. At the end there was another door, and on the other side of it an armed guard. It was now or never. He had to find Dex and whoever had come with him. As much as he wished Cael hadn’t come, he knew Cael was somewhere in this building. Taking a deep breath, Ash broke into a run down the hallway, his feral teammates behind him. With a growl, Ash slammed into the door at the end, sending the guard on the other side tumbling down. One kick to the head, and the guy was out.
A guard came barreling through a glass door into the hall to his right, and Ash instinctively ducked for cover. An agent dressed in a black suit, tie, and shirt rolled out, got to his feet, and kept running, crossing the corridor and disappearing into another hall with two of Fuller’s men on his tail. Who the fuck was that? All at once, everything went to hell, with Fuller’s men and agents in black beating the tar out of each other.
Sloane sniffed the air and took off, with Hobbs darting after him. His best friend was trying to pick up Dex’s scent. Wherever Dex was, Cael and Fuller would be there.
Ash ran as fast as he could after Sloane and Hobbs. His feral half wanted to break free, but he needed to be Human to confront Fuller.
Those who didn’t want to die made a run for it. Feral Therian agents didn’t handcuff their attackers. They put them out of commission.
Hobbs launched himself at an asshole with an MP5 machine gun. The guy hit the floor, the gun skidding away from him. Ash made a dive for the gun, snatching it up as he rolled, and kept running. Behind him the sounds of men screaming and Felid roars echoed through the hall. Ash shot at anything that moved who wasn’t his team or some dude dressed in a black suit. He had no idea who the hell they were, but if they were fighting Fuller’s goons, then they were okay in Ash’s book. For now. Ash managed to pick up some more ammo and a handheld tranq gun. He shot one large asshole in the leg before dragging him behind a wall. He jabbed the barrel of the MP5 against the guy’s neck.
“You have five seconds to give me your vest. Five…. Four….”
With a flurry of movement, the guy went to work removing his tac vest.
“Three…. Two….”
“Here!” The vest was shoved at Ash, who snatched it up.
“Thanks.” He slipped into it and fastened all the straps, finishing just as Hobbs and Sloane sped past him. Ash removed the tranq gun from his waistband and shot the guy in the neck. Hobbs roared, and Ash flinched. Fucking tiger Therians. He’d never get used to their roar. Lion Therians roared louder, but tiger Therians had the fucking scariest roars of all the Felids. There was something about it that turned your blood to ice.
Ash rushed out into the hall, not wasting more than one bullet per bastard. Then the piece of shit jammed on him. That was fine. He didn’t need it. A small group of Humans approached, and Ash held back a smile. He tossed the gun before he held his hands up high in surrender. Five Humans against one Therian. Ash let out a snort.
“What’s so fucking funny?” one growled, approaching him.
“I’m picturing what your face will look like after I’ve kicked your ass.”
“Maybe you haven’t noticed, but you’re outnumbered. You’re going down.”
Ash grinned. Outnumbered but not outmatched. He puckered his lips and blew the guy a kiss. “I hope you plan on taking me out to dinner first. I may be fine, but I ain’t easy.”
The guy charged with a right hook. So fucking predictable. Clearly they’d been ordered to take him alive, or they’d have shot at him by now. Too bad for them. Ash grabbed his wrist with his left hand and thrust his right elbow in the
guy’s face, breaking his nose. He hung on to the guy and kicked back, catching a second goon in the chest and sending him hurtling to the floor. Spinning toward the guy in his grip, he thrust his elbow back again and caught a third gunman in the face while he front kicked a fourth in the chest. In between each gunman attempting to recover, Ash hit fast and hard. Punch in the kidneys to those stupid enough not to wear a vest, a kick to the knee, shattering it, the guy’s howl echoing through the hall among his cohorts’ screams. The fifth asshole wasn’t as stupid. He came at Ash fast, trying to take out his knee since he couldn’t get a hit in above the vest.
Ash put his fists up and shuffled back, parrying and dodging the large man’s fists and kicks until the guy was out of breath. Ash grinned.
“My turn.” No time to be fancy. Ash charged, threw his arms around his opponent’s waist, and lifted him off his feet with a fierce cry. He slammed the guy into the wall with all his weight and swung his elbow against the side of the Human’s head before kneeing him in the balls. The man crumpled to the floor as soon as Ash released him.
“Assholes.” Ash turned and hurried down the hall, where Sloane had scratched the ever-living fuck out of a gunman who’d aimed his gun at Hobbs. Sloane scratched at the closed door leading to the stairs, and Ash opened the door. They all rushed through, and he followed Sloane as he leaped and ran down the stairs. Looked like they were heading down to sublevel.
Hang on, sweetheart. I’m coming.
Ash had turned a corner where he ran into Sparks kicking a couple of Fuller’s goons’ asses. She swiped a leg out, knocking one off his feet and slamming him onto the floor before delivering a blow to the face that put the guy out. Casually, she stood and turned to him.
“Good. You’re here.”
Where the hell had Sparks learned to fight like that? And was that a bow attached to her thigh rig? He put all that aside. “Where’s Cael?”
“Downstairs with Agent Daley.”
Ash made to go around her when she stopped him.