Page 81 of The Enforcers: NOAH

Chapter 32

Inside the cabin, Flynn had gathered together the defenders.

“Okay, I bought us some time,” he said.

“Do you really think they’ll wait until eight?” Mina asked. Could Noah and the others mount a rescue by then?

“No,” Flynn said. “But they will give us a couple of hours, at least. They think the shifter toxin will be killing everybody by then, and we’ll be ready to make a deal.”

He lowered his voice, as though someone outside might hear them.

“There’s a way out of here, an escape tunnel through the basement. But the exit on the other end is probably right in the middle of their perimeter. Jaz, I need you to go check it out and contact the others in the woods to see if they can make a corridor. Be careful.”

The jaguar shifter nodded, and headed for the basement door.

“It’s gonna take her a little while to get out there and back. So we need to stay vigilant. The most logical thing is for them to give us a couple of hours, but people don’t always do logical shit.”

The next few hours dragged. Mina checked in on Brock and Jesse every half-hour. Brock was huddled in the bathtub, white and scared-looking, but Jesse seemed to be getting a little better. “Thank you for what you did for Brock,” Mina whispered during one of her visits.

Jesse shrugged it off. “He’s a kid,” he said. “And I’ll be okay.”

Mina desperately hoped so.

As the time dragged on, she could see Flynn getting more and more concerned, although he tried to stay stoic. No news was not good news. Had Jasmin been caught? If so, should they brave the tunnel anyway?

It was getting on toward dusk when they heard the voice again. Mina had grown to hate that voice.

“Well, you’re all crafty little shifters, aren’t you?”

Flynn and Rafe looked at each other.

Mina looked out the window. Men were filing into the clearing, carrying—oh, God. Animal bodies.

She could see the jaguar, and a panther and a fox, and Tank’s huge hulk. They were piled carelessly in a heap. Flynn’s eyes went feral, and a huge snarl erupted from his throat. Mina’s eyes burned with tears.

The men were followed by Carson, Briscoe, and another man Mina didn’t know.

Rafe did, though. He began growling. “Fucking Creston,” he said. “They got Nashville in on this.”

That sent another stab of fear through Mina. If the Nashville pack was aligned with Carson, what had happened to Noah and Jace and the others from Silverlake?

The stranger—Creston—was the one with the megaphone. The boss.

“Don’t worry, they’re not dead. Yet,” he said. “Because then you wouldn’t have anything to lose, would you? No, I’ve just dosed them up with the same toxin Robbie used on your other friends. So bring me the white wolves and the alpha and the little boy, and I’ll give you the antidote and we’ll all go about our business.”

Mina’s stomach clenched with fear. Rafe said, “They still may not know about the tunnel. We can make a break for it—”

Flynn nodded.

He shouted out the window to Creston, “And if we don’t?”

The man shrugged. “Why then, you all die.”

Rafe dashed up the stairs and brought Terin back down. They got Jesse and Brock out of the bathroom and they headed for the basement. Flynn ushered them all down first, telling Terin where the tunnel opening was.

It wasn’t until they were halfway across the basement that Mina realized Flynn wasn’t behind them.

Just at that moment, she heard a faint “whoosh” and a muffled explosion from outside. There were two more explosions, and then a furious roar.