Windward knight

Chapter Three

The world shattered—or at least the wall beside her head did the shattering. Evie could feel the vibrational impact as a bullet drove into the bricks. Hyde pulled her down, and she crouched over Aisha. His hard body covered theirs, and Evie suppressed a scream. Hyde spoke into his comms unit, almost sounding calm as gunshots blasted the midnight air.

"Be advised. Contact coming from our one o'clock."

Evie wanted to run, but Hyde held her in place.

"Not yet," he yelled to her as his men aimed their weapons to the sky, firing at a nearby rooftop. "Hold onto Aisha."

She heard a guttural shout from across the street, and then Hyde was half carrying the both of them in a dead run. Aisha held tight; her screams turned to sobs as her tiny arms clutched at Evie's neck.

"The boys!" Evie yelled.

"Jagger has them. Get down!" Hyde shoved her against a truck's tire and shouted over the volley of shots. "Engaging. Where's the damn drone? I need intel ASAP." He rose and began to fire. The sound of his rifle sounding off had Evie covering Aisha's small head.

His next words barely registered through Evie's ringing ears. "We're not going to be ambushed by amateur assholes!" he yelled into his mic. "Take the shot."

Two cracking sounds rent the air, and silence fell. Aisha whimpered, and Evie rocked her, feeling like she would shake apart. The large hand on her shoulder had her jerking in surprise.

"My sniper got them. Are you both okay?"

"Is it over?" Evie couldn't hide the tremble in her voice.

"Probably not. We dealt with five men, but there could be more. Get ready to move." He glanced around and zeroed in on the adjacent building. "Scout, does that IT college—the one to your left—take up the entire block?"

Hyde clipped in an M4 carbine magazine. At least that was what Evie thought he was using. Guns scared her, but when she was younger, her father had forced her to go shooting with him a couple of times. She knew the difference between a rifle and a shotgun and the basic mechanics of how a gun worked. Growing up, her father collected rifles and handguns. Whenever he cleaned them, she'd make herself scarce. She never trusted her father with a weapon. He bought them to show them off to his political cronies. Unlike Hyde, who used a weapon like an additional appendage, her father bought his arsenal of death for show.

Hyde made her feel safe. She'd known him all of thirty minutes and already trusted him with her life. She couldn't see much of the warrior behind the war paint and protective gear. He wore yellow goggles, a helmet with loads of attachments, and a bulky bulletproof vest. All she knew about the man was that he was tall, broad, and had a nicely shaped mouth. She'd been single for too long if she was ogling a soldier layered in combat gear. Men equaled complications and heartache. She'd become an expert at dodging the opposite sex. Pushing aside her strange and sudden attachment, Evie checked over Aisha. The little girl seemed shell shocked and barely responded to Evie's touch. The poor child hadn't slept in twenty hours. Evie needed to get her back to safety and her parents.

Hyde touched her arm. "We're heading through that building. Scout and Ivan will perform a breach—break in through the front. When they give us the all-clear, you will follow my lead. Stick by my side. Are you okay to run holding the kid?"

She nodded, rolled her shoulders, and flexed her hands. The two soldiers emerged from their respective hiding spots and crouched before running to the front entrance to work on the door. The street still lay quiet, and Evie could feel the tension rolling off the team as the door fractured, and dust filled the air. Hyde spoke into his mic and nodded to Jagger, who'd swept up both boys in his arms. Jagger took off in a full-out sprint and disappeared through the doorway. It would be her turn next.