Bureau Under Siege (11 page)

“Yes,” Creed replied in a voice laced with anger and hatred.

“Don’t do anything stupid, Creed. We go in, we take them out, as quickly and as efficiently as possible.”

“You’re the boss,” Creed threw over his shoulder as he left.

Sam hissed, “He’s beyond angry,”

“He is,” Ronan frowned, “he better not do anything stupid.”

His friend laughed, “This is Creed we’re talking about. He takes risks like the rest of us breathe.”

“That’s what I’m afraid of,” Ronan muttered.

Starr stepped forward, “Where do you want me?”

“Close behind me,” he answered while walking out the room. “Come on, I want to check with Matthew that everything is still quiet over there.”

“I’m going to suit up.” Sam told them, breaking off and heading to the locker room.

“See you downstairs,” Ronan answered as Starr followed him to go and find Matthew.

“I’ll be ready. I want this over and done with so I can get my party organized!” Sam grinned and Starr laughed.

Ronan sobered them both up, “Sam, the burial of our Wolves comes first. Once that’s done we can have your party.”

Grief ran over Sam’s face. “I know, Ronan, I know.”

As Sam left their sight Ronan sighed, “That’s going to be one shitty day. I still can’t believe we’ll be burying Drake.”

Starr rubbed a hand at the base of his back, “We’ll get through it, Fang.”

Ronan gave her a small smile, “Thanks,” was all he said.

Chapter 11

Matthew confirmed there had been no further movement, apart from the large double doors leading into the building that were now lying open. Ronan scowled as he looked at the monitor, “Now, is that in preparation of them expecting Creed to just give himself up. Or, do they know we’re coming for them?”

“I’m not sure, boss.” Matthew answered, confused.

“I was just talking aloud,” Ronan looked over at Matthew and saw the boy relax, “I want you in on the comms links and you tell us immediately if there are any changes. Okay?”

Matthew was nodding his head vigorously, “Of course, I’ll have every man I’ve got on it.”

Ronan patted the young Wolf’s shoulder. “Thank you, Matthew, gotta go, will check in with you before we go in.”

Starr slipped her hand in his as they walked away, “Everything’s going to go as it should. Don’t worry.”

Raising an eyebrow he looked down at her. “Who says I’m worried?”

Squeezing his hand she stared up into his eyes. “I do, I can feel it,
sense
it. Our bond is growing stronger, Fang.”

“Really? Well, I’m not so sure I like this. I’ve got a rep to keep up and you knowing when I’m worrying kinda rids me of the cool, calm and in control persona I’ve got going on.”

Starr giggled, “Your secret’s safe with me.”

Ronan grinned at her smiling face. “Good, ‘cause I wouldn’t want to have to lock you up to keep my worrying from getting out. Though, if I kept you locked up in our bedroom it may not be a punishment.”

“That’s a dream, not a punishment!”
her words entered his head and he replied instantly.

“Dream on, baby, dream on!”

She pinched his arm as the made their way downstairs. They were a little early but already there were teams standing around, expectation in the air as they waited.

Serge walked over as soon as he saw them, sadness and anger on his face, which made for a weird combination. “As soon as this is over we’ll be taking Drake and the others back to Pack Land for burial.”

“I know,” Ronan said quietly, “we’ll be coming too. I still can’t believe he’s gone.”

Serge growled deep in his chest. “Me either, he was one of the good guys. I’m gonna miss him.”

“Me too,” Ronan responded and felt Serge’s pain roll off him, “we’ll make ‘em pay, Serge.”

“Fucking right we will,” Serge almost spat out. “We’re moving out now, the Wolves are going ahead to make sure that fucker doesn’t have any surprises waiting on us.”

Ronan clasped Serge’s arm, “Good luck and be safe, Serge, don’t take any chances.”

“Don’t worry, we won’t, see you in a bit.”

With that Serge walked away, his fellow Wolves falling in behind him.

“They’re not driving?” Starr asked.

He shook his head, “No. They’re going along the entire route we’ll be using, just in case they’ve left any devices tucked away.”

“Shoot, I didn’t even think of that!” Starr exclaimed. “Do you think they may have? What do we do if they have?”

“We have specialists that can deal with it, Serge being one of them.”

Starr shivered. “I don’t like bombs, shit, I don’t even like fireworks all that much.”

“Really? I quite like watching them from the roof at New Year ‘n such. The city puts on some great shows like for Fourth of July and we get a great view from up top.”

Again she shivered. “Nope, that’s why I stayed inside the last few times you went to watch. I know I said I was tired, or had other things to do, but the truth is I just don’t like them.”

Ronan tugged her hand, pulling her closer to him. “You should’ve told me, Puff.”

She gave him a lopsided grin. “Yeah, right. Tell you, the big strong Vamp that me, a Dragon, is scared of a few fireworks.”

“You need to tell me about anything that you’re scared of, Puff.”

His words in her mind had her grinning,
“Liking the mind talking now, do we?”

“It has its uses. Don’t deflect, Puff, if there’s anything else that scares you then you tell me. I’ll make sure you’re kept far from whatever it is. Okay?”

“Okay, Ronan, maybe I’ll tell you my deep, dark, secret fears. Someday, soon, maybe.”

He ran a finger down the side of her face,
“You better, mo chroi, I want to know absolutely everything about you. Including your fears.”

Starr moved her face into his hand, nodding her head just slightly, before Creed’s voice interrupted their private conversation.

“We should get moving.”

Ronan jerked, having almost forgotten where they were, turning to look at Creed. The man looked wired tight and Ronan could clearly see his jaw clenching. “Okay men. Load up, we’re outta here!”

The sound of heavy boots all moving at once was loud in the cavernous garage as men and women moved towards their designated vehicles. Almost all of the SUVs would be used this morning and Ronan led Starr to theirs. Sam was already behind the wheel and Creed was getting in the front passenger seat.

“Guess we’re in the back,” Starr quipped as he opened the door for her.

“Guess we are,” he replied as he went around to get in.

“Are your comms on?” Sam asked and Ronan flushed, having forgotten to switch his earpiece on.

Doing so quickly, he nodded at Sam. “Is now. Anything from Matthew or Serge?”

Sam started to back out, letting the other vehicles leave before joining them. “Matthew says still no movement, Serge and his Wolves found one device at the end of this street but have disarmed it. Nothing else on the route and they’ve just arrived at the destination. He’ll get back to me shortly.”

“Here? They had another bomb here?” Starr’s voice was full of indignation and a touch of anger. “Anyone could’ve been hurt, kids on their way to school, mothers out walking their babies, anyone!”

Creed turned around, his eyes locking with Starr’s. “They don’t care.
He
doesn’t care. In fact, he would get a kick out of killing them.”

“Just as well we’re on our way to take him out then,” Sam growled.

“Yes, indeed,” Starr said far more forcefully than she normally spoke.

Ronan placed a hand on her knee. “We’ll get them. Just remember they are very dangerous and you need to stay back and out of the way of the teams. I don’t want you getting caught in between them.”

Starr gave him a very hard stare. “You do remember I’m a Dragon? I’m just as fast as you lot and I know a thing or two ‘bout bringing down an angry Vamp!”

Sam’s laughter broke the tension that had risen in the rear. “You tell him, Starr!”

“Are you changing this time?” Creed asked, his face still a cold, hard mask.

Starr snorted, “No, I don’t think the boss here would like it if folks saw a great big Dragon flying in the sky over Denver!”

“That’s not even funny and you know it!” Ronan retorted, thinking of the PR nightmare
that
would cause.

Serge’s voice interrupted them, Ronan lifting a hand to stop Starr from talking. “Nothing that we can detect here but there are at least twenty five, I repeat, at least twenty five bodies in the warehouse.”

Ronan clicked his comms unit to reply, “Copy that, we’ll be there shortly.”

Sam half turned, catching Ronan’s eye, “Looks like we’ve got us a fight rather than a snatch ‘n grab.”

Creed snarled before turning and looking out the window, every part of him humming with power. Ronan drew some more power inside his own body, readying for battle. “This is gonna get dirty, Starr, stay back. I’m not arguing with you, stay the hell back.”

He saw her open her mouth to argue and then clamp it shut into a tight line.
“Thank you,”
he said into her head and she just sat glaring at him in return.

He didn’t relish the argument he could see in his future but would rather have Starr’s anger than the possibility of her being hurt. Or their unborn child.

Creed turned, looking between them before swiveling his head back to stare out the windshield. Starr’s words in his head a second later.
“If you’re not careful people are going to soon figure out something is up. Like the fact I’m pregnant!”

He gave her a tight smile but didn’t answer, knowing she was right.
Cac
! It was a bugger when she was right!

“We’re stopping just ahead and going in the rest of the way on foot.” Sam pointed and Ronan saw the rest of their vehicles already parked.

Some of the teams took off in different directions while some waited on them. Their teams were going in straight on, in the front door, at the same time as others went in from the sides, back and roof. Ronan checked his watch, eight minutes to incursion.

Using his comms unit he addressed everyone. “Eight minutes and counting.” Before opening the door and getting out.

Creed took charge of the teams, advising who would go where. Ronan, Sam, Creed and Serge were going in center front, with two other teams taking either side. Looking around he didn’t see Serge and was just about to ask where he was when his voice came over the link.

“Wolves in place, going silent now as we are changing. See ya when ya’ll get here.”

Ronan couldn’t help the smile that tugged at the sides of his mouth with the thought of anybody that had the misfortune to pass by. Seeing a pack of his Wolves would scare even the hardiest of folk. “Okay, let’s get moving, seven minutes and counting.”

Ronan led their group, jogging along, staying close to the deserted buildings for cover just in case they had any “spotters” out. They would be idiots if they didn’t but he had no idea how this Mikhail worked.

The closer they got Ronan heightened his senses, sending them out to look for any danger. With less than two minutes to go they neared the end of a building, knowing the one they wanted was just around the corner and opposite. Serge and two of his Wolves waited on them. Using his link again he checked in. “Teams check in, are you all in place?”

Several “Affirmative’s” sounded in his ear and then the sound of gunfire broke the silence. One of the Wolves fell to the ground, a loud howl rending the air as blood spurted from a large caliber wound in the animal’s hindquarters.

Starr squealed as Ronan roared through the comms, “Go, go, go!”

Ronan turned around, “Starr, stay the fuck back! Do you understand? Stay the fuck away!”

Her face pure white she nodded and he ran off, using his speed to stay ahead of the bullets he knew would be coming. He didn’t think for a moment that they wouldn’t be silver.

The shots continued to ring out, hitting the ground as he ran, more than once pieces of concrete stung as they flew up to hit him. Serge and the other Wolf were left behind as the Vampires used every ounce of their strength and speed to stay ahead of the bullets.

Ronan saw the shooter, lying on top of the building they were heading towards at breakneck speed. His enhanced sight caught his team appearing in the rear left corner, moving quickly to overcome the man with deadly precision. As the bullets stopped flying he could now hear the incursions happening from the sides and back of the building.

More shots rang out as all hell broke loose, Ronan and Creed reached the building before anyone else. Rushing inside Ronan took in the various vicious fights going on, blood and gore flying all around. Then the Wolves arrived and added body parts to the mix. He saw Serge’s Wolf dart past, leaping high into the air and landing on the back of a Vampire that was shooting wildly at anything that moved. The great jaws of the beast removing an arm from the body in one swift bite.

As the man screamed, high pitched and full of terror, Serge’s Wolf turned, a paw raking razor sharp claws across the legs causing the man to collapse. Ronan didn’t bother watching any further, knowing the Wolf would decapitate the Vampire in less than a heartbeat.

An inhuman roar caught his attention as he punched straight through the chest cavity of a man who ran at him, a silver blade in his hand. Ronan crushed the heart while it still beat inside the Vampire, seeing the shock and disbelief in his eyes for a second before he fell dead at his feet.

Creed pushed him out of the way, stepping over the bloody body. “
Mikhail!
” he roared, running forward towards a tall, thin man standing to the side.

Ronan tried to follow but got caught up in fighting two more Vampires. One at his back and one at his front. “
Cac
!” he shouted as he was punched brutally in the kidneys. The punch was one that would cause lesser Vampires to fall to the knees. Ronan dropped down, sweeping his leg backwards and downing the man behind him. Still on the ground he raised an arm before lowering it with all the force he could muster, smashing the man’s face to oblivion.

Turning his attention to the one in front he risked a quick glance over to where Creed was. Standing in front of this Mikhail and he thought they were talking, arguing, shouting. He couldn’t be sure but he wanted to get over there as soon as he could.

A roar rumbled up his chest, erupting from his mouth as he soared upwards, using his legs to propel him into the body of the Vampire in his way. Ronan knew immediately that this one was older, stronger, and more powerful than the ones he had dealt with ‘til now. They locked in a deathly battle, strength against strength, power against power, as the fought for supremacy and life.