Page 12 of The Demon's Fire
“I stopped three guys who were heading into the CLO’s office. They said they were phone repairmen. They were wearing uniforms, had badges, a work order even. Then I see they’re a little fidgety. So I hold them while I call Laurie. They drew, and I raced for cover, calling for backup. The trespassers took position on that end of the corridor. They got one of us.”
Kole saw a body in the hallway, closer to the assailants. “Butch?”
“Yep. He’s dead. No use risking anyone to go after him now.”
“Sounds like over three men down there.”
“More joined them. We had them on cameras before they shot them out. The corridor divides at the end. The attackers control two access points. I got more agents coming, but these guys will be hard to get without casualties.”
“Are they humans?”
“No outward signs of being anything else, but I got no way to tell.”
“Best if I head toward the excitement. I can’t stop anybody from here.” Kole smiled.
Finally, some action. Other than the icy blonde’s challenge.
Abello grasped his shoulder. “I don’t want to fire too many bullets. Don’t know who else we might hit. People are in these offices. We can lay down flash bangs or smoke grenades to hide you.”
“Nix the flash bangs. My head and ears will ache for a month. Sensitive. A demon thing.” Kole tugged on a lobe. “But I’d appreciate a cloud cover.”
Abello signaled his men to create a smoke screen. The grenades clinked on the floor, rolling, releasing a hissing gray haze which spread throughout the corridor.
No fire, Kole reminded his animus demon beast.
Since he didn’t know who was around, he couldn’t expose the existence of Aeternals. He bounded out of a crouch, zigzagging through the hall into flying bullets, hiding in a cloud of smoke. Dodging left and right, he charged forward.
When a bullet tore into his upper arm, his shoulder jerked. He rolled, ignoring the sharp bite of pain as his injury made contact with the floor. Rising, Kole took off again until another slug to his thigh dropped him to one knee. He pushed up on his good leg and continued to race into the line of fire.
A shadowy figure emerged through the fog. Like a runner sliding into home, Kole stretched out and skidded boots first. Coming in low, he grabbed the shooter’s ankle, yanking him onto the ground. But the guy wasn’t a human.Nope. Vamp. Fortunately, a skinny short one. Grappling with his opponent but staying away from his pearly whites, Kole wrapped an arm around the asshole’s neck. He rose, lifting the guy, using him as a shield to go after another invader.
When bullets chewed up the bloodsucker Kole held in the crook of his elbow, he tossed the body at the second shooter, an incubus, sending him into a backward stumble. Recovering his balance, the armed attacker pointed a gun at Kole. Kole’s eyes narrowed, and he squeezed his brows together as his hand shot out lightning fast. He grabbed the barrel. Using all his demon strength, he rotated it toward the guy.
“Pull the trigger.” A thin smile on his lips, Kole urged his opponent to fire, the business end pressed into the invader’s chest.
The incubus shook his head, but Kole shrugged, pulling it for him.
Abello along with another agent raced by, going along the left corridor. Kole yelled a warning. “Not human.”
Just then, a body slammed into Kole, taking him to the wall. The barrel of a gun tapped the commander’s temple. “Greetings from Arisen Dawn, mutherfucker.”
With the weapon snatched from the last assailant still in his left hand, Kole jammed it against the satyr’s stomach and pressed the trigger.
Fastest finger wins.
Shaking off the pain and considering the strange words, he bolted toward another shooter who was trying to make a break for it.
Kole tackled him, but before he could plunge his blade into a sure spot, the jugular, a hallway door opened. A gray-haired woman peeked out. Her eyes widened when she spied the massive blood-and guts-covered Firebrand with his knee rammed onto a captive’s chest. Before she could scream, Kole signaled her to go back into the office. She did. Once the door closed, he sank the knife into the asshole’s flesh.
No remorse.
He wiped his blade on his pants, limping toward Skyler’s offices, trailing blood. Abello and his agents were taking care of the trash. Kole reminded them of one of the sure ways to make certain a dead Aeternal stayed dead. Behead the bastards.
When Kole walked through the doorway, his gaze tagged Skyler Maxwell, fists to hips, standing alongside Laurie. His heart skipped a beat. Growling, he threw his hand out, motioning for the CLO to follow him into her office. She shadowed him, eyes lowered, tracking his blood as it dripped onto the carpet.
He slammed the door, stood splay-legged, and tried to contain the flames surfacing on his fingertips. “What the hell were you doing coming out from under the desk? Which part of ‘stay there until I come get you’ was hard to follow?”
“I was trying to calm everyone. It’s my job.” Her voice was a whisper as beads of blood dripped from Kole onto the carpet, holding her spellbound.
