Page 142 of Enemy Within

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Kara Sea – Madigan’s Base Camp

ETHAN DRAGGED HIMSELF ACROSS the ice, kneeling behind Sasha and Adam. His hands shook as he grasped a rifle, but he hefted it to his shoulder. He recognized Cook, and his sneer, as he sighted in on the man.

Sasha cursed as one of the men pointed a knife his way and shouted in Russian. “Paloshenko.Spetsnazwho tracked me in Siberia,” Sasha spat. “Should have put a bullet in his brain.”

They kept firing until their rifles ran dry. They’d scavenged them off the dead; they had no ammo, no way to reload. Adam snarled and ducked beneath the bulkhead they were using as cover. Three bullets slammed into the metal, making dents by his head.

And then, Cook’s rifle clicked. He was out of ammo, too.

Sasha rose first, flinging his weapon aside and charging for Paloshenko. He bared his teeth, growling like an animal as he ran. He ducked low, his arms spread wide, and threw himself at Paloshenko as theSpetsnazofficer braced himself and swung down with his knife. The blade flashed, flying over Sasha’s shoulder, and both men went down to the ice in a long skid.

Red smeared behind them.

Cook kept his focus on Ethan and Adam. He threw his empty rifle aside and pulled out a handgun. Two bullets slammed into their shield, in-between Ethan and Adam’s faces.

“How does it feel, Adam?” Cook shouted. Wind whipped his words away. His voice strained, shouting over the chaos surrounding them. “How does it feel to have killed your team? You might as well have blown them up yourself!”

Ethan grabbed Adam’s wrist, holding him back. Adam’s eyes burned, rage igniting his soul. He shook beneath Ethan’s touch.

“Jack used your pain, Ethan.” Cook’s voice dropped, a dangerous bellow. “He didn’t come to saveyou. He came as a distraction! He would have let you die!”

It was Adam’s turn to grab him. Ethan held Adam’s gaze as his own hands shook, trembled against Adam’s hold. It wasn’t true. Cook didn’t know Jack. He was just trying to get under Ethan’s skin.

Cook hadn’t seen the look in Jack’s eyes on top of theVeduschiy. When Jack saw him on the deck, barely hanging on. Whyhadhe held on? Why had he fought Cook’s torture? They had been as good as defeated. Out of options. All he’d wanted, all he’d wished for, begged for, as Cook held him down and waterboarded him, was for Jack to get away. To be safe, somewhere far, far away when the world went up in flames.

And then Jack had come to him. A part of his heart had collapsed at that, seeing Jack there, surrendering to Cook and Madigan.

But they were together all the way. Jack had come back forhim.

A third bullet slammed into the bulkhead, denting the metal by Ethan’s temple. A click followed, and then another.

Cook was out of bullets.

Ethan’s eyes flicked to Adam’s. Their gazes locked.

Adrenaline surged through him, liquid steel that flooded his veins, pumped iron into his muscles. His bones were wreathed in titanium, his strength returned to him in a rush that set his body on fire. For the moment, he was invincible.

By the look in Adam’s eyes, so was he.

“Together,” Ethan said. “We do this together.”

Adam nodded.

They rose, Adam vaulting over the broken bulkhead as Ethan scrambled around it. They charged Cook, bellowing as they ran.

Cook met them in a boxer’s stance, parrying Adam’s wild punch but missing Ethan’s. Ethan ducked and slammed his fist into Cook’s belly, doubling him over. Adam jumped behind Cook, sweeping his feet out from beneath him and dropping him to the ice. As he fell, Cook tackled Ethan, dragging him down.

They landed in a heap on the ice, grappling and snarling. Ethan clawed at Cook, trying to shove him off, but Cook had the advantage. He rose over Ethan, gripped his neck in both hands, and slammed Ethan’s head against the ice.

“No!” Adam charged Cook, trying to tear him off Ethan. He wrapped his arm around Cook’s neck and squeezed. Cook reached for him with one hand, and Ethan managed to drag in a ragged breath.

A gunshot split the air, cracking like a whip.

Adam staggered backward, stumbling away from Cook. A red stain bloomed on the front of his jacket.

Cook turned back to Ethan, grinning wildly. He gripped Ethan’s throat in both hands, leaning his whole body’s weight into his grasp as he straddled Ethan’s body. He seemed to be searching for something, his fingers feeling out the bones of Ethan’s spine through his skin.