toned thigh.
When she snarled, the guard grinned ear to ear.
“What are you gonna do, baby? Bite me? Maybe you’d like that, huh?” he taunted.
His hand crept up her leg, and Walker’s vision went entirely red for a moment. Stifling the rage and adrenaline pulsing through his body, he chucked a flash grenade into the clearing, making sure it landed far away from Ella.
Closing his eyes, Walker put his fingers in his ears and closed his eyes. Half a minute later, the clearing exploded with confusion and fear. Walker slung one of the bags around his shoulders, pulling out his first automatic weapon and another grenade. He grinned, eyeing his targets.
Using the flash grenades to drive the guards where he wanted them, he mowed them down with bullets. It was easy, on a level that made him a little sick. Humans were just too damned easy to kill, really.
Once he’d taken down everyone outside and a wave of guards stupid enough to come running out the front door, Walker went to Ella. He swung the cage door open, easily grabbing and breaking the chains that held her. His adrenaline was pumping so hard, he probably could have shredded the walls of the warehouse without batting an eyelash.
“Stay,” he cautioned Ella, pressing his hand down in a simple gesture. “I am going to take you someplace safe, I promise. I think you understand that I have to destroy this place, though.”
Walker scanned her face, anxious for her agreement. When she swallowed and nodded, he gave her a nod of thanks. Turning, he grabbed his second bag and produced a grenade launcher.
“Fucking A, Ben!” Walker cheered, loading the launcher. Moving away from Ella, Walker fired round after round into the building. Smoke rose, and after a minute five figures staggered from the warehouse. The three monks, Smith, and Clipboard.
Walker shot Ella a glance as he went for the humans.
“Don’t look,” he warned, unused to the nervous feeling in the pit of his stomach. For some reason, he really didn’t want Ella seeing him kill these men. No matter that they’d hurt her, no matter that they deserved much worse than he could give them right now.
Torn, he simply caught them one by one and snapped their necks, letting them remain where they fell. It was the work of mere minutes to kill them all.
The warehouse’s roof collapsed as Walker dropped the last body, and he sighed. Normally he’d go inside first, and then comb the woods for survivors. No one walked away from something like this, not if he could help it.
He’d already let the buyers go, though. Yes, he’d memorized their faces and planned to track them down at a later date, but still… Walker liked certainty, and here he was with a bucket full of question marks.
He glanced at Ella, saw how she hugged herself and shivered, and somehow he just walked away from the men, the warehouse, all of it. He walked right up to her, scooped her up, and brought her to the passenger side of his now-tattered rental car. One of the back tires was gone, and the whole sedan was riddled with bullet holes and shattered glass. Clearing the seat of debris, Walker tucked her inside before closing the door. Coming around, he slid behind the wheel and turned the keys. Mercifully, the car started right away.
“You okay?” he asked, looking over at Ella as he pulled out of the parking lot.
She shook her head slowly, lower lip trembling, but otherwise didn’t respond. No tears, no wailing. Ella was not your average female, obviously. She was made of tougher stuff, and it gave Walker a strange feeling. Pride?
No time to examine emotions, Walker floored the sedan. They reached the chopper in ten minutes, abandoning the car without a backward glance.
Walker thumped the pilot’s window, and the pilot gave him a thumbs up. If the man was curious about the faraway explosions, he didn’t say anything.
Jumping up into the passenger bay, Walker reached down for Ella. She stood below, wincing when the