Page 48 of Twisted Desire

“Turn it off,” Nikolai says, running beside me.

I shake my head, pushing myself to move faster as I try to ignore how damp my shoes are getting running through the wet grass. “I can’t,” I pant.

“Turn it off,” he repeats. “I’ve got it.”

I shoot him several quick glances before I switch the com off as we near the building, keeping it in my ear in case we get separated once we’re inside. “Thank you,” I tell him.

We enter the building through one of the holes our people blew in the glass exterior, stepping through carefully to make sure we’re not cut on glass or metal. The hallway we come in through is eerily empty, but we can hear the sounds of battle close by.

This level must have been used as a front on the off chance a human not part of The Experiment stumbled upon it, because it looks like a regular medical building, but it’s empty. A few landscape prints hang on the walls, and the shiny marble floors are now covered with glass and smears of blood.

A lone guard comes through a doorway down the hall a handful of feet away and immediately raises his gun, firing a round of shots at us. Just when I think we’ve dodged them all, Marni cries out in pain. My head whips around.

“I’m good,” she says through her teeth, hissing in pain and inspecting where a bullet grazed her arm. She’ll heal—but slowly, thanks to the iron in the bullet.

Derek rushes forward with a deep growl. His boots leave streaks of mud on the floor that complement the splatters of blood, and his heavy footfalls echo through the hallway. He reaches the guard quickly and throws him with dangerous ease, his posture stiff with rage.

“Derek,alive,” Nikolai warns.

He scowls, glaring at the still human form on the floor. “Fine.”

“Let’s keep moving,” Allison says, gripping the hilt of the knife attached to her belt.

Nikolai turns to me. “Teams three and four are reporting casualties on both sides.”

My jaw clenches painfully tight. “How many?” I force out.

His expression is hard. “Three of ours, nine of theirs.”

I nod without a word. Any loss on our side is hard, but we’re still ahead.

“Fuck,” Nikolai snaps. “Team two just found a room full of fae mid-transition.”

“But they’re alive?” Oliver checks. “That’s better than dead.”

“Is it?” Marni seethes, then frowns when she sees the kicked puppy look on Oliver’s face. “I’m sorry, I—”

“Keep moving,” Allison cuts in, stomping forward.

“We’re going to the basement level,” Nikolai announces. “The other teams are working to shut level two down.”

“I think I found a stairway,” Allison calls out, twisting to look back at us.

In the short moment she’s turned, a guard appears from another room, grabbing Oliver from beside her, and cracks his head against the wall.

13

“Don’t move!” The guard points a gun at Oliver’s head, holding him against the wall by his throat.

“He’s human,” Allison shouts back, her voice cracking with the panic radiating from her in violent waves.

The guard shifts her attention to Oliver, who’s groaning in pain, fighting to keep his eyes open as blood rolls down the side of his face.

Allison strikes swiftly, knocking the woman away from Oliver and catching him before he lands on the ground. I rush over, sliding past them, and backhand the guard so hard that blood fills her mouth. She spits it out, staining another section of the floor.

“I didn’t know,” the woman cries pitifully.

I bark out a laugh. “Is that supposed to make up for the terror that’s going on in this place?”

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