Megans Mark (Breeds 6)

"If we can get through there we'll be close enough to Broken Butte to call Lance. "

"Lance has been notified. The bastard better be on his toes. "

Megan turned, staring into the rearview as they sped through the twisting canyon road. Something wasn't right.

The Raider behind them was in view, but something else was beyond, too close.

"Faster. " She snarled. "Put that damned pedal to the floor or we're all going to bum. " She knew she should have made him let her drive, dammit.

He added speed, cursing every breath as the walls of the canyon brushed the Raiders as they raced through it.

"Radar lock in progress," the computer warned in that damned monotone.

"I'll kill those bastards," Braden yelled.

"Stand in line. Tarek do you have flares?" Megan snapped.

"Flares loaded and on track. " The voice was a snarling, growling exclamation that indicated the fury she could feel pulsing around her.

They shot out of the canyon. Megan was aware of Braden flooring the gas as the computer warned of radar lock. The flare from the back Raider illuminated the night and seconds later the resulting missile explosion shook the canyon walls.

That was when they got dirty. The next missile was shot before lock, giving Tarek's people little time to set the flare. It was close. The next was closer.

"Hold on. Hold on. " Megan felt it coming a second before the Raider pitched to the side. She gripped the roll bar overhead, cursing as the vehicle flipped, righted itself, then came to rest against a boulder.

"Haul ass. Motor's shot," Braden ordered as he pushed Megan through the door she had only seconds to open.

"We're on foot. Let's roll. "

He grabbed Megan's arm, pulling her into one of the smaller turns that led back into the canyon.

"Spread out. Jonas is less than half an hour away. He'll find us. Full sanctions, shoot to kill. "

Megan jerked her pistol from its holster as they entered the rocky, brush crowded path that led back into the canyon.

Gunfire erupted behind them as she listened to the transmissions of the Breeds in her ear.

She could feel the enemy soldiers in the canyon, a full dozen or more, and one who seemed to see everything. He was doing nothing to hold

back his thoughts as the soldiers had the other day. He watched, and he thought. They were after her. Nothing else mattered. Not the Breeds with her; whether they lived or died held no importance. Her death was uppermost.

"Soldiers are moving in ahead of us," she gasped out as they moved through a thick, bramble-coated path.

"I hear them. " Braden's voice was soft, predatory. "I can also feel your link. He's doing it deliberately. "

"Yeah, I figured that out. " She was breathing roughly as he pulled her along behind him. "It's familiar. I just can't place it. "

Gunfire behind them had them ducking quickly, listening to the comm link as Tarek gave his men brief, coded ' orders. So far, none had been hit. Thank God.

"Cooley is with them. " Her finger lay firmly on the trigger of her own weapon as she scanned the area where they were hidden. "As well as a Coyote. He's determined. "

"So am I. " Braden's voice was quiet, but the threat of black rage beneath it sent a chill up her spine.

"We have to take out his Coyote," she murmured as she searched for the

best vantage point. She had trained in these canyons with her family from the time she was a teenager.

"We stay upwind of him and we can do that. " He began moving again, easing his way through the young pines, pinon and cottonwood trees that grew along the path.