Page 96

Lucienne saw Vladimir at the open cabin door. She waved at him with a smile, and he smiled back dazzlingly, delighted to see her and relieved she was safe. But his grin vanished quickly. He raised his machine gun, shooting in her direction, above her.

“The mutant!” he shouted. “Behind you!”

Lucienne wheeled to face the mountain at her back, her mouth instantly dry.

Seraphen, bare-chested with loose pants hanging around his waist, was running down the mountain toward her like a shooting arrow. He was only halfway to the foothill, but with speed like this, he would reach her in less than a minute.

How did that devil get here?

The bullets had no effect on him; he continued moving forcefully toward her.

The helicopter dashed toward Seraphen.

“Net!” Vladimir yelled.

A metal net shot from the sky, catching Seraphen and tightening around him.

The relieved smile on Lucienne’s face faded quickly. With incredible speed, the creature shot his hand out through the opening before the net closed him in completely. Dragging the steel cable that connected to the helicopter, Seraphen flung it toward the mountain. The copter careened out of control.

“No!” Lucienne screamed. Ice pumped into her lungs, but she managed to breathe in and out. She must deal with the situation. Shecouldn’t afford to break down. For a moment, and only a moment, she shut her eyes to keep from seeing Vladimir and her warriors go down with the black hawk.

She heard Vladimir’s faint yelling at the men amid the chopper noises.

Lucienne opened her eyes with desperate hope.Please, let them live.From the distance, she saw Vladimir and a few soldiers jump without a parachute right before the helicopter smashed into the mountain and erupted into a ball of fire and smoke. The explosion rocked the mountain, echoing all around the valley.

Lucienne couldn’t see Vladimir and the men anymore. Her cold hand wiped the tears from her face. She knew even if Vladimir and the men who jumped made it, they’d be badly wounded. She also knew that some of her soldiers, including the pilot, were gone.

Lucienne pulled Ashburn up to a sitting position, waiting for the approaching BL7 and a second helicopter to touch down and take Ashburn. Then she and her warriors would look for the survivors. Sphinxes never left a man behind. And she would never leave Vladimir behind.

While she held Ashburn against her shoulder, she saw Seraphen, who somehow had freed himself from the net, darting toward her. Lucienne carefully put Ashburn down and rose.

BL7 fired a missile at Seraphen, but incredibly, he ducked it. The missile hit the mountain. The ear-piercing explosion didn’t prevent Seraphen from speeding toward her; neither did the clouds of dust, debris, and billowing smoke.

A second rocket instantly shot from BL7. Seraphen caught the rocket with two hands. Lucienne’s heart tightened as she watched him throw it back toward the jet. Kian was piloting BL7, and he wouldn’t be expecting the mutant to have that kind of strength.

The jet pulled up to avoid collision, but the rocket struck its left wing. BL7 flapped in the air and collided into the other side of the mountain.

Lucienne’s blood went completely cold. “Kian!” she cried. A string of saliva dripped from her mouth. She wouldn’t allow her will break. Not now. Not with Seraphen closing in on her.

The second helicopter had learned not to engage Seraphen. Instead, it desperately tried to reach Lucienne. The machine landed seven yards from Lucienne and Ashburn, but it was already too late. The mutant was twenty yards from them and dashing toward her at lightning speed. Lucienne and her warriors wouldn’t make it into the helicopter, even if they abandoned Ashburn.

Orlando led the soldiers out of the helicopter and cut in between Lucienne and the mutant before he crashed into their Siren. Cam was in the first wave. Punches flew and human flesh crashed against raw steel. A few warriors went flying.

With a furious cry, Lucienne joined her warriors, despite her men urgently calling for her to leave. She swept her leg in an arc and delivered a devil’s kick to Seraphen’s Meridian death point on his back. The mutant staggered but absorbed it. He wheeled, facing Lucienne.

“After I finish you off, little Siren, I’ll pick off your men one by one,” Seraphen said.

Duncan grabbed Seraphen from behind to stop him from reaching Lucienne. Seraphen elbowed Duncan on the side. Lucienne heard the nauseating sound of bones cracking. Duncan staggered back several feet and collapsed.

Seraphen went for Lucienne again. His target was her and only her.

Cam, bleeding all over, stepped in front of Lucienne and cut off the mutant. “Take this, dick!”

The two giants’ arms and fists crashed, until Lucienne heard the sound of bones breaking. Cam shouted with pain and rage, throwing another series of punches at the mutant with his good arm. Seraphen deflected the giant’s attack. Then with a bored look, the mutantsmashed Cam’s chest. Blood spurted out of Cam’s mouth like a red fountain.

Her blood boiling, Lucienne charged at Seraphen.

“Leave, Lucienne!” Orlando shouted at a few soldiers furiously. “Get the Siren out of here! Take the copter!”