Figures appeared in the doorway, freezing us in place, as six soldiers stepped through the frame, guns held in front of them. Fanning out, they advanced cautiously into the room, sweeping their weapons in tight arcs, the tactical lights on the bottom of their guns piercing the darkness.

Garret drew back. His eyes were hard, that blank soldier’s mask slipping into place as he melted into the shadows and out of sight. I darted behind a scaffold, then hunkered down as thin beams of light swept the opposite wall, making my heart pound.

Okay, how was I going to do this? I took a deep breath to slow my heartbeat, and gazed around the room. Despite its vastness, it was quite cluttered. There were a lot of tight quarters and places to hide, where the soldiers would be at a disadvantage if I could get close. In fact, this was a lot like my training with Lilith, having men with guns chase me around a crowded warehouse while I figured out how to “kill” them. Of course, I’d “died” most of those times, too, shot down with paintball guns, as the soldiers had become increasingly aware of attacks from up top.

Up top…

Crouching down, I stripped out of my clothes and left my shorts, top and underwear at the base of a pillar. Any modesty or embarrassment I might’ve felt was swallowed by the need to stay alive, and besides, no one could see me in this darkness, not even Garret. In another circumstance, I might not have worried about ruining my clothes, but I didn’t have my Viper suit on, and if we did make it out of here, I did not want to run through the streets of Las Vegas stark naked.

The soldiers were halfway into the room now, their lights creeping ever closer as they eased forward. Hurrying to the nearest scaffolding tower, I began to climb, feeling cold iron, rust and cobwebs under my fingers and the soles of my feet. When I reached the top, I crept silently along the wooden planks, keeping my head low, until I was almost directly above a pair of soldiers and could peer down at the tops of their heads. I couldn’t see Garret, but I knew he was close, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. I would be ready when he did.

As I held my breath, muscles coiling and tingly with the energy right before a Shift, my foot brushed a loose nail on the edge of the wood. It fell and pinged off the cement, a tiny sound that might as well have been a gong in the silent room. The soldiers below immediately swept their beams straight up the scaffolding. My heart lurched, and I ducked down, pressing my cheek to the boards, as my perch was illuminated in light.

“Did you hear…?”