“What the hell was that?” Fallon whispered.
“Pets,” I told her. The animals were already restless, the sound of several slamming against the fence a reminder we were in a precarious position. Damn, I hated these barbarians. They were a pain in the ass.
We broke off from the others, maybe twenty soldiers trailing behind as we moved stealthily toward the concrete hotboxes. Ordinarily, we wouldn’t waste time or effort in using a military-style tactical approach, but the entire objective of the mission was entirely different.
Which also pissed me off.
Yet I’d made a promise I intended on keeping. Jago took one building while I took another.
I moved to the door, noticing the old-fashioned padlock immediately. With a nod of my head, one of Eduardo’s men approached with a bolt cutter in his hand. As soon as the lock was free, I quietly opened the door.
The stench inside was repulsive and I immediately pushed Fallon aside.
“Stay here,” I gritted out.
“What is that smell?” she countered.
“Death. I mean it. Stay right the fuck here.” I moved inside, retrieving the flashlight. As soon as I popped the beam, I wished I hadn’t.
The slight shriek from behind me forced a quick reaction. I slapped my hand over her mouth, dragging her against my chest as I turned her away from the carnage. The last thing she needed to see was dumping grounds for enemies who’d found their way on Bandoles’ shit list. Body parts littered the dirt floor, blood and gore scattered across the walls and table.
I dragged her out, planting her against the far corner of the building.
She took gasping breaths, clawing at my hand even as I dropped my head so I could whisper my words of disapproval directly to her.
“What the fuck did I tell you? To stay outside. You have to follow directions, Fallon. This is dangerous. This could be a death trap and from the looks of what’s inside that building, we could be dessert for the friendly beasts over there. Stop fucking with this. Follow directions.”
She nodded several times, taking several deep breaths when I removed my hand.
“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” she whispered. She was shaking uncontrollably, almost gagging as the stench rolled through the open door.
“Close the goddamn door,” I hissed to no one in particular.
“Yes, sir.”
Movement of any kind no longer startled me. It simply proved to be a stick driving the training back into the forefront of my mind. In this case, I handled two tasks at once, pushing Fallon to the ground while yanking my Sig Sauer from my holster.
Pop! Pop! Pop!
Gunshots rang from every corner, the noise of men shouting echoing in my ears. Telling Fallon to stay down was a waste of time even as three soldiers appeared from the shadows, pointing their weapons in our direction.
One of Eduardo’s men was hit in the shoulder, but before he dropped, drove a bullet in the eyes of one. I snagged the second, firing off two shots into the man’s skull.
The roar of continuous gunfire, boots on the ground, and obvious sounds of fighting permeated the air.
Fallon’s second sharp scream dragged me to the side. One of the fuckers had her around the throat, the barrel of his gun pointed at her head. Before I had a chance to react, she elbowed him brutally before bending over and tossing him to the ground. With a sharp smash of her foot to his neck, I knew the soldier’s windpipe had suffered a blow.
She huffed, blowing hair from her face before kicking him in the ribs.
But she hesitated to use either weapon provided, moving away as if her actions were enough. The soldier grabbed her foot, but before he could lift his weapon, I finished the job. The stream of moonlight was enough to highlight her arrogant defiance.
“I had it under control,” she insisted then spun in a circle, kicking first one asshole in the gut, spinning again to catch a second.
I finished them both off before either man hit the ground, this time kicking their weapons away. “You sure about that?”
We both lunged forward as a string of enemy soldiers headed in our direction. She pummeled her fist into the face of the first with enough punches, she smashed his nose, the sound of bones breaking heard over the continued melee. As he slowly started to fall, she tossed her head in my direction. “Yeah, I’m sure. Kill him for me. Will you?”
We were in the middle of a freaking massacre and she could still make me think about the sinful intoxication of her sweet pussy. “Gladly, myhalcón seductor.”
