"Find them," Jacob told him softly, his voice hard as he continued through the house, secure that Faith was covering his back. "Now!"
"We"re on it." The link was broke when Jacob turned back to Faith.
"Cover my back. We"re in a s.h.i.tload of trouble if the sound of those alarms are any indication."
There wasn"t just one, it seemed as though every perimeter had been breached and the shrieking protest of the electronic devices were ear-splitting as they began going through the house, looking for any sign of intrusion there.
The house was clear. There were no breached windows, no sign of trespa.s.sers. Faith moved carefully behind Jacob, her back to his, her eyes covering every inch of the rooms they moved through.
As they entered the large ballroom, a shadow of movement from the corner of a window caught Faith"s attention.
"Down." Jacob swung around, taking her to the ground as a round of gunfire erupted through the room.
"Son of a b.i.t.c.h. Stygian, where the h.e.l.l are you?" she heard him curse as they turned their guns on the window, returning fire as they scrambled to a place of safety behind the thick oaken bar unit set off to the side.
As Faith reloaded her pistol, she moved to the corner of the bar, her eyes narrowed as she stared at the new entryway into the house. Her fingers went to the comm. link, pressing at several of the b.u.t.tons until she found what she wanted.
"We"re f.u.c.king pinned down, Commander." A dark baritone shouted into the link. "I don"t know who or what they are, but they came out of nowhere."
"Coyotes." Faith barked into the link. "You should be able to smell them. I can."
Silence greeted her words except for the sound of distant gunfire and heavy male curses. Outside the shattered windows, Faith watched several dim shapes darting about in the darkness, too quick for her to fire at, but slow enough for her to keep a careful watch on.
"We need rifles," she bit out as she felt Jacob moving around behind her. "I"m out of reloads and we"ll be sitting ducks here when our ammo runs out."
"We"re moving in your direction." A voice came through the link. "She"s right. We have four Coyotes in the compound and a handful of soldiers. We"ve taken down a few and moving in for the rest."
"Watch your a.s.ses, they have night vision goggles, and have moved into a position of defense." As Jacob barked out the orders, Faith watched as the shadowy shapes shifted, merging outside. "They want in this house, and they"re determined to get in. There are too many entry points to cover them all."
"Stay down, keep your eyes open." Jacob was beside her instantly, his revolver placed in her free hand. "I"m going for the rifles and ammo."
She could hear the worry in his voice, wanted to look up and rea.s.sure him but she was too frightened to take her eyes off the windows surrounding them.
"Hurry," she bit out. "I"m a h.e.l.l of a shot, but there are a lot of them out there."
She fought to keep her voice from quivering, her fear from locking her up. She was a negotiator. She had to keep reminding herself of this. Why did she keep finding herself in the middle of gun battles?
"Five seconds max," he promised her as she picked up his revolver, trained both weapons on the windows and waited.
The comm. link was filled with activity. Voices were raised furiously, curses tainting the air blue with their virulence as whoever was supposed to be watching outside fought for dominance.
"Dirty b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are moving on the back," someone yelled. "They want in that house. Kill the dirty sumab.i.t.c.hes."
Gunfire erupted again just as those outside the ballroom decided to make their move.
"Jacob, get your a.s.s in here," Faith yelled into the comm. link as they began firing again.
Bullets rained around her as she returned fire. She couldn"t set off a barrage of killing steel as they were doing. Her only choice was to pray she was sheltered enough, that the bar was thick enough, and that each bullet hit its mark.
She watched several figures drop, but the gunfire didn"t cease. Holding her weapon steady she picked off the closest target, the b.a.s.t.a.r.d sneaking around the side with the obvious intent of making it past one of the shattered windows. As three more took his place and her last round exploded from the chamber, Jacob burst into the room, returning the a.s.sault with a punch of machine gun fire that had the enemy scattering for safety.
He kept up the barrage of bullets as he came over the top of the bar, rolling over it and throwing himself behind the protection of the thick wood.
"Rifle, ammo." She turned at his voice, catching the heavy weapon and the shoulder pack filled with reloads.
"What the h.e.l.l are they after?" she bit out, as she went back to her position, her eyes moving to sight the dim shapes once again.
"h.e.l.l if I know," Jacob bit out as he moved in beside her, covering the far windows now. "But we"re in a h.e.l.l of a bind. Stygian, report."
The gunfire still blazed outside, echoing in the comm. links as curses and furious orders poured through the connection.
"We"re working our way around," the dark voice reported. "I have three sides covered. We"re free of danger and heading your way."
"Well it seems the b.a.s.t.a.r.ds have concentrated here," Jacob bit out. "Take at least one prisoner, I want to know what the h.e.l.l is going on."
"Take prisoners?" Incredulity poured from the voice. "You ain"t askin" for much are you, boss?"
"Try your best," Jacob growled. "We need to know why they"re striking now."
"Do my best, boss." There was a wealth of mockery in the deep drawl.
Faith felt Jacob grunt in irritation beside her.
"You do that, Stygian," he bit out just as another round of gunfire began to sweep through the room. "Son of a b.i.t.c.h, Caleb is gonna be p.i.s.sed over his house now."
Faith returned fire as Jacob let loose beside her. More windows shattered, spraying the ballroom with gla.s.s as the ear deafening blasts of repeated rounds a.s.saulted her ears.
"We"re comin" through. Leave off. Leave off. We have them," Stygian"s voice was imperative now as he and his men cleared the side of the house and began driving the enemy away from the windows.
The bullets turned from Jacob and Faith as distant screams of fury and rushed orders echoed amid yet more firepower. Outside, fiery bursts of color exploded through the once immaculate gardens like a destructive display of miniature fireworks.
"Stay put." Jacob jumped to his feet as he reloaded and headed for the windows.
"Stay put, my a.s.s," she bit out, following close behind him. "Sorry, babe. I"m still h.o.r.n.y. I can"t risk letting you get yourself killed on a whim, mate, until I get my BOBs. Where you go, I cover you."
There was a brief pause in the gunfire outside, a strangled chuckle over the comm. link, a gasp, a male groan and Faith"s face flamed. Then need overtook shock as the battle waged once again.
"Stay behind me then," Jacob ordered, his voice strangled as he moved alongside the bar, working his way to the gaping holes where windows should have been.
"Covering your a.s.s, babe," she promised him, doing just that as they moved towards the darkness outside.
"They"re on the run," Stygian suddenly yelled. "Catch one of those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds, dammit."
There was a fury of movement outside the windows as Faith followed Jacob at a run, well aware of the importance of catching one of the attackers. If there was no clear reason why they should attack, then they needed to know why.
"f.u.c.kers are getting away," Stygian yelled.
"Dammit, Stygian, move on those b.a.s.t.a.r.ds." They cleared the window frame in a running jump and were moving quickly for the tall, stone wall that surrounded the estate along the back of the gardens.