Authors: Paige Tyler
she was from Landon, and that she’d be so much better off with him once they got her back.
“Ivy isn’t anything like you,” Landon told him.
“Is Ivy a wolf, too?” Mickens asked.
Diaz shook his head. “Man, did Ivy move like a dog to you? What are you, blind and dense? Gotta be a
cat, with moves like hers. Am I right, Captain, or am I right?”
Landon knew Diaz was sharp. “He’s right.”
Diaz gave Mickens a smug look.
The medic’s face flushed. “I knew that.”
“Sure you did,” Griffen said.
Landon looked from one man to the next. “Now that you know what you’ll be facing, I’m going to ask
you again—are you all okay with this? I don’t want you to feel like there’s any pressure here. I’m not your
commander anymore. If you want to back out, I’ll understand.”
“Shifters or no shifters, I’m in,” Angelo said.
“Me too,” Diaz agreed.
Deray, Mickens, Griffen, and Marks echoed.
“Okay. Then we need to get moving.” Landon jerked his head at the storage unit. “Weapons and
everything else we’re going to need are in here.”
Tredeau let out an appreciative whistle as he and the others followed Landon into the unit. “Man, this
stuff is top of the line. This organization of yours—what did I hear you call it, the DCO?—they don’t mess
around, do they?”
If
they
only
knew.
“No, they don’t.”
While Angelo and Tredeau grabbed weapons and loaded magazines, Diaz found the radios and ear
pieces and started checking them out. Mickens was on the other side of the room, checking out the first-aid
kit. Landon’s mouth edged up. It was like old times. He wouldn’t trade working with Ivy for anything, but
he’d be lying if he said he didn’t miss going to battle with these guys.
Landon was stuffing a butt pack with blocks of C-4 explosives when Angelo walked over. His friend
leaned back against the shelf.
“So, I guess you and Ivy decided to go ahead and play with that fire, huh?”
All Landon could do was nod. “And it might just have gotten her killed.”
“You know I’d be here having your back regardless, but I’m curious why no one but Buchanan and
Kendra are here from this DCO organization of yours?”
Landon glanced over his shoulder to make sure no one else could overhear them talking. “Because I
had orders to kill Ivy if there was even a remote chance she might get captured on a mission.”
Angelo’s eyes went wide. “What kind of fucked-up organization asks its operatives to murder their
partners like that?”
“The kind that doesn’t want anyone to know they have freaks of nature working for the U.S.
government,” Buchanan said.
Landon hadn’t heard the shifter come over. That’s what Buchanan thought of himself, a freak of nature?
No wonder he was so screwed up.
Angelo looked Buchanan up and down, as if evaluating how hard it would be to take the shifter in a fair
fight. “Well, I don’t know about you, but Ivy’s no freak. So that tells me you two work for a bunch of
assholes.”
Landon couldn’t deny that. Buchanan didn’t either.
When they were all armed, Landon gathered them in front of the storage unit for a quick briefing before
they left.
“I don’t have time to give you a full operation order, so here are the essentials. Stutmeir and his men are
located in an old ski lodge a little more than an hour from here. The place is made out of stone and built
into the side of a mountain—think about that keep in the second
Lord
of
the
Rings
movie and you get the
idea.” They nodded. “There are five floors and at least one basement level. My guess is that Ivy will be
someplace on that basement level.”
“What’s the plan to get her out?” Buchanan asked.
“We break up into two teams. One causes a distraction and draws the bulk of the bad guys toward the
front gate while the other one slips in and grabs Ivy. There may also be a couple doctors being held hostage,
so if you see any nerdy types running, wait to see a weapon before you put them down. Other than that, it’s
your standard kill ’em all approach.”
“Hell, yeah.” Angelo grinned. “Mess with the best, die like the rest.”
Landon ground his jaw. His friend had that right. If they hurt a single hair on Ivy’s head, he’d track
down every last one of them and kill them as slowly as he could—twice if he could figure out how.
Chapter 16
Landon breathed a sigh of relief as he surveyed the ski lodge from his position in the forest. Four large
moving vans and a half dozen oversized SUVs were parked in the front of the lodge, doors open, boxes and
lab equipment waiting and ready to be loaded.
They weren’t too late. Now, he prayed whatever the reason Stutmeir had for taking Ivy alive had kept
her that way the whole night.
He glanced over his shoulder and gave Griffen a nod. He’d picked the demolition expert to lead the
team that’d take out the gate and—hopefully—draw the majority of Stutmeir’s men in that direction.
Griffen returned the nod, then moved off without a word. Marks, Deray, Diaz, and Tredeau followed,
equally silent. There’d be no radio communications until they initiated the attack just in case Stutmeir had a
radio scanner.
Landon motioned his team around the far side of the lodge, to the same place he and Ivy had crossed
over the wall last night. Had it only been that long? It felt longer. If luck was with them, Stutmeir’s people
would be so busy packing they wouldn’t notice anything until Griffen’s team started blowing up the place.
He glanced over his shoulder to make sure everyone was in position and saw he’d picked up a stray to
go along with Buchanan, Angelo, and Mickens. Kendra was crouched down beside Buchanan with an M4
carbine in her hands like she knew how to use it.
“What the hell are you doing here?” His voice was a harsh whisper. “I told you to stay in the car where
it’s safe.”
“I decided against it.” She lifted her chin. “Ivy is my friend, Landon. I’m going to help get her out,
whether you want me to or not.”
“I don’t have time to babysit you and find Ivy at the same time.”
“Then don’t babysit me. You find Ivy. I’ll take care of myself.” She held up the M4. “I don’t just stand
around and watch you guys all day, you know. I know what I’m doing. I’ve been trained by the best. And
like you said, you don’t have time for this. Griffen is already setting the charges, which means we have to
get moving.”
Landon growled loud enough for even Buchanan to look taken aback. He glared at the shifter. “She’s
your responsibility.”
Jaw tight, he turned and took off toward the back wall. Kendra was right about Griffen setting the
explosives. If they wanted to be ready to go over the wall the second the demo charge went off, they
needed to move. He glanced at his watch. 0940. Shit, they were already five minutes behind. They needed
to get up there now.
He scanned left and right, then motioned everyone up. He glanced at Kendra, half hoping she wouldn’t
be able to scale the wall and would have to go hide in the woods until this was over, but she got up the wall
faster than he’d expected.
Landon just reached the top of the wall when it trembled under him. A split second later, he heard the
distinctive crack of C-4 going off. He was over the wall and down the other side before the rumble of the
blast faded away.
Once on the ground, he led his team across the grounds to the basement windows he’d remembered
seeing during his reconnaissance with Ivy. He’d considered the idea of going in through the roof entrance
again, but dropped that plan when he realized it’d take too long.
Gunfire erupted from the front of the lodge.
“Engaged,” Griffen announced over the communication headset.
Landon dropped to his knees at the first window he came to and pushed last season’s dead leaves out of
the well. There were iron gratings over the windows. They were rusted, but looked stout. He could forget
about the element of surprise.
He reached into his butt pack for a block of explosives when Buchanan reached down and grabbed the
grating with both hands. The shifter wrenched the ironwork completely out of the stone, taking half the
window casing with it.
Angelo grinned. “Damn. Maybe you’re a freak, but you’re a useful freak.”
Landon silently agreed. “Let’s go find Ivy.”
Inside, Landon grudgingly let Buchanan take the lead. In theory, it was so he could pick up Ivy’s scent
faster, but Landon thought it had more to do with the fact that the shifter wanted to be the first one Ivy saw
when they found her. Kendra and Mickens followed directly behind Landon, leaving Angelo to bring up the
rear.
The basement was a maze with very little light and a lot of doors, most of which were locked. On the
upside, it was completely deserted. Based on the volume of gunfire, explosions, and shouts above them,
Landon could understand why. Griffen and his team were obviously doing their job. Stutmeir and his men
probably thought they were fighting World War III.
Buchanan didn’t pick up Ivy’s scent in any of the rooms, so Landon didn’t waste time checking them
out. As much as he hated admitting it, the guy was useful.
“I have her scent.” Buchanan quickened his step. “I can smell her blood, too. Fuck!”
Landon picked up the pace to keep up with the shifter even as he braced himself for what they were
going to find. Buchanan said he’d smelled blood, but would he know if she was dead just by the smell?
Landon didn’t want to think about it, so he focused on keeping up with the shifter instead.
Buchanan rounded the corner ahead of him only to duck back so fast Landon almost smacked into him.
The shifter held up two fingers and mouthed, “Guards.” Landon nodded, indicating he understood and was
ready to take them down.
The men had their backs to them, but the moment he and Buchanan came around the corner, they
turned. Landon knew it was too much to hope they were regular, everyday humans and not Stutmeir’s
homemade shifters. Their eyes went from normal to gleaming red.
The creatures snarled and sprang, one toward him, the other at Buchanan.
Landon put a three-round burst into the thing’s chest, but all that did was piss it off. It stumbled once,
then charged him again.
Landon squeezed the trigger. He’d empty the whole magazine into the creature if he had to.
Kendra, Mickens, and Angelo raced around the corner, all three of them shooting the monster as fast as
their fingers would go. It finally went down, but not before getting hit at least twenty times. Un-freaking-
believable.
Landon abruptly realized he’d never heard Buchanan get off a shot at the other creature. He spun
around, expecting to find the wolf shifter in a pool of blood. But Buchanan was leaning over the second
guard, his face a mask of rage. The creature was lying on the floor, his throat torn open. Amazingly, the
thing was still alive.
As Landon watched, Buchanan grabbed the man’s hair in one hand and chin in the other, then savagely
wrenched his head, snapping his neck. The body convulsed, boots kicking the floor, then went still.
Buchanan stood up and wiped his bloody claws off on his jeans, then picked up his weapon and turned
around. He frowned when he found all of them staring at him.
“What?” he demanded. “Is this guy any deader than that one?” He pointed at the creature they’d shot.
Landon didn’t say anything. Buchanan had a point. Who cared how the monsters had been killed
anyway? They were gone, and that left the door they’d been guarding free and clear.
He jerked his head at the room. “Is Ivy in there?”
He really wanted to know if she was alive, but he couldn’t bring himself to ask. It didn’t make sense for
Stutmeir’s men to guard a dead prisoner. If she was in there, he’d find out soon enough anyway.
Buchanan nodded in answer to his question. He started for the door and probably would have kicked it
in, but Landon beat him to it.
The room was a white square. No furniture, no windows, no wall hangings.
And in the middle of the floor, a half-naked Ivy was curled up in a ball, her hands and feet bound. She
looked more fragile than Landon could ever imagine. But the thing that tore at him the most were the barely
healed cuts, scratches, and bruises on her beautiful body. Stutmeir hadn’t simply beaten her; the bastard had
tortured her.
Landon hurried across the room and dropped to his knee beside her. He was almost afraid to touch her,
terrified he’d discover his worst fear was real and she truly was dead. But he had to know.
Taking a deep, shuddering breath, he set down his weapon and tenderly brushed her long hair back
from her face. She was so still and pale, there was no way she could be alive. He’d told himself he’d been
ready for this, but he wasn’t.
He leaned closer, praying for some sign of life, and saw a tiny pulse beating at the side of her neck. She
was alive, but she was weak.
“Ivy?” His voice sounded hoarse, as if it was choked with tears. Maybe it was. “Oh God, what did they