by Shea Balik
Paytah looked his way a moment later, saying he got the same message. They both signaled their teams to double-time it. Sure enough, they reached the edge of a structure that was mostly rubble and heavily guarded.
“But, sir, if our men can’t hold them off, they’ll come here next. By splitting our forces, they could defeat us,” one soldier tried to argue with Roberto, but the leader wasn’t listening as he held a gun to the head of sobbing woman on her knees.
Roberto’s gaze never wavered from a man who was shakily working over an opening in one of the warheads. “My patience is running thin, Federo. You have exactly two minutes left until your time is up. Then your pretty wife dies.”
The man, Federo, shifted his eyes to where his wife was kneeling, her teary gaze never leaving her husband. She didn’t beg for her life or for her husband to do as Roberto said. Instead her lips moved as she whispered a prayer over and over again while her husband worked.
“One minute, Federo. You might want to hurry. I would hate to have to put a hole in such a pretty face.” Roberto jerked the woman’s hair back cruelly, forcing her to cry out from the pain.
Federo’s expression was one of despair even as he kept trying to fix what was before him. It was clear on the man’s face, he wasn’t going to succeed, but he never gave up trying. The seconds ticked down. Kai was an excellent shot, but he had no illusions that he could hit Roberto from this far out, not without putting Federo’s wife at risk.
If Evan had been here, their weapons expert could have killed Roberto easily, but he’d been positioned at the southern ridge, most likely caught up in the fighting still going on down there.
Kai felt helpless, but he had to at least try to do something. It probably wouldn’t help, but maybe if they started killing the guards surrounding Roberto, it might make the man forget about the woman he was set to kill.
“Open fire.” He gave the command to both his and Paytah’s team.
With brutal efficiency they took out the soldiers standing in their way, but more took their place. Soon they were being pushed back, but Kai refused to lose. Not when they were talking about nuclear weapons. How anyone thought it was a good idea to build a weapon that could cause so much lasting destruction was beyond Kai’s comprehension. Just one more reason why the human race was crazy as far as Kai was concerned.
“I’m hit,” Gerrit, who was part of Paytah’s team, called out.
Kai didn’t spare the man a glance, knowing Paytah would keep the man safe. “Fuck, they got his knee. If we retreat, we’ll have to carry him.”
That wasn’t good news, for they were losing ground. Having to carry someone would make it that much harder to turn the tide.
“Fuck that.” Gerrit was one of the few guards they’d hired based on Ernesto’s recommendation. Ernesto had been one of the most corrupt people in the Latin Territory. Then the man met his mate and realized if he had any chance to keep his mate safe in Juarez, he’d have to change his ways.
So now the man worked for Talon as an informant, helping to clean the city up. There were a few men who, like Ernesto, had gotten tired of the violence. Gerrit was one of those men.
Not knowing who to trust in Juarez, Talon decided to take a chance on Gerrit and a few others. So far they’d proven their worth. It had taken time for the inner circle to trust them, but Kai was certainly glad they had made the effort.
Kai heard someone cry out from his left. A quick glance showed him Kamali was hit and wasn’t getting up. Bullets hit the cement wall he was using as a shield, forcing Kai to stay hidden.
“Fuck, I’m pinned down, and Kamali is down, not moving.”
“Just give me my gun, and I’ll shoot them from here,” Gerrit said to Paytah.
“Gods damn it, Taden, cover me,” Paytah yelled to his other team member.
Kai wasn’t sure what was happening, but he wasn’t going to go down like this. He had a mate to get back to, and nothing on this earth was going to keep him from it. Keeping his head down, he ran to the far side of the crumbling wall he was hiding behind.
Taking a deep breath, he swung around the edge and started firing. He didn’t stop until he emptied the entire thirty rounds. Diving back behind the wall, he ejected the clip and slammed home another before he once more fired on the enemy.
By the time the second clip was gone, the enemy wasn’t firing as rapidly as they had been. “Damn, Kai. You have some motherfucking giant balls on you,” Paytah exclaimed through the earpiece. “And everyone calls me the crazy one.”
Kai grinned, not that anyone could see it, but he had to admit that felt good. Since Bodhi had died in his arms two weeks ago, Kai and his coyote had been doing their best not to lose their minds. Even holding his mate hadn’t gotten rid of the feeling, although it had helped to calm the insanity.
At the time he hadn’t had anyone to fight with, anyone to kill for harming his mate. Sure, he’d blamed Ryrmar, but deep down Kai knew it wasn’t really the God’s fault. Just when he’d started to get his emotions under control once again, he found someone else was trying to kill his mate.
Well, not his mate specifically but all of Juarez, which would include Bodhi. All that rage had come back, but this time, this time he had someone to kill, and damn it, he was going to kill every last one.
He slammed another clip into place and opened fire. Whatever resistance was still there buckled under his onslaught, especially as Paytah, Miguel, and Taden joined him. That was when the momentum turned in their favor, until no one stood between them and the warheads.
Rushing forward they found Talon smashing anything that looked remotely mechanical. “I told you, Rune, nothing looks like that stupid picture you sent me.” They could hear Rune say something in Talon’s earpiece, but the sound of metal hitting metal drowned out the words. “Yeah, but I should be able to do enough damage to make the thing inoperable.”
The metal pipe Talon had swung over his head suddenly stopped in midair. “Oh. Well, why didn’t you tell me that to begin with?” Another pause. “I don’t remember you saying that, Rune.”
Kai had to bite his lip from laughing at his friend. Talon turned when Paytah coughed in an effort to hide his amusement. “Did you know there’s a chance of me releasing the radioactive material if I hit it too hard?”
It wasn’t likely, but human engineering wasn’t nearly as good as the Alliance’s, so anything was possible. “Yeah, he mentioned it a time or two.”
“Ten, but who was counting?” Paytah deadpanned.
“Oh.” Talon dropped the piece of pipe on the ground. “Unfortunately Roberto got away. Damn vulture shot Mitzy here and threw her at me before shifting and flying off.”
The woman in question was sobbing as she held Federo’s head in her lap, doing her best to keep some cloth pressed to a wound on the man’s head while another hand was pressed to her own wound on her upper arm.
“Federo tried to stop Roberto but wasn’t strong enough and ended up getting thrown to the ground. I assume he hit his head, so he wasn’t able to help me disable the warheads.”
They all looked down at the man Talon was talking about. Kai had to admit to being surprised the guy had had the guts to take Roberto on. Not many would have, considering how crazy Roberto was.
“At least we stopped Roberto from being able to activate a nuclear weapon,” Talon said. “Now we just need to find a way to destroy the thing so it can never be used again.”
A groan from Federo had them looking back at the man. Mitzy was raining kisses over the man’s face as he thanked the Gods for keeping them safe. Kai did his best not to roll his eyes. As if the Gods would lift a finger to help anyone.
Chapter 19
Dismantling the warheads proved harder than they’d first thought. The danger that was involved in taking them apart was monumental if one didn’t know what they were doing, and they definitely didn’t know what they were doing. Far from it in fact.
They’d tried contacting the human governments that st
ill existed, but since they’d been forced to destroy the weapons nearly two hundred years ago, anyone who knew anything about handling them safely was long dead. That led to hours of research, but considering they were dealing with a nuclear weapon, they needed to be sure what they were doing.
In the end they went to Federo. They weren’t sure the man who’d been working for Roberto would be willing to help them, but considering the man’s wife had been nearly shot, they were hopeful.
Currently they had him under a kind of house arrest, staying on the island where two of the Cadre members they’d deemed as friendly were hiding from their counterparts who’d been trying to kill them. Kai, Talon, and Wyatt flew to the tiny island to talk with Federo.
“Alpha, what a welcome surprise.” Wynter and Gisli, the Cadre members they were protecting, came out to greet them the moment they landed. “Your other guests are doing well having recovered from their ordeal.”
Wynter’s more formal way of talking had always seemed odd to Kai. Admittedly, with time, he was getting more used to it. Still, it seemed so old-fashioned, like the man was from a different time. Considering Wynter was over two hundred years old, Kai supposed the man was from a different time. Although the Alpha Primus was three hundred, and he didn’t talk anything like Wynter.
“Thank you for taking such good care of them.” Talon shook Wynter’s hand, then Gisli’s. As Alpha, when Talon was around those not part of his inner circle, he had a different presence to his demeanor, more stiff, like he wasn’t comfortable having to be the Alpha.
With Kai and Wyatt flanking Talon, they entered the mansion that resided on the island. It wasn’t as big as the mansion they lived in at Juarez, but it was far too big for such a small island, in Kai’s opinion.
“I’m actually here to speak with Federo.” It was odd hearing Talon speak so formally. “Would you mind pointing us in his direction?”
They were led to a suite of rooms where Federo, his wife, Mitzy, and their two small children were staying. “Alpha Ramirez.” Federo jumped up from where he’d been sitting next to his wife on the couch. “I didn’t realize you were here.”
The nervous energy the husband and wife displayed was probably related to them believing Talon was there to punish Federo. While it was within Talon’s right, the Alpha wasn’t a cruel man. Before sending Federo here with his family, Mitzy explained they had all been kidnapped to force Federo to work for Roberto.
As long as the man didn’t do anything else against the Alliance, Talon would grant Federo amnesty for helping to make the warheads non-operational.
“Please, sit. I am not here to cause you harm.” Talon gestured for Federo to sit next to his wife. “I’ve come to ask you some questions about the warheads. We’re hoping you can help us.”
Cautiously, Federo retook his seat. “May I ask with what, Alpha?”
“We’re hoping you can help us dismantle the weapons and advise us on how to destroy them. We don’t know how or why the humans didn’t destroy these five after the Great War, but we plan to make sure they can’t be used in the future.”
Federo blew out the breath he’d been holding, shoulders sagging in relief. “Good. I just wish I knew where the other ones were taken.”
Kai felt his stomach drop in dread. He really hoped Federo hadn’t said what Kai thought he heard. Getting rid of the five they already had was scary enough. If there were more, ones they had no idea how to even find…Kai didn’t even want to think about what could happen.
“What do you mean, the others?” Talon had leaned forward in his chair as he asked the question.
Nervous, Federo licked his lips and wiped the sweat that beaded up on his forehead. His wife’s hand went to Federo’s thigh, a move that made Kai think of Bodhi. Suddenly Kai wanted his mate in his arms more than he wanted his next breath.
“Um. Well, we were kidnapped two years ago, when a possible cache of weapons had been discovered.” The sweating only increased along Federo’s forehead as he spoke. “When they couldn’t figure out how to get into the bunker holding the warheads, they kidnapped me to help them.”
That feeling of dread increased to monumental levels. Something told him he wouldn’t like the rest of the story. “Did you find a way in?”
Federo shook his head. “No, not exactly.”
This line of questioning was getting them nowhere fast. Apparently Talon felt the same way. “Look, I get you’re worried about what I might do to you for your participation, but I promise you, I will not hold you accountable for anything that has already transpired, but I need you to explain what happened.”
Federo nodded. “O-Okay. I-I…” Federo swallowed audibly before starting again. “They took me and my family one night, telling me if I didn’t help them, they would kill my family. I was taken to an old windmill farm in Kansas where a series of rock formations were.”
Kansas was still owned by the human government, so the Alliance wouldn’t have necessarily been monitoring the area. The Alpha Primus generally only monitored areas where the psy were actively using the humans for their war. As Kansas had such a small population, the psy tended to ignore it.
“There under the rock formations was a sealed bunker. The thing was massive. No matter what I tried, I couldn’t get it open. I used every trick I’d studied from human history, and still it remained closed.”
Federo was a professor who taught at one of the human universities. His specialty was human warfare, focusing on American technology. It was why he’d been targeted.
“Frustrated with my lack of progress, they brought my wife and kids to me with a gun to their heads. I would have done anything they asked, but no matter what I tried, I couldn’t figure out how the humans had sealed the bunker in order to get it opened.”
Something Federo kept saying nagged at Kai. “You said ‘they.’ Was it more than just Roberto?”
Ever since Talon became interim Alpha, his sole job was to take out the corruption in the Latin Territory, starting with those members of the Cadre who were found guilty of using their power against the people they were there to serve. So far they’d killed four of them.
Wynter and Gisli were found to be honorable people, which left six Cadre members they had to investigate and find. Roberto was the only one alive they knew was corrupt. They just hadn’t managed to catch him to make him pay for his crimes yet. The other five, it was still unknown whether or not they were guilty or innocent of crimes against the Alliance. But maybe Federo knew.
The man nodded his head. “There were six. Mr. Barrios and Ms. Zepeda were the only ones from the Latin Territory.” Neith Zepeda was a hippo shifter who had eluded their investigation up to now. If Federo was right and she had participated in acquiring the warheads, they would need to move up their investigation of her. “Then there was Horatio Kaya and Ozias Mura from the Asian Territory and General Lorcan Strome and Mahala Tilton from the Psy Republic.”
“Fuck,” Talon cursed under his breath. “We’ll need to call the Alpha Primus. This isn’t going to go over well with him.” Talon turned back to Federo. “So how did you get the bunker open?”
Federo shrugged. “I didn’t. A couple of weeks ago, an earthquake knocked us around. By the time it was over, the concrete and titanium that surrounded the weapons was cracked wide open. Thirty warheads, all damaged but intact, were found.”
Yep, they were fucked, and not in a good way.
Chapter 20
The freedom of hanging from a rope, with only a harness keeping him safe, while creating something from his soul was something Bodhi loved. If he had his choice, he’d do this every day for the rest of his life—well, when he wasn’t busy spending time in bed with his mate. But since Kai was away on business with Talon, this was paradise as far as Bodhi was concerned.
The mural for the first of the columns was nearly complete. Now that he knew about Kai and his coyote, Bodhi’s vision for the painting made more sense. Butterflies fluttered around the concrete heading straight up
into the sky, while on the lower portion a coyote looked up at them almost as if he was yipping at them to play.
The visions he’d had that allowed him to create this, even though he hadn’t known Kai when he started, no longer plagued him. He wanted to ask the Gods about them, but since the team was still holding a grudge against the Gods, Bodhi couldn’t ask about it.
He assumed something about dying and being brought back meant he no longer had the ability he’d been born with. To be honest, he was glad. Before understanding what it all meant, Bodhi just thought they were a part of his imagination. Now that he knew better, he had to admit, he didn’t want that kind of responsibility.
Being able to see the future wasn’t something he ever wanted. Bodhi was very much a live-in-the-moment type of guy. It would be too weird to be able to see what was going to happen, especially to see when he was going to die. It might change who he was if he had that kind of power.
The only thing that would make this day better—well, other than his mate being here—was if Evan and Wyatt weren’t. The two were like clinging shadows. According to Gibson, who was also here at the Amphitheatre, being guarded was something he needed to get used to, but Bodhi wasn’t sure he could.
“You know that butterfly looks more like a blob with wings.”
Bodhi bit his tongue at Evan’s comment. He was definitely going to demand a new watchdog. Evan was going to drive him insane with his nitpicking. He was ready to slap the man silly if he criticized Bodhi’s mural one more time.
“Aren’t you supposed to watch out for bad guys? I don’t think one of them is going to jump out of the wall.”
“I can’t help it if your mistakes are like a flashing neon sign. They’re practically begging me to put them out of their misery.”
Bodhi curled his hand around the brush in his hand so tightly it broke. Damn it. That was his favorite brush. He was trying to be understanding where Evan was concerned, but the man was making it really difficult. The memory of the raw grief in Evan’s eyes that morning as the Water Mystic watched Wyatt and Basil kiss good-bye stopped Bodhi from kicking Evan in the teeth like he wanted.
