“They’ve got tranquilizer guns,” he realized, flipping off the light switch.
The kids were too valuable to risk killing, and Bruno knew he ought to be grateful they weren’t using deadly force. “Get back,” he said, trying to herd the milling kids and a confused Clarice towards the window in the back of the room. Vivian was in the thick of it, children clinging to her legs. Should they try to escape outside? None of them were dressed for the winter conditions and Bruno wasn’t sure how fast they would be able to move. Could they getto the neighbor’s house and call for help? Clarice stumbled into a couch where Bruno thought she might take cover, but she turned bravely to face the door instead.
There were voices in the hallway. “Shifters take more shots. The wolf and the lynxes each took four to subdue, and I don’t want any surprises.” A voice of forced authority. Bruno labeled himCompensationin his mind.
The door crashed inward, the latch tearing away from the doorframe under the assault of a battering ram.
Without thinking, Bruno let instinct wash over him and his armadillo rolled over him, folding him into a small, armored ball.
For a moment, he had to wrestle hard with his sense of honor; he couldn’thidewhile everyone else was fighting for their kids. But he couldn’t protect anyone if he was tranquilized with everyone else, either. His best course of action was to wait for an opportunity where action wouldwinhim something.
He couldn’t see with his eyes tucked under the plates of his protective shell, and his vision in the dark wouldn’t be great anyway, so he held his breath andlistened.
“They’re just kids!” Clarice yelped. “I’m not armed! Don’t shoot! Please don’t shoot!”
Snik, snik!
Bruno heard the weight of her body and then Vivian’s hitting the floor near him and it took all of his willpower not to shift and charge the shooter.
The children, screaming and yelling, made it difficult to pick out the sounds. “Mama!!” Tara was weeping. “Don’t sleep now!” A baby was crying.
Shifting back would be useless, and if he waited, he might still have a chance to get the upper hand.I’m just a ball,he thought fiercely.Just a toy, lying on the floor with all the other toys.
“Is that all of them?” A growl of a voice. The creak of the floor suggested great weight. Bruno tagged this one Brute in his head.
“We can’t take all of these kids.” Bruno could identify four figures from the vibrations of their feet on the floor. Addison, Roderick, Wendy, Vivian, and Clarice were down for sure. He had to assume that Darius and Cherry were, too. He was on his own against four of them, and surprise would be hisonlyadvantage. It was a slim one.
“We want both the babies. Stork pays the most for those. And Hunter wants the unicorn.” This guy was slicker and moved faster than the others. Weasel became his nickname in Bruno’s mind.
Shane screamed, presumably scooped up by one of the goons. Zach gave a brief squall as he woke and then went uncannily silent.
“Get the rest all together, over there,” Compensation commanded. “Which one of you is Tara?”
The children whimpered and whispered and cried, but none of it was coherent. They were scared; Bruno could feel it in the trembling on the floor and hear it in their sobs. “Mama?” Tara was saying pitifully.
Clarice lay nearby. He was supernaturally aware of her closeness, and there was somethingoffabout her breathing.
“Look, kids, we don’t want to have to hurt any of you, but we’re not leaving empty-handed.”
“WE’RE NOT GIVING YOU OUR FRIEND!” Gil declared. Bruno’s heart swelled with pride and fear for him. He could sense the kids shuffling around to protect Tara. “PUT THE BABIES DOWN! THEY’RE FRAGILE.”
“Tara, if you come quietly now, no one has to gethurt.” Compensation tried to sound kind, but none of the kids were fooled.
“He’s lying,” Lucy declared. “They’re bad people. They hurt Teacher Addy and Teacher Cherry.”
Amy gave a little shriek, and it sounded like she was an owl.
“Take both the older girls,” Compensation said, and Bruno had to battle with himself again to stay still as someone’s foot brushed him aside going for the kids. He cast his memory back over the layout of the room. What could he reach to use as a weapon? Something heavy. Something he could use to take out…five of them? There were others moving around elsewhere in the house. Maybe ten in total.
The logistics just didn’t compute and Bruno ground his teeth helplessly as the goons must be reaching for Lucy and Tara.
Then several things happened at once.
44
CLARICE
Clarice realized what was happening as soon as Bruno shoved her into the romp room with the kids, and she cast around for something, anything that she could use to protect them. A picture book wouldn’t stop a gunshot, but it might stop a tranquilizer dart.
