all the way around to face the fenced-in corner of the little airport. The closest pack of Half Breeds made it to the car, only to be forced back by Nadya’s MAC-10. Bullets thumped against their bodies while some of the rounds sparked against the pavement and ricocheted into another werewolf’s face. Some of the creatures stumbled and a few of them yelped, but the pack collected itself and kept moving.
“Last reload,” Nadya said as she slapped a fresh magazine into her weapon.
“We just need to make it to the plane,” Gunari insisted. “There’s medicine, ammunition, and bigger guns there.”
“Maybe you should have brought that stuff along in the first place,” Paige chided. “Could have come in handy right about now.”
Firing out his window, he replied, “Now I see why your partner was so quick to hand himself over to the police. Talking to them must be much more pleasant.”
The airport was close enough for them to smell the engine fumes. Behind them, Half Breeds swarmed through Atoka. The scars on Paige’s palms were alive with fiery pain that she had to ignore. She’d been there when Liam laid siege to Kansas City and this was already so much worse. No matter how badly she wanted to charge into the thick of it, she knew that would only add more bodies to the pile.
As she got close enough to spot the Gulfstream, werewolves darted in from the far side of the airstrip, leapt over the chain-link fence surrounding the airport, and even stampeded through the little hangar and offices. Paige gripped the wheel and lowered her head as if she meant to butt it against the wall of thick fur and solid muscle closing ranks in front of her.
“Can you get reinforcements from the Skinners?” Gunari asked.
“I . . . don’t know,” Paige told him through gritted teeth. “Just get to the weapons in that plane and clear a path to get the hell out of here. We’ll worry about the rest later.”
Lunging from the backseat, Nadya said, “How could you not know? We can’t let Drina die for nothing!”
“We don’t even know if we will escape,” Gunari cut in. He nodded toward the Gulfstream and said, “Get us as close as you can. Do you think you can fend them off long enough for at least one of us to get inside?”
A row of seven Half Breeds fanned out to block the Mazda’s path. They were the newer brand of terror, displaying longer claws and tusks that curved out to frame their faces in sharpened bone.
“Sure,” Paige said.
One of the bigger werewolves howled and the others sang along even as the Mazda plowed straight through them.
Paige and the Amriany were knocked against the car’s interior and bounced against the roof as windows shattered and steel bent around them. The car was damaged even further when the stubborn Half Breeds hung on after being hit and shredded the Mazda as if it had been constructed from wet toilet paper. After skidding to a stop within ten yards of the private jet, Paige said, “This is as close as I can get.”
“Good enough,” Gunari replied. “Let’s go.”
“Leave me here,” Milosh said.
Both passenger side doors were open. Gunari stood with his feet planted and his arms raised in a two-handed firing stance. The .44 sent a pair of blazing rounds into an approaching Half Breed before he shifted his aim and fired again.
“We’re not leaving you,” Nadya said. “You’re wounded.”
“I know. That’s why I should stay to make sure the plane gets away.”
“We’re all getting out of here,” Paige said. “But only if we stop dicking around in the car. Get to some bigger guns and get that fucking plane ready!”
Just as Milosh seemed ready to take Gunari’s hand and allow himself to be pulled from the car, Nadya pointed the MAC-10 out her window at a mass of dark red fur that had leapt over the small airport building. Minh landed less than twenty yards away, bullets pounding against her coat like rain on a heavy tarp. She opened her mouth to roar angrily and then surged forward. Bullets struck her face, but none of them so much as chipped a fang. Then, less than a second before she could close the distance between herself and the Amriany, Minh was struck in the side of the neck by a blade thrown by Milosh. Charmed steel dug through the protective layers of fur and lodged into her flesh. She twisted away to