every fucking thing down and override the locks. Open access bay V3. That’s the one they brought him in, right?”
Erik hesitated for a moment. “Yes, but Charlie—”
“He knows the route he was brought in, Erik. I don’t know how, but he knows. I’m telling you he’s going the exact route he would have been brought in through.”
“Shit! This is worse than I thought. Okay, Charlie, opening access bay V3. I hope to hell you know what you’re doing. It’s not too late for me to cut you off and tranquilize him manually.”
She squeezed her eyes shut. It was tempting to accept that offer and bring the situation under control.
“Negative,” she said hoarsely, her throat closing with fear. Though she was sure that he would eventually leave her behind, she didn’t know what condition she would be left in. She was going to bank on the fact that he hadn’t harmed her yet. “You need to keep watch behind the control monitors and make sure the guard you knocked out doesn’t wake up and alert the entire facility. We only have one shot at this.”
“Fuck. Okay, okay,” he sighed.
“Mia, did you copy all of that?” Charlie asked. Please, she prayed silently to herself.
“Copy, Charlie,” Mia replied. “It is only a short distance away along my usual perimeter route. I’ll put in the codes in ten minutes. You need to be here around that time. The code will only stay active on the airlock for five minutes. Hopefully your new boyfriend doesn’t get lost on the way.”
“Understood, Mia. Thanks.”
“Be safe, Charlie,” her friend whispered before her line closed.
“Jace?”
“Already ahead of you, doll!” he replied cheerfully into his comm. “Ben’s kicked over the hornet’s nest.”
“Hurry up and get back,” came Doug’s gruff voice before he too dropped out of the link.
Charlie closed her eyes for a moment—the sudden silence in their private link overwhelming—and prayed to every god she ever held dear as she felt the male burst forward into the bay. There would be a stationed guard; there was always a stationed guard inside the loading bays. She wanted to squeeze her eyes shut and not watch but she forced her eyes open. She had to be aware and accountable for everything that transpired. She shared in the responsibility for the deaths she knew would come.
She saw the guard, his back to them as they entered. It would be so easy to shout out a warning to him and save him, but that would defeat the purpose and this entire thing would have been for nothing. She swallowed as the alien bounded forward on silent paws. The guard turned at the last moment, his eyes widened and his mouth gaped in a scream of terror as the alien collided with him.
The bloodcurdling scream was cut short, but the sound imprinted on her mind and seemed to echo through her helmet. Her stomach twisted. To her surprise, she had recognized the man as she caught a glimpse of his profile seconds before his face had morphed into an expression of horror. The asshole who had grabbed at her.
Guilt surged at the satisfaction she felt that fate had set him—rather than any other—in her path. She shouldn’t be pleased that blood sprayed as claws raked deep while one of the alien’s huge fists knocked him unconscious. She only caught a glimpse of the guard dropping to the ground as blood splattered over the visor of her helmet, but she hoped he was found in time to save his life.
The alien ran straight for the closed doors, but drew to a halt when the door at the end of the bay slid open. Charlie felt his growl vibrate through her body even as it sounded just over her head. He paced back and forth in front of the open door, snarling to himself in what definitely sounded like a coarse, guttural language. She would never have a hope of pronouncing a word of it, but he was actually speaking. And quite suspiciously, she wagered.
“Please just go through,” she whispered fervently.
His head jerked around, his nostrils flaring. Even the creepy green metal ball that took the place of his left eye seemed to spin faster as he looked around. Something must have finally convinced him that going through was the smart thing to do because he surged forward, her breath catching at the sudden force of his movement.
He was raw, rippling power. His every action conveyed it.
The alien in the enclosure had been captivating and beautiful