Free Ballistic: Icarus Series, Book Two by Aria Michaels Page B

managed to bat away one that had its sights set on Ty. The second he turned his back, one of them latched on to his pant leg and started tearing through the fabric with its claws.
    “Get it off,” Jake shouted shaking his leg furiously.
    “Hold still, Jake!” Ty grabbed a nearby waste bin, dumped its contents onto the floor, and slammed it down on top of the creature, trapping it beneath. “This ain’t gonna hold for long. There’s a bunch more comin’ y’all. We have to bail!”
    One of the rat-like monsters had Riley backed against the wall a few feet away. Falisha rushed at it and booted the thing like a football, sending it soaring across the lobby. It spread its front legs at just the right moment, and its wing-like skin flaps allowed it to glide in a wide arc right back toward us. Its teeth clicked and gnashed as it set its sights on them once again.
    I reached down, slid Tim’s shoe from his foot and launched it in the air before I even realized what I was doing. The size twelve flew across the room pin-wheeling end over end before colliding with the animal just inches from Falisha’s face. It, and the shoe, slammed into the wall with enough force that both went crashing to the floor equally inanimate.
    “Holy hell,” she shouted turning to me. “Thanks, Sarge.”
    “Go!” I hissed.
    She grabbed Riley’s hand and tugged her toward the door to the Renaissance Room. I turned back to Tim, desperately tearing at his restraints. The knots Jake had tied were apparently done quite skillfully. I was struggling to loosen them.
    One of the creatures slid across the slick vinyl tile and slammed into my boot. Its razor-sharp teeth ground together as it attempted to sink into the thick leather. I kicked at it absently until it released my foot, then set back to work on the cables that held Tim’s right hand. Bella grabbed the black monster by the head and shook it about until it stopped moving. Zander crushed another beneath his boot.
    “Hurry,” Tim shouted. “They’re coming! Please, you promised—.”
    “We need to go, Liv,” Zander shouted. He stepped between me, and the surging hoard of sharp teeth and slashing claws that rushed in our direction.
    “Please, don’t leave me here,” Tim cried frantically. “I don’t want to die. Gabe…Gabe help me!”
    “Come on,” I screamed at the cables, willing them to unbind. “Zander, please help me.”
    “Damn it,” Zander shouted.
    His armored hand swung through the air just inches from my face, smashing one of the angry little demons in mid-air as it leaped toward me. He was already tugging on the chords around Tim’s other wrist before the vile creature even hit the ground. In no time, he managed to loosen the knots enough for Tim to yank his hand free.
    The rest of his limbs were still securely bound to the heavy wooden throne. With only one hand to defend himself, Tim was unable to fend off the attack.
    “Ugh, get it off me!” He screamed as one of the creatures sunk its teeth into the side of his leg. “Gabe, where are you?”
    I grabbed the monster by the haunches, ripped it free of Tim’s leg, and threw it as hard as I could across the foyer. It didn’t go willingly or without a trophy for its efforts, though. It gnashed and gnawed on the chunk of flesh in its jaws as it sailed through the air. Its small body slammed into the claw machine leaving a trail of blood and black viscous to the floor. It chewed that hunk of flesh until its body went limp.
    The bastards were everywhere, closing in on us from all sides. Tim was howling in pain. Blood poured from the gouge on his leg. Two more of the loathsome beasts were already feasting on the wound.
    I kicked and swung at them in a frenzy, determined to exonerate the prisoner we had unknowingly sentenced to death. There were too many of them. For every one I exterminated, ten more took its place. Their teeth and claws were everywhere, biting and tearing indiscriminately.
    “We have to go,”