Still, they’d always known there was a chance it could be located. But he was getting ahead of himself; maybe something else happened and this had nothing to do with the Savages and demons.
He couldn’t think of what else it might be, but it was a possibility.
Logan resisted the impulse to batter the vehicle. If he started losing it, the others would too, and they would destroy the SUV before it ever got them where they needed to go.
Declan skidded around a corner, blew through a stop sign, and nearly collided with a minivan. He swerved around the van with an expertise that would have made NASCAR drivers jealous. The minivan passed so close Logan saw the gawking faces of the children from behind their tinted windows.
And then they were gone, and the SUV started vibrating as Declan pushed it to higher and higher speeds. They shot over the top of a hill, left the ground, and soared twenty feet into the air before crashing to the earth with a bone-jarring impact.
Logan braced his hand against the roof as they shot over the top of another hill. This time, when they went airborne, he spotted smoke rising in the distance. His heart sank as an involuntary snarl tore from him.
There was no denying the smoke was coming from the compound.
“Shit,” Nathan growled.
Declan hunched over the steering wheel as black and red color seeped out from his hands toward his arms. Killean’s neck was turning black, and Saxon’s fingers were the same mottled shade beside him.
Logan didn’t have to look at his hands to know the same thing was happening to them. An influx of power swelled in his muscles; his extended fangs throbbed with their need to tear into something.
As they neared the compound, he spotted over a dozen vehicles parked alongside the wall. When they were close to the gate, Declan slammed on the brakes. The SUV fishtailed as it skidded toward one of the vehicles, but Declan twisted the wheel to keep from crashing into the side of a pickup truck.
Before the SUV came to a complete stop, Declan shifted into park. The engine made a hideous grinding sound Logan barely registered as he opened the door and jumped out.
Logan leapt over a body to get to the first parked SUV. When he peered inside, he saw what he’d already suspected… it was empty. He doubted the bodies littering the ground were all that came out of the vehicles parked along the wall.
The rotten stench emanating from the bodies had nothing to do with decay—they hadn’t been dead long enough—and everything to do with what they were… Savages.
He glanced at the top of the wall. It was a good ten feet over his head, surrounded by cameras and guarded by the Alliance, except those Alliance members were nowhere to be seen. They’d either been pushed back by the Savages or killed. From the other side, shouts of pain, the clash of steel, and the sounds of battle emanated over the wall.
The Savages who had made it over this wall wouldn’t have gotten far as the rest of the Alliance would have rushed out to meet them. But this was only one wall; he had no idea what the others looked like and if more Savages flooded them.
Had the demons and Savages sent hundreds of their cronies to attack them at once and from different locations?
They had cameras all over and would have seen them coming; they would have sounded the alarm, but how much time had that bought them?
Logan’s heart hammered as he tried not to think about what was happening inside the walls. He had to get in there.
Logan was preparing to jump onto one of the vehicles and leap onto the wall, something he suspected the Savages did to get over, but before he could, the gates creaked and started opening. He spun toward the gates, which only opened enough to let them inside before they halted. Roland must still be in the security room and operating the gate.
They’d have to funnel through the gates, which would put them at a disadvantage as they’d be easier to pick off, but it was better than trying to get over the barbed wire on top of the wall. That would slow them down far more and leave them much more vulnerable to attack than going through the gate.
Killean and Nathan were the first two through the gates. Logan pulled out one of his stakes as he sprinted behind them and into the compound. Unprepared for how much of a bloodbath was unfolding, he almost skidded to a halt to process everything, but if he stopped moving, he’d end up dead.
Blood and bodies covered the ground. Not even the acrid aroma of the fires consuming the hunter homes could cover the rotten stench of the Savages. The blood was so thick on the grass that it splashed around his feet when he ran through it.
Behind him, the gates clicked shut as Roland settled them securely into place. Though the walls kept them caged in here, they were still safer with the gates closed than with them open. At least now, if more Savages arrived, they would see them coming over the walls and have some time to try to stop them.
There were Savages everywhere he looked. They fought, clawed, and sliced into anyone they could. The screams of the dying mixed with those of the terrified and the crackling of the fire. They nearly drowned out the grunts of the fight and the thwacks of fists hitting flesh.
Fifty feet away, Lucien battled half a dozen Savages as his mate, Callie, ran another one through with a sword. A sudden burst of flame, followed by a puff of smoke, told Logan where Willow was as she wielded her powerful and often frightening sword against their enemies.
A circle of Savages surrounded her; they jumped back and danced around her, but none of them were willing to get too close. Just one jab from her sword would destroy any of them, and that knowledge kept most of them at bay… for now.
However, the circle around her was growing. Soon, they’d willingly sacrifice some of their own if it meant overwhelming her and claiming the sword.
Logan frantically searched for Elena as he punched and kicked his way through the Savages. He staked more than a few before losing his weapon when a Savage smashed their fist onto his forearm. Logan grunted and fumbled to keep hold of the stake, but it was too late.
Spinning, he grabbed the Savage who disarmed him by the throat, lifted the monster off the ground, and slammed him down. He hammered the heel of his boot onto the Savage’s windpipe, crushing it and cutting off his oxygen supply. Logan pulled another stake free and sank it into the monster’s heart.
