Sword of Mercy (23 page)

“No. I do not. Think of something to tell La
Patron when you return stateside with this… thing. Customs ought to
be interesting. Because if those chemicals that burned through its
skin to the bone did not kill it, I don’t know what
will.”

Angus hadn’t thought about that. The thing had
regenerative powers like a shifter.

Chapter 23

The miles seem to stretch forever as they made
their way toward the rendezvous. Her blood sang in anticipation of
coming face to face with the men who had made her life hell.
Angus’s idea of a prolonged kill suited her mood. She would return
to the line more than once to beat either man down for the damage
they’d done to her life and then for her mate and then for Gunnolf.
Bastards ruined the lives of too many people in the name of
greed.

Hawke’s hand covered hers. “When we reach the
farm do we drive up to the door?”

She hadn’t thought much about their approach.
“I assumed that’s what the three of us would do and allow Ulric’s
men to surround the perimeter so no one leaves. Have Angus tell
Ulric to search for an underground entry point. I’m sure there is
one. Lancaster would never have just one exit. The man always had a
lot of ways to leave without being caught. He’s slick.”

“We just need one of them to break the
covenant and then we shoot the rest of the bastards, or blow them
up. They won’t survive without the covenant in force.”

“I’d like to see the light die in Lancaster’s
eyes for what he did to you, but as long as he dies, and never
touches another pup, I’ll live without that visual.”

Hawke squeezed her hand.

“Feels good, doesn’t it? Finally going after
them? Not their labs, or old buildings. After all this time we’re
going to kill another one of the bastards,” Asia said.

“Why hadn’t you gone after them before after
your rebirth?”

“Too busy working with La Patron. Liege kept
us on defense, and it took a while to enter the game. Now, we’re on
offense, going after them and it feels great.”

“I can imagine. Time of reckoning.”

She nodded, thinking of her years living in
the Liege facilities, the missions she completed, the blood she
shed, the surgeries. A shudder ripped through her when she recalled
all the surgeries she endured. Gordon and Lancaster’s throats
should be ripped out for approving each time the doctors cut her
open.

Hawke stroked her arm. “It’s okay. We’re going
to close a chapter in the Liege’s diary and shut down LOBO. No
other pup will be taken and experimented on again. I promise we
will shut this down.”

Asia exhaled and looked at the greenish-brown
landscape fly by. “I know. There is a part of me that feels this
cannot be happening. I want to pinch myself. Understand, I’ve hated
them for so long, they’ve always been there, in the background like
cancer. Today, a part of that cancer dies.”

“It’s happening and you’re front and
center.”

She kissed the back of his hand and continued
to look out the window. “Ulric told Angus they have bluebirds and
hybrids at the farm?”

He nodded.

“I was thinking...”

“What?”

“If we fight them, it will delay us which will
give Gordon and Lancaster time to escape.” She turned to face him.
“But if we fight and get captured, they’ll take us inside and then
we can find them faster.”

“Get captured? How? They know we can defeat
the bluebirds and hybrids.”

“They don’t know the tranquilizer no longer
works. Plus, it’s just to get inside without wasting a lot of
energy outside.”

He nodded. “It could work. What if they try to
kill us instead of taking us inside?”

“Then we’ll need to destroy them. I’ll fall
first and if they don’t take me then we’ll know.” She knew he
didn’t like that idea and waited for his objections.

“If they take you, I’m following.” His voice
deepened as his wolf rose to the surface.

“That is why they’ll take me inside, they know
you’ll follow and Lancaster wants you. Remember what Greggor
said?”

“No, he said a lot of stuff, not that it
matters. If one of us goes down the other needs to run behind that
one, maybe get shot as well. Links must be open at all times, I’m
serious Asia. I won’t be able to handle seeing you go down
otherwise. Promise me you’ll talk to me and my beast the entire
time, especially if we get separated.”

She stroked his hand. “I promise. This is the
best way to get in quickly. Run it by Angus, see what he
thinks.”

A few moments later Hawke chuckled. “He said
they have no reason not to kill him so he’ll fight his way through
and catch up with us inside. Plus, he wants to check the grounds
for another exit. Chacal’s checking to see if there is a floor plan
of the building in public records, so far he hasn’t found anything.
Seems like we’ll be going into this blind.”

“Won’t be the first time. I had no idea what
to expect when I entered Lancaster’s castle and went to the dorms.
Pissed me off that I couldn’t leave right away.”

He kissed the back of her hand. “I’m glad you
didn’t.”

She smiled in remembrance of the first time
she saw him standing tall in the lab. Her wolf had done flips
demanding she go to him right then. That hadn’t changed. “Me too.
So we go in cold, search for Lancaster or Gordon, grab them and
drive back to Radoff’s, is that the plan?”

Hawke frowned. “Not the best, too many
opportunities for them to escape. Can Radoff come here?”

“La Patron said it had to be in the place all
of this started. But you’re right, grabbing them will be hard
enough, transporting back to the basement… that’s pushing it. Maybe
we can take them by air, a helicopter? Ask Angus if Chacal has one
we can use?”

“Good idea.”

She watched him for a few moments going over
the plan in her head. Strategizing was not her strength, she
preferred to follow directions and get the job done. Jasmine seemed
to think she could do it all so she would give it her best
shot.

“Chacal has one and will have it ready in an
hour, hour and a half at the most. He’ll drop Angus off and go back
to his place to fly it back.”

“He flies helicopters?”

“According to Angus he flies everything, so we
have an extraction plan in place. Angus wants to use the bracelet
on the Liege to discover the location of LOBO in the states after
we take his blood.”

“No. Not unless I get a chance to spend five
minutes alone with him first.” Her heart raced at the idea of being
cheated the opportunity to meet one or both of the men who enslaved
her. “I want to look that bastard in the eye and then send him to
hell.”

“Asia.”

“I’m serious. I need this for closure. They
stole everything from me, I don’t have a past. Don’t know where I’m
from or who my pack was. My mind was wiped to the point you can’t
see anything. They fucked me over and over, Hawke. I need to send
that bastard to hell.”

“I’ll tell Angus. Isn’t there a way to use the
bracelet to get information without killing him?”

She nodded. “But to get it all you have to
take over his body.”

“We’ll work something out, the important thing
is to focus on taking them alive, meeting the copter, and breaking
that damn contract. Agreed?”

“Agreed.”

They turned off the main highway to the road
leading to the location. They were five miles from the farm, Asia
opened her senses and identified the hybrids ahead. She pointed to
the right. “Hybrids in the tree line.”

Hawke nodded and continued driving. “Two
Bluebirds ahead. They haven’t moved but we are on their radar. How
close do we want to get to the building?”

Asia looked around, identified a couple more
hybrids, four total. “Where is Ulric and his pack? I’m not picking
up their scent. Maybe we should pull over and wait, go over
everything with Angus.” She turned in her seat, looked out the back
window and saw nothing but trees and crops.

Hawke stopped the car in the middle of the
road and looked at her. “Are you okay?”

Asia exhaled. “
I don’t like planning on the
run. Usually someone else has gone over the floor plan, can tell us
what door to enter, where potential problems are and options to
handle them. I keep feeling like I’m forgetting something important
which will screw up this mission and that bothers me big
time
.”

He took her hand, placed his finger beneath
her chin and turned her to face him. “
I’ll take your word for it
on how things would go on a normal operation. But we don’t have
that this time and have to make the best of what we do have. Links
open, merge completely with me. Feed me what you’re seeing and I’ll
do the same. Instead of them dealing with one of us, they’ll face
both of us no matter where we are. Believe me when I say, I will
destroy that building and everything in it before I allow anything
to happen to you. At the end of the day seeing you walk out of
there is the most important thing for me. They have an idea of what
I can do and will try to shut me down. Mated, I am stronger.
Merged, you’ll sense their moves just as I will and we’ll work
together to keep each other strong. Remember, last time, we weren’t
merged, not like we are now.
” He brushed his lips against hers.
“
We can do this. We have to do this
.”

Asia leaned into him and exhaled. “You’re
right.” She sat up and looked behind her. A line of large trucks
pulled onto the road. “Ulric’s here. Find out how much longer
before Angus arrives.”

Hawke looked out the window and nodded.
“Chacal pulled over and he got out the truck near the main road. He
should be here any minute.”

Asia released her breath as the tension
unfurled in her chest. Angus would go over their plans and tell
them if they’d work or not. She wouldn’t be responsible. Leaning
against the headrest, she rechecked the status of the
hybrids.

“Hybrids over there moved in a few feet, if
you look you can see them.” She pointed toward the
trees.

“Yeah. Bluebirds haven’t moved, but as fast as
they are, they don’t have to.”

She patted the hilt of her sword and silently
agreed.

Angus slid into the back seat and then looked
out the window. “Stay. I need to talk for a few minutes.
Sit.”

Asia leaned over Hawke to see what or who
Angus was talking to.

“Where’d you find him?” Hawke asked in a
somber tone that made Asia lean back and look at him.

“Who?” She asked.

“The TerraByte,” Hawke said, looking out the
window.

“Found him in that lab with the incinerator.”
He went on to explain what happened when he and Chacal returned to
search the building. “He won’t leave, if you can give me any
information on him I’d appreciate it,” Angus said.

“TerraByte or TB was Griffith’s pet project.
He had this weird thing about hunting dogs, and wanted to try the
new technology with a few breeds. Problem is Griffith was the
brilliant kind of crazy and kept breeding different species. Let’s
say he’d start with a Rottweiler and then breed it with another
animal like a jackal-wolf hybrid. He kept breeding them until it’s
no telling what you have there. For the most part he handled his
own experiments, did the surgeries and kept his notes close to his
chest. Once Lancaster asked me to decipher a few of Griffith’s
papers, I could only make out half. The man wrote in a shorthand he
created. Lancaster wanted to incorporate some of Griffith’s
techniques, but couldn’t.”

“You mentioned surgeries. This fella has metal
in one of his legs.”

Asia gasped. “What? That bastard. If I hadn’t
killed him already I’d kill him for what he did to that poor
animal.”

“That’s not all, he has blue speckled metal on
his body. That, whatever you call it, knocked down a steel door,
has razor sharp retractable teeth and regenerative healing
powers.”

“And he chose you.” Hawke glanced behind him
and smiled at Angus.

Angus looked surprised by that announcement.
“Yeah, he did. Not sure why, but he won’t let me move too far
without following.”