Reign of Evil

He got to his feet first, then reached down for Trevor. He pushed the kid in front of him just as an immense weight plowed into his back, throwing him face-first to the ground.

* * *

Walker had made the stairs and was firing upwards, sending ricochets into the hall above. Ian and Trevor had countered the attack. He had no doubt they were going to stack down and take advantage of the second flash bang. That the Section 9 guys had drawn their fire had been a godsend. Now it was time to repay their effort.

He’d grabbed YaYa and they were about to move up the stairs when they heard Trevor’s scream over the net.

“It followed us down the stairs!”

One glance said Walker and YaYa were in tune. As one, they left the stairs and ran back into the basement. They peeled left and after several turns came upon the scene of the beast-like hound trying to chew through the back of Ian’s body armor.

Both Walker and YaYa opened fire. The momentum from the bullets punched the creature from Ian’s back but had no other effect.

“Fucking kidding me.” YaYa fired full auto until his HK was empty. He’d knocked the beast down, but even as he watched, it climbed to its feet and let free an arcane howl.

Another beast climbed down the stairs. The sight of its human arms as forelegs and hands gripping the marble sent chills down Walker’s back. He shook his head and backed away.

“One, this is Three; we have two hounds down here. The other staircase is open. Time to bug out, over.”

He heard two clicks and reached down slowly to haul Ian to his feet.

“Back away, gents. Let these critters do what they need to.”

While the new hound snarled at them, it made no move to attack.

The other hound turned and padded toward the other set of stairs. If they’d planned this right, it would turn left and head down to the lower level where they had the golem head. Walker’s and the rest of their jobs were over. They found a utility closet they’d prepared earlier, and backed inside.

Once the door was secure, he called the net. “All Ghosts, this is Ghost Three and Five and Demon One and Two. All secure.”

“All Ghosts, this is Ghost Two with Four. All secure.”

Walker was gratified to hear that Laws and Yank were okay. He waited for what seemed like a full minute before Holmes called in.

“All Ghosts, this is Ghost One and the Crone. All secure. Wait until you get the all clear, then rendezvous to site one.”

Walker let out a sigh of relief. They might be a little beat up, but their mission was a success. Now to see if they could track the head.

CHAPTER 29

CHICKSANDS RAF. MORNING.

Yank was the worst off. He’d sustained a concussion and had trouble coming to. There were no bruises or contusions, but he couldn’t explain what happened.

Sassy Moore’s migraine was so bad, she could barely open her eyes, brought on by the vicissitudes of astral combat. She claimed that she had fought and defended herself against no fewer than five warlocks. She held a long package to her chest that Laws was pretty certain she hadn’t had at the start of the mission.

Ian had two black eyes from where he face-planted on the ground.

With the exception of exhaustion and a few contusions from flying granite, the others were fine.

After conducting a three-hour surveillance detection route, including three changes of vehicles, they made it back to Chicksands. Ian got them through the gate, and they were soon pulling into the hangar and unloading their gear. The SEALs and men of Section 9 had already broken down their weapons and cleaned them. All they needed to do was add a light coat of oil and wipe the weapons down once more.

But that would have to wait.

They had company.

Hoover stood, head low, growling at a well-dressed hulk of a man standing between two bodyguards and with three more arrayed behind them. They each had enough goon genes in their DNA that they could have been related. The central man’s demeanor was anything but calm. His hands strangled invisible children while his face threatened to transition from red to purple.

“Do you realize the damage you did? You broke a dinosaur skeleton!”

Ian and Holmes exchanged glances. Ian turned to the man and sighed. “I don’t know what you’re talking about!”

“You don’t—” He seemed to get some control. “Hundreds of thousands of euros in damage and the loss of priceless artifacts. Do you realize that those bones were given to Queen Victoria by the Crown Prince of Prussia?”

“Must have been someone else, Sir Robert.” Ian turned to head toward the back of the hangar.

“Don’t turn your back on me.”

Two of his men drew Glock pistols from shoulder holsters.

They shouldn’t have.

The SEALs brought their rifles up at once and began to create separation between themselves and their targets. Trevor paused a moment, then joined them.

Soon all five goons had pistols trained on the SEALs and stepped in front of the man Ian had called Sir Robert. The SEALs had realized he must have been the Member of Parliament Ian had told them about.