“You’re doing it wrong,” a man grumbled, seemingly shoving the other man away if the grunt and muttered curse he emitted were any indication.
Some crashes echoed from the back offices, and Kellan motioned he was going back there. I nodded and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek before he left. There should only be four men in the store, and with at least two at the front, Kellan shouldonly have one or two to contend with, leaving the rest to Spade and me.
We shared a grin, and he led the way, our boots barely making a sound as we skirted around the fallen books and made our way up the aisle furthest away from the cash. Three of the men were there, one keeping a lookout through the front windows, while the other two tried to smash the register into compliance.
“You’redoing it wrong,” one man said as he pried the crowbar away and tried again. Most stores didn’t keep the cash drawer in the register overnight, so both of them were idiots for even trying.
Spade motioned me to the one with his back to us, and gestured from himself to the two by the cash. I frowned but nodded. He knew I could handle myself with the two men, but he’d always take the bigger threat rather than push me toward it. I pulled my gun from its holster as Spade ambled back down the rows of shelves, trying to get closer to his targets. I screwed on the silencer and took aim. It wouldn’t completely muffle the sound, but it should at least not alert any more of their men. I kept my gaze trained on the man as I waited for Spade to signal he was ready.
“Got it,” one of them crowed in triumph. “Wait, there’s nothing in here.”
I knew Spade would use the momentary distraction to his advantage, so I struck. I pressed the trigger, and the bullet whizzed from the chamber, embedding itself into the back of the man’s head. Blood spattered across the window, startling strangled gasps from Spade’s targets.
The muttered curses were off as Spade slammed a knife into each of their throats at once, having snuck up behind them while they were distracted.
“Alpha team, you have five more coming in through the back.” Merrick’s voice rumbled through our earpieces.
I joined Spade and said, “10-4.” The two of us raced for the back offices just as the rear door opened. Kellan joined us a moment later, placing a comforting hand on my shoulder. Blood was splattered across his brow, but he was otherwise unscathed.
The men filtered in through the door, and we knew we’d only have a few moments before they found the bodies.
“This is one of the places we’re burning, right?”
“Yeah, this and the ice cream shop.”
“Fuck, yes. That will teach these people not to side with anyone besides us.”
Kellan’s jaw ticked, his hands clenching at his sides. We should’ve known they were planning to use fire to fight their battles. They did burn down the old fire hall after all. A shiver ran up my spine at the memory of flames surging toward me, the heat sinking into my skin, singeing everywhere it touched.
I inched closer to the corner and prepared to shoot. There were at least two of them I could take out at this range. Spade and Kellan snuck back into the aisles before they were seen, and I fired, needing to draw the men’s attention from the two Demons stalking them. I took aim at the one partially obstructed, knowing he’d be the first to take cover once shots started firing.
I pulled the trigger; the shot was quiet, but still audible with the silencer. I didn’t take time to relish the kill as I aimed for the other one in my sights and fired. Blood sprayed over the three other men before they knew what was happening. In the next second their guns were out, pointed in my direction. I jumped back just as a bullet embedded itself in the wall next to me. Dust perfumed the air as the dry wall cracked and crumbled. I took a few more steps back as bullets struck the drywall, getting closer and closer with each one. I was about to duck into the office when a strangled gurgle rumbled from their direction. Theygasped around the blood undoubtedly spilling into their airways, but it was no use; they’d be dead in a matter of seconds.
“All clear, sugar,” Spade shouted, his voice echoing off the walls.
I surveyed the limp bodies scattered among the tomes and grimaced. “They’re going to ruin all the books.” Sure enough, their life’s blood had already soaked into a few of the tomes the other group had knocked over. “I could kill them again just for that.”
Kellan chuckled and Spade grinned, but before any of us could get out another word, Merrick’s voice filtered into our earpieces. “Alpha team, a group of six just entered the ice cream shop with gas cans.”
Fuck. Alarm had our eyes widening as we jumped over the bodies, careening out into the back alley. “We’re on our way. Is the path clear?” Kellan asked, his gun out as he checked along the brick walls sheltering.
“Yes, go through the back though. There are still men on the street.”
Kellan screwed the silencer onto his gun, and Spade palmed his blades, each of us moving silently to the ice cream shop next door. We eased the back door open and hid in the kitchen. My brows furrowed and my ears pricked, waiting for any sign of movement, but there was none. Our brows both knitted together, a ball of nerves roiling in my gut as Kellan took the lead, his boots silent on the tiles as we neared the partition to the parlor.
I cringed as the door squeaked open and readied my gun, preparing for a gunfight, but not a sound penetrated the silent storefront. There were men in here, but their lifeless bodies littered the floor while pools of blood spread around them.
We quickly cleared the area, making sure there wasn’t anyone else in the space before we inspected the bodies. “Who the hell did this?” I frowned down at them.
“I’m not going to cry over it.” Kellan shrugged, but by the annoyance wrinkling Spade’s brow, I knew he at least wanted to complain a little.
“Me neither, but there’s no way one of their own killed them, and Merrick wouldn’t have directed us over here if he had another team available.”
I glanced around the room as Kellan updated Merrick.
“No, I haven’t seen anyone else go in. There were the six of them with gas cans.”
“There’s only five bodies … and the gas canisters are gone,” Kellan said as my gaze landed on something white propped up on the counter.
