lower branches of the tree and pulled himself up fast, using sheer brute strength while the owl began darting in and out of the branches.
An agonized scream heralded the arrival of Diego to the location of the original squirrel man. The leader squeezed off a couple of shots toward Diego and leapt for the next tree. He yelled as the owl tore a gash down his back before he was able to get into a protected shelter of branches where he could fend off the bird’s repeated attacks.
Rubin was up the tree and into the next, climbing higher, keeping the pressure on the leader, not wanting to give him a chance to turn the rifle on Diego or the owl again. The great horned owl helped by continuously flapping its wings and darting in and out of the branches trying to get at the man with beak or talons.
Without warning, thunder rolled overhead, a continuous, ominous booming so loud the ground shook. Rubin, not a man given to cursing, knew, once again, the enemy had backup.
Jonquille. Are you safe?
I can handle a little lightning. They’re trying to distract you both. They don’t want Diego to get any information from the one on the ground. I don’t know why, but we seem to be connected in some way. I killed the assassin the owl tore up. He was trying to get to Diego and the other one. He was mostly dead anyway. The persistence he showed told me the one Diego is questioning has important information.
Lightning crackled in the dark clouds directly over Diego’s position. Rubin knew Jonquille was very close to his brother and the downed would-be assassin. He glanced down and saw a very small figure leap up from the darker brush. She looked like a tiny fairy, a true lightning bug, dancing like a firefly might at sunset across the tops of the grasses as she raced away from Diego and the man he interrogated. Her hair glowed, a wild display of platinum blond strands standing up like a halo around her head as she threw back the hood of her jacket to attract the lead stroke from the clouds.
Rubin’s breath caught in his throat. Energy in the form of sparks circled her small waist, rib cage and outstretched arms and flashed around her legs as she ran, giving more and more the appearance of her dancing in the air. His heart sank as he felt the charging in the air increase.
Stop, Jonquille. You’re playing right into their hands. They came for you. This is all about you. They’ve pulled you away from us. Go back toward Diego. Reverse directions. I can direct the strike away from him.
He knew it was too late. Lightning forked across the sky, cloud to cloud, and then the lead stroke found its path straight to her. He sent out the intercept to direct the bolt away from Diego, but it didn’t matter. The target wasn’t his brother. The target all along had been Jonquille. The team was desperate to acquire her. Casualties didn’t matter, only getting Jonquille mattered.
The dart gun was silent, but he saw it hit her and she went down hard. Fast. One moment standing and the next dropping to the ground. Whatever they used was instantaneous. Rubin leapt from the branch he was on, although he doubted he would get there in time to stop the recovery team from taking Jonquille. He was too far away.
Kill him, Diego, and get to her. Kill as many as you can. At least we can handicap them as they’re bringing her off the mountain, he ordered.
He ordered the owl to kill the prey in the tree at all costs. He knew the female raptor would never give up. It would be a battle of life or death between predator and prey. She would keep at him until she ripped every square inch of skin off him. Once on the ground, Rubin ran full out, using every enhanced bit of animal DNA he had to aid him.
He heard the bark of Diego’s rifle twice and saw two men go down, but it seemed as if there were at least ten to fifteen men swarming around Jonquille. He counted eight lying prone in a semicircle around her, guns pointed toward Diego’s location. These weren’t rifles. They weren’t semiautomatics. They looked as if they were new-age weapons built to take half the mountainside with them when fired.
Pull back, Diego. Get out of there fast.
The men