Discarded By Him, Claimed By The Enemy

t d

as a raw tear in the

he first creature, lunging toward Morgan Hayes, crumpled into the snow, a dark stain spreading from its head. But the damage was done. The deep gash in her belly was not just a wound-it was the entry point for the R-type

screamed with a pain so white-hot it felt like swallowing fire. Every breath was a ragged gasp, sucking in air that

ess of panicked shouts and sporadic gunfire. Th

screaming, her cries attracting another

r in her hand. She raised her pistol again, lined

anding hard in the deepening snowdrift. Through the blur of her fading vision, she saw the evacuation helicopter descend, it

to the bird!"

two other mercenaries, her legs barely moving. Together, the team stumbled through the knee-

Morgan collapsed onto the deck just inside the cabin, sobbing. Etta slumped against t

light. He looked down at her, then at the wound on her abdomen. His expression remained cold and unr

ny emotion. "We have a situation. Etta Foster is compromised. Confirmed exposure to the R-type variant. As a reminder, this pathogen-once contracted-c

am. To the men and women she had

hairing a board meeting. "Standard protocol for compromised asset

silence was heavier th

-leaving the asset behind to ensure t

ears and snow. "She's been exposed! If we bring her o

shared rations with, men whose lives she'd sa

ke it was being sque

es meeting hers across the short distance of the open hatch. "The vote i

l. They were just sounds,

He didn't offer a word of comfort. He simply knelt and unclipped her rifle from its sling, his movemen

breath and the warmth from her body. The temper

-aid kit at her feet. It contained gauze and

ers, numb and clumsy, closing around the hard leather

asped, her voice

te, he used the toe of his boot to push her hand aside, his movements unhurri

mpany, Etta," he said, his voic

That's what she was

he watched him turn his back on her and step deeper into the cabin, each step a fina

he cabin door slid shut, Jeffrey paused and looked back at her. There was no remorse in his eyes. Only a

ack beast ascending into a whit

ore from her throat-defiance, not despair. She pushed herself backward

he hissed. "N

ll clutched in her numb fingers. She found a fallen pine and built a crude shelter against its trunk, packing snow around th

cted kep

n-Sykes blade-the one hidden in her boot. Close-quarters. Brutal. Each kill tore her

es, connected to a flash-bang salvaged from a dead mercenary. A pressure plate made from

ing and everything in it. Etta drifted in and out of consciousness, the pain a distant, throbbi

e of her fading consc

into the headlights of a vehicle. Not just one vehicle, but a convoy of heavy, armored trucks,

gear jumped out. A woman. Mya Sharp, deputy to the CEO of the Eastern

even through the storm. "Clean kills. Close-quarte

side the truck. "Sounds like an old friend of ours, doesn't it

owered by a fraction of an inch. A plume of smok

followed the smoke

and was

nd sharp, found her. They locked onto her small,

CEO of the Eastern Syndicate see