52. Max
52
MAX
T he third floor was untouched, except for old bullet holes in the walls that had been covered with the same ugly greenish-yellowish oil-based paint that covered the walls of the other floors. And standing in the corridor, framed by the harsh overhead fluorescent light, was the man from the memory Max had picked from the soldier's mind, but he wasn't a man. The so-called doctor was an immortal, and given the fancy uniform and the two bodyguards flanking him, he was a high-ranking Doomer.
Kian would love to get his hands on this one.
Tall, impeccably dressed in a dark uniform that looked like it had been custom-tailored for him, he wore a haughty expression with a slight sneer twisting his mouth. While his bodyguards' eyes were blazing and their fangs were in full view, all the doctor projected was bored arrogance.
Why was he so cocky?
Multiple footsteps from the two flanking corridors provided the answer.
Two groups of four Doomers, each with soldiers behind them, were advancing to join the doctor and his bodyguards.
The doctor thought that he had them outnumbered, which was why he seemed so relaxed and assured. That, or he was a sociopath who felt nothing at all.
Yamanu's team split into two groups, each facing a corridor, which left the doctor and his goons for Max, Anton and Dima.
"Ell-rom," Max said calmly without taking his eyes off the doctor, "leave this one untouched. He's mine."
To Ell-rom's credit, he played along. "As you wish, Max."
"So," the doctor said, voice contemptuous, full of bravado Max suspected was not all really there. "The betrayer's whelps have come to play." His accent was thick, but his words were clear enough. His gaze flicked to the hybrids and then to the purebloods, lingering on their fangs. A glimmer of fascination mixed with further worry crossed his features. "And who are these? Have the betrayer's daughters stooped to breeding with monkeys?"
It had been meant as a provocation, but Max didn't know to what end, so he lifted his hand, stopping the hybrids from pouncing. Perhaps the doctor was counting on the enraged hybrids to lose control and do something stupid, like pounce on the immortals with their fangs bared.
Right now, it was a standoff, all weapons raised.
The Doomers and humans flanking them couldn't fire because they were as likely to hit each other as they were to hit Yamanu and his team, and they were clearly waiting for a signal from the doctor.
"I'm not about to engage in a game of insults with you," Max said.
The doctor's smirk widened, revealing elongated canines. "Annani's spawn are as pathetic as the humans they coddle. I'll enjoy dissecting your friends' corpses for whatever secrets they hide."
Max recognized the moment the two Doomers flanking the doctor tensed, probably responding to some secret signal he'd given.
"Tell your dogs to stand down." Max fixed his gaze on the doctor. "Let's do this the old-fashioned way," he said, forcing the words out in the Doomers' language. "One on one. Fangs and claws."
A heartbeat passed, the doctor's eyes narrowing in amusement. "You want to fight me?" he translated with mild surprise. Then he let out a mocking laugh. "It would be so much more pleasurable to rip out your throat with my fangs." He turned to his bodyguards, issuing a curt command. "Kill the monkeys."
He and Max locked eyes. For a moment, they both seemed to exhale. Then, as if on cue, they charged at each other, their weapons flung aside mid-step, clattering on the floor.
Max was dimly aware that everyone engaged in hand-to-hand combat at the same time. He had a split second to mentally smile at the surprise waiting for the Doomers.
Max collided with the doctor, grappling in a flurry of fists and elbows. The doctor's strength was staggering, even for an immortal, and it occurred to Max that he might be on drugs.
Max let out a grunt, hooking an arm behind the man's shoulder and driving him backward. They slammed into the wall. The doctor hissed, delivering a savage knee strike to Max's ribs. Pain flared, and Max stumbled but didn't let go.
A savage flurry of punches erupted between them—too close to dodge effectively, each blow connecting with flesh. Max tasted blood. The doctor's nails raked across his cheek, leaving burning scratches. But decades of Guardian training and countless battles had hardened Max, and he let his instincts and training take over. He shifted his stance, hooking a foot behind the doctor's calf to unbalance him, then hammered an elbow into the male's temple.
They went down in a heap, rolling across the old linoleum floor that was slick as if it had been recently mopped.
As the doctor tried to latch on to Max's throat with his fangs, Max jerked sideways, the male's breath hot and rancid on his neck. He braced a knee on the doctor's hip, prying them apart. The doctor bared his teeth in frustration, eyes blazing with malice.
Dimly, Max heard crashes and snarls from all sides. Next to him, Anton and Dima were tangling with the other two Doomers in a furious exchange of fists, kicks, and savage roars. A gunshot rang out, echoing. Then, a wet gurgle. Max didn't have time to look.
"Die!" the doctor snarled, hooking a hand around Max's throat. His monstrous strength pressed down, squeezing the air from Max's lungs. Darkness crept at the edges of his vision. Summoning the last of his will, Max twisted sideways, ignoring the burn in his shoulders.
He let the doctor think he'd pinned him down, and then he struck. He freed one arm just enough to grab the back of the doctor's head, forcing him closer, and sank his own elongated fangs into the doctor's exposed jugular. A hiss tore from the doctor's throat as venom flooded into him.
He should have gone lax the moment the venom entered his system, but the drugs he was on must have weakened or delayed the venom's effect, and he thrashed violently.
Max held on, biting harder until thick, bitter blood filled his mouth. His stomach lurched at the taste, but he clenched his jaw, injecting more venom with every heartbeat. The doctor's fingernails raked Max's shoulder, but he latched on, unrelenting. Gradually though, the struggles weakened. The doctor's heart hammered erratically, then faltered.
With a final spasm, he went limp.
Face still buried in the man's neck, Max listened carefully for the heartbeat of his opponent. As much as he wanted the lowlife dead, he was able to restrain himself and modulate the venom to induce stasis. The prospect of reviving the doctor to interrogate him was all the motivation he needed not to succumb to the desire to finish him off right there and then.
When it was over, the tang of blood made his stomach turn, and as he retracted his fangs, Max shoved the doctor's dead weight aside and rolled to his knees, chest heaving.
Across the corridor, Dima and Anton were crouching over the bodies of the two Doomers, one with a snapped spine, the other nearly decapitated by a Kra-ell blade. Blood glistened in savage pools around them.
The situation was similar in the other two corridors as well. Human and Doomer bodies in various shapes of ruin were everywhere.
One body lay crumpled on the floor with no marks of violence, and Max knew this was Ell-rom's doing.
Quickly scanning his team, Max was glad that no one seemed seriously hurt.
Jade and her Kra-ell were covered in blood and gore, and the hybrids were bruised and cut, but none of them seemed to mind. Other than Drova who looked in pain, the others were still riding high on the adrenaline rush.
Yamanu was fully recovered, Drova's shoulder was bandaged, and Ell-rom and Jasmine were unhurt.
"That was intense," Yamanu quipped in his calm voice, as if he was reporting on a movie scene rather than on a gory killing field where a battle for life and death had just taken place.
Anton glanced down at Max. "You good?"
Max coughed, spat out the doctor's blood from his mouth, and nodded. "The taste is horrible, but I'll live." He wiped his lips with the back of his hand, tasting copper and venom in equal measure.
"Who wants to wrap this one in a red ribbon and bring him as a present to Kian?" Looking up at Yamanu, Max pointed at the Doomer.
Yamanu lifted his hands in the air. "He's all yours. Kian wanted the leader of this place to interrogate, but I have a feeling that we've just bagged someone far higher up than that. Kian will be thrilled."
Ell-rom eyed the bloody scene. "What do we do with all this carnage?"
Yamanu placed a hand on Ell-rom's shoulder. "After we free the prisoners and confirm no one is left alive, we'll set up incendiary explosives. That should take care of all the evidence."
Max slowed his breathing, ignoring the fire in his ribs from the hits he'd taken. Their mission was still incomplete, but they were getting there. If they managed to get out of there with Kyra alive and before reinforcements arrived, he would count it as a great success despite all the fuckups.