entrance of the building. A large padlock lay in the cellular goo, and Brock motioned toward the battered steel door. It was slightly ajar, just a thin wedge of darkness behind it.
Kade shot Niko a look of question, waiting for the signal to act.
Nikolai shook his head, uncertain.
Something wasn't right here.
He heard a faint rumble from somewhere deep inside the place, a rumble he felt as a slight vibration in the soles of his feet. On the night's soft chill, he caught a whiff of something sweetly cloying, chemical. It was...kerosene?
The rumble got deeper, stronger. Like gathering thunder.
What the fuck is that? Kade hissed.
Niko smelled the tang of hot metal--
Oh, shit. He glanced at the other two warriors. Go! Move it! Go, go, go!
They all sprang into a dead run, hauling ass across the lot as the rumble became a roar. There was a deep percussion--sharp, violent--as the explosion erupted from within the bowels of the old building. Glass blew out from the top floor windows, shooting flames and thick black smoke in its wake.
And as the three of them watched in awe, the front door of the place banged open, tearing clean off its hinges. Not by the force of the blast, but by the will of a single inpidual.
Rolling orange fire silhouetted him from behind, backlighting the warrior's broad shoulders and casual, long-legged stride. As he strolled away from the inferno, the ends of his loose black coat winged out behind him like a cape befitting the prince of darkness himself.
Holy hell, Brock murmured. Tegan.
Niko shook his head, chuckling at the blatant awe in the newbies' faces. Not that it wasn't deserved. They didn't come much more impressive than Tegan, and this display was going to go down as legend, he was sure. Behind him now, the warehouse was engulfed in flames, throwing off heat like hell's own furnace. It was incredible, really, a thing of roaring, violent beauty. By the blas? flatness of Tegan's expression as he approached, he might as well have just come back from taking a piss.
Everything good in there, T? Niko quipped. You need backup or anything? Bag of marshmallows to roast over that little campfire you just started?
It's handled.
No shit, Niko replied, he and the other two warriors watching sparks erupt from the burning warehouse, a plume of fire reaching high into the night sky.
Tegan strode past them as cool as could be, giving neither excuse nor explanation. But then it was always that way with him. He was the ghost you never saw coming, death breathing down your neck before you even realized you were in the crosshairs.
He was never less than thorough in combat, but the annihilation he'd delivered to the Crimson lab was beyond anything Niko had ever seen the warrior do before. Based on the intel he had on this place, it was probably manned by half a dozen Rogues--all of them dead at Tegan's hand and a building that would be nothing but smoldering rubble in a couple of hours. If Niko didn't know better, he'd be tempted to call it personal. Glad we could be of assistance to you, man, Niko called after him, exhaling a wry curse.
Damn, that dude is cold, Brock remarked as Tegan disappeared into the darkness and the scattering flurry of snow.
He's ice, Niko said, glad as hell that the Gen One warrior was on their side. Come on, let's roll before the place starts swarming with humans.
Tegan walked back into the city alone, the scream of sirens wailing in the distance behind him. He didn't have to turn around to know that a fiery glow lit the night down near the Chelsea. He smirked into the darkness. No matter how much water the Revere FD threw on the old warehouse, there would be no saving it. Tegan had made sure there would be nothing left once the smoke finally cleared. He'd wanted the place torched, with a ferocity he hadn't felt in years.
Shit, it had been more than years since he'd known the kind of savagery that ran through his veins tonight. Centuries was more like it.
And the kicker was, it had felt damned good.
Tegan flexed his hands in the wintry bite of the evening air. He was still able to feel the pain he'd delivered on the Rogues tonight--the delicious horror that swamped the hearts of each one he had killed in the Crimson lab. He'd indulged in their anguish as the titanium sped through their blood, cooking them from