Knight paused and shrugged his weapon from his shoulder and handed it back to Queen.

She nodded to Bishop. “Can you handle both of them?”

“You know I can,” Knight said, and then took Bishop’s weight off of her with a grunt.

Free of Bishop’s bulk, Queen ran ahead, raised the XM25 to her shoulder, and pulled the trigger. The end of the tunnel lit up as it was struck by a ceaseless barrages of exploding rounds. A sound like thunder rolled down the tunnel. Queen ran forward, finger on the trigger, hoping to punch through the wall before she ran out of ammunition.

*   *   *

“I’LL GET THEIR attention,” King said to Alexander. “You try to get Rid—”

But Alexander had his own ideas. He popped the cap from a small vial of black liquid and raised it to his lips. King recognized it as the adrenaline-boosting drink Alexander had taken back in Rome.

“Give me some,” King said.

Alexander paused. “It could kill you.”

“They’re definitely going to kill me.”

Alexander poured the liquid under his tongue and then quickly handed the bottle to King. There were a few drops left. Wasting no time, King shook the remaining drops under his tongue.

At first he felt nothing.

Then his heart beat hard, like a punch to his chest.

Then again.

And again.

It was like a monster had been unleashed beneath his rib cage. He felt his blood flow through his body, pulsing with energy. As the pressure grew stronger, a hot stinging covered his skin. The tiny blood vessels in his body were bursting.

Then the effect struck his mind.

He’d taken LSD once as a teenager. The mind-altering drug had nothing on this stuff. King viewed the world as though in slow motion, but not because things were moving slowly, his mind simply processed and reacted more quickly to his sensory input. And the energy flowing through his body gave him the ability to respond just as quickly.

The pain from his many wounds, including the deep stab wound, faded away, allowing him to react without pause.

And it saved his life as the nearest golem dove for him. King leaped in the air, and took hold of the top of the carving, pulling himself out of harm’s way. Now above the golem he fired his weapon into its back, pulverizing a hole straight through. When the XM25 ran out of ammunition, King tossed it to the side.