thirty-eight
The neighborhood was dark, most of the houses long abandoned and clinging desperately to their foundations. Vale had made this almost too easy.
Three thugs patrolled the target house. They were unorganized and sloppy. Amateurs.
Roul took one out without even getting dirty. I grabbed the other as he came around the corner, his eyes going wide as I slashed my claws across his throat.
The third was smarter. As soon as his buddies went quiet, he ran for the front door. I could hear voices from the front room and clocked each one. The thug, a man with too-smooth a voice, and Jade.
I flexed my claws. She sounded unhurt, but until I could see her, see for myself she was okay, I’d remain on edge.
I stalked closer to the door, Kragen at my back. Roul was on the opposite side with Drym. Quin and Cavi covered the back, in case any of them decided to run.
Kragen decided a direct approach was best. These human criminals wouldn’t expect us, and with so few being present, it would be a walk in the park. Instead of busting the door down, he planned a stealthier entry, to keep our advantage as long as possible.
We were tough, not bulletproof.
Roul reached out and slowly turned the doorknob. A quarter into the rotation, a click sounded. I almost missed it, straining to make out Jade’s words.
“Down!”
The four of us hit the ground as the concrete walk in front of the door exploded. Concrete and shrapnel buried into my shoulder and back. Rage, hot and swift, filled my body. My vision blurred, red bleeding over everything. My mind narrowed to a single point—a single objective.
Jade.
I was up and through the door before the dust settled.
The thug from outside was the first to go. His scream turned into a gurgle as I tore out his throat. Movement swung my head to the left, where another man backed himself into a corner. That was a mistake. I was on him in two strides, my head cleared enough to clock the fancy suit he wore.
This was Vale then.
His mouth opened and closed but no sound emerged. I dug my claws into his chest and yanked. He fell to the side, and I dropped the chunk of skin, bone, muscle and organs I’d ripped from him.
A third threat stood between me and Jade. Jade was trying to get around him, to come to me, but he kept pushing her back.
Here was more of a challenge. I stalked the big man, sizing up his skill as he dropped into a fighting stance. My brothers crowded into the room but a pointed look at Kragen had him holding them back.
Jade was saying something, but the roar in my ears was still too loud.
I watched her jostle for position with the man until she brought her heel down on his foot… hard. He threw his hands up in surrender and backed off. The unexpected move gave me enough pause for the fog to clear. Sound rushed in.
“Stop, Thurl! He’s with us!”
I blinked and studied the man again. With a flick of his head, his eyes went from human brown to otherworldly gold. The pupils narrowed to a point and a rolling chuff came from his chest.
I relaxed, but didn’t turn my focus from him. He was definitely Society, but why was he here? Why would he be with a human criminal?
“Jade.” My voice was little more than a rumble. I held out my hand—the clean one—and she rushed into my hold. With my brothers at my back to watch the unknown supernatural, I buried my nose in her hair and inhaled.
“I’m okay. It’s okay. It’s over.”
I didn’t know if she was telling me or herself. “You’re not injured?”
She shook her head. “No. It was Officer Phillips. He injected me with some kind of sedative.” Tears sprang in her eyes. “He said Luna was… that he’d shot her and she was…”
“Zeus says she’ll be fine.”
She pulled back and looked up at me, so I nodded to reassure her. I watched her face crumple before she buried it in my chest, her shoulders heaving with racking sobs.
“Shh, kitten. You’re okay now. I’ve got you.”
I studied the other creature and then noticed the little girl and another woman. The woman had the girl wrapped in her arms while the creature spoke to them softly.
“Who are you?”
Before I could take Jade home, I needed to ascertain if he was a threat. A threat would not be allowed to leave intact.
“Briggs Stone. I’m a Society Operative. I’ve been undercover with Silver Fang for two years.” He stared at Vale’s corpse and sighed. “We wanted him alive, but I can see there wasn’t a snowball’s chance in hell of that happening.”
“Why would you want the head of a criminal organization alive?”
I didn’t care, but Kragen was ever strategic. The more information, the better, in his opinion.
“The power vacuum left when The Level lost its leadership made the entire region volatile. We’d hoped to avoid a repeat situation.” He smiled, showing off canines just a little too sharp, a little too long to be human. “And he was easy to control.”
He tilted his head at us. “What are you?”
Kragen started talking and I didn’t bother sticking around. Halfway out the door, Jade called over my shoulder, “What about Sophia and Mrs. Calder?”
“They’ll get home safe, I’ll ensure it.”
I still didn’t trust Briggs, but the relief in Jade’s eyes made me reevaluate my opinion of him.
I took her home and settled her on the couch with Sir Purrs-a-lot while I washed off the gore that clung to my forearm. Nanna wrapped her in a blanket and fussed over her until I was done. I scooped her into my arms and held her on my lap while I breathed and satisfied myself she was okay.
After all five of my brothers checked on her (and me), and she’d finished a large mug of hot chocolate with whipped cream, she fell asleep in my arms. I took her to our bed, away from other eyes, and tucked her close to my chest.
“Sleep, kitten.”