There was an indistinct response with a sharper edge in a lower register, but the breeze took the words away. When it came back, it carried another male voice. “Up. You were supposed to wait. You didn’t, and…” The rest disappeared into the night as someone moved behind the blocked windows.
An angry feminine response followed. It was drowned out by the rustle of plastic, but Cass caught the last word—“Fault!”
She shared a look with Grayson. Dana, the Slider, and one unknown. “Can you make out what they’re saying?”
He shook his head. “We need to be closer.”
She looked over the torn-up dirt that spread between the two houses. “If we cross that, they’ll know we’re coming.”
Grayson studied the other house for a long moment then stood decisively. “Come on.”
He headed back toward the front of the house, and Cass rushed to keep up. As soon as he got to where the framing opened back up, he slipped between the two-by-fours, hopped the retaining wall, and started to jog down the dark sidewalk. A broken streetlight sat at the corner, and as they got closer, Cass could make out the hood of a parked car. She followed Grayson as he darted toward the far side of the car, keeping it between them and the house. Together they crouched down, staying out of sight.
Grayson angled up to look through the windows, and when he dropped back down, he pulled out his phone and started thumbing the screen.
Confused and frustrated, Cass hissed, “What the hell?”
He shot her a look. “Give me a second.” He went back to his phone, and minutes passed before he tilted it so she could see what he was looking at. A floor plan filled the screen. “They’ve set up at the back, here.” He zoomed in on the rear of the house, which was laid out like the one they had just been in. “You go in through the garage and head down this hall here.”
The hall had bedrooms and a laundry room branching off of it. Just beyond the laundry room, it opened into the living room, which spilled into the kitchen.
Cass eyed the alcove under Grayson’s finger. “Where will you be?”
“I’ll go in through the front.” He shifted the floor plan to show the front porch that led to a foyer with a den off to the side, with the kitchen just beyond it. “I’ll be here. Once you get into position, count to ten, throw your flash-bang, but stay back until I’ve taken my shot. Wait for the second flash-bang before you go in. Understood?”
Heart in her throat, she nodded. She switched the pipe to her other hand, wiped her sweaty palm on her pants, and then repositioned her grip on the weapon. With a grim expression, Grayson shoved his phone back into his pocket and pulled out his gun.
He gave her a long look. “Ready?”
“Ready.”
They split up, Cass going through the doorless two-car garage and Grayson heading toward the front entryway. Cass tried to keep her footsteps light as she rushed across the cement and into the darkened interior. As she moved down the hall, the voices got clearer.
“Just leave her.” That was Dana, her voice cold and snide.
“No,” a harder, male voice answered. “We can still use her. I just need to break her.”
“Good luck with that, asshole.”
Her mother’s familiar voice, although slurred, sent relief careening through Cass and weakened her knees. She leaned a shoulder against the wall until the weakness passed. There was a pained gasp that got Cass moving again. She crept toward the opening, careful to stay out of sight. She dared to sneak a quick look around the corner.
A slender male stood with his back to Cass. Dana was to his right, her arms crossed and a defiant pout on her face. In front of them, bound to a chair and looking worse for wear, was her mother. Just behind her and to the left was a second man, his chest and shoulders thick and broad, his feet braced apart.
Cass ducked back into the hall and carefully set the pipe against the wall so she could pull out the flash-bang. Holding it in her palm, she counted to ten then angled herself just enough to toss it toward the man closest to her. She ducked back and grabbed the pipe as the flash-bang hit the floor. A concussive boom and blinding burst of light erupted.
The gun shot that followed was dull by comparison. Then came a second explosion. The ground rattled under her feet, and her ears rang as she rushed from the hall, her makeshift bat at the ready. Through the cloud of hanging dust, she could barely make out her mom, who was struggling in her tipped-over chair. Cass was so focused on reaching her that she missed the body crumpled on the ground until she tripped over it. She lost her hold on the pipe as she simultaneously tried to keep her footing and sucked down a lungful of dust. Coughing, hunched over, eyes starting to water, she stumbled forward until a dull shout brought her head up just in time to see a shadow tinged with a sickly green glow charging toward her.
Dana’s snarling face came into view, and Cass had one paralyzing moment to think, Fuck.
A sharp crack split the air, and the ground rose up as if some giant creature was sliding under it, then it slammed down, the wave throwing her one way and Dana another. Cass’s back slammed into something with bruising force, and a bright burst of pain radiated from shoulder to hip as her ass hit the floor. A crack split the cement in front of her, and she watched in stunned amazement as it snaked its way across the floor with unnatural speed, arrowing for the two men locked in a struggle. She scrambled back, ignoring the pained protest of her body, and shoved herself to her feet with a vague thought of warning Grayson. She never got a chance.
“You bitch!”
A flash of green whipped through the dust-clogged air, and against her chest, the protection amulet flared in response. The spell hit Cass and knocked her back a step, but Grayson’s protection held. Cass started to turn, but something crashed into her, slamming her to the ground. For the second time, her lungs forgot how to work. She didn’t have time to panic as fingers closed around her neck in a brutal hold.
“You fucking interfering bitch!” Dana hissed, looming above her, hair dull with dust, eyes wild with fury, and face smeared with blood.
Shoving at the ground with her feet, Cass clawed at Dana’s arms, leaving behind bloodied rake marks and torn skin as her lungs started to burn. She bucked and twisted but couldn’t unseat Dana. The other woman’s lips curled back in a feral snarl as she leaned in deeper. Desperate, Cass reached out, searching for something, anything. All she found was debris-ridden dirt.
