In the next break in the barrage of bullets, he ran and rushed up the stairs, taking them two at a time.
“Axel, wait for backup!” Lachlan roared.
“They have Nat.”
Through the unhinged front door, he saw her ahead. She was kicking at the man holding her arm. He turned and slapped her face.
Axel growled, whipped his CXM up, and fired. The man was quick. He yanked Nat sideways, pulling her down behind a brick fence.
Shit. Damn. Fuck.
Axel charged ahead, sprinting through a small garden. He aimed for where he’d seen Nat.
Something tackled him hard from the left. He crashed onto the concrete path and turned. A female merc straddled him and punched him in the face.
Hell. Black splotches danced in front of his eyes.
Then the woman wrapped her hands around his neck, and pushed down.
He choked. Not today. Growling, he bucked his body up. She clung, but tilted sideways and they rolled.
As she jabbed her fingers into his side, he winced. But he wasn’t squeamish about fighting a woman. In a life-or-death fight, she was just another enemy to be taken down.
Axel shoved her hard. She flew to the side and Axel leaped, trying to pin her.
“Axel!” Nat screamed.
He looked up to see the merc shoving her into the back of a silver van.
No.
The female merc took advantage of his distraction. She got a boot to his chest and shoved.
He flew back, his head hitting the ground. Damn. He didn’t have time for this.
He threw himself up, ramming his head into the woman’s gut. She grunted in pain and Axel grabbed her, slamming her into the fence.
She spun to attack, and he chopped his arm down on hers.
Her bone snapped and the woman screamed.
An engine gunned on the street, and he saw the van pulling out.
Shit.
Leaving the merc, he leaped over the fence. The van was picking up speed.
Axel ran, pumping his arms and legs. He could just make out Nat through the back window, struggling with the merc.
He gained on the vehicle, took a deep breath, and leaped.
He hit the back of the van, got his boots on the rear bumper, and clung tight. He ducked down out of sight.
As the van turned onto a larger road, it picked up speed. Axel focused on holding on. I’m here, Nat.
Chapter Seventeen
She was pissed.
Nat glared at the merc beside her.
They’d blown up the safehouse. Her anger had claws, but beneath it twisted sharper worry. Was the team okay? Was anyone hurt?
She glanced out the back window. She knew Axel had survived the blast. She’d seen him chasing after her, right down the middle of the street. Then she’d heard a thump on the back of the van and he was gone.
God, had the van hit him? A rock lodged in her throat.
She twisted her hands together and tried to focus. It looked like they were heading north. There were two more mercs in the front seat, murmuring quietly to each other.
“My team will take you down,” she said.
The merc beside her laughed. “Your team is dead.” He smirked. “Is this where you tell me that we’ll never get away with this?”
She crossed her arms. “You’re an ass who works for an arms dealer. You’re scum.”
He shrugged. “Paycheck’s a paycheck.”
She glared at him. God, she hoped the team was okay.
The van pulled up at an unassuming park somewhere in the northern part of London.
Mr. Ass rose and shoved open the back doors. He reached in and yanked her out. She spat at him.
“Feisty,” he said. “You won’t be when we use you as bait for the monster.”
A group of four mercs came out of the park.
Vernier was in the lead. He nodded at them. “Last sighting of the beast was here.”
“Do you have a plan, Vernier?” Nat asked. “Or are you just going to wait for the Minotaur or my team to kill you?”
His cold gaze landed on her and she fought a shiver.
“You know my name,” he said quietly.
She sniffed. “We knew who you were about five minutes after we first saw you on Crete.”
“Well, I do have a plan. The Minotaur took you once, Dr. Blackwell, and I heard you talked with it in the train tunnels. You’re going to draw it out for us.”
She lifted her chin. She wouldn’t let him see her fear. “My team is going to make you regret your crummy choice of occupation.” She looked at them all. “Do you all wake up in the morning and think, ‘Oh yes, what a great day to aid arms dealers, and make life hell for innocent people?’”
Vernier ignored her. “Bring her.” He jerked his head and spun.
Her personal goon shoved her forward. She shot him an acid-laced stare as they moved into the park. Actually, she wasn’t sure if it was a park, but the open space was spotted with trees. It was probably pretty, but she was too scared to appreciate it. She swallowed. It looked like she was going to be staked out for the Minotaur. What if she couldn’t communicate with Kitchener?
Then she spotted a shadow darting through the bushes. She sucked in a breath. None of the mercs noticed. Her pulse raced. Was the Minotaur here already?
She spotted the form again and her chest hitched. She’d recognize that muscled body anywhere. She’d spent the last two years studying it, and most of last night exploring it in great detail.
Axel was here. Her chest warmed. She wasn’t alone.
“Here,” Vernier said.
Mr. Ass jerked her around.
“You think the Minotaur will just appear out of thin air?” she said.
“No.” Vernier stepped forward and punched Nat in the belly. Hard.
She groaned and bent over. Shit, that really hurt. She bit her tongue. She knew Axel would go crazy, and she didn’t want him to reveal himself.
Nausea rose up and she fought it back. You’re okay. You’re okay. Then Mr. Ass grabbed her hair and her fury ignited.
She swiveled and kneed him between the legs. He made a strangled sound and dropped to his knees. His furious stare promised retribution.
Vernier grabbed her, swung her around, and gripped her chin hard enough to make her wince.
“Don’t make me kill you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Don’t put the blame on me. You’re a killer, and we all know it.”
He leaned closer and she smelled his nice cologne. It seemed wrong that a bad guy smelled good. Then she felt the hysterical need to laugh at her crazy thought.
“Don’t push your luck, Dr. Blackwell.”
A bellow—angry and harsh—echoed through the trees.
Goosebumps broke out on her skin, and Vernier smiled.
“I saw something over there,” one merc said, gripping his gun.
They swiveled and lifted their weapons.
“No, there,” another one barked.
They swiveled again. The bushes rustled, but then a bellow sounded from another direction.
“What the fuck is going on?” Vernier snapped.
Agitation wafted off them. Nat straightened, rubbing her aching stomach. God, a group of twitchy bad guys with guns was almost as scary as the Minotaur.
Then the beast came charging out of the trees.
Her heart lodged in her throat. Vernier shoved her forward. “Get the net and ropes ready.”
The Minotaur looked at Nat, then its red gaze shifted to the mercs.
Where the hell was Axel?
With another roar, the Minotaur moved forward. Somehow, it looked bigger and more muscular than before. It charged, picked up a merc, and tossed him into the air.
The man hit a tree trunk.
The beast tore through the other mercs. They fired shots wildly and with a small cry, Nat ducked.
“Fire the net!” Vernier yelled.
Thwap.
A black net flew out of a
launcher held by one merc. The Minotaur dodged. The net hit another merc, tangling around the man. The Minotaur roared, and Vernier stumbled back.
Ha, not so tough now. Nat fought a smile. Then the creature looked at her.
Uh-oh.
It strode toward her. She threw her arms up, but it gripped her waist and snatched her off her feet.
“No, put me down!”
It flung her over its brawny shoulder, then it turned and ran.
Shit.
She had to do something so Axel could find her. But what?
* * *
Axel ran through the trees heading in the same direction the Minotaur had gone. Where the hell had the Minotaur taken her? The damn thing had moved too fast for him to keep up.
He couldn’t see them anywhere and he stumbled to a stop. Fuck. He pulled on his hair.
Then he saw something sparkle on the ground.
He snatched the tiny object up and turned it over. Nat’s earring. It was the same one he’d watched her put in her ear that morning. He tucked the diamond into his pocket and kept walking.
Come on, mi cielo.
He spotted another glimmer and grabbed her second earring off the grass.
He came out of the greenspace and onto a sidewalk. Cars drove past, drivers oblivious to what was going on in their little part of London.
Scanning the buildings, he searched for any sign of her. How hard could it be to spot a gray-skinned man-bull, dammit?
Across the road, Axel saw what looked like affordable housing—simple apartment blocks and bland row houses. Shit, where did they go? He walked down the sidewalk, his gut tight. He had to find her. That damn monster was fixated on her.
If it hurt her…
Axel gritted his teeth. Then he spotted something in the center of the road.
A shoe.
He darted out between the cars and picked up the shoe. It was the same one that Nat had been wearing.
He smiled. That was his girl. He crossed the road and spotted her other shoe.
He walked a bit farther. No more clues. He looked up at the houses lining the road, and one squat, brick building that looked like a utility building of some sort.
Shit. Where are you, Nat? Suddenly, a noise crackled in his ear.
“Axel?”
“Brooks?” The man’s voice wasn’t clear, but Axel could hear the tech geek.
“Where are you? The team is trying to find you and Nat.”
“Is everyone okay?”
“Yeah. A little battered, a lot pissed.”
“The Hannibal Syndicate took Nat. I trailed them and they headed north.”
“How did you follow them?”
“Clung to the outside of their van.”
“Hell,” Brooks breathed.
“I wasn’t letting those bastards take her.”
“Where is she? She all right?”
Axel blew out breath. “The Minotaur grabbed her.”
“No,” Brooks breathed.
“I followed. She dropped clues for me to track. Her earrings and shoes.”
Brooks barked out a short laugh. “Our Nat, a regular little Gretel.”
“But I lost them. I’m on some street corner, and I have no idea where they went.”
“Where are you?”
Axel glanced at the street sign. “Brook Road. Across from some parkland.”
“Brook Road. Shit, you’re in Dollis Hill.”
Axel heard excitement in the man’s voice. “That mean something to you, Brooks?”
“Maybe. Hang on.”
Axel imagined him tapping on his keyboard. “Brooks—”
“Give me a sec. I’ve relayed your location to Lachlan. Team’s on the way.”
Axel swallowed. That was good, but until he had Nat back in his arms…
He’d never told her that he loved her. He might be broken, but she wanted his love, and she fucking deserved everything she wanted.
If he lost her…
His gut was as tight as hell.
“Yes!” Brooks yelled.
“What?”
“During the Second World War, Churchill built Cabinet War Rooms under the Treasury building in Westminster, so the government could continue through any bombings.”
Axel frowned. They were nowhere near Westminster. “So?”
“In secret, he also had an alternate cabinet war rooms bunker built. A backup outside the center of the city. It was codenamed the Paddock. Apparently, Churchill hated it, and only used it once.”
“Brooks, get to the point,” Axel said.
“It was built under the Post Office Research Station…on Brook Road in Dollis Hill.”
Axel’s pulse leaped. “There’s no Post Office building here.”
“It was demolished to make way for affordable housing—”
Heart pumping, Axel’s gaze fell on the squat brick building. “There’s an unmarked brick building here.”
“That’s it. The Paddock’s been abandoned for years, but it was a couple of levels of tunnels and rooms.”
“I need a way in, Brooks.”
“Okay, hang on…”
“Nat might not have any time.”
“Circle the building, you should see a door.”
Axel jogged around the ugly building and spotted a reinforced steel door. The door was ajar, the lock torn off.
“Found it. Door’s open.” He pulled out his borrowed SIG and flashlight.
Inside was plain concrete, and he started down the stairs.
The thin beam of light lit up the space. Water was dripping somewhere, and everything smelled old, damp, and decaying. He moved quietly and passed through an open steel door.
“I’m in.”
“Signal…not…can’t.”
Shit, he could barely hear Brooks. Axel moved into the corridor. Water glimmered on the floor, and the ceiling panels hung down in places. Several overturned chairs were propped against the wall.
He moved down the corridor. He peered into one room. It was filled with rusted equipment. The next room was lined with old cabinets, moldy papers spilling out of them.
He stepped over a puddle of water.
No wonder Churchill had hated the place. The bunker was creepy. Axel expected a rambling horde of zombies to appear at any moment.
He turned a corner and spotted footprints on the mucky floor. A large, bare one—definitely the Minotaur. Beside it was a smaller, daintier one. Nat.
“Axel?” The crackle of Lachlan’s voice.
Axel touched his ear. “I can hear you. Just.”
“En route…don’t…Hannibal Syndicate.”
“You’re breaking up, Lachlan. I’m underground in the old war room bunker. The Minotaur has Nat. I repeat, the Minotaur has Nat. And the Hannibal Syndicate was above ground. Get here fast, Lachlan.”
More crackling. “…on our way.”
Axel released a breath. Now, he needed to find Nat.
He heard several loud grunts and swiveled. He carefully picked his way down the corridor.
“Mark, I know you’re in there, somewhere.”
Nat’s pleading voice.
A low growl raised the hairs on Axel’s neck. He moved faster.
“Please. You’re Mark Kitchener. I can help you. Please.”
Axel crept closer and peered into a room. Nat was standing across from the Minotaur, holding out a hand to the damn thing.
She grabbed something off the floor, a long bit of metal, and moved it across the dirty floor. “Here, look.”
Axel frowned, then his eyebrows rose. She was drawing Minoan symbols on the floor, trying to communicate with the Minotaur.
A loud bang sounded down the corridor. “Spread out,” a French-accented voice said. “Find the asset.”
Faint emergency lighting flickered on in the corridors. Inside the room, the Minotaur growled.
“And the woman?” someone asked.
“Once the asset is secured, we don’t need her. Kill her.”
The Hannibal Syndicate was back. Axel ground his teeth together. And they’d just signed their own death warrants.
But first, Axel needed to get Nat away from the Minotaur.
And he couldn’t let these assholes take the Minotaur, either. He lifted his SIG.
Time to make a little mess.
Chapter Eighteen
She really didn’t want to die today. Nat edged across the room.
Kitchener watched her with an intense, predatory stare, his red eyes never looking away. She swallowed. He was panting, his clawed hands clenching and unclenching.
“Mark, do you understand me? I’m Natalie. An archeologist, like you.”
He didn’t even blink.
Nat crouched and swiped the metal bar she held through the muck on the floor again.
“We were at a conference in Greece.” She wrote some of the Minoan glyphs. “You were looking at Minoan artifacts.”
He crouched, staring at the symbols.
She wrote the symbol for bull, and the one for labyrinth, and he made a sound in his throat.
“Let me help you, Mark.”
“Ma-rk.”
She nodded. “Yes. Dr. Mark Kitchener.”
“Hun-ger.”
God. The muscles in his neck were straining, bulging under his dark skin. “I can help you. My team will help you.”
He shook his head, those massive horns catching her gaze.
“Hun-ger. Con-sume. Sur-vive.”
Uh, that didn’t sound good. “Please let me help you—”
The door crashed open and Axel rushed inside.
The Minotaur rose and growled.
Axel grabbed her hand and fired at the creature. As the Minotaur roared, Axel yanked her out the door.
“Run,” he said.
Ignoring the pain on her bare feet, she matched his pace. He fired behind them. She heard the crash of wood and plaster.
“Faster, Nat.”
Huffing, she sprinted around a corner. When she glanced back, she saw the Minotaur barreling down the corridor after them. It looked wild, and out-of-control.
“In here.” Axel pulled her into a room.
They ducked down and pressed against the wall. A large, sagging table dominated the space, with several overturned chairs on the floor around it.
Mission: Her Shield: Team 52 #7 Page 13