“Yeah.” The flashlight swept back and forth along the plank. I took shallow breaths and thought invisible thoughts. “I think it might be up there—”

A muffled shout rang out from another corner of the room, followed by the sound of a scuffle, a body being slammed against a wall, a burst of gunfire. The light vanished as the two soldiers whirled their guns in the direction of the noise, and I leaped to my feet.

Here we go, I thought, and plunged off the scaffold, feeling my body explode midpounce. I landed on one of the soldiers in full dragon form, driving him into the concrete, and turned on the other with a roar, blasting him with fire as he spun around. He cringed back, tongues of flame snapping around him, but apparently his armor was fire resistant because the flames didn’t stop him from raising his gun and firing. I ducked behind a pillar, sparks erupting around me, and bounded into the shadows. The soldier backed away, firing short bursts and shouting to his companions, his light sweeping wildly back and forth. His armor still burned, though the flames were slowly dying, and he looked like a torch in the darkness.

Something emerged from the shadows behind him, a pistol pointed at his back. My heart jumped as Garret deliberately paused, then lowered the gun and fired once, at the soldier’s legs. The man shrieked and whirled around as he fell, raising his weapon, but Garret darted forward, smashed the butt of the pistol into his face and wrenched the rifle away as he collapsed to the cement.

More shots boomed out, the deafening roar of assault rifles making my ears ring as the rest of the squad converged on his location. Garret dived behind cover as they approached, not seeing me in the shadows.

I snarled and lunged, pouncing on one from behind, clamping my jaws around his leg and dragging him across the floor. He shouted, clawing at the ground, and his friends immediately aimed their rifles at me.

A blur of motion, and Garret hit them from behind, striking one behind the ear with the pistol and grabbing the other’s weapon as he turned. The soldier beneath me tried flipping onto his back to shoot, but I pinned him down and slammed his head into the floor. He shuddered and went limp, the gun clattering to the cement. Tensing, I looked up just as the second soldier swung wildly at Garret and clipped him in the jaw with an elbow. Garret staggered, and the human immediately struck him in the head with the assault rifle, driving him to a knee, then raised the gun to fire.