Laney clamped her hand around the knife handle and crouched down against the wooden boards. The small shack most likely held inner tubes and life jackets. She could kick the door in—maybe—but then she’d be trapped inside if the commander found her beach.
The storm continued to bluster, throwing sand to pelt her. Whitecaps smashed waves against the shore, and the nearest dock pitched wildly in the blackened water.
She’d never survive hiding under the heaving planks. No way.
Movement near the closest cabin caught her eye. She squinted through the darkness, her breath catching. The wind propelled a mass of leaves onto the porch. She relaxed.
A dark figure came into view.
Her heart clutched. So much for it just being the wind.
She couldn’t discern his face, but he was big. He held something in his right hand—probably a gun. She peered around him for other soldiers. It was too dark.
Tightening her grip, she huddled back against the building.
The man stilled, his body turning toward her. God. Had he heard her move through the storm? No way. Unless he was engineered, like Matt.
The guy’s shoulders went back, and he strode toward her through the billowing storm. She closed her eyes for courage, waited until he blocked the wind, and then lunged.
“Whoa,” he muttered, catching her by the armpits and taking her down to the sand. “Doc. Take it easy.”
She opened her eyes. “Nathan?”
“Yeah.” He hauled her up. “Sorry to scare you. Where’s Matt?”
“A hundred yards to the east.” She tried to brush wet sand off her legs and quickly gave up the fight. There was no getting dry.
Nate lifted his head, his gaze to the east. He frowned. “The east is quiet.”
“So the fight is over?” Hope flared in her chest.
“No. The fight hasn’t started.” Nate held a sawed-off shotgun in his left hand. “Can you move?”
“Sure. Any other weapons?” What she would give for a gun. Or an Uzi.
Nate shook his head. “Just this shotgun. Forces are moving in from the west and north, so I can’t leave you here. We need to find Matt and now.”
A ball of dread slammed into her gut. Even so, she turned to follow Nate along the shoreline, the sand sucking her feet deep. “They’re coming from all sides. We’ll have to fight our way out.” Against the commander and his armed forces, chances were too slim to calculate.
Nate turned and smiled through the rain. “I have a plan, Doc. No worries.”
“I’m not a doctor anymore, and I never will be. I’m a bartender.” She liked her life, and she liked her job. Being a doctor had been a goal to make her somebody, and she had trained hard for it. But would returning to the world of medicine make her lose who’d she’d become? A part of a community that cared?
“Barkeep isn’t as good a nickname.” Nate angled his body to the right and provided her more shelter from the wind trying to kill them.
“Laney is.” She put her head down to keep sand from her eyes.
“My brother, Shane, calls his wife Angel. Does Matt have a nickname for you?” Nate asked.
Nobody had ever considered her close to an angel. Laney wondered about the mysterious Josie. She must be the sweetest woman alive. Laney wasn’t jealous. Not at all. Plus, Nate was trying to distract her from their imminent death, and she warmed toward him. “Yes. Either smart-ass or baby.”
Nate chuckled. “I can’t call you those. Mattie would kick my butt.”
Smart-ass wasn’t nearly as nice as angel. Laney tripped in the wet sand and quickly regained her footing. “True.”
“What was your middle name—your real one?” Nate asked, his casual tone at odds with the at-attention set of his back.
“Um, Lou.” Her mother had named her after her maternal grandparents, Eleanor and Lou. Of course, they’d died by the time Laney had turned three.
Nate tossed her a look over his shoulder. “We’ve got it. Laney Lou it is.”
“Sounds like either a fat farmer’s daughter or a porn star,” Laney muttered, trying not to smile.
“Exactly.”
“Are we bonding or something?” She’d have thought Nate would want her dead.
He shrugged. “Sure. Why not?”
“Um, because I was one of the doctors who worked for the commander.” These men confused her.
“Did you do anything to hurt me or my brothers personally?” Nate asked.
“No.”
“Well, life is too goddamn short for me to worry about who you might’ve hurt if it wasn’t us. And it’s too short to shove away love if it’s real. Plus, as much as I hate to say it, we all worked for the commander.” Nate eyed her.
“I guess.” She really wanted him to like her for some reason.
“I get the feeling you’ll fight with us, and I like that.” Nate lifted his head and listened for a moment. “Plus, Matt seems at peace. Even with all of us about to die, he’s found happiness. That’s what I’d want for him.”
Warmth bubbled through Laney, and she increased her pace. They had to win this.
Nate halted and held up a hand for her to stop.
She stilled, setting her stance to keep from falling over. Rain attacked her like they were enemies. When had she angered Mother Nature to such a degree? “What?”
Nate turned. “Twenty yards into the forest.” He eyed her. “Come with me as far as the tree line, and then you hide.”
Her knees wobbled, and her shoulders shook. She wouldn’t get in his way, but she was ready to fight to the death if necessary. Chances were, even if she held back, it would be. “Okay. Just bring him back in one piece, will you?”
Nate nodded. “Of course. Let’s find you temporary shelter.”
Chapter 30
Matt leaned against the ponderosa pine, his senses tuned in to the three men stalking him. He’d made enough sound for them to realize he was near as he led them away from Laney. In attack formation, they made barely a sound while moving through the forest.
They were good, but not as good as he.
Two of them had raised heart rates and breathing, while the other remained calm as death. Matt would bet his left arm the third guy was Emery.
Anticipation lit up Matt’s spine. He’d waited for this day for as long as he could remember. When they’d blown the facility to hell, he’d had the opportunity to kill Emery, and he hadn’t taken it. He’d given the guy a chance to find a life. Even now, years later, Matt felt for any kid who’d been raised by the commander and Dr. Madison. But Emery was now hunting Laney.
That meant death.
Matt’s time on earth may be limited, but while there, he’d take care of any threat to Laney without mercy. None.
He’d done his best with Emery, and the time for mercy had passed. It was time to end this.
So he slipped around the tree and approached one of the soldiers from behind. Shoving all emotion and thought into nothingness, Matt secured the guy in a headlock and twisted. The body hadn’t hit the ground before Matt maneuvered several yards to the right.
The other two men stopped moving. Shit. They must’ve been using the sensor system Jory had developed years ago. On mission, their vitals were transmitted to each other. If one of them went down, the transmission alerted them.
Even so, he could hear their heartbeats, even through the damaging storm. So he angled toward the guy trying not to breathe and was on him within seconds. They landed on the wet pine needles, and the soldier caught Matt with an impressive choke hold.
Matt punched him in the eye, and the hold loosened. Death was quick and painless.
A crack sounded just before Emery ran around a tree, already firing. The first bullet impacted Matt’s arm. The second, his shoulder. He rolled to the side and behind a tree, the rain piercing his eyes.
“You shot me?” he growled out. “Pussy.”
Emery laughed, the sound grating above the rolling thunder. “I’ve always wanted to
fill you with lead.”
Matt glanced down at his bleeding right arm. “Guess you can’t take me in a fair fight.” Yeah, the bullet had surprised him. He’d always figured they’d do this hand to hand, and may the best soldier win. Measuring blood loss because he refused to feel the pain, he quickly slid between two trees and angled slightly to the north, his movements silent as he circled around his enemy.
Seconds later, several shots ricocheted off the tree where he’d caught his breath. He smiled.
Emery’s muffled curse echoed beneath the rain pummeling down.
Matt hunted quietly and with determination, his senses on high alert. He heard Emery before he smelled him. With a roll of his injured arm, Matt flipped around a birch and tackled Emery in the midsection.
Emery punched out even as they flew through the air, his fist catching Matt in the throat.
Matt jerked his head up and brought his forehead down on Emery’s nose. The crack of cartilage breaking filled the air right before they crashed to the muddy trail. Matt’s right arm was weakening, so he used his left to knock the gun from Emery’s hand. The weapon spun through pine needles and landed at the base of a swaying conifer. Lightning struck a tree with a resounding clash, and branches pummeled them from high above.
The scents of ozone and blood permeated the night.
Emery bashed his knees into Matt’s hips and threw him to the right. Matt rolled to one knee and kicked Emery in the face just like Emery had done to Jory once.
Matt shoved to his feet as Emery did the same. They both stood to well over six feet and had spent years honing their bodies into fighting shape. Except for the genetic eye marker that showed their lineage, they might have been brothers. But Emery had the deep brown eyes of his family, and they weren’t brothers. Not even close.
“Why?” Matt asked, circling around, using his senses to predetermine every time Emery decided to move.
“Why do I hate you?” Emery dropped into a fighting crouch.
“Yeah.” It didn’t make sense. They’d both endured hell, and while Matt had fought their handlers, Emery had embraced them.
Emery feinted to the left and settled his stance. “You’re an asshole who never got it. Never understood how fortunate we are. To be gifted. To be enhanced. To be gods.”
Matt tested his damaged arm. Not good. “You’re a god?”
Emery spit out blood. “We’re as close as possible. Created by geniuses with superior genes? Yeah. Instead of fighting who you are, you ran.”
“I ran to get freedom and safety for my brothers.” Matt waited for the opening he knew would be coming. “Why didn’t you? I’ve never understood why you’d sacrifice your brothers if necessary.”
“We didn’t have a choice.” For the briefest of seconds, vulnerability flashed in Emery’s eyes.
“Yes, we did.” Matt shook his head, ready to strike. There had to be more to life than orders and killing, and he’d found that with his brothers. Love and loyalty had shaped them as much as military drills. Maybe more.
“No. You’ve always been headed down this path because of your self-destructive need to protect your brothers. They’re your weakness, and now it’s bringing you to heel,” Emery spat.
Sorrow for Emery’s younger brothers flowed unchecked through Matt. His family gave him strength and a purpose. “Even if I lose, I’m not alone.”
“I won’t lose.” Emery smiled.
The soldier enjoyed inflicting pain and always had. “You like the killing.”
“I have no problem being a soldier and fighting for our cause.” Emery slid his arm behind his back.
Matt lunged for him before he could grab whatever weapon was stashed. They impacted a pine tree, and needles battered them. “What cause?”
Emery shot an elbow into Matt’s gut and clamped on the bullet wounds in his arm. “Whatever the commander decides it is.”
Matt bit back a growl of pain and wrenched his arm free to leap to his feet. He tugged the unloaded weapon from his waist. “You’re crazy.”
“We’re all crazy.” Blood dripped from Emery’s teeth. He kicked out faster than Matt expected, and the gun spun through the air. “Possibly we were designed that way. I mean, you have to be nuts to fight the way we do. To survive almost anything.”
“Speaking of which, where’s my youngest brother?” Matt reared up and kicked Emery in the chest with both feet and backflipped to land easily.
Emery flew backward, turned, and dropped to a crouching position before striking for Matt’s knees. “Jory is dead. Way dead.”
Matt’s knee buckled, and he swung to the side. Pain slammed through him. “Bullshit. I already know he’s alive. What I don’t know is where he is.”
“Come back, and I’ll take you right to him.” Emery fingered a cut along his jawline. “The shooter didn’t aim as well as she should have.”
So it was true. Jory was shot by a woman. Hope tried to flare in Matt’s gut, but he couldn’t allow it. Emery was as good a liar as a soldier, and he could just be playing with Matt. “Did Dr. Madison pull the trigger? She’s a crappy shot.”
“True. But she was an incredible fuck.” Emery reached popped his shoulder back into alignment with his free hand. “Wasn’t she?”
“Dunno. I always said no.” In fact, the woman had scared the shit out of him.
Emery dropped into a fighting crouch. “You missed out. I’m not going to tell you who pulled the trigger—yet. Let’s finish this so I can go find that bitch of a doctor you have been screwing.”
Two men rushed out of the forest in full combat gear. Hell. Matt had been concentrating so hard on Emery, he hadn’t focused.
With a battle cry, Nathan leaped from the west, straight at the soldiers, a sawed-off in his hand.
How many shells did he have? Matt kept his focus on Emery. Nate could handle the other two. For now.
Matt punched Emery in the jaw, and the fight was on.
The sounds of brutal punches, grunts of pain, and snapping bones filled the small clearing. Matt knew the second Nate snapped one of the soldier’s necks, evening up his fight. Matt and Emery traded hits and kicks as Matt’s arm slowly weakened. He needed to get those two bullets out. Now.
A rapid heartbeat caught his attention.
Around a tree, a soldier all in black dragged Laney into the clearing, a knife at her throat.
All movement ceased. Everyone still standing turned toward the duo.
Emery threw back his head and laughed, the sound gurgly from a lung that must be collapsing. “Where did you find our little rabbit?”
“Tree line by the shore,” the solder said, his brown eyes dead. “She tried to stab me with a steak knife.”
Matt exhaled, his gaze on his woman. She stood, her face pale, wet hair matted to her head. Her pretty green eyes were wide with both fright and anger. She elbowed the soldier, and he tightened his grip.
“Are you all right?” Matt asked her.
“Yes. I’d be better if you just killed this guy,” she said, her eyes full of apology.
He shifted his gaze to the soldier. “I plan on it. Let her go, now, and I won’t break your neck.”
The guy smiled and revealed a gold incisor. “I’m going to fuck her senseless after you die.”
“I don’t think so, G.I. Joe.” Matt used the code word for Nate and silently counted to three. At three, both he and Nate struck.
Matt leaped for the soldier and used his superior strength to yank the knife away from Laney’s throat. Shoving her to the side, Matt broke the guy’s wrist and took the blade, slashing it across the jugular.
Pivoting, he stopped cold at the sight of Emery with a Glock pointed at him.
Nate finished off the other soldier and turned, his face a cold mask.
With a grim smile, Emery changed his aim to Laney.
She held out her hands. “Whoa, wait—”
Emery fired.
Matt exploded with a burst of energy and jumped in front of Laney. The
bullet slammed into his upper arm and sliced an artery. Not feeling the pain—yet, Matt threw the knife as he pummeled to the ground.
The knife embedded in Emery’s right eye, piercing to his brain. Emery stilled and dropped the gun, falling back. He hit the wet earth with a soft thump. Dead.
Matt’s shoulders impacted first followed by the rest of his body. Pain lanced up his face.
Shit. He blinked rain and blood out of his eyes.
Laney skidded to her knees next to him, cradling his head. Nate dropped to his haunches, concern lightening his eyes.
Matt swallowed. He knew a kill shot when he felt one. He tried to speak to both Nate and Laney. “I’m sorry.” The world wavered in front of his eyes.
Laney applied pressure to the wound in Matt’s upper arm. Blood squirted out. “Oh God. The bullet sliced the brachial artery.” Blood. So much damn blood. The liquid filled her hand, trying to escape through her fingers, still warm from Matt’s body.
She pressed harder. Nausea filled her stomach, and bile rose up her throat.
If she didn’t hold it together, he was going to die. A roaring rippled through her head, and she swayed. The forest went fuzzy.
“Laney.” Nate’s sharp tone jerked up her head. “Press harder.”
She blinked rain out of her eyes. Or maybe that was tears. She yanked off her shirt and pressed it to the wound, trying to stem the blood. He’d lost too much already.
Matt swallowed and focused on Nate. “Plan?”
“Get your ass up, and I’ll show you the plan.” Nate grabbed his arm.
“Wait. We can’t move him.” Laney flattened her palm around the injury.
Nate lifted Matt up. “We have to move, now. More troops are coming.”
Matt smiled at her, but with his face so pale, he looked more gruesome than reassuring. He slapped a hand over her drenched shirt and pushed. “I’m fine. Let’s go.”
He wasn’t fine. Not at all. Laney nodded and stumbled, following Nate through the path. Matt followed doggedly after her, and she turned several times to view his progress. His face lost all color, but he kept moving.