Page 32

A zrael wasn’t one for waiting.

He never had been, and he never would be.

It was that impulse that had him moving YA through the pouring rain and much closer to the estate, much to the arguments of Aries, but he reminded them of one simple fact…well, two really.

“I don’t answer to you, and I’m in charge of YA,” Azrael told King.

Tucking away his knives, Azrael checked the clip on his pocket pistol, a new one he’d snatched from the ranch’s arsenal. Beck, Rebel, and Freedom were also darkly dressed and geared to the max.

Rather than argue, the men of Aries flanked them.

Azrael silently scoffed, like they needed protection.

The closer they grew to the compound, the more the soft whomps of gunfire peppered the air, and Azrael thought briefly about Real being inside. Was he being careful?

Azrael shook away the thought, there was no sense in thinking that way. He stopped at the edge of a clearing on the north side of the walled-off fortress.

He wiped the rain from his face and took shelter under the branches of a tree.

At least closer to the compound, they would be of more help.

Azrael pressed his earpiece and reported their new position.

“Copy that,” Viper said.

“Stay put,” Real growled, and the sound made Azrael smile.

Both commanders worked well together. It was amazing to see, but then even if some of the men were no longer in the military, that training stayed with a person.

“We should have stayed by the SUV,” Nash grumbled, dropping two large green duffel bags on the ground. They were filled with medical supplies.

“We’re only a few yards away,” Azrael muttered, gesturing to the surrounding thicket.

Holy hell, you’d think he’d moved them a mile down the fucking road instead of closer to where the kids would come out. If there were any kids.

It had already been established that Genesis would blow the north wall and bring any survivors out through that way since it offered the most protection from the outside. Here, the trees and brush grew more thickly.

The rain, although a bitch, was a welcome sound to him. That meant it would be harder for the enemy to detect them.

Azrael squatted, bracing his back on the trunk of the tree.

Freedom came over and crouched next to him in the darkness.

The boy was pretty quiet on the whole. After the blow-up between Viper and Freedom in the meeting, Azrael had expected Freedom to be benched, but that was not the case.

In fact, Viper had been the one who pulled the ultra-thin vest over Freedom’s bright blond head himself.

“You good?” Azrael asked.

“Not really,” Freedom said dejectedly, “I think we can do more good inside.”

“Me too, but let’s wait and see,” Azrael said as the mic in his ear crackled.

“We’re blowing the north wall, get ready for incoming,” Rip growled through the comms.

The explosion was loud and drowned out the sound of gunfire. The wall billowed out in a spray of brick and black dust, covering the ground some ten feet.

Talk about overkill, but when the men stepped through, they were Genesis active military, so the dynamite or C4, whatever they had used, made sense.

Azrael gave the signal with his light, and several of the soldiers surged toward them carrying children. Others herded teenagers and young adults over the rubble, across the short space, and into the trees to them.

Wrath and Justice were among the soldiers, which was good because both of them had medical backgrounds in the military.

Genesis had their own medic as well, a man they called Doc. Other than that, Azrael didn’t know much about the guy. He seemed nice, but the tall, muscled medic also seemed dangerous.

It took just a little over an hour, but soon all of the soldiers gathered the rescued in the small hidden thicket. The medics went to work assessing everyone.

After a quick once-over, a group of no more than three or four at a time were guided farther away from the compound and toward the waiting SUVs by the members of YA and Aries.

“Did they get Micky?” Azrael asked Justice.

“Not yet.” Justice shook his blond head.

Wrath, Justice, and Doc were the next ones to take small groups to the waiting SUVs.

Azrael and Freedom were alone in the thicket. Even Beck and Rebel had taken small groups of survivors to safety.

“All clear, there’s only perps left,” Viper said through the comms.

Several Genesis soldiers returned and moved back through the blown-out wall.

“Are we calling it?” Freedom whispered.

“You can,” Azrael said.

Rather than follow Freedom back to the vehicles, Azrael slipped through the darkness after the Genesis soldiers who had disappeared back into the compound.

The rain eased up some, but the ground was still soaked.

The gaping hole from the explosion had blown out part of the compound, and the entrance loomed ahead of him.

He just needed to see inside for himself. He needed to make sure they got Micky, but most of all, he needed to watch Real’s back.

They were a team in life, there was no reason he should have sat this one out. Granted, he had had a mission to do and that was more in line with what YA was designed to do, but it had still stung. Plus, that mission was over, so now he could help Real.

Pausing by the side of the blown-out opening, Azrael glanced over when leaves shuffled under a break in the rain.

Freedom gave him a cocky smile and pulled the hooded beanie down over his face.

“Why aren’t you at the vehicles?” Azrael asked with a frown.

“Why aren’t you?” Freedom said.

“Not my style.”

“Nor mine,” Freedom agreed.

“I’ll second that,” Boston said from out of the blue.

Stunned, Azrael stared at the darkly dressed Boston. He shouldn’t have been as surprised as he was, but never in a million years had he thought Boston would show up.

And he should have.

He should have known his friend wouldn’t sit this one out.

“You wearing a vest?” Azrael asked, and he knocked his knuckles on Boston’s chest to check himself.

“Yep, and I’m packing,” Boston said, showing his knives tucked into two sheaths, one on his hip, the other strapped to his thigh. The nine-millimeter handgun Boston held looked like it meant business.

“Okay, I’m not going to coddle you. I’ve had enough of that myself. Just remember that if anything happens to you, Dave will kill me,” Azrael said.

“Yeah, well, I may be seventeen, but I’ve seen more in my lifetime than they have. Besides, in a few months, I’ll be eighteen, so what’s the difference?” Boston said, heading toward the opening.

Azrael gave up. If he tried to stop Boston, it would be a fight. Besides, Boston was fucking good. The teenager got in places that couldn’t fit a rat. He was fast and sneaky. Boston was someone Azrael wanted watching his back.

So, without further conversation, they all three slipped inside the compound.