Page 9

CHAPTER 9

In an ideal world, the first time they had shifted and swam together, it would have been to let their animals get to know each other. Nothing about their situation was ideal though. It downright sucked.

Admittedly, things were looking up after his mate had arrived, but he was tired. Like bone weary tired and he knew many of the others felt that way as well. His penguin might be better equipped than his human half to get in the water and swim, but what he wanted more than anything was a weeklong nap. Preferably in his mate’s arms.

He preened a little when he noticed Cayman kept close to him while in the water. He did check on the others from time to time, but he spent most of their time with Glyn. That made him feel better about being somewhat ignored when they first met.

From what his mate had said as they’d been getting ready to get into the water, someone named Yosi would keep Cayman informed if all was safe for them to keep going to the surface. Penguins might be great swimmers, but they were birds, not fish, so they still needed air.

They still could hold their breath for long periods of time, twenty minutes if they pushed it. It would make passing under whoever is watching the mouth of the river more of a challenge, but they all knew what was at stake, so they’d do it. It was the kids he was most concerned with. Their lung capacity wasn’t as developed, nor did they swim as fast.

Even an adult, they might be considered fast, but there was zero chance of them outrunning a boat. Then again, Cayman’s team had had fast boats coming in to get them, but it would mean more of them above water for the humans to notice, which they wanted to minimize as much as possible.

His mate flapped his pectoral fins several times, indicating they were getting closer so if anyone needed to take a breath, now was the time to do it. As one, they rose, took their breath and dove back down.

Only the children stayed next to an adult in case they needed help. Otherwise everyone spaced themselves out to head as deep as they could go down the center of the river. His mate flattened his body and stuck to the bottom, while he monitored each of them passing under the somewhat watchful gaze of the North Korean soldier.

Each of them sighed in relief when they headed out to the sea. So long as no one noticed, they would swim to the ship in order to stay undetected. When his mate joined him once more, Glyn knew they were all safe. Now they just needed to cross their fingers that the ones traveling on land had the same luck.

They had just arrived at the ship when his mate suddenly turned on a dime and raced back toward shore. Damn. The others must have run into trouble. And why did it have to be his mate who put his life on the line once again?

Glancing up at the sky, he noticed Wizard was already gone, his wings much faster than Cayman’s fins.

“I need everyone to shift and climb aboard,” a man said from up on deck. “We need to get underway and try to help the other group.”

Not wanting to lose anyone, they rushed to climb up, gratefully taking the towel and shorts that were stacked for them. “Do we know what happened to the others?” he asked the captain.

“They were spotted and are currently being chased.” Crap. That couldn’t be good. And his mate was diving right into the middle of it.

The moment he heard Rip’s panicked voice in his ear, Cayman spun around and raced back to shore as quickly as he could. There was no way he was going to get there quickly, but he had to try. No way was he going back into North Korea to rescue them again when he’d already gotten them out once.

“Get down,” he heard Lael yell just as bullets pinged off the vehicle they were in. “Shit, we blew a tire, we’re not going to make it if they manage to hit another one.”

The trucks they had taken had four tires in back, allowing for damage to happen without stopping the vehicle. It wasn’t entirely ideal, as they were also slower. But in a situation where they were being shot at, at least it didn’t disable them.

He needed to get there, but he hadn’t wanted to hang back until he knew his mate was safely on that ship. With both Rip and Lael driving, no one could shoot back at the enemy. He knew splitting up was going to bite them in the ass. Then again, if they hadn’t, Glyn would be in one of those vehicles getting shot at.

“You need to get someone to shoot back at them,” Saber growled out. “Someone has to have used a gun in those trucks.”

They probably had, but firing a weapon at a range and aiming at a human being were two very different things. A sharp cry came over the earpiece and he knew someone had just been hit.

“Fuck,” Rip yelled. “We’re too exposed in this thing. Yosi, do you see a way out of here?”

“No, and I have even worse news, there are three combat vehicles ahead of you. You are about to be cut off.” As news went, that was definitely worse. “But Wizard is coming up on your six. He should be there in less than two minutes.”

Thank fuck. At least there would be someone who could accurately fire a rifle. Cayman just wished there was something more substantial in the vehicle. Like maybe a rocket launcher.

“Another tire’s out, but on the other side so we’re not dead in the water yet,” Lael called out.

“Get to Rip’s vehicle, Wizard, and Rip let Lael pass you. He loses one more tire and the North Koreans will be on them before we can do anything about it,” Saber ordered.

Arriving to the side of one of the fast boats, Cayman shifted and climbed up, scaring the crap out of Wesley, one of the drivers. “Fuck, Cayman. Are you trying to give me a damn heart attack?”

Ignoring the question, he pulled out his clothes and shoved them on as he barked out. “I’m at the fast boats. Where are Rip and Lael? I’ll get the boats in position and set up a surprise for the North Koreans but I’m going to need about five minutes once I’m in position.”

“Head south about ten miles,” Yosi told him. “What kind of trap so I know where to land you?”

“An explosive one.” Before learning his mate was being held captive, Cayman had planned on blowing part of the compound up. He still had those explosives in his bag. “I don’t need much. I will set it off manually right after Rip and Lael pass it.”

“Then yeah, ten miles there is an inlet that will make it somewhat easier to unload everyone.” Yosi informed him even as Cayman raced south with the second boat on his tail. “Lael, Rip, there’s a turn in one mile to the west, take it and follow it to the water.”

“Copy that,” they both responded.

“Where’s the fucking gun?” Wizard yelled above the gunfire that was still pinging around them.

Relieved they would be able to fight back even if it was only one person, Cayman headed for the inlet Yosi told him about. The rain was still coming down hard, providing them with enough cover to not be seen. Then again, it could have been more about whatever soldiers were in the area were headed for Rip and Lael.

“How many vehicles are on their tail, Yosi?” The more there were, the harder it would be to set everything up in time before they got to Cayman’s location.

“Six,” Yosi’s news was not good.

Grabbing his bag, he handed controls back to Wesley and vaulted out of the boat and onto land. Running flat out, he made it two miles before Yosi said, “You have exactly five minutes before they arrive at your location.”

Dropping down right there on the road, he ripped open the zipper and took out his Semtex and remote devices and got to work. They were crude, but he also knew they’d been effective. Racing along the road he placed them so they would all go off at the same time, hopefully each with an enemy vehicle traveling over them when he detonated.

Then he got the hell away. Far enough to not get caught up in the blast, but to where he could still see in order to set them off at the right time.

“Make certain you pick me up when these go off,” he told Rip and Lael.

“Copy that.”

“They are a minute out. You should be able to see them,” Yosi told him.

“Got ‘em,” he confirmed. “I’m three-quarters of a mile from where the explosives are.”

Lael’s truck went over the devices, with Rip hot on his heels. The lead enemy was really close. “Tell everyone to hold on,” he called out. At the last possible second when the back end of the enemy’s vehicle was still over the explosive but Rip was hopefully far enough away to not get caught up, he hit the button.

Their world exploded in a fiery ball. Rip’s truck rocked heavily but it remained upright. The enemy’s trucks, not so much. Two rolled onto the roofs, the other four literally flipped in the air like they were toys.

Rip slowed down and Cayman stepped onto the running board and slipped his hand through the window and held onto the door frame as they sped off once more. Skidding to a stop, they called out, “Move, move, move.”

The vehicles might have been out of commission but the odds were some of the people inside survived and would be coming after them. Those they’d rescued streamed out of the back of the trucks. If someone was having a difficult time walking, someone helped carry them, including Cayman, Rip, Wizard and Lael.

They hauled ass onto the fast boats and ducked down when they saw soldiers heading their way. “Get us the fuck out of here, Wesley.

The engine revved just enough to make the boat vibrate with its power but otherwise it was relatively silent. At least to human ears. Cayman could definitely hear it. They took off like the hounds of hell were after them, which wasn’t far off.

It wasn’t until they had everyone loaded on the awaiting ship and racing for South Korea that he took his first real breath since finding his mate imprisoned in that hellhole.

Speaking of his mate, it was time to become better acquainted. Rip, Wizard and Lael could take care of everyone else.