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The darkness spared me from the gory sight of what would most likely be a pool of blood as the third man crumpled to the ground and fell forward.
Carter stood by the missing door and checked the hallway. “It’s clear.” He came back my way, stepping over the bodies. “You okay?”
“I’m fine.” With him that close, I finally noticed there was something obstructing his face. Night vision? So that’s how he was so precise in killing those men in the dark.
He reached for my hand, helping me to my feet. “Stay behind me and grab hold of me so you don’t fall,” he said, only mildly breathless, then took the gun from me.
Use you as a shield? Not my favorite plan.
“Our secondary team is outside the building now, but we’re not out of the woods yet.”
Dallas went ahead of us into the hall, and I locked on to Carter as instructed, hands gripping his torso as if my life depended on it.
“You did good back there,” he said in a low voice as we traversed the gauntlet of what appeared to be downed bodies.
Did you do all this? Holy shit.
“I’m sorry they got in there. I got pinned down and pulled away for a moment.”
“Based on all the bodies we’re walking around in the hall,” I murmured, “you were outnumbered. And yet somehow . . .” Kept me safe.
“Thank you for saving Dallas back there.”
Before I could reply, he abruptly stopped and hooked his arm around me, practically squashing my chest to his back.
“It’s me. Don’t shoot. Lost you on comms,” someone spoke up. A female someone. Mya or Sydney, I assumed. Couldn’t be Alyona, right?
I felt Carter’s body physically relax against me. “My earpiece fell out at some point.”
“The inside is clear,” the woman said as the power returned.
I stumbled back at the harsh lights in my eyes while Carter turned toward me, knocking his night vision up to his head. I tripped over one of the dead masked men on the floor, but Carter didn’t let me fall. He banded a hand around my hip to keep me upright, then pulled me against him, lifting me in the air and over the dead body to find my feet again.
My personal hero. “Thanks,” I said as he set me down, my voice too small for my own body.
“How many more tangos outside?” Carter asked the woman, and I focused on her as well, finally matching the voice to a face.
Sydney had a bow in her hand, casually holding it at her side, and I noticed two of the bodies in the hall had arrows in their backs. Sydney Archer. Fitting name.
“Two more snipers out in the woods playing peekaboo,” Sydney shared, tipping her head toward a corner, motioning for us to continue. “Easton and Griffin have them covered. But we need to exfil in case more people show up.”
“Any casualties on our side?” Carter asked while offering me his hand, and Dallas hopped over one body to get to me.
“Oliver took one in the shoulder. He’ll be fine.” Sydney peered at me, giving me a little nod, as if telling me, No worries, all good.
I kept quiet as we walked the hall, wishing I could close my eyes from the sight, but I didn’t want to step on a dead person. Or slip and fall in their blood. As we rounded another corner, I heard distinct chatter back and forth between two people.
“Would you quit being a baby and flipping hold still?” That had to be Mya, right?
We entered the office we’d all originally gathered in, and I was grateful there were no dead bodies in there. Only Mya and Oliver at the moment.
“I’m just pissed that fucker shot this shoulder. My tattoo is going to be a bear to fix.” Oliver was sitting on a desk as Mya wrapped a bandage around his shoulder and arm. “Lost you on comms. You good?” he asked Carter.
“We’re fine,” Carter said, motioning for me to go farther inside the office. “Glad you’re not dead.”
“You, too,” Oliver returned with a light, almost humorous tone that should’ve shocked me, but somehow didn’t.
“Where’s Gray and the others?” Carter released my hand, holstered the weapon at his side, then removed his helmet and night vision, setting it on a desk.
