by Anya Nowlan
It took a complicated procedure to activate the vents again and the wolves must have realized that they didn’t have enough time and enough firepower to go through Shifter Squad Nine. Had they known that the majority of the squad was predisposed downstairs and Price and Prowler wouldn’t do anything to set Amy’s life in danger… well, things might have been different.
“One fucking step and she gets it,” the man hissed. “Drop your weapons.”
“Yeah, I don’t think so,” Price growled, crouching back in time with shots whizzing over his head.
As if either of the Renard twins would ever trust a goddamn Arctics.
They won’t shoot her. She’s leverage.
As if reading his mind, the five remaining Arctics’ peeled out of the room with Amy being pushed in front of them. Price popped back up and managed to hit the last man out in the shoulder, but it was too little, too late. The click that locked the door sounded like a death sentence.
A death sentence for Amy.
Prowler’s eyes met his brother’s, pure gold just like his.
“We need to get her back,” Prowler said.
Price was already running for the door, screaming bloody murder.
Twenty-One
Amy
“I’m going to dissect you like a frog at the end of all of this,” Amy spat as she was being shoved down a rope ladder and onto a boat, waiting by The Pearl Princess’ bow.
“Sure you will, princess,” Jorge commented, climbing down right after her.
While Amy had at least three guns trained at her at any one time, Jorge was like one of the guys. Well, one of the guys that no one really wanted around, but regardless of that, still one of the guys.
The fox shifter drew some scoffing looks from the handful of Arctics operatives that had made it out of there, along with two men in obvious resort wear, who had to be the remaining scientists.
Amy had to wonder if Shifter Squad Nine had gotten the rest of them or if they were still scattered on the cruise ship, waiting for their inevitable demise. It was clear that anyone who wasn’t on the boat by the time it left would be left behind. With nothing but endless ocean around, there wouldn’t be anywhere to run when Shifter Squad Nine decided to clear the place of any unwanted pests.
When the last of the six commandos had boots down on the boat, the engine was turned on immediately and the boat roared off, peeling away from The Pearl Princess.
“Sit down,” one of the men growled at Amy, shoving her back so she ended up seated on one of the narrow planks that acted as a seat. “And shut up.”
“Or what?”
“Or we shoot you,” one of the scientists offered with a droll smile. “That’s how it usually goes, doesn’t it, Captain?”
Amy’s hands were rolled into fists. Her ammo belt had been the first thing removed from her and her handgun right along with it. All she had at this point were her fists and her rage, which felt more impotent by the minute.
I hope they’re okay, she thought, giving her ship one more desperate look while thinking about the Renard twins.
She could hope that they were. From what she could tell, the Arctics guys had not expected any action at all. In fact, it seemed that they’d wanted to send their soldiers in for one quick day of lounging around in suites, and then a night mission without expecting any resistance at all.
A thought occurred to her and she frowned.
“Were you going to release the… liquid into the vents the whole time?” Amy asked.
“Of course,” one of the commandos said with a scoff. “There would be no use leaving behind potential witnesses.”
The scientist who was sitting next to Amy seemed to puff up immediately.
“What!? You’re saying that we were going to be exposed to the same gas and… and you would have left us there?” he demanded.
The commando, his blue eyes shining with mirth, gave both Amy and him a toothy smile.
“Doc, what sort of value do you think you would have had to us without showing us whether your improvements actually made anything better? And if we had the formula, then why would we need any of you to begin with?”
The scientist shared a pale-faced look with the man next to him and Amy could practically hear them swallowing dryly.
“So… so the only reason we’re here is because we didn’t get the formula to you… because of the interference?”
“Yes,” came the simple answer, and even Amy’s stomach knotted at that.
The Firm was cruel and callous, but it never played bingo so easily with thousands of lives. At least not as far as Amy knew… though she was beginning to wonder how much was actually revealed to her about the inner workings of the company.
The Firm framed itself as an organization of soldiers for hire, but over the years, Amy had begun noticing that it was taking on only the jobs that seemed to interest the higher ups. It was as if they were allowing themselves to be funded while they were gearing up for… well, she didn’t know what.
At another time, it would have made for an interesting mental exercise, pondering about it. Right now though?
Amy was pretty sure she was minutes from ending up at the bottom of the ocean with a bullet in her head. That took precedence over thinking about how the world was going to hell in a handbasket.
“So what are you going to do now?” she asked quietly, meeting Jorge’s gaze.
“We’re going to get rid of the witnesses. And your little friends,” he offered, shrugging his narrow shoulders smugly.
Amy bristled with anger and worry. His weasely face was absolutely begging for a bruising but she knew she couldn’t get across the five feet of distance between them without ending up dead on the floor. While it might have been worth it at another time, she had her babies to think about.
As if on cue, one of them kicked again, and Amy hunched over a little. Still, curiosity got the best of her.
“How are you going to do that? Your gas won’t go through the ship. Your plan was ruined.”
“Oh, there are other ways of getting rid of defenseless cruise ships,” Jorge offered, pointing at something looming in front of the boat as it cut through the low waves.
Amy looked where he was pointing and at first, she couldn’t see a thing. As her eyes got used to the darkness though, she finally saw what Jorge had been pointing at.
A submarine.
A god damn submarine, hanging out in international waters, probably more than ready to shoot a couple of torpedoes at The Pearl Princess.
Amy’s vision swam and she couldn’t quite pinpoint whether it was a haze of anger or dread that clouded her vision. Could have been a little bit of both.
“I can’t fucking believe you,” she ground out. “There are thousands of innocent people there. They’ve done nothing to you!”
“It doesn’t matter,” Jorge said. “Fuel to the fire. We get more publicity and the added bonus of getting rid of your friends. They’re Firm, aren’t they? Just like you.”
She wouldn’t answer and Jorge scarcely seemed to care anyway.
Amy was stunned by the answer, though. She looked back at The Pearl Princess, glittering in lights, proud, big and seemingly so mighty. And she knew it would only take one good hit to take the whole ship out and probably cause the deaths of most, if not all, of the passengers on board.
Even as they had walked through the ship towards the upper decks, from where they’d climbed onto the small transport ship, the Arctics agents had spared no bullets when it came to clearing the way. A few unlucky passengers had gotten shot, despite Amy’s pleading to leave them out of it.
For the most part, it seemed that the werewolves enjoyed what they were doing. They didn’t shoot to kill, they shot to hurt. That seemed to be the vilest thing of all. Killing someone and making them needlessly suffer sat on two opposite extremes for Amy and while she could understand the former in some cases because of her profession, the latter was hardly ever called for.
Though,
frankly, she would have liked to make every single person on the boat with her right now go through their own personal version of hell.
The boat came up to the side of the submarine and the hatch was opened on it, a couple men climbing out to meet their companions.
“Is this it?” one of them asked, critically considering the amount of people returning.
“We had… complications,” the most talkative commando commented drily, as he was shoving the scientists into the waiting hands of the men on the submarine.
“Uh-huh. So I assume Plan B is in order?” one of them asked, receiving a nod in return.
He turned away from Amy and spoke into his walkie-talkie, confirming something about a firing pattern.
Amy’s heart sank.
With the scientists safely on board the submarine, the engine of the boat was finally shut off. It was then that Amy and all the werewolves heard it – the low, rumbling sound of another boat approaching.
“Is that one of ours?” one of the commandos asked, frowning.
“I don’t think so,” Jorge commented, scowling as well.
It was Amy who realized what was happening first. When an unprovoked smile spread over her lips, Jorge picked up on the reality of the situation as well.
“It’s… it’s those fucking guys,” he gasped, eyes going wide. “It has to be!”
“You’re damn right it is,” Amy said, pride and hope blooming in her.
“Okay then. Scramble,” the head commando called, motioning for everyone to get onto the submarine.
“Wait. What do we do with her? We don’t need her anymore, right?” Jorge asked, narrowing his beady eyes and turning to look at Amy.
“So get rid of her,” came the short answer, with a handgun being slipped to Jorge.
He considered it for a moment and as Amy’s smile faltered, Jorge’s seemed to burn brighter than the sun.
Oh my god… This can’t be the end…
“Jorge,” she said, holding up her hands as they both stood, curious eyes of the remaining commandos considering them. “You don’t have to do this.”
“Of course I do, Captain,” he said mockingly, training the gun on her head.
Exactly when Amy was expecting him to pull the trigger, a shot rang over their heads, whizzing past. Jorge gasped and Amy took her chance, tackling the man. They went overboard together and before Amy could grab for the gun, it flew out of his hand and disappeared in the dark waters.
It didn’t matter. Amy grabbed hold of Jorge as he tried to struggle upwards and out of the water, kicking and shoving at her so she would let him go. Holding on tight, she kicked her legs hard, swimming as fast as she could away from the submarine. A second later, her initial instinct became truth – they were shooting at them.
Rifle fire split the water, silvery trajectories of bullets cutting into the murky depths. Jorge was slowing her down, but she was not about to let him go and allow him to get away so easily. Though his friends were shooting at him as much as they were at her, a part of her was worried that if he popped up, they’d still haul him onboard and take him to safety.
He didn’t deserve safety.
I have to make it, she thought.
As soon as that thought had crossed her mind, pain rippled through her like a shockwave as a bullet dug into her thigh.
Twenty-Two
Price
“Come on,” Price hissed, more at the boat than anyone else.
He was manning the helm as they sped over the waves, the speedboat jumping up and down with each crossing. Prowler was in the front of the small boat, gripping his rifle, though he was already in a wet suit. Thor was right next to him, helping him scan the waters.
They couldn’t turn on the spotlight for fear of being found out by the fuckers who had taken Amy, knowing that she’d be kicked overboard if they did so, and probably with a bullet through her head. Running the engine as loud and hard as Price was already provided a problem, but they couldn’t avoid that.
We have to find her.
“Anything?” he called, practically roaring over the sound of the engine so his brother and Thor would hear him.
Thor shook his head and Price slicked his tongue across his teeth grimly. It had taken them a few minutes to get the boat assembled and in the water. It was one of the many pieces of gear they’d planted on the cruise ship before the mission, one that Price had entirely not expected to need to use. Now, the damn thing seemed to be the only thing standing between them and Amy’s certain death.
The rest of the squad was still on The Pearl Princess, hunting down the Arctics that had been left behind. Most of the damn werewolves were dead already, but not quite all of them.
Thankfully, one of the deckhands had seen the direction in which the boat with the terrorists had left and now Price could only hope the kid had been right. The small sonar system he had on the boat didn’t have that great of a range and he didn’t expect it to find much. So when the loud ping of it seemed to almost rattle through Price, he jerked back momentarily.
“What was that?” Prowler growled, looking back.
“It’s… something,” Price answered with a frown, turning the recovery boat in the direction of the ping.
The distance between them wasn’t too great, only a couple of minutes of sailing. Suddenly, Thor’s hand shot up and Price turned down the revs on the engine. It was then that they could hear it.
Gunfire.
Prowler looked over his shoulder again and Price could see the way his brother’s eyes flashed gold. They both knew what shots meant – Amy was still alive. And putting up a fight.
When there was almost no distance between the target and the boat Price was captaining, he finally saw what the damn thing was.
“Holy shit,” he muttered, seeing the bright blasts of machinegun fire spit off the submarine as the last commandos crawled into its protective hull.
As soon as they were as close as they could get without ending up inadvertently on top of the submarine, Price cut the engine.
“Amy!” he yelled, his voice echoing in the emptiness. “Amy!”
“They’re goin’ to blow up the fuckin’ ship,” Thor said suddenly, as the submarine started slowly descending into the black waters.
Price’s attention snapped to the sniper and Prowler’s did the same. The realization rippled through both of them at the same time, knowing that Thor was right. That was exactly the kind of crazy bullshit the Arctics would pull.
Price looked over his shoulder. He could barely see the twinkle of The Pearl Princess’ lights, but the distance was nothing to a submarine like that. One torpedo, maybe two, and the cruise ship would be nothing but a memory.
“We need to stop it,” Thor growled, tossing his gun down on the bottom of the boat. “Where the fuck is Rio when you need him?”
“Right here,” Prowler said, holding up the bag Rio had given him. “Come on!”
Before Prowler and Thor went over the side and into the water, Prowler gave Price a pleading look.
I know, brother, I know.
Price put on every light the boat had just as the submarine disappeared under the water. Thor and Prowler would have to swim like hell to make it to it before it got out of reach. Price? Well, he had a much bigger problem.
Where are you, baby?
Closing his eyes, Price let out a breath and focused for a moment. A pull between a shifter and his mate was so strong that at times, it could bring them together over vast distances. While theirs was not quite ‘official’ yet, Price couldn’t deny that he’d always gravitated to Amy. This time, he needed it to work more than ever.
He didn’t hesitate when he felt something stir within him. In a flash, he jumped over the side as well and into the icy water. It kicked like a mule, but Price didn’t care. With powerful strokes, he swam a couple dozen feet from the boat and then dove, holding his breath.
He could barely see a thing, but the moment he could taste blood in the back of his mouth, he k
new he was heading in the right direction. Water seemed to part ahead of him as his eyes turned pure gold and the wolf fought its way to the surface. Though having spent what seemed like a lifetime in the Navy, Price had never particularly loved water. No wolf did. But that meant little to nothing right now.
When his hands closed around Amy, he thought that he was becoming delirious. She didn’t move, but Jorge definitely did, and she was holding onto him like an anchor. If she was going down, she was clearly intending to take him with her.
Good girl.
Price grabbed hold of Amy and spun the three of them around, heading towards the surface more out of instinct than anything else. It was all completely black around him, so directions made no sense. When their heads popped up over the surface, Price gasped in air and Jorge did the same.
“That crazy bitch,” the fox shifter stuttered, prying Amy’s hands off of him.
“Amy!” Price said, already swimming towards the bright lights of the boat, floating on the waves. “Amy, baby, come on,” he whispered, desperation mingling in him with dizzying urgency.
Jorge followed at his own pace. Price couldn’t give a shit about him. He could stay there and drown for all the werewolf cared.
They reached the boat in what felt like forever, but couldn’t have been more than maybe a minute since popping up on the surface. As soon as Price put a hand over the side, two strong arms were there to meet him, hauling Amy up. Thor reached a hand to help Price in as well and then he picked Jorge up by the scruff and basically threw him in.
Price wasn’t sure how long it had been since he went in the water. Long enough for Thor and Prowler to get back, obviously. The fact that it felt like a lifetime had gone past since he first spotted Amy in the water didn’t help any.
“You stay in your li’l corner there or I’ll make sure you go in the water again and this time you’re not comin’ up again,” Thor growled, grabbing his rifle and giving Jorge one of those looks that put the fear in god in rats like him.