“How did you find us?” Catalina asked.
“That’s what we do,” Shane said, at the same time that Hal replied, “Tracking, research, detective work. The usual.”
Shane went on, “Where’s the rest of the team?”
“Rafa, Fiona, and Lucas are on the other side of the building,” Hal said in his rumbling voice. “They created a very large distraction so we could get to you, and they’re about to create another.”
“Did you see Justin?” Shane asked.
“Who’s that?” Hal replied.
Catalina saved Shane the breath of attempting to summarize that whole story. “He has black hair and eyes. Pale skin. He was wearing jeans and a T-shirt.”
The team looked at each other and shook their heads.
“We’ve only seen guards and medical people,” Destiny said. “No one like that.”
An explosion shook the building. Plaster dust drifted down.
“That’s our cue,” said Hal. “I’ll carry Shane.”
“Just help me walk. I don’t want to tie up your gun-hand. Or mine.” Shane didn’t care how badly he was wounded or how shaky he felt. As long as he could hold a gun, he’d defend his mate and his team.
Hal helped Shane stand. Even that small movement dizzied him. The pain in his chest increased, threatening to double him over. Shane gritted his teeth and held tight to his gun, but his hands were shaking. He’d never be able to hit anything.
Destiny raised her arm in a signal. “We’re clear! Come on!”
They went through the door. Shane could barely feel his feet touching the floor. Catalina’s eyes were on nothing but him, her soft lips tight and narrow with concern. He was about to warn her to forget about him and watch for enemies when about fifteen guards burst out of closed doors.
Their enemies closed in on all sides in a final ambush. Destiny and Nick moved efficiently to cover each other and return fire. Hal fired at the guards, his trained arm moving steadily from one to the next.
Catalina leaped across the room, tackling a burly guard. He went down under her predator strength. The two of them went flying across the room. Catalina twisted impossibly in mid-air, landed in a crouch atop him, and banged his head into the floor. He went limp. Without hesitation, she jumped up and lunged to the side, knocking the weapon from another enemy’s grip with a lightning-fast swat of her hand.
Shane could do nothing but observe his mate’s agility and courage. His gun felt too heavy to lift. His body felt too heavy to lift. He could barely summon the strength to hold himself upright, let alone fight.
An explosion sent dust and bits of the ceiling showering down on their heads. Everyone staggered. Catalina, who had been mid-jump at the time, collided with a guard who had stumbled into her path. They both went down hard.
Catalina scrambled to her feet, bl
inking as if the impact had dazed her. The enemy she’d slammed into lay still. But another guard whipped around, swinging his pistol to bear on her.
Shane’s gun hand had never been so steady. He fired, dropping the man aiming at his mate.
Think of your weapon as an extension of your hand. His long-ago drill instructor’s voice echoed in Shane’s ears. Then you’ll never drop it.
The gun slipped from his fingers and clattered to the floor.
Next thing he knew, he was lying across Hal’s shoulders. The team was running up a flight of stairs. Catalina ran beside them, clutching Shane’s hand. He was infinitely relieved to see that she was unhurt.
Destiny kicked open a door. A cold, clear mountain breeze ruffled Shane’s hair. The sky was the pale gray of pre-dawn. They ran outside and into the forest, not looking back. Then the loudest explosion of all echoed in Shane’s ears. Hal and his team slowed as if that had been the signal they’d been waiting for.
“Fiona set charges,” Hal said. “Apex won’t be coming after you any more. Or anyone.”
Fiona was very careful, Shane knew. So was everyone on their team. They would never set explosives without checking for bystanders first. Justin must have already made it out.
They came to Hal’s car, parked off-road under a clump of pine trees.
“All clear!” a man called. “Clear by you?”