Chapter 168

ADAN

The first thing Adan heard was a very faint sound, what could have been the patter of bipedal footfall overhead.

That was when he knew they’d been discovered.

He warned his comrades immediately but they hardly had any time to react before their fortress was breached.

The air pressure changed when the hatch had been opened, letting in the cold night air and the smell of fresh pine. Then a thud told Adan someone had dropped from the surface all the way down the entrance passage. Then another. And another.

A tall werewolf with a huge ugly scar down his face rounded the corner into the open center area of the bunker, and suddenly they were engaged in a firefight.

Adan was first to fire, pulling the trigger of his pistol twice as he ran backward for the corridor. He aimed for center mass but hit the intruder in the shoulder instead.

The man hardly reacted. He growled, jerked his shoulder back and sprayed the room with bullets.

Kerr hit the floor. Adan tucked himself around the corner and listened. The intruder ran across the room, chasing Adan’s trail. Adan prepared to fire again as soon as the scar faced man showed himself, but he didn’t get the chance.

Clarice, crying out as she fired, got a shot off. Scar-face howled as he hit the floor.

“I got him!” she shouted to Adan, sighting her leader around the corner. Adan peeked back into the room. Clarice had disarmed her opponent and was holding him at gunpoint with his own assault rifle. A torrent of blood was pouring from his thigh as he lay on the earthen floor.

“Put him down, then follow me,” Adan ordered, shouting over the ringing in his ears.

Clarice flashed Adan a big grin.

NOLAN

A figure appeared in the doorway, blocking Nolan’s path to the hatch. The hostages froze, cowering behind him.

It was Kerr, the Secretary of State and Adan’s right-hand man. He was holding a Glock in front of him, but his hands were shaking.

Nolan lifted his weapon, aiming a beam of red light at Kerr’s forehead.

Kerr bleated out a scream and fled. He went running up the hall and scrambling up the ladder.

Nolan watched him go. He waited a couple seconds after Kerr disappeared through the hatch, giving him time to get clear of the area, then signaled for the hostages to follow the escapee’s path. He told them help would be arriving soon, and to hide themselves in the woods until they saw the emergency vehicles on the road.

The hostages filtered up the ladder clumsily, climbing up and out the hatch as quickly as their weak bodies could carry them.

Nolan stood with his back to the humans, his weapon drawn, prepared to shield them should one of Adan’s allies appear and try to stop their escape. The last few human men at the bottom of the ladder urged Nolan not to worry about them, assuring him they would get the others to safety.

“Go,” one of the humans said, his voice strong and urgent. “Don’t let him get away!”

ADAN

Clarice was reveling foolishly in her triumph when suddenly a human man appeared behind her, apparently having been freed from the hostage cage.

Adan took aim from his place of cover and fired, but he missed—cursing himself—as the short and stocky human lunged at Clarice in a well-executed football tackle. Clarice lost both her guns as the human dropped her to the ground and slugged her in the face.

Adan ventured one last shot, hitting the human in the back and sending him to the floor, then took off running.

This route led back to the bunk rooms where Adan and his friends had slept overnight. And beyond those was the only other way out of the bunker, the only other way back up to the surface besides the entrance hatch that Nolan’s men had overtaken.

NOLAN

A gun battle was still underway in the central area of Adan’s underground lair. Nolan trusted his men in there. He bypassed the firefight and ran in another direction.

Something told him he needed to rush the very last corridor in the hallway. This tunnel was narrow and dark, colder than the spaces nearer the hatch, and sloped upward into the mountain.

He reached the end of the passage and turned left, the only way forward.

And there was his brother. Running away from him, toward a metal ladder that stretched upward at a dead end ahead.

“FREEZE!” Nolan’s voice filled the passage.

Adan stopped in his tracks.

“Weapon down!”

His back to Nolan, Adan slowly started to raise his arms into a surrender position. He dropped his pistol. And began to chuckle as he slowly turned to face his pursuer.

“Well, you got me,” he said coolly, his hands midway into the air. “Good job, little brother.”

“Shut the fuck up,” Nolan growled. “Get on your knees.”

Adan started pacing forward slowly.

“Stop right there!” Nolan held his weapon steady, the red laser light centered on his brother’s chest. “Get on the ground!”

Adan ignored him, coming closer, still holding his hands up in a lazy surrender pose. He glanced down at the red dot on his chest. “Or what, you’ll shoot me?” He snorted derisively. “Go on, then. Do it.”

Nolan was still. He held his position. But he knew what was coming.

“You can’t, can you?” Adan cooed in a condescending voice, the way a bully would patronize a child. “Too scared to become a killer?”

“It’s over, Adan. Get on your knees or yes, I will shoot.”

“No, you won’t.” Adan snickered. He was only about six feet away now. “You don’t have the nerve. You were always weak. Sentimental. A pathetic excuse for a Lycan.”

Nolan suddenly lowered his weapon.

“You’re right about one thing,” he said. He tossed his gun to the ground, sending it rolling down the passage behind him. “I’m not a killer. But it’s not because I’m scared. It’s because I’m a better man than you.”

“We’ll see about that,” Adan said, his mouth twitching into an ugly snarl. “I should be thanking you, really. It was good of you to come all this way to let me kill you.”

Finally Adan closed the distance between them, raising a fist and lunging forward at his brother.

Nolan pulled his arm back and swung first, but Adan shifted into his wolf at the last second and caught Nolan’s forearm in his mouth. He dragged the younger brother to the ground and sank his sharp teeth down into Nolan’s flesh, drawing blood.

Nolan shifted. He got free of Adan’s hold and bit him back, catching him by the neck, latching on and shaking hard.

The two wolves tumbled over each other in the passage, fangs bloodied, lips snarled, eyes alight. Growling and snarling and tearing each other apart.

They were well-matched, trading advantage every couple seconds. One was on top then the other and over and over again. Neither retreated. Neither relented. Both grew increasingly vicious with every moment that passed.

In the midst of all the blows and bites and blood, Nolan had enough mental wherewithal for a single rational thought:

Both brothers were badly injured and bleeding profusely. They were about to fight to the death—the death of both of them.

He decided to take another risk.

He shifted back into his human shape. Adan, still wolf, leapt at Nolan, aiming for his throat, with his bloody mouth open wide.

Nolan summoned every bit of magic inside him and every ounce of strength he had left, pushed it into the air and sent Adan flying hard up into the wall.

The wolf hit the wall with an incredible force. It felt like the earth moved; the mountain trembled all around them.

Adan slid down the wall, leaving a streak of blood behind on the packed soil, and crumpled into a heap on the floor, where he shifted back into his human shape. He was limp and shaking. His mouth opened and he coughed out a shocking volume of crimson blood.

Nolan rolled Adan onto his stomach and knelt on his back, planting one knee under Adan’s shoulder blade. Then he wrenched Adan’s arms back and bound his wrists with a pair of handcuffs.

Adan sputtered for air, his face buried in the dirt, until Nolan rolled him over again. Nolan remained atop his brother, pinning him hard to the ground, even though Adan appeared incapacitated.

He spat out a mouthful of blood straight up into his Nolan’s face and smiled. “You won,” he said, choking the words out between labored breaths. “Go on. Kill me.”

“No.” Nolan glared down at his brother, stone faced. “You’re not getting off that easy. You’re going to spend the rest of your life in a cage.”

Adan laughed, spraying a mist of blood. “As long as I’m alive, there will always be those loyal to me. The people of this world will never respect you if you don’t kill me.”

“You’re wrong,” Nolan replied, his voice sharp and loud. “You don’t speak for them.”

Adan’s head rolled to the side. He was getting tired, nearing blackout. Blood was absolutely pumping out of the deep cut in his neck.

“You put me in jail, I’ll find a way out,” he mumbled. “I’ll come for you again. And next time, I won’t miss.”

“You’re a coward,” Nolan growled. “I’m not going to give you the satisfaction of death. You’re going to be held accountable for your crimes.”

“Just fucking kill me, little brother.” Adan grinned, his big smile dripping blood from the edges. “I dare you.”