Another minute dragged by.
“The badgers are through,” Cornelius said, and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
The jaguars dashed into the night. Above them two owls soared. Both Diana and Blake looked into small tablets, whispering into their communication sets.
Cornelius came to sit by me. He looked haggard.
“Will the cats go through the badger tunnel?” I asked.
“Not under ordinary circumstances,” he said. “But they will do whatever we ask of them.”
The cats reached the edge of the light and slunk forward, moving silently.
Another long moment.
“What if they are seen?”
“They won’t be,” Cornelius said. “The word yaguar means he who kills in one bite. They don’t suffocate their prey. They pierce its neck with one bite. Their jaws can crush a human skull. In terms of an ambush predator, they are perfect.”
Another minute.
Tension rode me. I had to squish the urge to run into that field of light screaming just to let it out.
Another minute . . .
“They are through,” Cornelius said.
Nothing changed. From all outward appearance, the base appeared untouched.
Talon landed on Cornelius’ arm. Cornelius looked at Edward, who nodded. The animal mage handed a small sack to Talon. The hawk clutched it in his claws and flew off.
Time to get in position. I got up and moved across our perimeter to take my place with the small team in tactical gear. Six people formed up around my sister. Rivera was in front, Melosa behind Catalina, and Leon on Catalina’s left. I took the spot on her right.
Catalina looked down at her ballistic vest. She looked twelve in that helmet, vulnerable and delicate. The worry in her eyes punched me.
“Are you sure?” I asked for the fiftieth time.
“Yes.”
I put my helmet on.
On the far right, Edward Sherwood straightened and held out his hands. White grass sprouted around him, its stalks forming a complex arcane circle. Wow.
Seconds dragged by.
“It’s done,” Diana said in my ear.
“Team Alpha, go,” Heart said.
We took off through the field, aiming for the nearest guardhouse and its gate. A few breaths and the sheltering darkness ended. Suddenly we were in the light, exposed like sitting ducks. My sister was right next to me in a stupid helmet, and if there was a sniper on the roof, they could shoot her right in the face.
Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, just do it.
I ran, trying to cover as much of Catalina with my body as I could.
Heartbeats echoed through my head, one, two, three . . .
We crouched by the gate. Rivera pulled out big wire cutters. Behind the fence, a guard slumped over the console inside the guardhouse. A wet red smudge marked the window.
The gate swung open. We dashed across to the wall and the door within it. One of the other ex-soldiers slapped a small charge on it. Rivera pushed us back, and we flattened ourselves against the wall.
The charge popped like a firecracker.
Rivera checked the door. Gunfire tore the silence. A siren screamed somewhere.
Rivera pointed to Leon and Melosa, and nodded to the door.
Leon lunged into the doorway, Melosa behind him, her magic screen flaring to shield them from the hail of bullets.
“Now!” Leon barked.
Four shots blended into one.
“Clear,” Leon called.
We filed into a narrow hallway, prone forms in the two guard cages on both sides of us.
A female ex-soldier slid a camera onto a flexible wire, checked the hallway, and drew back as bullets answered. “Long hallway. Rooms on both sides.”
The hallway probably ran the entire length of the wall.
“Marko, give me head count,” Rivera barked.
An older male soldier closed his eyes. “Three dozen in the room on the left, about five dozen on the right.”
They had pulled all of the personnel from the wall to box us in.
Catalina stood against the wall, her face bloodless.
A small metal object rolled into the hallway.
“Grenade!” Melosa lunged forward.
I threw myself over Catalina.
Magic flared in front of Melosa in a blue screen. An explosion shook the building. Melosa flew backward. Something burned my back. Debris pelted us.
Melosa rolled off the floor, snarling. “Fuckers.”
We were pinned down here. There were a hell of a lot more of them than of us. We couldn’t go forward. We couldn’t sit here, because they would come calling with superior firepower and flush us out. If we ran outside, they would shoot us.
“Now,” I told Catalina.
My sister pushed me aside and stepped forward. Her hands shook.
“You have to do it now. You can do it.”
She pushed from the wall. Magic coursed through her. I felt it. Like heat from a stove.
“Initiate deaf mode,” Rivera snapped.
I didn’t hear anything, but if everything went well, right now the helmets’ noise-canceling software was pumping sound into the soldiers’ ears.
Catalina turned to the hallway. Melosa followed Catalina, the blue screen shielding my sister. Magic coursed through her. The breath caught in my throat. So much power . . .
Bullets ripped into the barrier, sending waves through it. Catalina opened her mouth. Her skin glowed, as if a golden light warmed her from within. She raised her hands palms up in the mage pose. Her voice, impossibly beautiful, rolled through the building, an intimate whisper that somehow sounded as loud as a church bell, carrying a heart-stopping pulse of magic with it.
“Come to me.”
Too strong. She’d poured so much magic into it.
The gunfire died.
I moved next to her, blocking her from Rogan’s people.
A man walked into the hallway. He dropped his gun, pulled his helmet off, and knelt before my sister.
Rivera stared at me, trying to catch a glimpse of Catalina. I shook my head.
Men and women were coming through the hallway, dropping their weapons, and kneeling.
“Follow me to safety.”
“Face the wall!” I barked, and pointed at the wall. Rogan’s squad turned and put their faces into the wall.
I stepped aside. Catalina turned and walked past me outside.
People followed her, single file, moving past us smiling.
“Go!” I told Leon.
He pushed through the column of people outside, trailing Catalina, his gun up. If any of them tried to touch her, he would shoot them.
“The badgers are through,” Cornelius said, and wiped the sweat off his forehead.
The jaguars dashed into the night. Above them two owls soared. Both Diana and Blake looked into small tablets, whispering into their communication sets.
Cornelius came to sit by me. He looked haggard.
“Will the cats go through the badger tunnel?” I asked.
“Not under ordinary circumstances,” he said. “But they will do whatever we ask of them.”
The cats reached the edge of the light and slunk forward, moving silently.
Another long moment.
“What if they are seen?”
“They won’t be,” Cornelius said. “The word yaguar means he who kills in one bite. They don’t suffocate their prey. They pierce its neck with one bite. Their jaws can crush a human skull. In terms of an ambush predator, they are perfect.”
Another minute.
Tension rode me. I had to squish the urge to run into that field of light screaming just to let it out.
Another minute . . .
“They are through,” Cornelius said.
Nothing changed. From all outward appearance, the base appeared untouched.
Talon landed on Cornelius’ arm. Cornelius looked at Edward, who nodded. The animal mage handed a small sack to Talon. The hawk clutched it in his claws and flew off.
Time to get in position. I got up and moved across our perimeter to take my place with the small team in tactical gear. Six people formed up around my sister. Rivera was in front, Melosa behind Catalina, and Leon on Catalina’s left. I took the spot on her right.
Catalina looked down at her ballistic vest. She looked twelve in that helmet, vulnerable and delicate. The worry in her eyes punched me.
“Are you sure?” I asked for the fiftieth time.
“Yes.”
I put my helmet on.
On the far right, Edward Sherwood straightened and held out his hands. White grass sprouted around him, its stalks forming a complex arcane circle. Wow.
Seconds dragged by.
“It’s done,” Diana said in my ear.
“Team Alpha, go,” Heart said.
We took off through the field, aiming for the nearest guardhouse and its gate. A few breaths and the sheltering darkness ended. Suddenly we were in the light, exposed like sitting ducks. My sister was right next to me in a stupid helmet, and if there was a sniper on the roof, they could shoot her right in the face.
Don’t think about it, don’t think about it, just do it.
I ran, trying to cover as much of Catalina with my body as I could.
Heartbeats echoed through my head, one, two, three . . .
We crouched by the gate. Rivera pulled out big wire cutters. Behind the fence, a guard slumped over the console inside the guardhouse. A wet red smudge marked the window.
The gate swung open. We dashed across to the wall and the door within it. One of the other ex-soldiers slapped a small charge on it. Rivera pushed us back, and we flattened ourselves against the wall.
The charge popped like a firecracker.
Rivera checked the door. Gunfire tore the silence. A siren screamed somewhere.
Rivera pointed to Leon and Melosa, and nodded to the door.
Leon lunged into the doorway, Melosa behind him, her magic screen flaring to shield them from the hail of bullets.
“Now!” Leon barked.
Four shots blended into one.
“Clear,” Leon called.
We filed into a narrow hallway, prone forms in the two guard cages on both sides of us.
A female ex-soldier slid a camera onto a flexible wire, checked the hallway, and drew back as bullets answered. “Long hallway. Rooms on both sides.”
The hallway probably ran the entire length of the wall.
“Marko, give me head count,” Rivera barked.
An older male soldier closed his eyes. “Three dozen in the room on the left, about five dozen on the right.”
They had pulled all of the personnel from the wall to box us in.
Catalina stood against the wall, her face bloodless.
A small metal object rolled into the hallway.
“Grenade!” Melosa lunged forward.
I threw myself over Catalina.
Magic flared in front of Melosa in a blue screen. An explosion shook the building. Melosa flew backward. Something burned my back. Debris pelted us.
Melosa rolled off the floor, snarling. “Fuckers.”
We were pinned down here. There were a hell of a lot more of them than of us. We couldn’t go forward. We couldn’t sit here, because they would come calling with superior firepower and flush us out. If we ran outside, they would shoot us.
“Now,” I told Catalina.
My sister pushed me aside and stepped forward. Her hands shook.
“You have to do it now. You can do it.”
She pushed from the wall. Magic coursed through her. I felt it. Like heat from a stove.
“Initiate deaf mode,” Rivera snapped.
I didn’t hear anything, but if everything went well, right now the helmets’ noise-canceling software was pumping sound into the soldiers’ ears.
Catalina turned to the hallway. Melosa followed Catalina, the blue screen shielding my sister. Magic coursed through her. The breath caught in my throat. So much power . . .
Bullets ripped into the barrier, sending waves through it. Catalina opened her mouth. Her skin glowed, as if a golden light warmed her from within. She raised her hands palms up in the mage pose. Her voice, impossibly beautiful, rolled through the building, an intimate whisper that somehow sounded as loud as a church bell, carrying a heart-stopping pulse of magic with it.
“Come to me.”
Too strong. She’d poured so much magic into it.
The gunfire died.
I moved next to her, blocking her from Rogan’s people.
A man walked into the hallway. He dropped his gun, pulled his helmet off, and knelt before my sister.
Rivera stared at me, trying to catch a glimpse of Catalina. I shook my head.
Men and women were coming through the hallway, dropping their weapons, and kneeling.
“Follow me to safety.”
“Face the wall!” I barked, and pointed at the wall. Rogan’s squad turned and put their faces into the wall.
I stepped aside. Catalina turned and walked past me outside.
People followed her, single file, moving past us smiling.
“Go!” I told Leon.
He pushed through the column of people outside, trailing Catalina, his gun up. If any of them tried to touch her, he would shoot them.
