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Without knowing what existed inside the swirling vortex, there couldn’t be any other plan. Any fatigue from fighting the dragon or concern about what she’d encounter on the other side dissolved. People’s lives depended on her. She lined up with her teammates at the portal’s edge.
Go.
A short passage hewn from orange granite opened into a large room, easily the size of the office building and with row upon row of occupied beds.
To her left, a guard stared directly at them over the neck of the victim she’d sunk her fangs into.
Caro double-tapped her trigger, and both bullets found the forehead of the biter before she’d had the opportunity to remove her teeth.
Another set of gunshots rang out from behind Caro at almost the same time.
“One guard down,” Miren said.
“And another.” That came from Ryn.
Caro continued with Miren around the room’s perimeter, checking in areas where someone might hide in the medical equipment and cabinets lined up against the wall.
Charl and Ryn met them midpoint. For a moment, she and her team members stared at the sheer number of victims, maybe one hundred and fifty in all. The magnitude of the effort crested, threatening to swamp her.
“Miren, start there, and Charl, there. I’ll start there. If they can walk, let them up. Caro, you’ll be their guide. Keep them calm and don’t let them bolt. If they somehow escape before we can treat them, there will be hell to pay. Once we’ve rounded up those who can escape, go back to the ones too weak and start taking out the bloodlines to the bags. Remember, speed is good, but be careful.”
The next minutes flew by as they worked quickly, since Jenkins might be sending additional help. Over half of the victims were ambulatory, and Caro found corralling the dazed, crying people difficult. Most were drugged or sluggish from lack of blood and stood like cattle waiting for her orders. Five of them were more cognizant, fortunately, and none were HP. For the regular humans she had to use her mind control. She’d never tried to capture the minds of so many at one time, and her brain felt about ready to dissolve when Ryn came to her rescue.
“I’ll take three of them. Let’s get them to the other side.”
With relief, Caro let go of those he wished to control, and she took up the rear with Ryn leading the charge.
The sprinklers had shut off, thank goodness, though not before the floor had become a squishy, soupy mess of black liquid. While she helped the victims out of the portal’s entrance, she glanced to Hayden. The sorceress still had her hand on the dragon’s forehead, though her skin had grown wan, and she swayed slightly.
An explosion knocked in the door they’d entered and provided their only known exit.
Caro drew her pistol and took a position in front of the group of humans, as did Ryn. This could be Jenkins’s reinforcements.
Six black-garbed figures streamed in then piled up, seemingly shocked at the sight of a dragon prone on the ground.
Caro recognized several of them, and she blew out a shaky breath. “Friendlies.” Thank goodness she hadn’t shot first and asked questions later. Included in their ranks were two mages who raced to Hayden, who mumbled several words then stumbled away. One of the mages slapped his hand on the beast’s forehead and had an urgent discussion with the other.
Team One’s leader strode up. “Coms are down. Two other teams were boxed in like you were. Beyond medics, what do you need?”
The orderly evacuation began, hidden from prying human eyes by illusions of normalcy. Van after van moved what turned out to be one hundred and eighty humans from a single room in Jenkins’s blood farm. In another two rooms, they discovered similar numbers only after killing the dragon shifters guarding the vortices.
They’d saved over five hundred people that night but lost two very rare shifters. Certainly a win overall, though a tragic loss of the extraordinary female dragons.
The last van sped away, leaving Ryn and Caro standing next to a black SUV in the furthest reaches of the otherwise empty parking lot. She didn’t need the struggling rays of a pink sodium light to see the weariness in the set Ryn’s shoulders. No doubt she was as smoke-streaked and grimy as he. A shower, maybe even a hot bath, would be glorious.
“I’ll take you home.” Ryn pulled the fob from his pocket, and the vehicle’s lights blinked.
Exhaustion had lowered her defenses, and the first thought she had was of him and her in a tub, definitely not scrubbing each other’s backs. She massaged her eyes. No matter how much she wanted to deny the connection between them, the image wouldn’t recede. No more lying to herself.
With the hand not occupied by carrying her pack, she laid her palm on his arm when he made to move past her and met his gaze with all the hunger she’d been fighting. “Take me to your home. To your bed.”
He stilled, almost as if he didn’t believe what he’d heard. Distantly, she registered the clatter of the fob he carried hitting the asphalt, though she forgot the sound quickly when he took her into his arms and crushed his mouth against hers. No subtle teasing, he mounted a full-on sensual assault.
With a moan, she parted her lips to let his tongue sweep against hers in a carnal dance. Her body already aflame, she dropped her backpack and, with both hands, pulled on his shoulders to bring him closer, fitting him to her body. Closer to the hard chest delivering glorious pressure against her sensitive nipples. Closer to the granite-hard erection pressing against her belly.
A sweep of lights flashed against her closed lids. She opened her eyes and pulled away from Ryn. She struggled to regulate her breathing and refocus on reality.
A black SUV pulled up next to them. Had someone forgot something?
