"Lover At Last" - читать интересную книгу автора (Ward, J.R.)

Everyone got their weapons out and focused on the airplane hangar.

тАЬWeтАЩre upwind,тАЭ Rhage said quietly. тАЬSo thereтАЩs got to be a big-ass mess in there.тАЭ

The five of them approached the facility cautiously, fanning out, searching the ambient blue glow of reflected moonlight for anything that moved.

The hangar had two entryways, one that was bifurcated and big enough to fit a wingspan through, and the other that was supposed to be for people, and looked Barbie size in comparison. And Rhage was right: In spite of the fact that the icy winter gusts were hitting them in the back, the smell was enough to tingle the insides of the nose, and not in good way.

Man, cold usually dimmed the stink, too.

Communicating via hand signals, they split into two groups, with him and John taking one side of the mammoth double doors, and Rhage, Blay, and Z zeroing in on the smaller entrance.

Rhage went for the requisite handle while everyone braced for engagement. If there was a football teamтАЩs worth of lessers in there, it made sense to send the Brother in first, because he had the kind of backup nobody else did: His beast loved slayers, and not in a relationship sense.

Talk about your thin mints.

Hollywood put his hand over his head. ThreeтАжtwoтАжoneтАж

The Brother penetrated in total silence, pushing the door open and slipping inside. Z was nextтАФand Blay went in with them.

Qhuinn felt a heartbeat of pure terror as the male jumped into the unknown with nothing but a pair of forties to protect him. God, the idea that Blay could die tonight, right in front of him, on this run-of-the-mill assignment, made him want to stop all this defending the race bullshit and turn the fighter into a librarian. A hand model. HairdresserтАФ

The shrill whistle that came no more than sixty seconds later was a godsend. And ZтАЩs all-clear was the signal for him and John to change positions, shuffling laterally to the now open door, and going through theтАФ

Okay. Wow.

Talk about your oil slick. And holy fuckinтАЩ A from the stench.

The three whoтАЩd gone in first had busted out their flashlights, and the beams light-sabered around the cavernous space, cutting through the darkness, illuminating what at first looked like nothing but a sheet of black ice. Except it wasnтАЩt black and the shit wasnтАЩt frozen. It was congealed human bloodтАФabout three hundred gallonsтАЩ worth. Mixed with a whole lot of Omega.

The hangar was the site of a massive induction, the scale of which made that thing out at that farmhouse a while back look like nothing more than a play date.

тАЬGuess those boys who took your whip were heading to one hell of a party,тАЭ Rhage said.

тАЬWord,тАЭ Z muttered.

As the beams of the flashlights highlighted an old, decrepit airplane in the backтАФand absolutely nothing elseтАФZ shook his head.

тАЬLetтАЩs search the outer area. ThereтАЩs nada in here.тАЭ



Given that the cabin was nothing much from the exterior, just your typical hunting/fishing shack out in the woods, Mr. C was tempted to bypass the damn thing. Thoroughness had its virtues, however, and the cabinтАЩs location, about a mile or two into the tract of land, suggested it might have been used as a headquarters at some point.

All things considered, it would have been smarter to check out the property before heтАЩd used that airplane hangar for the largest induction in the Lessening SocietyтАЩs history. But priorities were what they were: First, he had to put himself in control; second, he had to justify the promotion; and third, he had to deal with all those new lessers.

And that meant he needed resources. Fast.

Following the OmegaтАЩs messy, grand ceremony, and the nauseous period that had lasted a number of hours thereafter, Mr. C had ordered the new recruits onto a school bus that heтАЩd stolen from a used-truck dealership a week ago. Between exhaustion and the physical discomfort they were in, they had been such good little boys, filing on and sitting two by two like they were on some kind of fucked-up NoahтАЩs Ark.