He stared at her with concern.

  She shrugged. “I’ve been attacked by an energy worker once in my life and prepared my defense for this afterward, and I know it’s available to use if I need to. … Thankfully I haven’t had to use it before, but maybe this will be the time.”

  He stopped and stared at her and let out a low whistle. “I see the determination in your expression. You’re talking about removing their energy, aren’t you?”

  She nodded ever-so-slowly. “Think about it. If somebody is trying to take away my energy, what do you think my system will do?”

  “It’ll fight back.”

  “And my energy system is pretty damn strong,” she noted. “Yet I’m not saying nobody out there is stronger because that’s a foolhardy way to approach life. But it is a defense mechanism that most people don’t know about and have no way to come back from.”

  “I like it,” he said.

  “Maybe that’s what we’ll need when this all blows up.” At that, she turned to look at him. “You do understand that there could be something serious like a physical blow up as well as an energy attack, right?”

  He nodded. “Yeah, I just didn’t know if you knew.”

  “I see the whole building going,” she noted, “and I would do a lot to stop that.”

  “I would too,” he muttered. “So, if you’ve got any ideas, I’d like to hear them.”

  “I’ve already talked to Terk about it somewhat,” she explained. “And we can’t protect the physical building. It’s too huge. All our energy needs to go to protect the people on the inside.”

  “If that’s possible, … yes,” he agreed, “but camouflage is not protective. It only hides us.”

  “True, but what we can do is reverse that energy.”

  He stared at her in shock.

  She shrugged. “It’s something I’ve had to do a couple times.”

  “How will that work?”

  “We reverse it in two ways. So, while you get the energy from them, you will throw all that energy up to protect the people inside. Meanwhile, we stop people from coming in.” She continued. “We’ll work on opening a path for them. Then, when they attempt to enter, we’ll reverse it and throw them back outward.”

  He just shook his head. “I get that it’s all energy, but I don’t know how effective that will be, particularly when we’re under the gun.”

  “That’s why it not only has to be done,” she replied, “but it has to be done in a well-coordinated manner. And we don’t have much time, so we’ll focus on that right now.”

  He listened as she went through a series of exercises, showing him how to take the energy in the palm of her hand and turn it outward and then bring it inside his system, so that his body could access it.

  “We’ve done things like this before,” Brody noted, “but never on a big scale.”

  “No,” she agreed, “but now we have no option. The bigger, the better.”

  “And what is it you’re expecting to happen? I mean, what are the repercussions?”

  “If we can use everybody’s energy to accomplish these two energy reversals,” she said, “I expect the building to be severely damaged.” He stared at her in shock, and she shrugged. “Like I said, I’m not worried about the building at the moment. I’m only worried about the inhabitants.”

  He grimaced. “I agree in theory, but, Jesus, if this goes down the way you describe, it would be awful. And it’ll go down fast.”

  “I know,” she stated, “and that’s why I’m sticking with you fairly closely for the next little bit.”

  He stopped, then looking at her, he asked, “Do you know something I don’t know?”

  “Probably.” She smiled. “I think we just demonstrated that.”

  He rolled his eyes. “Funny. Do you have any information on the attack that’s coming?”

  “For sure? No,” she stated, “but that it’s coming? Absolutely.” She immediately seemed lost, looking around carefully, then focused on Brody again. “I would say within the next twenty-four hours, and we’re out of time for trying to sort this out differently.”

  “So then why isn’t everybody leaving?” he asked in frustration.

  “I think Terk wants to bring this to a complete conclusion. He is planning to disable as many of the attackers as he can,” she shared. “However, I’ve warned him that I don’t think it will happen then.”

  “What do you mean?” Brody turned on the bed to look at her.

  “I mean, I don’t think it’ll happen then. I think his twenty-four-hour time frame is wrong.”

  “And when do you think it’ll happen?”

  She stared at him for a long moment, but really she was reading the future history of something that nobody else could see. “Honestly I think it’s pretty imminent.”

  The news blew him away. “Then we don’t have time for this. Do you have any other people you can bring into this?” he asked. “Or is it just the two of you?”

  “It’s just the two of us,” she confirmed. “And, of course, all of you guys.”

  He nodded. “I’m not too sure how much help any of us will be.”

  “That’s the problem with having significant others in your life,” she replied. “You worry about them. And that’s why we’re doing the camouflage to keep them safe and to keep your mind off that and on the enemy instead. However, you know that camouflage isn’t enough.”

  “Not if we’re talking about something on the scale you are,” he murmured. “And that just terrifies me.”

  “A lot of people here feel the same way,” she stated. “So we have to do everything we can.”

  Just then a series of alarms went off.

  She looked over at him, wincing. “This could be the start of it.”

  “It better not be,” Brody stated. “No way in hell we’re ready.”

  She nodded. “I don’t think our attackers give a shit about that. Here we go.”

  Brody raced to the computer room to find the rest of them piling in behind him.

  Immediately Tasha was on the computers, along with Sophia. “They’re attaching something to the side of the building.” She turned and looked at Terk. “What are the chances that is C-4?” she asked, fear in her voice.

  “It’s possible,” Terk replied, “but I’m not thinking it is.”

  “What is it?”

  “EMP,” he said quietly, “and honestly that would be just as destructive, if not more so.”

  The others all stared at him, but Damon understood, as did most of the men.

  Brody stared at Terk. “What are the chances of going out there and removing it?”

  Damon immediately responded, “I’m already on it.” He looked over at Wade and Gage, and the three of them headed out, fully armed. “We have to take them down, before they get it started.”

  “Then let me go,” Brody murmured. “I can do camouflage.” He frowned and looked over at Clary.

  She immediately nodded. “Yes, he can go.”

  He snorted. “Thanks, Mom.” But no jest was in his voice.

  She just stared at him steadily. “Or not.”

  He glared at her and disappeared almost immediately.

  Outside, Gage looked at him. “I get that you’re not happy about this whole scenario, but you seem to be beyond miserable about it.”

  “Imagine if you had somebody who could knock out your energy and topple you without your say so,” Brody stated.

  “I get it,” Damon replied, “but she also brought you back from the dead, and there are worse things than being here, like being caught out there by these assholes.”

  “I know,” Brody admitted, “but it’s still a hard thing to deal with.”

  “Cut her some slack, man,” Damon said, and Gage nodded.

  As soon as they exited the outer door, they moved in formation to the side door. Damon asked Tasha, “Is it clear? Can we get out there?” Even the team inside heard it all through the mics on their headsets.

  “You’re clear to go,” she replied. “They’ve shifted to the other side. They’re still placing devices around the building.”

  “Good enough,” Damon said, and they headed out and had to stay close together because it was the only way Brody could maintain any kind of shield camouflaging them.

  They raced forward, following Tasha’s instructions, and carefully removed each of the items. Now they also had to contain them.

  Calum walked out a few minutes later and joined them. He brought a special box, and they placed all the devices inside.

  “Good enough,” Damon said, with a nod. He looked at the box. “We need to keep these out of enemy hands.”

  “We will. No worries on that. And we’ll test them out in a safe place but not now. We don’t have safeguards up for that.”

  Just then Tasha spoke. “Stop and huddle. They’re heading your way. Coming up on the left and right. I think somebody noticed one of the devices they just planted was now missing, and they’re onto you.”

  “Well, shit,” Damon said. “If they want to bring on the fight right now, that’s totally okay with me.”

  Immediately they gathered along the rear wall and waited, watching both possible sides where these guys could come from.

  Tasha said, “Now.”

  And, with that, they bolted around the nearest sidewall, guns at the ready.

  Brody was not armed.

  That was something that really pissed him off, but it was his job to keep that camouflage up. Now with Calum joining them, it was a struggle. Yet the moment that thought crossed his mind, the camouflage was immediately strengthened, and Calum became part of it.

  Brody took a long slow deep breath because he instinctively knew that was Clary. Not that she hadn’t been there the whole time, but she probably just hadn’t realized how much energy he would need. Reassessing, she had backed him up.

  She was right earlier. He had been fighting her, and he needed to change his way of thinking about her. He shook his head at his own foolishness, and, as the two attackers approached, talking in low tones, they pointed out where the devices had been removed from the wall.

  “What the hell?” the first guy asked. “What are they doing? Are they coming up behind us and taking everything down?”

  “I wouldn’t be at all surprised,” the second guy said. The two men look nervously around.

  “That’s not part of our contract. We weren’t supposed to even be here right now.”

  “I know,” the second man agreed, “but you know they’re watching us, and, if we even blink, we’ll be taken down.”

  “How the hell does that happen?” the first guy asked. “We’re IT weapons specialists, but even we aren’t ready for this shit. These damn things are out of our league. We’re not even military trained.”

  Brody realized that once again these were dupes being led to the slaughter. He whispered to Tasha, “These guys aren’t the ones we’re after. They were only sent in to set this up.”

  “Maybe we should have left some in place then,” she suggested. “And find a way to nullify them.”

  “That’s not a bad idea. I don’t know though. If I can, I’ll get Calum here to separate from the camouflage,” Brody said.

  At that, Terk stepped in, his voice calm and relaxed. “I’ll tell them to put them back up on the wall, now that they’ve been nullified,” he murmured.

  “Have they been?”

  “Yes,” Terk confirmed, “the box is magnetic. It’s taken away all their charges and is taking down the battery with an EMP pulse.”

  At that, Calum looked over at Brody and nodded, then quickly went around, placing the items back up on the wall, all while under cover of Brody’s camouflage.

  One of the dupes turned and pointed. “Wait. They couldn’t have taken them off. Look!”

  His partner stopped. “Jesus, how did we not see that?” And there on the wall in front of them was the device.

  The other man backed away, his hands up. “Crap, I need to get out of here.” He looked around. “You can place the rest of these. I’m done.” And, with that, he bolted for the gate that led to the road.

  Within ten steps, a bullet came out of nowhere and hit the man square in the forehead. Down he went, with the back of his head blown apart.

  The second man cried out in shock, as he immediately raced over to his friend’s side. Then he stopped, when he realized he would be next, and instead he turned and ran as fast as he could for the corner of the building, trying to save himself. But the second bullet rang out and caught him in the back.

  Nobody in Brody’s group moved. He whispered into his headset, “They’ve taken out both of their guys. Any chance they’ll double back to make sure they’re dead?” Those snipers are way too accurate for comfort, as are the drones.

  “Nope,” Terk replied. “They haven’t so far.”

  “Well, hell,” Brody said. “They didn’t even leave anyone alive for us to interview.”

  “Nope, and that’s been their MO from the start. The big bosses take any chance they can get to kill off their local hires,” Terk explained quietly.

  “You know who’ll really be pissed now,” Brody muttered.

  “MI6,” Damon said in a harsh voice. “But so are we because, once again, this didn’t need to happen.”

  “No, it didn’t, but, when dealing with whatever assholes are doing this, they’ve got leverage, and they’re using that leverage to take out these men. Whether they had anything to do with us beforehand doesn’t matter because they do now.”

  “Two more dupes dead.” Damon shook his head. “As long as you have all the devices wiped and back up on the wall where they belong, pull back in. I’m heading to the roof to check for snipers.”

  “Be careful,” Calum warned. “This is beyond serious now.”

  “I think we’ve got two snipers,” Terk shared through their comms. “I’ll join Damon on the roof.”

  “I agree,” Brody noted. “The bullets came from different directions.”

  “Could be many more snipers or drones out there,” Terk added. “So Brody, keep that camouflage solid, and the rest of you get your asses back inside as soon as you can.” And, with that, Terk was gone.

  Chapter 11

  When the men all came back inside, everybody was immediately wrapped in hugs.

  Clary stayed back ever-so-slightly, so she could check out how Brody was doing. But he walked over and pulled her into his arms, where he just held her. “Thanks for the energy.”

  “Like I said”—she smirked at him, as she pulled back reluctantly—“it’s always been there.”

  “I’m just too stubborn to know a good thing when I see it.” Brody sighed.

  “Might need a few knocks over the head, I guess.” She snorted.

  “A few?” He grinned at that. “I’ve never seen anything like it. Whenever I needed energy, it was there. But today it was there with a difference. I could feel it, sense it, and utilize it immediately. I also knew it wasn’t mine.”

  “No, it wasn’t,” she agreed. “It was mine, and at least you could use it. That’s half the battle.”

  He nodded. “It’s just a sad thing that it’s taken me all this time to figure it out.”

  “You still haven’t realized that fully,” she stated, smiling. “And that’s okay. You’re on the way to understanding more, and that’s huge.”

  “I hope so,” he said, “because I feel like the slow learner in the class, and I hate that.”

  She chuckled. “I don’t think there are any slow learners when it comes to this. The fact that you’re even on target is huge.”

  “Says you … because some of this is just too unbelievable.”

  “It’s all unbelievable, but you’re getting there,” she said. “Be thankful for the small mercies and try not to hate yourself. Just ask for help when you need it.”

  “Agreed,” he replied, “or at least I’ll try my best.”

  “And that’s all any of us can do.” She turned to look at the rest of the group. “Now that everybody is safe, now what?” Then she realized not everyone was here. “Terk left?”

  Brody nodded. “So did Calum and Rick.”

  “Where are they?”

  “They’ve gone to the roof, looking for the snipers,” Brody told her. “After that, we’re all heading out as a unit to try and take them down.”

  “Well, thank God for that,” Clary murmured. “Anything to avoid the scenario in my head.”

  “We’re doing our best,” he murmured.

  She smiled. “Go then. He’s calling you.”

  Brody looked at her in surprise. “And you knew that how?”

  “Same wavelength, same transmitter,” she replied. “I’m also a receiver. So you need to go.”

  With the rest pulling in quickly behind him, they raced off to follow Terk. Of all the things in life that he’d never had a problem with, it was trusting the intel that came from his friend.

  *

  Now Brody had finally found somebody else with the same type of abilities and energy-work success that he could wish for himself. Clary was right; they could learn a lot from each other. And, as long as he could get his own ego back in check, they were good.

  He thought there was a huge future for all of them.

  But, first of all, they had to deal with these assholes. And it had to be a permanent solution. Not just a temporary fix because these guys would be back, and, when they came back the next time, they would come back with more firepower, more weapons, and may well be weapons more deadly than anything Terk’s team had seen so far.

  Brody couldn’t allow that to happen.

  To stop these guys for good, Brody needed time. He had things to do, places to be, and stuff to learn, and, for the first time, he began to realize what that would mean. He was also interested in seeing just what that would mean. It would be different with Clary by his side.

  He never expected to meet anybody here, but now that he had, it began to make sense. “Well,” he muttered to himself, “you’re such an idiot.”