Lost by Dean Murray Page A

down as easily
as the first guy, but his hybrid body was just too big and
damage-resistant to be taken out of action that quickly. He staggered
back behind the side of the car, which sheltered him from Ash's
shots, and then broke into a fast run towards Kristin.
    The other two
guys spun back around and charged us. It was probably the sheer
volume of Ash's fire that made them pick us over Kristin. Ash got two
shots into one of them and then they were on us.
    I'd shifted
less than a second after the ball dropped and my beast was raring and
ready to go. I stepped into the uninjured hybrid, blocking his claws
by slashing at his arm a split second before I put my shoulder into
his chest.
    It was the kind
of tactic that wasn't supposed to work, which was why he hadn't been
more prepared for it, but I didn't hit him directly in the center of
his mass, I hit him a little left of center. That, combined with the
fact that I had both sets of talons burrowed deep into the surface of
the road, was just enough to allow me not to be leveled by the force
of his charge.
    His momentum
was converted to a spin as he ricocheted off of me, but I managed a
deep raking attack across his stomach as he sailed past. I dropped my
right hand down to the ground and used the extra traction provided by
my claws to regain my balance in the split second before the second
hybrid reached me.
    More shots rang
out, some from behind me, some from Kristin up ahead, but I didn't
have time for that. I'd succeeded in giving Ash a target that was off
balance and flailing, but it had come at a cost. I was going into the
matchup with the second hybrid without the momentum I would have
needed to meet him on equal terms.
    I darted back
to the right and managed to get just far enough to the side to deny
my opponent the clinch that he'd been seeking, but he still tore big,
long gashes in my left arm. I spun around in an attempt at latching
onto his back before he could turn and come at me again, but he was
just too fast.
    We exchanged
blows, each trying for something vital on the other guy while trying
to deflect incoming attacks. More shots went off around me as Kristin
and Ash both emptied their magazines in a last-ditch attempt to stop
the hybrids charging them.
    Something heavy
hit the ground behind me, and I took a gamble that I wouldn't have
taken with too many other people. I went for a clinch with my
enforcer before there was anything remotely resembling the kind of
opening that I'd need to survive for more than a couple of seconds.
    It was suicide,
but it was the last thing he'd been expecting me to do given that he
had more than an inch of height on me. I made like I was going to
feint to the left at the last second, and then just went in full
speed. I didn't manage to hit him hard enough to take him to the
ground, but I knocked him back on his heels, which let me get inside
of his reach and fasten my jaws on his shoulder.
    I had control
of his hands too, at least for the initial clinch. He'd managed to
bury one set of claws into my side, but I wrapped up his wrist,
immobilizing him before he could really go to town on me.
    It wasn't
something I could maintain for long; he was stronger than me and
eventually he'd either break free or succeed in sinking his teeth
into me, but I was hoping I wasn't going to need to hold him off for
more than a second or so.
    A heartbeat
later I felt the impact of a hundred and eighty pounds of lean badass
as Ash literally ran up my back. I was going to have a set of
boot-shaped bruises to go along with the gashes and punctures that
the enforcer had inflicted on me, but that didn't matter.
    Moving faster
than any human could have followed, Ash knelt on my shoulders and
pressed the barrel of his gun up against the enforcer's forehead. I
had just enough presence of mind to close my eyes before Ash's gun
went off with what felt like the force of a cannon.
    The other
hybrid collapsed as Ash leaped off of me and hit the ground running.
His