Rise & Fall (THIRDS 4)

Sloane

turned to Seb. “Well, we found Hogan. This is your rodeo now.”

Dex tensed and Seb noticed. He let out a sigh. “You can’t be here when backup arrives.”

“And when’s that?” Dex asked with bated breath.

Seb seemed to think about it. He looked from Dex to Sloane and back. “When you get your hands on Hogan or give me the signal. Whichever comes first. If I don’t hear from you thirty minutes after breach, I’m calling in the cavalry.”

Dex nodded. He couldn’t ask for more than that. “Thank you. I appreciate that.”

“As for entry, everyone goes in. Teams of two and three with at least one feral Therian in each group to sniff out the others. I think Ash and I should remain in our Human form to tranq whoever we can. I’d rather take them in alive if possible. Keep in communication and watch your backs. Priority is to get Cael out safely. The place is falling apart. Watch your step.”

“You heard him,” Sloane said. “Ash, Austen, you’re with Dex. Rosa, Letty, you’re with Seb and his team. Calvin, you’re with Hobbs. Let’s finish this.” Everyone broke off into their respective teams, and Sloane took hold of Dex’s elbow. “Can I talk to you a sec?”

“Sure.” Dex accompanied him behind the van, away from the prying eyes of their teammates. Sloane’s pupils were dilated, leaving only slivers of glowing amber around them. It seemed to be happening quite a lot lately. Dex might have to ask his partner about it at some point when they weren’t about to walk into what was undoubtedly a giant trap. Knowing what Sloane was going to say, Dex stepped up to him and put a hand to his cheek.

“Hey, I’ll be careful. I promise.”

“I can’t believe I’m letting you go in there, but I know how important this is.” Sloane let out a sigh and nuzzled Dex’s hand. “Please come back to me alive, and bring Cael with you.”

“I will.”

“You know I would give anything to be in there with you.” He glared at his crutch before shifting his eyes back to Dex. “But I’d be more of a hindrance than anything.”

“Do you really think I don’t know how hard this is for you? It’ll be okay.” Dex gave Sloane’s lips a kiss and followed it up with a wink. “I was trained by the best.”

Sloane chuckled and swatted Dex’s ass. “Get going.”

Dex nodded and joined the others. On Seb’s signal, they took off toward the terminal building, one group at a time. Most of the windows and doors were missing, broken, or crumbling. They slipped inside, their rifles ready and Therian teammates silently on the hunt alongside them. Dex, Austen, and Ash were the last ones in on Seb’s orders. Inside one of the doorways, Seb signaled silently to Dex, and he made a dash for Seb with Ash and Austen on his heels.

Seb pointed to Dex, then up. Looked like he and his team were heading upstairs. He nodded and carefully started making his way through the cavernous terminal, making sure to remain alert, listening for every sound, peering into shadows while checking on Austen who sniffed the air around him. Despite the daylight coming through all the openings, there were still far too many shadows for Dex’s liking. Hogan’s crew was most likely in their Therian forms, which meant they would sniff Dex out before he even saw them coming.

The ground floor was filled with rows of white columns—circular silos, stretching up to the ceiling. One of the staircases nearby had collapsed into the canal with all manner of rusted reinforcement-steel bars, chunks of concrete blocks, and bricks. The place was falling apart. Gray concrete and corroded iron girders surrounded them on all sides. Dex found a set of oxidized metal stairs just about strong enough to hold Ash’s weight. He motioned over to it, and Ash nodded, testing one slat, then a second. When it didn’t give way under him, he started to climb. Dex followed with Austen close behind.

They heard a sharp cry, and Dex’s blood ran cold. Cael! He pushed past Ash, running up the stairs with Ash cursing behind him. Dex took off toward his brother’s scream, the cry that followed shaking him to the core. He was going to tear Hogan apart! A gasp escaped him when the floor suddenly disappeared from beneath him. Two strong hands snatched ahold of his vest and jerked him to one side where he fell into Ash, the two crashing to the ground.

“Fuck,” Dex breathed, pushing himself to his hands and knees. He moved his gaze to the large hole in the floor he’d almost fallen through. Crawling over, he peeked in and was met with nothing but a black abyss. The only sign it ended was the tiny dot of white light way down below. Turning his head to one side, he found the floor littered with huge holes leading down into the silos. Fuck, if anyone fell through one of these, there was no coming out of it alive.

“Watch your step,” Ash hissed at him. He stood and grabbed Dex’s vest before hauling him to his feet. “Come on.”

Dex followed when Austen paused ahead of them. His head popped up, and he sniffed the air before he darted off, leaping over huge moveable spouts once used to transfer bushels of grain from the roof into the silos. Ash came to a halt beside a metal door tagged with graffiti, a deep frown on his face. What the hell was he doing? Ash thrust a hand out and mouthed the word “run.”

Listening to his gut—and Ash—Dex bolted in the opposite direction from where Austen had gone when he heard the roar of a cougar Therian behind him. He glanced over his shoulder long enough to see Ash fighting off two Therians in their feral form. Cael’s scream echoed around him, and Dex skidded to a halt, turning and frantically trying to find where it had come from. There were so many windows, nooks, doorways, holes, and tubes. It could have come from anywhere. If he called out for Cael, he’d give away his position. Damn it, where the hell had Austen disappeared to? Just as the thought crossed his mind, Austen leaped out from behind a spout, his claws scratching against the concrete as he made a sharp turn away from Dex, two Felids on his tail. Austen jumped and skidded sharply, avoiding the two Therians coming at him from two different angles. He sprung over them, and they smacked into each other. Their dizziness didn’t last long, and with roars, they gave chase.

Fuck! Both his teammates were otherwise occupied, but Dex couldn’t hang around any longer. He had to find Cael. His brother cried out again, and Dex forced himself to remain silent. This time he’d caught where the shout had come from.

At the end of the floor was the terminal’s small tower with iron girders and steel shafts high above his head running in various directions, along with funnels and a set of narrow stairs leading to the grain terminal’s storage bins at the top. Dex rushed up the stairs, rifle in his hands and ready to take down any bastard who got in his way. Slowing when he reached the top step, he took a deep steady breath and released it gradually. He stepped onto the wooden floor, the decaying boards protesting under his weight. Dex cursed under his breath.

“Come on out, Agent Daley. I know you’re there.”

Dex edged farther out onto the rickety floor, hoping one false step didn’t send him crashing through it. It would be a painful ride down considering all the girders and steel below. Rifle aimed, he advanced slowly, his jaw clenched. Hogan was in here somewhere with Cael. Problem was there were plenty of places for the bastard to hide, shadows he could see Dex from and at the same time deny Dex the same courtesy. More rusted tubes littered the room, along with pieces of crane equipment not touched in decades. There were mounds of debris of various sizes scattered about the long rectangular room, and shards of broken glass from the bare and broken windows crunched under his boots.

“Look at you. Ready for war.” Hogan’s voice bounced off the hollow tubes, frustrating Dex. He stilled, listening to every sound around him. In the distance far below he heard faint roars, shouts, and rifles being fired.

“Your crew is getting their asses handed to them, Hogan. Why don’t you give up?”

“Or what? You and your team have been a pain in my ass, Daley, but you’re kidding yourself if you think you can beat me.”