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Only two soldiers remained standing, but they were shooting their assault weapons in a wide circle. Neona shot one with a dart just as four more on her team shot their guns. The soldiers stopped shooting to rip out the darts, but more darts came at them. Slowly, they slumped down to the ground.
“Hurry! Get their weapons,” Howard shouted.
Zoltan teleported her down to the ground. The team rushed in to gather the weapons. As Neona approached a soldier, he grasped her ankle, yanked her off her feet, and raised his arm, his knife ready to strike. She grabbed his arm, but he was stronger than she was. Just as the knife sliced into her arm, Zoltan seized the man by the back of his neck and lifted him off the ground.
“Bastard!” Zoltan shook him.
“Take cover!” Howard shouted, and he and the were-bear twins ducked behind unconscious soldiers.
Rapid fire exploded from the nearby forest. The group of five had arrived. With vampire speed, Zoltan spun around, placing the soldier between him and the bullets. The soldier jerked and shuddered as bullets riddled his body.
Jack and Dougal teleported behind two of the soldiers, ripped the weapons from their hands, and manually stabbed them with a cluster of three darts. The men slumped to the ground.
Three were still shooting. Hidden behind Zoltan, Neona drew her knife and threw it at one, striking his arm so he dropped his weapon. Then she shot him with her dart gun. Meanwhile Jack and Dougal teleported behind the remaining two soldiers, disarmed them, and knocked them out.
The forest was silent for a moment before Jimmy jumped to his feet and yelled, “That was awesome!”
“I know, right?” Jesse slapped hands with his twin.
Zoltan dropped the dead soldier and helped Neona to her feet. “Are you all right?”
“You were awesome, warrior princess!” Jimmy lifted a hand, waiting for her to slap it.
She lifted her arm, and it was covered with blood.
“Shit,” Zoltan whispered. “I’ll take you to the doctor in Tiger Town.”
“It’s a small cut. I’ll be fine if you take me to the storeroom where I keep my medical supplies.”
“Are you sure?” he asked, then he glanced at the other guys. “We need to go.”
“We’ll be fine.” Howard waved him on. “Go on.”
He teleported her to the fire pit in Beyul-La, then led her inside the storeroom where she kept her medical supplies. He opened a window so the moonlight would shine in.
She gave him instructions, and he washed her arm, applied the salve, and wrapped it tight with a strip of fresh linen.
“Are you sure about this?” He gave her arm a dubious look.
“The salve works,” she assured him. “It stopped the bleeding on your wound, remember? And kept it clean.”
“But I heal during my death-sleep. You don’t.” He escorted her from the storeroom. “We could go to the next valley. Mikhail has his medical kit there.”
“I’ve been healing wounds here for close to two thousand years.”
“At least take something for the pain.” He pulled her close. “I can’t bear to think of you hurting.”
She turned when she heard a shouting noise. Norjee and Zhan were running from the cave. The owl flew out, headed for the next valley. Zhan raced after it.
“What’s wrong?” she yelled in Tibetan.
Norjee came to a halt in front her, breathing hard. “The eggs . . . two eggs are hatching.”
Chapter Twenty-four
“What’s wrong?” Zoltan asked.
Neona told him in English, “Two eggs are hatching. Can you go to the next valley and bring back Nima or Winifred?”
“You can’t take care of the eggs?”
She shook her head. “The hatchlings bond with the first person they see. It has to be someone who can communicate with them. Hurry! We’ll be waiting for you.” She grabbed Norjee’s hand, and they ran toward the cave.
Zoltan teleported to Frederic’s valley. It was mostly empty, since five of the teams were out working. Emma was there, coordinating all the missions. A few shifters had remained behind on guard duty. Tashi was sitting nearby, looking pale.
“Emma!” Zoltan ran up to her. “Where are Nima and Winifred?”
“Winifred just left,” Emma said.
The owl landed on a rock next to Tashi, and she jumped up. “Is something wrong in the cave?”
“Two eggs are hatching,” Zoltan told her.
“Oh no!” Tashi gasped. “We need Nima or Freddie.”
Emma winced. “I tried my best to make sure one of them was always here. Nima’s team is due back any second now. I wouldn’t have let Freddie go otherwise.”
“Nima has to come back now!” Tashi insisted.
“I’ll call her team.” Emma punched some numbers on her sat phone.
Tashi moaned. “This is all my fault. It was my turn to go, but I started throwing up, so Winifred went instead.”
“You couldn’t help that,” Emma told her. “And if you’re pregnant like we suspect, you shouldn’t be out there fighting.” She tilted her head toward the phone. “Mikhail? We need Nima back immediately. Okay. Thanks.”
She hung up. “Mikhail and Pamela are in Tiger Town, delivering the last of their soldiers. They should have Nima here in a few minutes.”
Tashi turned toward the rock wall. Neona’s pet leopard was pacing along the edge. Zoltan heard the leopard’s thoughts, too.
No time! The eggs are hatching now!
“We don’t have a few minutes,” Zoltan said. “The hatchlings bond with the first person they see, and it has to be someone they can communicate with.”
“That’s true!” Tashi grimaced as she rubbed her stomach. “They have to bond quickly, or they lose the ability. One time an egg hatched unexpectedly when my mother was there. The baby bonded with her, but when she couldn’t communicate with him, his ability faded away. He couldn’t hear Nima at all. Then all his senses shut down. The poor thing just lay there and died!”
Emma drew in a long breath. “All right. I’ll do it.”
“But you can’t—” Tashi gasped when Emma vanished. “What is she doing? The babies will die if she—”
“She can communicate with them,” Zoltan said.
Tashi’s eyes widened. “She can?”
Zoltan glanced around and spotted Phil with some of the younger werewolf trainees. “Phil, take charge till Angus gets back.”
Phil ran toward him. “What’s going on?”
“Emma has to help two dragon babies hatch.”
“What?” Phil looked stunned.
Zoltan imagined Emma’s husband would look even more stunned when he learned the consequences. “Let’s go.” He grabbed Tashi and teleported her to the entrance of the cave.
“Go ahead.” She rubbed her stomach. “I’ll follow you soon. I need to be still for a moment.”
He zoomed down the narrow corridor into the huge cavern where the dragon children lived. Norjee and the three dragon shifters sat on Nima’s larger pallet, looking worried.
Norjee jumped to his feet. “Nima?”
“She’ll be here soon,” Zoltan replied, frustrated because he knew the boy couldn’t understand him. He gave the children a reassuring smile, then hurried down the narrow tunnel to the cave room that housed the eggs.
Neona was hovering at the entrance, partially hidden behind a wall of stone. She glanced back at him.
“Nima will be here soon.”
Neona winced. “She might be too late.”
He peered into the room, dimly lit by a single torch. Emma was kneeling in front of a nest that contained two eggs. Both were covered with cracks and rocking slightly with movement.
He blinked when a foot suddenly burst through a shell. A tiny leg extended from the egg and kicked about.
Emma gasped. “It looks so human.” She shot Neona a frantic look. “What do I do?”
“When the heads come out, make sure they see you,” Neona said. “Look them in the eyes and communicate with them.”
Another leg burst out, and the egg started to shake. Two arms broke free, the tiny hands fisted.
“Look at you.” Emma took hold of one of the tiny hands. “You’re doing great.”
The little hand opened and curled around Emma’s thumb.
