His mouth claimed mine in a quick kiss. “I know,” he said, stroking my face when he pulled away. “But later.”

Right. We had someone to find, and from the thoughts I caught, he was close.

We continued down the hallway, Madigan’s thoughts pointing the way. This time, however, we went slower and kept our weapons stretched out in front of us. We’d been lucky that Bones had spotted the laser net in time before. No need to push that luck by charging forward recklessly now.

As we came nearer to the central hub of the underground complex, more bodies littered the hallway. Not Bones’s handiwork; the walls were black from soot, and the bodies were either burnt or strafed with flying debris. The Dante machine must have been located nearby for the damage to be this extensive. Then, at the end of the hallway to our right, I glimpsed the facility’s epicenter.

We started toward it. Amidst the moans from injured personnel and the frenzied thoughts of those trying to hide, I caught a cluster of static-like noise. At first I thought it came from the compound’s damaged electrical system; then I realized it sounded familiar. Where had I heard this before . . . ?

I hauled Bones back before he could take another step. Guards, I mouthed, pointing at the ceiling about a dozen yards ahead.

His lips curled. Then he fisted his hands and dropped them down. Helmeted guards exploded through the ceiling to slam onto the floor. Those who survived the violent impact were shot as Bones’s power yanked their weapons out of their hands and swiveled them around to open fire into their visors.

So much for the thought-blocking gadgets Madigan had installed in their headgear.

We jumped over the guards’ bodies and continued into the main hub. The huge room that had seemed so impressive when I was wheeled through it now resembled a defunct call center. No guards patrolled the perimeter, and all of the workstations were empty. The computers that monitored the McClintic Wildlife area and the interior of the compound showed static instead of impressive 3-D graphics, and red emergency lights bathed the once-brightly-lit area with an eerie glow.

Die, monsters!

I turned toward the direction of the thought in time to feel something whiz by my face. It didn’t take mind reading to figure out what it was, and I ducked before the next shot was fired.

Two things happened at the same time. The gun flew out of the employee’s hand, and his neck snapped with an audible crack. He crumpled without another thought, but my mind was far from quiet. The shooter was the only person visible, yet the room wasn’t empty.

“The next person that shoots at my wife gets his gun shoved up his arse,” Bones snapped. Then he waved his hand at a large file cabinet against the wall.

“Come out.”