It had been so fast that he thought he’d made a mistake, but Gerhardt’s Benelli shotgun was lying in a puddle. There was no sign of the rest of him.

“Halt!” Klaus shouted as he flipped up his goggles. “Lights on!”

Grimm Berlin instantly complied. Scalding light filled the broken forest.

Klaus ran to the side, trying to get a better angle. His man had to be there somewhere, but there was nothing. Then Klaus realized that the puddle was draining through a hole in the floor. There was another level beneath what had been crushed by the collapsing upper stories. Gerhardt had been pulled through the floor. “Franks is below us.”

There was a gasp and a thud. Klaus spun around just in time to be blinded by one of his men’s flashlights, then the light jerked wildly to the side and disappeared as the Hunter was dragged around a corner. Still seeing stars, Klaus rushed after him, but tripped and stumbled as his foot caught a loose board. He crashed into the wall, jabbing his shoulder on an exposed nail. Klaus cursed, pushed himself off the wall, and went to the corner.

His men were following. “Stay back and cover each other!” Klaus snapped. He went around the corner, ready to fire.

Schwarz was flat on his back. There was no sign of his attacker. Klaus knelt next to him and felt for a pulse. The Hunter was still alive, but unconscious.

There was a gunshot. A man screamed in pain. That time it had come from the Hunters sent to the right. Franks was a fucking ghost. “Everyone fall back! Get the hell out of here, now!” Klaus shouted into the radio. “Go. Hurry!”

Klaus let his carbine hang from the sling while he pulled Schwarz up by the straps of his armor. Schwarz was bigger than he was, but there was a certain measure of extra strength a man could find when fear boiled his blood. He got Schwarz into a fireman’s carry and started back the way they’d come.

Most of his men were ahead of him, doing as he’d ordered. Klaus stumbled along beneath Schwarz’s weight, the weapon-mounted light banging back and forth against his chest, casting wild shadows. One of his men had lingered to cover him.

A giant figure materialized in front of him. Before Klaus could react, one massive fist slammed into the side of his face. Lights and pain exploded inside Klaus’ skull. He toppled backwards and Schwarz crashed into the floor. The other Hunter raised his weapon, but Franks was impossibly quick, and the Hunter’s hand disappeared in a red spray as a blade cleaved through his wrist. The gun and the hand that had been holding it went sailing into the darkness before Franks kicked the crippled Hunter through a wall.

Despite being disoriented from the blow, Klaus went for his carbine, only to have a massive boot slam into his chest, ribs snapped, but worse it pinned the rifle down. Klaus immediately reached for his sidearm but stopped when a cold piece of steel was pressed hard against his throat.