Chapter Thirty-Two
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AMAROS TOOK A brEATH, striving to control his own temper.
It wasn’t Zoe he was angry with, but himself.
“We sensed you were in trouble,” he said, quietly impressed with their actions.
He hated that they’d had to kill anyone, but he was glad they’d defended themselves. “We should have been here to save you.”
Zoe was still shaken up, but she was getting herself under control again. He could sense there was something else upsetting her. “There are more of them,” she said, confirming his suspicions. “They’ve got a bunch of women under guard in their resort. We need to rescue them.”
“Leave it to us,” Camriel said. He was standing protectively next to Grace like a loyal guard dog.
“We’re going, too,” Grace said. “You might need us.”
Amaros almost shook his head, then decided against it.
The targets they’d set up barely sported any bullet holes, so they were far from proficient with guns.
They’d used rocks to take down their attackers from a distance, so they weren’t completely helpless.
“Fine,” he decided. “But you’ll follow my orders and do exactly what I say. ”
“We need to get closer and check out their defenses,” Camriel said, switching into combat mode.
“I have binoculars in the truck,” Amaros said.
“What should we do with the bodies?” Zoe asked, avoiding looking at the men she and Grace had killed.
“We’ll leave them here for now,” Amaros replied. “Camriel and I will move them later.”
This time, the females didn’t argue with his plan. They grabbed their gear, collected the targets, then followed the warriors to the trucks.
“I’ll leave my ride here for now,” Camriel said.
“We didn’t realize how close we were to the road,” Grace said sheepishly. It was only a couple of hundred yards from where they’d been shooting the targets.
“You should always scout the area to make sure it’s safe,” Amaros lectured them.
“We will next time,” Zoe vowed.
He wanted to tell her there wouldn’t be a second time, but held his words in. She wasn’t one of his knights and they didn’t share a bond. He hadn’t decided whether he was going to stay or not yet. While he wanted her to be safe, he didn’t have the right to tell her what she could and couldn’t do.
Camriel climbed into the front and the girls took the back seat.
Amaros drove a couple of miles before pulling over.
“We’ll go the rest of the way on foot,” he said.
He parked the vehicle beneath some trees on the side of the road.
They had to duck beneath the branches as he led them through the trees and higher up the mountain.
“I can see the roof of the resort,” Camriel reported after they’d walked a mile or so. He peered through the foliage and pointed.
“I see it,” Amaros said. “We’ll circle around to higher ground,” he decided.
They stayed under cover and out of sight of the resort until they reached a crag that overlooked the grounds. The resort had three levels and was styled to look like a gigantic log cabin. Several vehicles were parked in the lot.
“There’s a sniper on the roof,” Camriel noted. The knights’ eyesight was excellent even without binoculars.
“Stay back and hide from sight,” Amaros told his team. They all stepped back into the cover of the trees. He used his binoculars to study the sniper. “He’s a lousy guard,” he said in disapproval. “He’s not even scanning the area.”
“We could take him out right now if we had a sniper rifle,” Camriel mused.
“Only if it had a silencer,” Zoe said. “The men could murder the women and make a run for it if they heard us shooting.”
“They might hear the body roll down the roof and investigate, too,” Grace added.
“They’re both good points,” Amaros said and Camriel nodded. “We’ll have to ascertain how many men there are before we go in and rescue the captives.”
“The windows are tinted, so we can’t see inside,” his second said.
“Two more men are patrolling the outside,” Amaros said after watching the building and grounds.
“We could sneak down there, take them out and get Zoe to scan them,” Grace suggested.
“I might be able to pick up how many more bad guys there are,” Zoe agreed.
“I like this plan,” Camriel said. “As long as Amaros and I do the sneaking and killing.”
“Let’s do it,” Amaros decided.
They quickly made their way down a steep hiking track and circled around closer to the resort. The sniper couldn’t see them from this angle and there was only one man in view.
“Stay out of sight and wait for my signal,” Amaros whispered. Zoe and Grace nodded, then the knights went into action.
Camriel silently raced off, vanishing around the side of the building, while Amaros took care of the first guard. The man went down with a broken neck without making a sound. Amaros carried the body to the trees and hid it behind a log. At his nod, Zoe joined him. “What can you see?” he asked.
Zoe knelt beside the body and touched the dead man’s hand. It seemed it wasn’t as easy to pick up visions from dead people. She saw a few flickering images that faded away quickly. “You’ll need to keep one alive next time,” she said quietly. “It’s hard to read dead people.”
“You didn’t get anything at all?” Camriel asked in disappointment. The big warrior had returned just in time to overhear her. He’d left the other guard’s body out of sight in the woods.
“I only saw a few images,” Zoe said. “There are at least six more men apart from the two you took down just now. They’re spread out and I’m not sure exactly where they are.”
“This will be easy,” Amaros said. “Six humans aren’t a match for us.”
“Don’t forget the sniper on the roof,” Grace reminded him.
“We’ll get him last,” Camriel figured. “He must have used a ladder inside to get up there.”
The females shifted away from the corpse to wait for the warriors to take down the bad guys.
Amaros and Camriel stayed together this time.
They entered the resort through the rear door the guard had been watching.
Tasteful dark blue carpet covered the floor.
Photos of snowy mountain scenes hung on the plain white walls.
They must have been local shots, since some featured the resort.
A quick search of the lower floor found it to be empty.
“It’s too open here and there are too many exits,” Amaros said in a low voice. “They’ll be keeping the women apart, so they can’t plan an escape.”
Camriel’s expression was as grim as his own as they took the stairs to the next floor.
Amaros held up his hand when he sensed someone approaching.
Camriel pulled the knife he’d pilfered from the guard he’d killed and readied himself.
At his commander’s nod, he lunged around the corner.
His knife sank into the startled human’s neck before he could shout.
Amaros waited for his second to carry the body down to the landing before he went on the move. Another guard stood at the far end of the hallway. He was leaning in a doorway, taunting one of the prisoners who was sobbing quietly.
Using hand signals, Amaros told Camriel to wait for him. Knowing his second had his back, he silently raced to the end of the hallway.
“The harder you cry, the more I’m going to hurt you,” the guy said in cruel amusement.
He opened his mouth to continue, but Amaros yanked him backwards.
Breaking the guard’s neck, he carried the body to an empty bedroom, leaving the captured women where they were for now.
It would be safer for all of them if they had no idea someone was there to save them.
The remaining kidnappers would come running and stray bullets could kill the victims.
“Four more to go,” Camriel whispered in satisfaction.
“Let’s make this fast,” Amaros said. “We’ve got a lot of work to do at our base.” Storms seemed to be a daily occurrence now and they needed to repair the roof properly. Not to mention all the empty windows and doorways that needed to be filled.