Maze looked back at the body he’d taken down and licked his muzzle as though realizing he needed to clean up a little before he went to his Meg.
He walked slowly toward her outstretched arms, holding his head down just enough to show submissiveness.
He stepped right into her hands and licked them before nuzzling his furry, muscular body into her embrace and huffing as though to say, “The things I do for you!”
“Thank you, Maze,” Meg whispered into his fur, finding comfort in the familiar musky scent of her best friend.
Alik was gathering weapons from the metasoldiers’ bodies. “I’m glad you’re here, too, buddy. But if you’re here, where’s Mom?”
Maze whined in response.
Alik and Meg exchanged worried looks.
“I’m going to guess Evan’s responsible for the blackout,” Meg scowled.
“You didn’t really think he was going to leave us, did you?” Alik asked even as he yanked off what was left of his T-shirt so he had easy access to his pockets where he was shoving weapons and clips taken from the metasoldiers.
“I wish to God he had obeyed,” Meg frowned as she peeked out the darkened window looking for movement.
“I’m hoping Mom stayed on the outside of the gates and just sent Maze in to give us backup.”
Meg looked over at her brother, one brow raised skeptically.
Alik caught her look and frowned. “I know, but a guy can hope, right?”
The siblings peeked out the one small window of the room, trying to see something, anything that would give them an idea of what was going on outside.
“Where is everyone else? Did they accomplish their part of the mission?” Alik posed.
“Give me a sec, and I’ll see what I can find out.” Meg rolled her head, trying to work out the extreme tension that had taken up residence in every muscle in her shoulders. She leaned her sweat-soaked forehead against the cool of the sickly green wall beside the window trying to ground herself as she sent out her empath feelers across the European night searching for the others.
“Slider turned traitor and Gavil was killed,” Meg blurted from reading Creed, her strongest connection.
Alik’s face paled, but he held his tongue, giving his sister quiet so she could concentrate.
“Williams escaped with Slider.” Meg scowled as though she were editing the venom she read from the evil doctor.
“Evan is with Creed and Farrow downstairs. They’re trying to find us.”
“And Mom—oh no, Alik. Mom’s in the compound.”
Maze, who had been sitting silently at Meg’s feet, pressing his strong back against her legs, whined painfully at hearing the word Mom.
“We have to go to her.” Alik turned, walking quickly toward the door.
“Alik…we also have to go back to the basement.” Meg looked torn.
Alik’s eyes seethed with determination. “Damn right! Let’s get the hell out of here!”
Meg ran in front of her weakened brother, shielding him with her body before looking back over her shoulder offering a gentle nod. “Me first, little brother.”
Then to Maze she added, “You watch our backs, Maze. Got it?”
The faithful coyote growled in affirmation as he positioned himself behind Alik.
Meg breathed slowly and used her gift to feel everything around them. Her lids fluttered closed from the effort.
“Follow close at my back, brother. Williams isn’t far and he’s very much aware that he’s lost sight of us with the power shut off. He’s sent for backup, and he’s pissed.”
Meg glanced back at her brother, who nodded understanding. She ducked back into the hallway. Her eyes registered the emergency lights glowing around her, but she kept running through the eerily lit corridor back toward the stair well.
The metasoldiers had been having too much fun beating the crap out of their captive, but the levels of adrenaline coursing through Alik’s thick veins deadened any pain.
Instinctively they hugged the walls as they made their way at a fast clip. Alik followed Meg without thinking; the Glock he’d taken from one of the soldiers in his massive hands, cocked and loaded. Meg flung the stairwell door open and the brother and sister bolted down the stairs.
Time seemed to stand still when Alik saw Meg stop abruptly at the door that would release them to the first floor searching for emotions on the other side.
He took the moment to work on breathing through the pain ripping through his skull from the multiple whacks to the head he’d sustained compliments of the overzealous metasoldiers. His vision was beginning to waver.
“I feel Evan, Creed and Farrow,” Meg whispered anxiously. “But they’re not alone. How are you holding up?” She turned and locked eyes with her brother, trying to assess his ability to fight.
A flash of ferocity boiled in Alik, forcing his visual disturbances to right for a moment as he stared back at his fearless sister.
“I’m good. Let’s go.”