Page 14

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

Cortes grunted as he slammed into the door, his hand rising to protect Popo. The sound of honking horns followed in the Range Rover’s wake.

So did the vehicles tailing them.

Delphine barreled down a service road running parallel to Newtown Creek. Her hands tightened fractionally on the steering wheel when she glanced at their pursuers in the side mirrors.

“They knew our route.”

She didn’t have to look at Cortes and Vlad to sense their scowls.

The implications of her words hung heavily in the air.

“You think someone leaked our location?” Vlad said.

“Either that or they’re following us via a satcom.”

She lifted her foot off the gas pedal as she crossed a couple of junctions, allowing the vehicles on their tail to close in on them. Tarang’s growl vibrated through the Range Rover, the tiger’s hackles rising as he sensed the approaching threat.

Delphine spotted what she was looking for, yanked the wheel hard to the right, and sent the Range Rover skidding into an alley that led in the direction of the docks. Engines roared behind them, their pursuers abandoning any pretense of subtlety as they gave chase.

A bullet pinged against the rear bumper.

Delphine hit the window control, pulled her gun out, and fired back, one hand holding the steering wheel firmly and her gaze focused on the road ahead.

The shot cracked the windshield of the black SUV. It slowed.

“That got their attention,” Cortes muttered.

Delphine raised the window back up and hit the dial button on her phone.

The driver of the Black Devils ’ SUV answered on the first ring.

“Get rid of the van,” she ordered. “Keep at least one man alive if you can.”

Gunfire erupted behind them as Vlad’s guards began shooting at the enemy.

Delphine accelerated and weaved the Range Rover between buildings and abandoned shipping containers.

Vlad glanced warily at their increasingly deserted surroundings. “Where are we headed?”

“Somewhere I spotted on the satellite map before we left your place.” She met his gaze in the rearview mirror. “Better to choose our battleground than let them choose it for us.”

Vlad nodded, something that looked a little like relief flitting in his eyes.

Delphine ignored the way her chest tightened at this display of trust. She knew it wasn’t easy for the incubus to surrender control in any situation, let alone a combat one where he normally excelled. The fact that he was willing to put his life in her hands made her feel things she shouldn’t be feeling about a client.

But now was not the time to mull over her confusing emotions.

She took another sharp turn and saw her target.

“Up ahead. Warehouse on the left with the loading dock. It has plenty of cover and multiple exit routes in case we need one.”

Vlad steadied his hands on the door and the roof. “Go for it!”

Cortes clenched his jaw and braced against the dashboard.

Delphine barely slowed as she swung the Range Rover sideways, using their momentum to slide them into the warehouse and between two rows of containers. She slammed the brakes and switched off the engine.

The move would buy them fifteen seconds, twenty at most.

It was more than enough for what she needed to do.

Delphine exited the vehicle and circled to the rear, Vlad and Cortes following. She popped the trunk and withdrew two vests.

They looked like standard tactical gear. Except body armor didn’t shimmer like it had a life of its own.

She tossed them at Vlad and Cortes.

“Put these on. They’re nanorobot vests. They will stop pretty much anything except for a tank.”

Cortes made a face as he shrugged into his. “You know, you people have an unhealthy obsession with tanks.”

“You try and be in a war zone where your enemy is actively trying to flatten you with one,” Delphine muttered.

Tires screeched somewhere outside. The sound of doors opening and slamming shut came next.

Delphine’s pulse quickened. Ten seconds.

Tarang growled softly beside Vlad. The incubus hastily slipped his vest on and accepted the extra magazines she handed to him and Cortes.

Voices reached them as the men outside began exploring the area.

They crouched wordlessly behind the Range Rover. Tarang and Popo grew still.

“Wait until the last minute to use your magic,” Delphine told Cortes in a low voice. “It will give away our position otherwise.”

The Colombian nodded grimly.

The pursuers’ footsteps grew close.

“They can’t have gone far,” someone said as they entered the warehouse. “They have to be hiding around here somewhere, like the rats that they are.”

Another man chuckled at that.

Delphine heard Vlad grind his teeth.

Armed figures appeared in a gap between the containers.

She counted nine men.

That’s five guys in one vehicle and four in another. She narrowed her eyes. Which means the Black Devils either took the van out or are still engaged with them.

Delphine signaled the number to Vlad and Cortes and motioned at them to follow her. They twisted and fell into her steps as she circled quietly around them.

She guided them to a junction between the containers and pointed. Vlad and Cortes exchanged a wary glance before dipping their heads.

They separated and headed for the rungs in the walls of the containers she’d indicated.

In warfare, a higher vantage point was always better than a lower one.

Tarang’s muscles bunched as he prepared to leap. The tiger jumped with fluid grace and landed atop the metal box Vlad had climbed with the faintest thump.

The sound made their enemy pause where they’d been searching the warehouse.

“You guys hear that?” someone said tensely.

Delphine scaled the container she’d chosen as her shooting platform and rolled silently across the surface to the edge. She stopped, braced her elbows, and gripped her gun tightly.

Her shots brought down two men before they could react.

Vlad and Cortes fired, taking out another couple of armed figures.

The remaining men dove for cover.

The way the shots echoed around the warehouse meant it took a moment for their attackers to pinpoint where they had come from. Delphine eliminated another guy while they were still looking.

“Over there! On top of those containers!” someone yelled.

Sparks erupted as bullets slammed into the walls of the metal boxes, the enemy converging swiftly on their location.

Delphine stayed low, as did Vlad and Cortes. She clenched her jaw.

There goes half our advantage.

The hairs rose on the back of her neck. She twisted sharply.

The shot that would have bored a hole into her head pierced metal an inch from her shoulder.

“Vlad, Cortes! Three o’clock high!” Delphine barked.

She cursed and moved as more bullets rained down around her.

The incubus's and the Colombian’s heads snapped around, their gazes finding the armed figure on the gantry thirty feet above them. The man’s aim shifted to Vlad.

Vlad rolled as metal pinged next to him. He grunted when a shot slammed into his nanorobot vest and crumpled on contact.

Gold exploded in Cortes’s and Popo’s eyes, their magic washing across Delphine’s skin on a warm wave. A whip appeared in the sorcerer’s hand. Popo rose as he snapped the weapon, the cord extending impossibly high.

The figure on the gantry cursed when it wrapped around his ankle. He flailed wildly, his vision obstructed by the parrot pecking at his head. Cortes yanked hard and brought him to the ground in a sickening thud of smashing bones while Delphine and Vlad took out two more armed figures on the main floor.

Her stomach dropped.

Where are the other two?!

Tarang’s roar shook the air as he leapt from the container.

The men who’d circled behind them cried out when the familiar’s shadow engulfed them. Delphine grimaced as the sounds turned into wet gurgles.

The tiger might not be able to use his magic, but there was nothing wrong with his fangs and claws.

Her heart thundered against her ribs as she rose to her feet.

Less than five minutes after they were ambushed inside the warehouse, the fight was over.

She jumped down from the container, walked over to where Tarang loomed threateningly over the man who’d survived his attack, and kicked his gun out of reach.

Cortes dropped lightly to the ground and followed the sound of groaning into the main area of the warehouse. The only other survivor swore when the sorcerer stepped on the hand he was using to weakly lift a gun. Cortes leveled the muzzle of his firearm at the enemy’s skull, his expression icy.

Popo landed on his shoulder with a threatening squawk.

Motion near the entrance caught Delphine’s eye as she joined the sorcerer. She swung her gun around in a double-handed grip, her aim rock steady.

“Woah!” The Black Devils guard who’d entered the building froze and raised his hands defensively.

Delphine relaxed a fraction. It was the driver she’d been talking with.

She holstered her weapon as the rest of Vlad’s men appeared.

“You got rid of the van?”

The guard grimaced. “We did. But they’re all dead.”

“We got a couple of survivors.” Delphine looked down at the tiger who’d appeared beside her. “Although I’m not sure how long the guy he took down will last.”

Tarang made a pleased sound and rubbed against her leg.

Delphine’s scalp prickled. “Where’s your master?”

The familiar huffed, his tail drooping a little.

Delphine twisted on her heels, her chest tight with dread. “Vlad?!”

“I’m here,” the incubus said from somewhere atop the container.

Relief loosened the knot in her belly. “Why aren’t you coming down?”

Cortes looked equally puzzled as he joined her, the Black Devils taking charge of the attacker he’d pinned down.

“I have a situation.”

Concern quickened Delphine’s pulse once more. She took a couple of steps forward. “Are you hurt?!”

There was a moment’s hesitation.

“Don’t laugh,” Vlad warned.

Delphine and Cortes exchanged a confused frown.

A heavy sigh came from the top of the container. “I got shot in the ass.”

Delphine blinked. She bit her lip hard.

Cortes’s face crumpled. He twisted on his heels, his shoulders quaking as he tried to muffle his snorts.

A couple of the Black Devils men made choked sounds.

“I can hear you guys laughing!” Vlad snarled.