Undercover Wolf Page 15

  He didn’t like the sound of that, even if he had no idea what they were talking about. He caught Harley’s eye, then Erin’s. Yeah, they realized something was off, too.

  Sawyer checked in with everyone else over the radio, but no one knew what was going on. Jake and Forrest were still tracking Misty, following her scent all the way across the monastery and were on their way back. Unfortunately, they hadn’t found her yet. Jake hadn’t heard anything suspicious over the radio he’d taken from that guard, so there was nothing to make him think Yegor was onto their presence.

  Caleb was still keeping an eye on the captives in the dormitories, both those awaiting their turn on the auction block and those already sold. Elliot, Adriana, and Jes, along with most of the muscle brought in from Athens, had all been told to take a break in the monastery’s kitchen until the auction started again. Jes was a little concerned about being so far away from the rest of the team but hadn’t gotten the feeling there was anything to worry about. Though she was antsy about Rory being out of contact for so long.

  But as normal as everything seemed—if you could call anything about this normal—Sawyer couldn’t ignore the instincts telling him something was off. He threw another look Harley’s way, those same instincts urging him to move closer to her, insisting he put his body between her and some unknown threat. Of course, that was kind of hard to do when he had no idea where the danger was coming from. Not to mention the fact that it might look a little odd for a guard like him to take a sudden interest in any one particular buyer.

  “I apologize for the delay,” Yegor said, turning to face the crowd, a broad smile on his face as the guy they thought was the scaly shifter rolled out another large, fabric-covered crate. “But I think you will all agree the next creature up for bid is certainly something worth waiting for. This one is truly unique.”

  Sawyer tensed as Seamus and several other men he recognized from Paris, including the guy in the leather jacket joined Yegor on the dais. When half a dozen more guards strode into the room, he knew things were about to get ugly.

  “Things are about to go sideways,” Sawyer murmured into his mic. “I don’t know how, but I think we’ve been made.”

  “This particular creature possesses an unparalleled talent.” Yegor casually rested a hand on the fabric draped over the crate. “She can meld her consciousness with any complex electronic device. This allows her to bypass any existing security features, then extract and memorize megabytes of information. In fact, I found her a few minutes ago in the process of stealing secrets from my own network.”

  Sawyer cursed. “That asshole has Misty.”

  Over the radio, he heard Forrest let out an anguished “No!” accompanied by boots on stone as he and Jake ran toward the main room.

  The sound was still echoing in Sawyer’s earpiece when Yegor yanked the fabric away from the cage to reveal an unconscious Misty. The auburn wig she’d been wearing was gone and her long, purple hair cascaded over her slim shoulders. Beside the cage, Seamus flicked open his switchblade, casually holding it down at his side.

  Eyes locked on Sawyer from across the room, Yegor’s mouth twisted in an evil smile.

  Gunfire suddenly erupted from somewhere off the main room and Sawyer heard Jes shouting over the radio that Yegor’s men had found them even as she, Rory, and Elliot returned fire.

  Shit.

  From the corner of his eye, Sawyer saw the guards lining the perimeter of the room close in, guns coming up as the people with their iPads and serving trays hurriedly left the room. The guests looked around in confusion, realizing something was happening but not knowing what.

  Sawyer had to admire the way Yegor had manipulated this entire evening. He’d gotten them all on the mountaintop, separated from any backup support, and then split them up into smaller groups, making it easier to take them down. Now, he was using Misty to control the situation. If Sawyer, Harley, or Erin made the first move, Seamus would kill Misty. If they didn’t make the first move, the guards would put a bullet through all of their heads. And Misty would die anyway—if she wasn’t sold off to this disgusting collection of morally corrupt assholes.

  Cursing, Erin pulled the handgun from the holster hidden under the jacket of her pantsuit, aimed it at Seamus, and pulled the trigger. The guy immediately disappeared, but not before Sawyer saw a splatter of blood exit his right shoulder, staining the black curtain behind him.

  Harley ran for Misty’s cage as the entire room erupted into gunfire. A hail of bullets zipped past Sawyer as he brought his own weapon up to cover Harley. He fired a burst of automatic weapon fire from his MP5, aiming for Yegor and the other men near Misty’s cage, driving most of them back. The huge shifter didn’t seem to care at all about being shot at, even when one of the 9mm rounds from Sawyer’s submachine gun hit him in the thigh. With a guttural growl that would have been right at home in a swamp, the shifter charged off the dais, skin thickening and turning more greenish brown with every stride.

  Sawyer felt multiple rounds slam into the back of his tactical vest, but he ignored it as the shifter charged him. He aimed for the guy’s knees, remembering how little effect bullets had on the thing the first time around but hoping he could at least slow the creature down a little.

  Then out of nowhere, Erin came running in, throwing herself on the shifter’s back and shoving her weapon against the side of his head, squeezing off round after round as the creature spun around, trying to throw her off.

  Sawyer moved to help her, his fingertips and gums already tingling from the adrenaline pouring through him. But before he could take more than two steps toward them, a blur of movement near the cage caught his attention. He spun in time to see Seamus popping into existence behind Harley as she knelt by the door of the cage, frantically working at the lock with a pick set. Murder in his eyes, Seamus lifted the knife, ready to plunge it into her back.

  Keeping his inner wolf in check wasn’t an option anymore. Sawyer’s claws and fangs fully extended as rage filled him. But the partial shift didn’t keep him from bringing his MP5 up and firing a three-round burst at Seamus. None of the 9mm’s bullets hit the supernatural, but it made the a-hole jump back. It also alerted Harley to the danger. Throwing herself to the side, she brought up her gun to put a round through Seamus’s head, but the bastard disappeared again.

  A scream of pain pierced the air and Sawyer snapped his head around in time to see the big, green shifter toss Erin across the room like a rag doll. Growling in frustration, Sawyer looked around wildly, trying to figure out where that damn disappearing psycho Seamus would show up next while at the same time attempting to avoid the bullets Yegor and the guards were sending his way.

  Sawyer fired the remainder of his magazines at the guards and Yegor, hitting some and making the rest of them duck. Then he dropped his MP5 and launched himself at the big shifter, knocking the huge creature to the ground and pulling his handgun from the holster low on his thigh. Knowing the scaly monster was as close to bulletproof as any living thing could get, Sawyer didn’t waste time going for the usual targets like the stomach, chest, or head. Instead, he shoved the barrel of the large caliber weapon right against the shifter’s crotch and emptied half a magazine into his private parts. The creature immediately yanked himself into a fetal position, screaming like Sawyer had dumped acid on him.

  Maybe the thing wasn’t covered in armored scales everywhere.

  Sawyer didn’t pause to enjoy the moment. Jumping to his feet with a snarl, he sprinted toward Harley, arriving just as Seamus popped back into view. Sawyer didn’t even slow as he wrapped one clawed hand in the man’s long hair and shoved him backward into Misty’s cage. He shoved the man’s head into the steel bars, fully intending to crush his miserable frigging skull to pieces for even thinking about stabbing Harley again. Unfortunately, the fucker disappeared before Sawyer could do any serious damage to him, making him growl so loudly in frustration it e
choed off the walls.

  Harley had Misty out of the cage before Sawyer turned around, the automatic in her hand firing steadily at the crazy number of guards pouring into the auction room. She shielded her unconscious teammate as she killed one guard after another.

  All around them, the room was total bedlam, bullets tearing up the beautiful wall murals and bouncing off the floors as the rich buyers in their fancy clothes screamed, pushed, shoved, and climbed over one another in an attempt to get to the exits. Some tried to hide in the corners and alcoves, but it didn’t help. The guards might not be aiming for them but didn’t seem to care if one or two guests went down in the crossfire as they tried to kill Sawyer, Harley, and Erin.

  Sawyer looked around for Yegor, finding him rallying his troops—including the one with the leather jacket from Paris and the woman Harley said was the supernatural hunter, Brielle. Neither of them seemed to be very interested in shooting at anyone, but Yegor’s other goons blazed away at anything that moved.

  “The werewolves!” Yegor shouted. “Kill the two werewolves!”

  Sawyer’s blood ran cold as the implication of the words hit him. He glanced at Harley to see that she’d heard it, too—and looked as shocked as he was. Sawyer didn’t know how it was possible, but Yegor somehow knew they were werewolves.

  He threw himself to the stone floor to avoid an incoming hail of gunfire from the guards but couldn’t keep from sliding his eyes in Erin’s direction, wondering if she’d heard what Yegor said. It turned out Erin wasn’t in a position to hear anything because the shifter had a hand around her neck and was holding her three meters off the floor while she tried to punch and kick at him.

  Cursing, Sawyer jumped to his feet, the muscles of his back and legs twisting and spasming to give him more speed as he ran to help her. Multiple bullets tore through his body, and it was the worst pain he’d felt since Odessa. But he pushed all that aside, running faster even as a voice in the back of his head told him he’d never get there before the big shifter either crushed Erin’s throat or snapped her neck.

  He was still twenty meters away from his teammate when a snarling blur crossed in front of him, slamming into the gigantic shifter so hard Erin was pitched ten feet through the air. The impact of her body as she hit the stone flooring was hard enough to make Sawyer feel it.

  Then Caleb was on top of the creature, attempting to smash in his face with a boot he’d picked up somewhere—a boot that seemed to have part of a leg and a foot still in it. Sawyer found himself absently wondering where the rest of the man’s body might be at the moment.

  Praying the omega could handle the shifter, Sawyer skidded to a stop long enough to make sure Erin was still alive, then turned and headed back to Harley. Every instinct he had screamed to get to her side and protect her. And even though it was obvious she could take care of herself, those instincts couldn’t be denied.

  Sawyer got to Harley’s side and helped her get a better grip on Misty.

  “Stay behind me,” he said. “We need to get her out of here.”

  He ignored what he was sure was a complaint about being able to take care of herself. Instead he turned and charged straight at Yegor and the cluster of guards with him, emptying the rest of his handgun magazine into the middle of them as he cut loose with a snarl that shook dust from the ceiling. Some of the men went down from the gunfire, while the others froze, eyes widening as he came at them with fully extended claws and fangs.

  The first guy he got to went down under his claws, something Sawyer had never done before. Refusing to dwell on that fact, he scooped up the submachine gun the guy had been holding and started blazing away at full auto.

  He wasn’t sure when Forrest showed up, but out of the corner of his eye, Sawyer saw him take Misty from Harley, cradling her protectively and freeing up Harley so she could fight. Sawyer would have preferred if she stayed behind him, but that was never going to happen. While her claws and fangs might not be out, there was little doubt that Harley was an alpha werewolf to her core. She snarled and fought with an anger and intensity that had people stumbling back to get away from her.

  When Jake and Elliot arrived, Yegor must have realized the numbers were against him because he started to retreat, edging toward the main doors. There was no way in hell Sawyer was letting that son of a bitch get away.

  Reloading the MP5 he’d taken away from the guard, he swung it around, aiming straight for Yegor’s head. Before he could pull the trigger, Yegor grabbed Brielle, dragging her in front of him like a shield and putting a gun to her head, forcing Sawyer to ease up on the trigger.

  Brielle immediately struggled to get lose, but Yegor kept her in front of him, one arm wrapped around her neck as he backed toward the door. A younger guy who looked a lot like Brielle ran over to help her, but Seamus appeared out of nowhere to plunge his knife into the man’s shoulder.

  Brielle screamed, her dark eyes going wide with terror, and she fought Yegor harder than before. But Yegor merely backpedaled until they were both out of the room along with a handful of his men. Seamus and the rest stayed behind to cover their boss’s retreat.

  “Yegor’s getting away!” Sawyer shouted over the radio.

  He had no doubt Yegor would head straight for the aerial tram and probably kill Brielle along the way. She might work for Yegor, but apparently, she wasn’t that valuable anymore.

  Over the gunfire going on around him, Sawyer heard Adriana screaming for Kristoff to get down and vaguely remembered that was the name of her boyfriend. He assumed that meant some of the captives had gotten free and had come into the room. Somewhere in the midst of the fighting, Erin shouted over the radio for Rory again and again, wanting to know why their teammate wasn’t responding. Sawyer hated like hell to go there, but he knew it was probably because Rory had already been killed. They hadn’t heard a word from him since the shit hit the fan.

  Over by the doors, Seamus suddenly disappeared. Sawyer barely had a chance to wonder where the hell he’d gone when the damn guy popped back into existence next to the big green shifter, where the creature was still brawling with Caleb. Sawyer cursed, expecting Seamus to go after Caleb with the knife, but instead he slapped a hand against the creature’s shoulder. A split second later, both Seamus and the shifter disappeared into thin air, leaving Caleb standing there in shock.

  Sawyer stared in disbelief. He hadn’t realized Seamus could do that.

  It took less than thirty seconds for the last of the guards to realize the fight was over. They dropped their weapons and lifted their hands in the air, giving up. Jake shouted something about tying them up as Sawyer shoved his way through them to get to the doors. He sprinted for the aerial tram, Harley and Erin right behind him.

  Yegor and the green shifter were already on the tram, Brielle lying on the ground, unconscious. Seamus must have gone back to grab Adriana because he was dragging her into the car. Surely, he knew how close he was to getting fried right then.

  But right as blue sparks began to dance over Adriana’s skin, the guy in the leather jacket burst out a side door and raced over to them. Punching Seamus, he shoved him into the tram just as it pulled away from the station. Wrapping an arm around Adriana, he urged her off to the side.

  The moment Adriana was clear of their line of fire, Sawyer, Harley, and Erin started shooting, scattering the few goons who’d been left behind by their boss. Sawyer didn’t blame them for bailing when it was obvious the Ukrainian didn’t care if they lived or died. But whether they realized it or not, even the few seconds they’d held their ground were enough to allow the tram to slide a few hundred meters down the cable.

  Sawyer brought his submachine gun up to his shoulder, slowing his breathing and sighting in on the glass-enclosed car carefully. There was nothing but glass between him and Yegor, and that wasn’t going to be enough to keep that bastard alive this time. But he had to make the shot before the car was out of range.r />
  Ignoring the tingles he suddenly felt all over his body, he started to squeeze the trigger when a blur of movement appeared in front of him, blocking his view. Sawyer only had a fraction of a second to realize it was Seamus, popping into existence centimeters away from him, before a searing pain erupted in his chest.

  Harley’s scream echoed in Sawyer’s ears as he stumbled back. Confused, he looked down and saw the knife sticking out of the center of his chest. Bloody hell, that hurt like a son of a bitch. Seamus had shown up long enough to shove a knife through his chest before popping back into the moving tram. The bloody fucking bastard waved at them as the car continued to descend, already too far away for the rounds Erin was busy firing at it to do any damage.

  Then Harley was there, yanking the knife out of his chest even as Erin turned and stared at him in complete horror. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Adriana throwing herself in front of the guy with the leather jacket, purposely putting her body between him and the rest of the team that had shown up.

  “Don’t shoot!” she shouted, sparkles of electricity covering her skin, making her hair float up around her like it had when she’d zapped Harley. “He’s my boyfriend!”

  Sawyer didn’t have a second to wonder how the hell that was even possible because Erin’s face was suddenly in his, eyes furious. He didn’t understand why until he realized she was looking at his fangs and claws.

  “You’re one of them,” she accused, her expression rolling through a dozen different emotions before finally settling on anger. “You’re a frigging werewolf!”

  Bloody hell.

  There was no way he was going to be able to talk himself out of this one.

  Chapter 12

  Harley slowly walked down the steps of the safe house, absently following her nose toward the wonderful smell of fresh coffee coming from the first floor. She’d gotten a grand total of an hour and fifteen minutes of sleep before the sound of her teammates’ voices woke her up. While she’d like nothing more than to turn around and crawl back in bed for a few more hours, she couldn’t.