Siren's Surrender by Devyn Quinn

nodded, pressing her hands against her face. “I feel like I’ve just been run through a shredder.”
    A smile tugged at one corner of his mouth. That pretty much summed it up. He decided to stick to conventional transportation methods from now on.
    Summoning his strength, Blake glanced around. “Wow.” A low whistle broke from his throat. “We’re outside.”
    Gwen’s hands dropped. “I didn’t mean to take us this far.” They’d traveled at least five hundred feet, maybe more.
    Struggling to regain his balance, Blake forced back the unpleasant feelings. Pushing his body past its endurance was part of an agent’s training. Now was no time to crumble under the strain.
    He reached for the tranq gun. “Better get back inside.” He eyed Gwen. “You can stay here if you want.”
    Gritting her teeth, she shook her head. “No. Let’s go get those bitches.”
    They hurried toward the house. The back door didn’t exist anymore. Neither did a lot of the house. The entire bottom floor was in ruins, furniture overturned, walls blasted down to the bare frame. The hostile Mer had come through with the destructive efficiency of a tornado hitting ground. Nothing in their path was spared.
    The sound of concrete crumbling issued up from the basement. A woman’s scream of pain tore through the air.
    Without considering any real plan for his actions, Blake whipped down the stairs with Gwen nipping at his heels. The basement was narrow, poorly lit.
    Gun at the ready, he skidded to a halt, searching the scene. Holy shit! Part of the rear wall was gone, door and all.
    One of the strangely dressed Mer lay amid the rubble. Her body was contorted and it took Blake a second to realize she’d literally been cut in half. Tessa had a Ri’kah and she’d used it with cold efficiency.
    It hadn’t been enough, though.
    The safe room had been invaded.
    Blake caught a glimpse inside the chaos.
    Tessa struggled between two of the Mer holding her, whipping back and forth in an attempt to keep them from subduing her. Curses and threats punctuated her efforts.
    Blake had to give her credit. She was doing a stellar job of giving her captors hell.
    He eased a little closer.
    Kenneth lay nearby. Whether he was unconscious or dead, Blake couldn’t tell for sure.
    Addison had the worst of it. Back against the wall, her hands were raised in a futile attempt to ward off the death strike one of the hostile Mers was preparing to deliver. At that distance there was no way her would-be assassin could miss her target. She raised her Ri’kah and prepared to deliver the fatal strike.
    “Don’t touch my sister, you bitch!” Gwen shrieked.
    Addison’s assailant whirled on her heel. She leveled her weapon, preparing to take down the new threat. She fired, unleashing a bolt of pure energy.
    Blake simultaneously raised his weapon. Puny as it was, it was all he had. Oh, fuck me! It wasn’t enough.
    He stood right in the path of the oncoming discharge. No way the Mer could miss him, either. He didn’t have a chance of succeeding, but he had to take it anyway.
    A series of strange words flowing from her mouth, Gwen lunged forward and threw up her hands. A shimmering wall of light appeared out of nowhere. The laserlike flare struck dead-on. Blinking out of existence, it vanished with a weak fizz.
    Seizing his chance, Blake fired again and again. Aimed with expert precision, the darts struck their target with a deadening thunk-thunk sound.
    The Mer holding Addison hostage reeled, collapsing to the floor like an anchor cut from its ballasts.
    Freed from the threat of being wasted, Addison launched herself toward Tessa’s captors. She tackled the nearest woman, knocking her to the ground with a full-body blow. Fists flying like hammers, Addison went to town. The pummeling commenced with vicious intent.
    Gwen’s hands suddenly dropped, taking with it the glimmering shield of protection she’d provided. The last of her energy spent, she sagged to the ground.