They approached the fencing through the woods, having left the vehicles parked on the side of the road a mile back. Lucy said the cameras were only half a mile out from the facility, but they were extra cautious and stopped a mile away. Once they were in range of the cameras, they moved more cautiously through the woods to make sure no one in the facility detected them.
They’d driven all night and arrived outside the facility a couple of hours after dawn. Kyle squinted against the sun filtering through the trees. Its rays stung his skin in a way they never had before. He recalled the guard he’d gunned down in the facility. The life he’d taken had left its mark on him, but it was worth it, and he would take more if necessary.
When they arrived at the facility, Kyle knelt in the woods to study the gate and the guards behind it. Half a dozen armed guards stood near the repaired main entrance, and another six stood outside the building.
Despite the hasty repairs to the fence, they still wouldn’t be able to get through it by charging at it, not without getting shot and possibly losing someone. And he would not let that happen. If he died saving her, then so be it, but he would not lose anyone else.
Once they saw all there was to see, they signaled to each other and backed away from the gate. They returned to the vehicles to wait for the help Declan and Nathan called in.
Kyle studied his black sneakers as he tried to keep the demon at bay. He’d argued against stopping, but his mom insisted he and Lucy needed clean clothes and shoes. She ran into the store to get supplies for them while they waited in one of the SUVs. It felt weird to be wearing clothes again, but he was glad for the protection the sneakers provided his feet.
The color on Kyle’s skin was deepening, and every beat of his heart felt like it was a hammer pounding against his temple. Never before had he felt so in touch with the demon part of his nature, but it was like a living, breathing monster inside him salivating to break free.
And soon, he would allow it to reign. He had to remain calm until then, but once their backup arrived, he would let the monster free, and he would do everything he could to get to her.
An hour later, twenty members of the Alliance, both hunters and vampires, pulled up in four black SUVs. They climbed out, and all gathered around to decide on the best way to break into the compound.
In the end, they agreed the best way in was the same way he got out. Though his parents argued against it, Kyle would lead the charge at the gate. He refused to let anyone else do it, and he also would not let anyone else in the vehicle with him.
The first vehicle to approach the gate would receive the brunt of the attack from the guards. He wouldn’t let anyone else be the center of their attention.
They all retreated to their vehicles, but before he could start the SUV, his dad tried to climb in with him. Kyle locked the door. His dad jerked on the handle, and Kyle shook his head. Resting his hand on Liam’s arm, Mike pulled him away from the vehicle.
Kyle watched in the rearview mirror as his adopted uncle navigated his dad toward the vehicle behind them. Mike pulled open the back door, and they both climbed inside. Ethan sat behind the wheel, and Ian was beside him; Julian, Declan, and Willow were also in the vehicle.
Abby remained standing beside one of the SUVs; she’d reluctantly agreed to stay behind. With a pale face and her hand rested on her growing belly, she watched the others. A member of the Alliance stayed with her; Kyle knew Brian wanted to stay with her, but he never said it. They needed him in there.
Kyle started the vehicle and studied the red and black color encompassing his hands as he flexed them on the wheel. Beneath his skin, the demon shifted and seethed as it thrummed like an ever-present electrical current through his veins.
It was angry and vengeful, and he was eager to let it have its way. He would not become a Savage. He would not save her only to become one of the things she hated, but he would make them pay for hurting her.
He shifted into drive and pulled onto the road. He kept his speed slow as he started toward the gate. In the woods, the newly arrived members of the Alliance approached the fence on foot. The people in the facility would never have any idea how many were bearing down on them until it was too late.
Once Kyle crashed into the gate, the Alliance would rush from the woods and enter the facility as the rest of the vehicles entered behind him. They hoped the distraction caused by the Alliance members would be enough to keep the guards focused on them while they went for the stairs closest to the woods and entered the facility that way.
He hoped their numbers would be enough to overwhelm their enemy.
When he topped a hill in the road, the gate came into view. His fangs lengthened, and the color in his hands deepened as saliva filled his mouth.
He pushed down on the accelerator, and the vehicle shot forward. The guards behind the gate lifted their guns and started firing. Bullets zinged off the front of the SUV, hit the windshield, and sent a spiderweb of broken glass across his vision.
Beside him, a puff of yellow stuffing shot into the air as one of the bullets broke through the glass and pummeled the passenger seat. Another sliced across his shoulder. The engine hummed as he pressed the accelerator to the floor.
He was only twenty feet away from the gate when the SUV behind him swerved to the side. Ethan raced up beside him. For a second, he met his older brother’s gaze before the gate drew their attention. This was not what he wanted, but he should have known his family wouldn’t let him take the brunt of this alone.
The impact of the vehicle hitting the gate jarred his arms and raced up them and into his shoulders. The airbag didn’t go off this time, but glass shattered, and thousands of pieces rained over him and the seat.
The guards shouted, and bullets peppered the vehicle. They tore apart the seats and embedded in the metal as he kept his foot on the gas. The twisted metal of the gate screeched as it dug into the vehicle and tore off the driver’s side mirror.
Ethan went through the gate at the same time as him. With his foot still on the accelerator, Kyle drove at the facility. He didn’t try to avoid the guards. They either got out of his way, or he killed them. It was as simple as that, and they understood as they scattered to avoid him. More bullets sprayed the side of the vehicle and shattered the back windshield.
One of the bullets slammed into his shoulder. He gritted his teeth and jerked the wheel to avoid plowing into the main building. Dirt and lawn flew up from the tires. It peppered the side of the vehicle and shot through the broken window to spray his face.
Ethan’s vehicle skidded to a halt only inches from his as they barely avoided colliding. Ethan shifted into reverse, jerked the wheel, and hit the gas again.
Kyle glanced in the rearview mirror as the other vehicles entered the facility at a high rate of speed. Along with those vehicles, the members of the Alliance also poured through the gate.
They drew the guards' attention away from the vehicles enough that the barrage of bullets stopped, and screams filled the air. Kyle didn’t know if those screams were coming from the Alliance members or the guards, and he didn’t stop to find out.
More guards would arrive soon, and they had to get into the facility before that happened. Heavily trained, the Alliance members could take care of themselves.
When he drove around the building's side, Ethan and the others followed, and the bullets hitting the vehicle stopped. Once around the back of the building, he headed toward the woods and the stairs hidden within.
He stopped the vehicle at the edge of the trees, threw it into park, and jumped out. “Is everyone okay?” he demanded as doors opened and closed around him.
“We’re all good,” Stefan replied.
“Same here,” David said.
“This way,” Lucy said as she sprinted for the woods.
He surveyed the others as they followed Lucy into the trees. Blood trickled from a cut on Ian’s forehead, and Charlie had a spreading bloodstain on her thigh, but it didn’t slow her. Lucy reached for the doors covering the stairs, but Kyle slapped his hand down on top of them before she could fling them open.
“I’ll go first,” he said.
“I know the way,” she protested.
“There’s only one way, and that’s down. I’ll go first.”
She hesitated before stepping away. “There’s cameras in the stairwell.”
“Will you be able to point them out?”
“Yes.”
“Then we’ll take them out as we descend. They’ll know we’re coming, but they won’t be able to watch us.” He looked around at the others. “Are you ready?”
“Always,” Willow said with a smile and touched the handle of the sword strapped to her back.
Kyle grasped one of the handles and threw open the doors. He ducked back when gunfire erupted from below.