CH.96

Seven whipped around with speed. His gun was leveled and sighted before the rest of his body had even completed the turn, just in time for a group of armed guards to round the corner up ahead with lasers pointing at them.

"Don't move!" one of the guards shouted.

Seven's lips curved into an evil grin.

His eyes glinted dangerously, and he felt a surge of adrenaline as the scent of gunpowder and sweat flooded his senses. "Oh, I didn't realize we were invited to a bloody party," he mused in a low, gravelly tone utterly devoid of fear or hesitation.

The first rapid bursts of gunfire rang out like a thunderclap in the enclosed space.

All hell broke loose in a deafening cacophony of screams and ricocheting bullets as Seven handled their opponents while Killian made the person they came for take cover behind a steel door frame.

Seven had a wicked smile on his face as he dropped two guards at once with a bullet to the forehead.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Killian roared over the earsplitting barrage.

He shot Seven with a pointed look. His eyes blazed with a challenge and a smirk split his features.

Seven knew that look all too well. It was the same gleam that Killian always had in the heat of battle when the lines between man and beast merged in a rush of wits.

His own smile stretched even more, giving his brother-in-arms a curt nod.

Rules be damned - it was time to unleash their true abilities and bring every weapon in their arsenal to bear.

Killian immediately threw his head back, letting out a feral growl that reverberated through the night.

His gaze was fixed on the men raining bullets at them while his body rippled and contorted into something far more scary and deadly.

Thick, coarse fur erupted from his skin in a rippling wave, his features elongating into a lupine snout filled with razor-sharp canines as his bones crunched and reshaped with a sickening series of pops and snaps.

The transformation didn't take long because a hulking werewolf stood in his place within seconds, snarling like the baying of a hundred bloodhounds that scented its prey.

The guards faltered. Their eyes went wide in terror at having witnessed such an unnatural transformation. Their hands began to shake on their weapons. Years of training and discipline were rendered utterly useless in the face of such an unholy creature.

Seven seized the opportunity. His own body flickered with an ethereal glow as he phased through the Elare of bullets, materializing behind the stunned guards like a vengeful spirit.

He incapacitated them one by one with ruthless efficiency.

Killian, in his beast form, charged forward with another deep-throated snarl.

His massive claws and fangs tore through flesh and bones with sickening ease, cutting down anyone who stood in his path.

The facility ground was soon slick with gore and the air became thick with the coppery tang of spilled blood as the two operators cut a swath of destruction through the ranks of the doomed guards.

Seven watched the devastation with a critical eye, allowing his supernatural form to resolidify when the last of their enemies fell in a writhing heap.

He glanced over at the hulking beast that was Killian. "Not bad for an old dog," he remarked in a tone laced with dark humor. "But we're not out of the woods yet. More will be on their way soon."

The creature let out a rumbling grunt of acknowledgment as its massive head swiveled toward the captive who had remained frozen in shock throughout the entire ordeal.

Its lips pulled back over curved fangs in a mockery of a grin.

Seven followed Killian's gaze. He regarded the prisoner with a measured look.

"You good to move, or do I need to carry you?" His tone made it clear that being slung over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes was not an idle threat.

The werewolf lumbered over, its powerful haunches bunching and coiling like tightly wound springs with each measured stride. Its jaws opened, revealing a maw filled with dagger-like canines designed to savagely rend flesh from bone.

It leaned down until its muzzle was a mere handful of inches from the captive's ashen face, with its hot breath washing over the latter in a wave that carried the thick, coppery reek of freshly spilled blood.

The captive could only nod mutely. His eyes were still wide and disbelieving as they took in the two inhuman duo who had just torn through an entire squad of security with seeming ease.

Clearly, the reality of his situation had finally sunk in. He had just been rescued by monsters more terrifying than his captors could ever hope to be.

Seven took point and began moving deeper into the compound at a brisk pace with Killian’s Lycan form loping along at his side and the prisoner trailing between them in a daze.

They set off at a brisk pace back along the route they had infiltrated, which remained blessedly clear. Any additional security forces or response teams had either been neutralized already or wisely decided to cut their losses rather than risk more lives against such inhuman adversaries.

The only souls they encountered were the dead, whose sightless eyes seemed to follow the trio's progress in mute accusation.

Finally, they reached the extraction point - an unassuming loading bay on the far periphery of the compound.

Seven tapped his comm unit twice in a coded pattern.

Soon, the distinctive whump-whump of rotor blades becoming increasingly audible reached their ears.

The luxurious-looking black helicopter descended on a downdraft that scattered loose debris in all directions. Its running lights were extinguished to maintain the element of discrete.

The side door slid open, and Killian hustled the prisoner aboard with surprising gentleness for such a massive beast.

Seven was the last to board. His gaze swept the perimeter one more time with vigilant intensity before leaping through the gap.

He landed in a crouch and slammed the door shut behind him with a solid clang of metal hitting metal.

"Get us out of here!" He barked to the pilot over the deafening roar of the engines spooling up to full power.

Within moments, the entire facility had dwindled to a mere speck in the distance before vanishing entirely behind the rolling landscape.

Only then did Seven finally allow himself to relax a fraction, his body sagging slightly against the restraints as the adrenaline that had been searing through his veins began to ebb.

His gaze slid over to study the prisoner huddled in the corner, taking in the latter’s overall condition with the same detachment as a physician assessing a patient.

"Who...are you?" the captive finally rasped.

A ghost of a smirk played across Seven's lips. He exchanged a sidelong look with Killian, who had finally reverted to his human form and was busy donning fresh clothes, though his features still bore a feral cast in the harsh lighting of the cabin.

"The names really aren't important," Seven replied evenly. "What matters is that we just saved you from becoming a permanent resident in that place."

He leaned forward, his elbows resting on his knees as he fixed the prisoner with an intense stare that would have set a lesser man's nerves on edge.

Seven's eyes seemed to bore straight through the poor man, stripping away every pretense and defense until they were laid bare before his penetrating gaze.

"But make no mistake - we didn't do it out of the goodness of our hearts..."