Page 79 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

His gaze darted to Jade and Drova, the latter looking as pale as a ghost while her mother dressed her wound.

That she hadn't fainted from the pain was impressive.

"Stay with her," he told Jade. "We've gotta move."

Jade's jaw tightened, but she nodded. "The bullet's gone through—she'll heal, but it'll take time." She glanced at Drova's face, brushing the girl's sweaty hair aside. "You'll be fine."

Max nodded, checked his ammo, and notified Yamanu of the situation and Jade's location. "Anton, Dima, you're with me."

The Kra-ell were splattered with gore from the men they'd killed, and their fangs were on full display. As hybrids, they didn't look as alien as the purebloods, but right now, no one would have mistaken them for humans.

Together, the three of them advanced through the corridor, leaving Jade to guard Drova and their backs.

It was eerily quiet with no shots being fired, but Max had no doubt that he was about to encounter more soldiers and probably Doomers.

Yamanu's team would join them shortly, and together they would eliminate the last of the resistance.

The hallway veered to the left, and at the far end, a closed steel door barred the way.

"They must be holed up on the higher floors," Max muttered. "We need to go through this door to get to the stairs that lead to the third floor."

Anton, taller than Dima by a couple of inches, pressed his ear to the steel door. "I hear footsteps on the other side," he said, voice low. "Maybe five or six." His eyes flickered red for a moment,betraying his Kra-ell heritage. "We can breach fast as soon as the door is down."

After setting up the C4 explosives, Max joined the hybrids behind a corner and pressed the trigger. The door was blasted along with its frame.

Anton crouched, muscles coiled like a spring. They exchanged a silent count to three, and both charged through the blasted opening.

Flashes of muzzle fire greeted them. Bullets clanged on the twisted steel and ricocheted off the floor. One clipped Dima's shoulder, but the Kra-ell barely flinched. In a single motion, Dima flung himself past Max and Anton, crashing into the group of guards. Anton followed, a living avalanche. Max took advantage of the confusion, stepping through with his weapon raised, picking off a guard trying to line up a shot at Dima's back.

The chaos—screams, grunts, the wet sounds of fists on flesh, rifles clattering—was brief. Dima and Anton were an unstoppable force, like lions among sheep.

The last breathing guard tried to flee, stumbling over the corpse of a comrade, but before Max could raise his gun, Anton stepped in, hooked an arm around the man's waist, lifted then slammed him to the floor, headfirst—there was no room for mercy.

They couldn't leave witnesses, or the Brotherhood would learn who'd launched this attack, and worse, learn of the existence of the Kra-ell. They would eventually learn of the additional alien race present on Earth, but the longer it took, the better it was for the clan.

The Kra-ell were their secret weapon.

Dima panted, a shallow wound seeping from his arm, while Anton scanned ahead, not a single scratch visible on him.

Yamanu's voice came through the comms. "We are coming in behind you. All is secured outside. I instructed the pilots to be ready to pick us up directly from the courtyard. I'm bringing the rest of the team with me."

"We are waiting for you," Max said.

When the rest of the team cleared the blasted door, Anton frowned, looking alarmed. "Where is Mehira?"

Yamanu lifted a hand to calm him down. "Guarding the building's entrance so no one will sneak in behind us."

Anton nodded.

As they ascended the winding concrete steps, Drova had to lean on Jade for support, but Yamanu looked fully recovered.

The higher they went, the more potent the reek of fear became.

At the second-floor landing, they were surprised to find bodies—probably guards who'd been using the window to shoot down at the courtyard and got hit by Max's team's return fire.

The entire building was a war zone.

"Keep your eyes open," Max warned. "If any of them are Doomers, they might be already regenerating. They are immortal, and they heal as fast as we do."

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