Delete: Volume 3 (Shifter Series) by Kim Curran Page A

helmets under their arms and were dressed in combats, flak jackets and red berets. Each had a fresh number thirteen in white paint in the side of their helmets. They stood in various poses of readiness, but none of them had the twitchy nervousness I’d expected from a bunch of people about to go up against a bunch of armed crazies. It was clear that they’d all seen action before.
    Ladoux snapped her arm back to her side. “Gunship all but fired up and ready to go, sir.”
    “Right, thanks, Ladoux,” I said.
    One of the men stepped forward. He was chewing gum as if his life depended on it and had the wide-eyed stare of a man who hadn’t slept in weeks. “Gunner Unwin ready to go, sir. This sounds like a classic point-and-shoot situation. You point. I shoot.” He grinned, happy with what I guessed was a well-practised joke.
    The woman behind him clipped him around the head. “Stop showing off, Unwin.” She was a broad woman who looked to be in her late forties, judging by the streaks of grey in her brown hair and creases around her bright grey eyes. “Trooper Ward, sir. And this is Sapper Williamson.” She pointed at the last solider, a man in his late twenties with soft brown eyes and a spattering of freckles across his nose. He smiled, showing dazzlingly white teeth, and saluted.
    “Can I say it’s a great honour to serve with you?” Ward continued. “We won’t let you down. Isn’t that right, Unwin?” She fixed him with a matronly glare.
    Unwin nodded. “One hundred percent, sir.”
    Cooper and Turner fell into position next to Zac. My squad. Shifters and soldiers. Children and adults. All itching for a fight.
    “OK,” I said, addressing the Shifters. “Standard procedure. You follow my lead, keep all the alternatives open to you so you can Shift. But remember, you don’t Shift to save your own arse. We’re a team here. You Shift for the greater good. Ad verum via. You got it?”
    “ Ad verum via ,” the entire squad, including the soldiers, shouted. It seemed that it was not the first time they’d heard ARES’ old motto. Towards the true way.
    “Right,” I said, gathering myself. “And you lot,” I said, addressing the soldiers. “Try and keep up.”
    The squad all pulled off a salute. “Sir, yes, sir!” they shouted. Cooper and Turner copied it, a moment late.
    “We know the drill sir,” Ladoux said after the echo of their shout died down.
    It was weird. As much as I didn’t recognise where I was or what was going on, this all felt strangely familiar. Like I’d done it many times before. Perhaps it was all that training at ARES kicking in. Or maybe some of the me from this reality was starting to return.
    “It’s oh seven hundred. You’ve got under an hour before the air strike,” Cain said. “Reports are they’re heavily armed, with at least one hundred men guarding the building. You’re to get in and get out, fast. You are not to engage with the enemy. Your only priority is to get Hedges out alive; do you understand me?”
    I remembered the kids in the ward. “Let’s hope this goes a bit smoother than our last mission.”
    Cain leant forward and lowered his voice so the others couldn’t hear. “War is never smooth, Tyler. You keep your head about you and you’ll be fine.” He squeezed my shoulder and then pushed me away. “Get to it.”
    I pulled the flak jacket on and headed for the exit, the squad falling into place behind me. A helmet was thrust into my hands, and I strapped it on without even needing to fiddle for the straps. I was aware of the crackle of white noise in my ear, which must have been coming from an earpiece embedded in the helmet. I reached my hand up to my collar, as I’d see Aubrey doing, and sure enough, I found a button.
    “How long should it take us to get there? I asked Ladoux.
    “No more than ten minutes, Com.” Her accent made the word “Com” sound like “comb”. What was a French woman doing serving with the British special