Lost Inside - 34. Chapter 34

Benny crept along, digging his claws into the mud to keep from sliding down the bank. Dav was kneeling still behind a sapling that shouldn’t give him any cover, but somehow he blended right in.

Dav glassed the house. “No lights inside,” he muttered. The evening had faded into dusk. As much as it’d killed Benny, they’d stopped and waited for the right time. He still thought they’d be more wary at night—expecting the attack to come when they couldn’t watch for it. Dav assured him it wasn’t a problem.

Three quick flashes of light shone at the left corner of the house. “His upper level guards are handled.”

“Jesus Christ, Dav, who do you have working for you? I thought he was just an informant.”

“If I told you, I’d have to kill you.”

Benny snorted softly. The banter kept him from sinking into his rage—the knowledge that Sheshtun was so close had him seeing red.

“Don’t worry. He still had four guards with him in the basement levels. There are plenty of men with that bastard for us to kill.”

“He’s mine,” Benny warned Dav. “Don’t interfere.”

Dav nodded. “Agreed.” Then he slithered down the hill toward the dark house. Cat Carthera were often graceful and powerful as they moved—almost sleek. But watching Dav—The Snake—move was amazing. He appeared nearly boneless as he moved through the darkest pools of shadow as they slipped closer and closer.

He pointed at the back door, barely cracked open. That was their point of entry. They stepped over the prone body of one guard curled up on his side. Benny’s foot slipped in the blood, the pool too dark to see clearly, and he grabbed ahold of the limp body to stop his fall. It made a soft thud as it fell forward.

They froze for a dozen too-fast heartbeats.

Nothing.

That was too close. He carefully made his way past the body and the blood. Stairs. They needed to find the way down. It appeared in a rickety door with a faint light shining from a crack where it didn’t meet the top corner of the frame. It looked like a closet door, but when Dav slid it back, there were stairs stretching downward, lit by a bare bulb hanging from a chain in the ceiling.

A guard turned. Dav brought up his gun and shot him in the throat. He fell forward. Benny caught him before his knees could slam down on the wooden steps. Blood ran down hot, dripping the back of Benny’s shirt from the gaping wound in the guard’s neck. He slid the gurgling man off to the side so they could get around him.

Dav held up three fingers. Benny nodded once.

The next guard was quietly dispatched when Benny slit his throat from behind, but the final two, standing just outside a door around a corner. Dav and Benny shot them simultaneously, crouching to avoid the bullets that pinged off the wall from the guard’s first shots.

“Anyone behind that door has warning now,” Dav whispered.

“Not about how many are with me. He should be alone now, right?”

“Should be. Always a chance my guy was wrong.”

Benny stretched out his claws. “I’ll take that chance.”

“To be legal, you can’t shoot him.”

He’d be dead, either way, but then the clan could fall under the beta’s control if Benny didn’t follow tradition. He wouldn’t be any better than Sheshtun.

“You could walk out of here, while you still can. I can kill him.”

“No.” Benny put his gun down. He flicked his ears. “But thanks.”

“He can shoot you.” Dav glanced at the door. “Not through the door, at least. That thing looks solid.”

“So I go in careful.” He’d be safe, until he opened the door. There’d be no guarantee of cover once he was inside. Benny needed to take his own cover.

He grimaced.

Benny crept over to the guard’s bodies. They were massive meat head types, the kind Sheshtun preferred. Strong enough to get the job done when he gave them orders but too damn stupid to think beyond them.

It took both hands to get one up on his feet, braced against Benny’s shoulder. Dav stood with his back to the wall, ready to open the door at Benny’s nod.

If it wasn’t locked from the inside.

Shit.

Oh well. They had to try. Benny got a good grip on the bloody straps of the guard’s tank top. He nodded.

Dav grabbed the handle—and it turned, thank the gods—and then shoved the door open. Benny rushed inside, holding the body as a shield.

It jerked in his arms, startling him more than the popping sounds of the gun. Fucking coward was shooting at him.

“Face me like an Alpha should!” Benny roared as he rushed Sheshtun, shoving the guard toward him. He jumped, slamming one hand onto Sheshtun’s arm, making him drop the gun. It clattered against a table and then fell onto the floor half under the couch.

Sheshtun snarled. “You’re no Alpha.” He crouched. “You’re a waste of genetic material—not even a true Tiger. You’re unnatural, a perversion. I’m going to kill you, and then force my son to give me an heir I can train right this time.”

Could he even hear how his ravings sounded? Sheshtun’s ears were quivering, his eyes huge with tiny slits staring crazily at Benny, spit dripping from his fangs. He angled to one side. Did he have another gun?

Benny flexed his claws and slashed at Sheshtun’s face, forcing him back. “I’m more of an Alpha than you’ll ever be, you sick fuck. You aren’t going to touch my mate. Not now. Not ever. I’m going to end you.”