few places
to disappear."
Kristin screwed
a silencer onto her gun and then handed it back to me to hold while
she reached around Ash so that she could unholster his weapon.
"How are
we going to do this?"
Ash looked back
at me as if to see whether I wanted to weigh in, but I just waved for
him to proceed. This kind of spy stuff was more his bag of tea than
mine. If I thought his plan wouldn't work then I could always make my
case once he was done explaining his idea.
"If there
was any way to be sure those are bad guys back there I'd just drive
up next to them and start shooting while they're still in the car and
unable to shift. Instead Kristin and I are going to swap seats and
then Isaac and I will pile out of the SUV while it's still moving.
With any luck we can do it without them seeing. Kristin pulls to a
stop fifty yards later and then Isaac and I wait for these guys to
stop and get out of their vehicle.
"If they
drive on by then we jump back in the car and drive back the way we
came. If not, that's a bad sign. If they give off any kind of shape
shifter vibe, or anyone recognizes one of them as being a known agent
for the Coun'hij, we open fire on them and Isaac intercepts whoever
tries to rush either of the shooters."
It wasn't a
great plan, but it gave us a chance of taking them by surprise and I
didn't have anything better to offer. I gave Ash a nod of agreement
as I started stripping out of my clothes, and then he and Kristin
swapped places with a smoothness that would have been impossible
without cruise control.
"There,
the road bends and those cypress trees will partially hide us from
view."
Ash and I threw
ourselves out of the SUV and hit the ground rolling. I was tempted to
shift then and there, but there was too much chance that someone
would feel me changing, even through the metal and glass of the other
vehicle, and then we'd lose the element of surprise.
Instead I took
deep breaths as I crouched behind the tree that Ash had pointed out.
The air was full of smells that I'd never encountered before, mostly
plant life, but I could smell some animals on the wind too.
"Anything
out here I should be worried about?"
"Nothing
from downwind of us, but that's not the most reassuring fact since we
won't be able to smell if anything comes out of the vegetation behind
us."
A smile tugged
at my lips despite my best efforts. "You're just a rousing ball
of non-stop fun. Remind me again what it is that Kristin sees in
you."
"I'm great
fun at a party."
"I'd like
to see that."
"Isn't
that what we're about to do?"
The following
car, another black SUV, came even with us and we both hunkered down
and shut up in case they had a window down. Kristin had already
started slowing down, which caused the other guys to follow suit.
Her timing
wasn't perfect, but she managed to bring them to a stop less than
twenty yards from us. Ash and I both stood and crept forward, only to
freeze as soon as the first door swung open.
"Remember,
there's only three of them. Kill Nazir and the girl, but take Hunt
alive if at all possible. Onyx wants him to use as leverage against
his sister and the boss owes Onyx a favor."
Kristin was
already out of our car. She'd angled it slightly so that it would
provide her with a little cover, but even from here I could tell that
she was nervous.
"Hey, wait
a second! She's by herself."
We were out of
time. Even if they hadn't been able to see that our vehicle was empty
they would have still known something was up when they stopped to
count heartbeats.
Ash opened fire
and he was every bit as deadly as I'd hoped he would be. There were
four of them. Ash put two rounds in the first guy, dropping him
before he could change forms.
Kristin got her
gun in play before Ash could get his third shot off. There was too
much going on for me to be sure who hit the next enforcer, but he was
mid-change when the bullets started slamming into him. A fraction of
a second sooner and they probably would have put him
to disappear."
Kristin screwed
a silencer onto her gun and then handed it back to me to hold while
she reached around Ash so that she could unholster his weapon.
"How are
we going to do this?"
Ash looked back
at me as if to see whether I wanted to weigh in, but I just waved for
him to proceed. This kind of spy stuff was more his bag of tea than
mine. If I thought his plan wouldn't work then I could always make my
case once he was done explaining his idea.
"If there
was any way to be sure those are bad guys back there I'd just drive
up next to them and start shooting while they're still in the car and
unable to shift. Instead Kristin and I are going to swap seats and
then Isaac and I will pile out of the SUV while it's still moving.
With any luck we can do it without them seeing. Kristin pulls to a
stop fifty yards later and then Isaac and I wait for these guys to
stop and get out of their vehicle.
"If they
drive on by then we jump back in the car and drive back the way we
came. If not, that's a bad sign. If they give off any kind of shape
shifter vibe, or anyone recognizes one of them as being a known agent
for the Coun'hij, we open fire on them and Isaac intercepts whoever
tries to rush either of the shooters."
It wasn't a
great plan, but it gave us a chance of taking them by surprise and I
didn't have anything better to offer. I gave Ash a nod of agreement
as I started stripping out of my clothes, and then he and Kristin
swapped places with a smoothness that would have been impossible
without cruise control.
"There,
the road bends and those cypress trees will partially hide us from
view."
Ash and I threw
ourselves out of the SUV and hit the ground rolling. I was tempted to
shift then and there, but there was too much chance that someone
would feel me changing, even through the metal and glass of the other
vehicle, and then we'd lose the element of surprise.
Instead I took
deep breaths as I crouched behind the tree that Ash had pointed out.
The air was full of smells that I'd never encountered before, mostly
plant life, but I could smell some animals on the wind too.
"Anything
out here I should be worried about?"
"Nothing
from downwind of us, but that's not the most reassuring fact since we
won't be able to smell if anything comes out of the vegetation behind
us."
A smile tugged
at my lips despite my best efforts. "You're just a rousing ball
of non-stop fun. Remind me again what it is that Kristin sees in
you."
"I'm great
fun at a party."
"I'd like
to see that."
"Isn't
that what we're about to do?"
The following
car, another black SUV, came even with us and we both hunkered down
and shut up in case they had a window down. Kristin had already
started slowing down, which caused the other guys to follow suit.
Her timing
wasn't perfect, but she managed to bring them to a stop less than
twenty yards from us. Ash and I both stood and crept forward, only to
freeze as soon as the first door swung open.
"Remember,
there's only three of them. Kill Nazir and the girl, but take Hunt
alive if at all possible. Onyx wants him to use as leverage against
his sister and the boss owes Onyx a favor."
Kristin was
already out of our car. She'd angled it slightly so that it would
provide her with a little cover, but even from here I could tell that
she was nervous.
"Hey, wait
a second! She's by herself."
We were out of
time. Even if they hadn't been able to see that our vehicle was empty
they would have still known something was up when they stopped to
count heartbeats.
Ash opened fire
and he was every bit as deadly as I'd hoped he would be. There were
four of them. Ash put two rounds in the first guy, dropping him
before he could change forms.
Kristin got her
gun in play before Ash could get his third shot off. There was too
much going on for me to be sure who hit the next enforcer, but he was
mid-change when the bullets started slamming into him. A fraction of
a second sooner and they probably would have put him
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