What the actual fuck was going on? Who was this traitor working for?
“Did you hear that?” a deep voice asked as I crept closer.
Something cracked in the woods ahead as they shifted. I moved between the trees, spotting two soldiers. They were looking in separate directions, trying to track the movement in the dark while also keeping their cover.
Too bad their cover was blown before we’d even arrived.
This ambush had turned into ours.
Of the two soldiers in front of me, one had shed his outer armor. He was stronger, but he seemed to have a chip on his shoulder, scoffing at the other.
“What, are you afraid of a few foxes out in that forest?”
When he turned the other way, I struck.
The terrified gurgling of the first soldier drew the attention of his partner. He turned around, but I already struck again, slamming the hilt of my knife into his temple and watched as he crumbled to the ground.
Pulling out the restraints, I quickly secured his wrists and slapped a strip of tape over his mouth, ensuring he stayed silentwhen he woke up. I pulled both bodies out of the main path and into the brush so we weren’t in full view of others.
Then I waited.
He came to while I was crouched over him, my blade resting against his throat.
His eyes widened, then narrowed, fury burning in his dull, blue irises.
“Don’t worry. We’ll ask plenty of questions later,” I whispered, giving him a smirk of my own.
I pressed the blade in just a little until he swallowed hard, forcing it deeper. Blood trickled from the cut, but not enough to kill him. Just enough to sting and remind him that I was in charge now.
It didn’t take long for Nikolai and Ronan to find me.
“Good work,” Ronan praised. “The house is clear but let’s do one last sweep. Then we can take our guest inside for a little chat.”
He muttered something against the tape that I took as protest.
I leaned down again, my face inches from his.
“Don’t worry. We always make them sing in the end. By the way, the Crows send their regards.”
Chapter
Twenty-Five
Luca
“House is ready,” Ronan said as he walked back to us. The guy was fighting against his restraints but my knife kept him from fighting too hard.
Nikolai reached down, grabbing him by his shirt and pulling him up, holding him inches from his face.
“You’re going to tell us everything you know.”
He hefted the smaller alpha like it was nothing, carrying him straight through the trees and inside the tiny house. I followed closely behind, waiting until he slammed the alpha down on a chair that Ronan had dragged to the center of the room before tying him to it.
Of course, my best friend already had his toolkit for situations like this. An array of weapons were already waiting. Ronan had taken his time laying them out on a nearby table. Each one was set out in a way that our victim saw everything.
This was truly my least favorite part of this lifestyle.
It wasn’t that I couldn’t handle it, but the blood, the gore, none of it excited me, fulfilled me. I would much rather be in adata center, finding information, scouring channels and contacts to complete a job.
