Page 75 of Dark Rebel's Mystery

Ahead, a guard charged Ell-rom, an animalistic snarl twisting his lips. Ell-rom raised his handgun but didn't shoot.

Something flickered in his eyes, and Max held his breath, hoping for a demonstration of Ell-rom's death ray, but Dima launched a savage kick from the side, sending the guard sprawling.

The guy didn't get up, and Max was willing to bet that he was dead. That kick must have shattered his ribcage and smashed the organs it was supposed to protect.

The Kra-ell warriors were unstoppable. Gunshots popped in a staccato rhythm, but most of the bullets missed their targets, ricocheting off concrete or tearing through the many crates that were stacked in the yard. One by one, the Doomers and human guards fell, the Doomers taking just a little longer to die. Mehira slashed the throat of a Doomer, going all the way and severinghis head off his neck while Asuka and Dima cornered another. He tried vaulting over a stack of broken pallets, only for Dima to tackle him mid-leap. The savage sounds that followed revealed that it was a short fight.

These Kra-ell were lethal, and Max was glad they were on the same team. The only way an immortal could fight them was from inside an exoskeleton war suit like the Guardians had deployed when liberating Igor's compound.

The outcome of that battle would have been much different without those suits.

Several soldiers were holding positions on upper floors and shooting at his team, and he tried to take them out, but they were coordinating their forays at the windows, making it harder to expect where they would appear. Yet the two Max was certain he nailed seemed to chill the shooters' enthusiasm to expose themselves to further risk, and the fire from above mostly died down.

It was taking too long. They had to push forward and be done before reinforcements arrived.

"Everyone, hold your fire so Drova can be heard," Max barked into the comm.

Drova didn't wait for him to repeat his request. "On the ground! Don't move!" she projected with all the might her voice could muster.

The gunfire stopped.

The few soldiers Max could see froze, wide-eyed, sank to their knees, and lay flat, pressing their faces to the grimy pavement.

Others who were too far away or hadn't heard her over the racket from their rifles still took potshots from cover.

It took a few more moments for Jade's Kra-ell squad to eliminate those stragglers as well, and the frantic battle tapered off, leaving the courtyard scattered with unmoving bodies—some dead and some pinned to the ground by Drova's command.

Chest heaving, Max scanned for potential shooters. Sporadic muzzle flashes popped from a far corner, but Jade's team had it handled. Once they dealt with them, an eerie quiet settled over the courtyard, broken only by the moans of the wounded and the hiss of small fires sparked by bullet impacts.

Max nodded and jogged toward a group of humans splayed out on the ground, courtesy of Drova's compulsion, choosing the one whose uniform identified him as an officer. He crouched beside the man, who was on his belly with fingers laced over his head. Max gripped him by the hair and twisted his head so he was forced to look up.

Their eyes locked. "Where are the prisoners kept?" Max asked in Farsi while delving into the soldier's head.

Max didn't need the human to verbalize a response since he was already seeing the path in the man's head, but the soldier answered nonetheless, practically suffocating on his own fear. "E-East Wing," he rasped, blinking rapidly. "Third floor." He swallowed convulsively.

Max caught a flash from the man's memories—long, ugly corridors, steel doors, and a single face that the solider thought of as The Doctor. The soldier's fear of that man overshadowed everything else.

"East Wing's third floor," Max said, standing up quickly. "Drova, Jade, Anton, and Dima. You are with me." Max clicked the comm again. "Yamanu, how are you doing?"

"Just another day at the office, my friend." The calm reply put Max's anxiety about Yamanu's condition at ease.

"OK. We are headed to the third floor of the East Wing. That's where the prisoners are kept. If you are up to it, make sure no hostiles remain to come at our backs and join us. We might run into more Doomers inside."

"We'll see you inside shortly, Max."

"What about me and Jasmine?" Ell-rom asked. "Jasmine wants to be there when we liberate her mother."

Max was well aware of that, but for now, the two with no combat experience were a liability. He preferred that they wait until the yard and surrounding area were secured and then join Yamanu's team when they came in to meet them.

"You will come up with Yamanu. We will clear the way for you so it is safe to do so."

50

KYRA

Kyra drifted in and out of darkness. She felt no sense of time for a while, only a half-aware haze that swirled through her mind and trapped her in a slow, heavy daze. The bite of metal around her wrists and ankles remained constant, though the dull ache reminded her that this wasn't a dream.

It was a nightmare.

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