Crimson Highlander (Onyx Assassins 2)

A trap.

It had all been a trap.

And I’d been dumb enough to walk right into it.

19

Lachlan

She’d left the gate open.

“Hey, at least she planned on coming back, right?” Ransom whispered through the dark, apparently thinking the same thing I had.

We were amassed in the shadows and had been for the last minute, waiting for Xavier to arrive and doing a last-minute recon to see what had changed with Valor’s arrival.

“The patrol pattern is broken,” I noted.

“There are four guards tied up and unconscious behind the shed back there,” Hawke added, twisting his dagger in his hand. His usual zeal for an upcoming fight had been replaced by the hard glint of determination as he stared at the compound.

“That explains it,” I whispered.

“Olivia,” Ransom muttered. “She’s fucking fast when she wants to be. Not fast enough to keep me from throttling her once I get my hands on her, but definitely too fast for the mortals.” His focus narrowed on the outlying buildings, and he tilted his head.

“You thinking the same thing I am?” I asked quietly.

“That they may have split our army to defend the secondary school, but they split theirs, too? Those barracks are empty, and the majority of the heat signature I’m picking up is from inside the building.”

Iron could mess with a lot of things—our thermal vision wasn’t one of them because it wasn’t magical. It was biological.

“So this is where the party is,” Xavier said, strolling out of the woods with his hands in his pockets. The shadows came with him. “I brought a few friends, hope you don’t mind.” He motioned over his shoulder toward the horde of demons that followed him to the fence line, not bothering to stay hidden. “It’s been a couple of centuries since I unleashed them.” The corner of his lip lifted into a cruel smile.

“No females,” I warned him.

“Yes, yes, they know your little rules.” He rolled his shoulders and cracked his neck. “Shall we? I have plans this evening.”

“Fucking demons,” Hawke muttered.

“Same plan we discussed,” I said just as a bright flash of light went off in the windows toward the end of the first, windowed building. “What the hell was that?”

“Our cue,” Xavier answered.

The army split up as we’d planned, Xavier and a few of his larger demons coming with us, while our vampire commanders took their squads to flank the building. We weren’t going in locked and loaded at one entrance this time. We were hitting them from every side.

“You don’t want to lead your men from the south?” Ransom asked Xavier as we snuck through the shadows, avoiding the rotating spotlight.

“My men know what they’re doing, and besides, I figured it would be much more entertaining to go with you.” He shrugged, walking directly through a beam of light without throwing a shadow.

I envied that asshole’s glamours.

We paused at the closed door, weapons in our hands. “Ransom,” I nodded at the locking mechanism.

“On it—”

“Move.” Xavier stepped forward and placed his hand on the panel. Sparks flew, and the door clicked, unlocking.

“Remind me never to invite you to the estate,” Ransom muttered as Xavier threw open the door.

“What makes you think I haven’t already been there? Vampires have such a finite grasp of time.”

I was first through the door.

What the fuck?

Keeping my weapon centered straight ahead, I threw out my other arm to block Ransom in case he decided to speed by and run straight into the backs of our enemies.

There were at least a dozen guards in front of us, all outfitted in tactical gear and carrying the nauseating scent of perverse excitement as they leveled their weapons toward the center of the hall where our females stood, facing down another dozen guards at the end of the hallway.

The bond flared, bright and strong, and I heard Valor’s gasp.

Concentrate on the mission. One good look at her, and I’d lose my shit, which wasn’t something we could afford right now.

“I only count three,” Hawke hissed under his breath.

“There’s at least two dozen,” Ransom whispered so low that no human ear could hear.

There were more beyond them throughout the compound, thermals had shown me that much, but the small confines worked in our favor here. There were only so many soldiers they could fit in the space, and with Valor’s group drawing all of the focus, we’d managed to slip in virtually undetected.

“Women, fucker. I only count three women.” At the note of panic, I counted, too.

Valor’s red hair was up in a warrior’s braid, keeping the auburn strands from becoming a liability. Olivia’s was done up the same. There was a delicate blonde between them, wearing nothing but a pair of pajamas and slippers. Has to be Daphne.

“Like I wouldn’t see this coming?” a man shouted at Valor. Her brother.

“Feel free to speak. I can hold the glamour as long as that door is open,” Xavier said in that bored tone of his. “Though I do think we might need to act quickly, seeing as those humans have their guns pointed straight at your mate’s head.”