Chapter 186: Tables Do Turn
Selene’s POV
"He’s granted us access. Come on, let’s go!" I rushed the soldiers, who were scattered in groups of five, to assemble and move inside quickly.
The man at the front gate went down, shot by one of mine. Maybe he claimed to be the security of the place, I didn’t know, because more men rushed out of the house, dressed like gatemen too.
We shot every one of them and slipped into the main house. So easy. Too easy. The thought crawled up my spine, but I shoved it down.
Inside, men and women ran helter-skelter. They weren’t trying to attack us. I figured they were running to get reinforcements, but then I dismissed it. There were just a little over twenty of us. Why would anyone need reinforcements against that?
"Don’t fall back! Head on!" I barked at my people. I wanted this mission to be fruitful. I needed it to be.
They let us walk right in. They gave us all the leisure in the world, until we entered the main hall, and there was Lucas, the man who had granted us access, tied up and held by two men. A third pressed a gun to his head and clicked the safety off right in front of me.
My stomach dropped. We were outnumbered, and they didn’t even pretend to be afraid. That was when I felt it: this was not a wise decision.
A man walked out like he owned the air in the room. No, he did own it. Nobody walked like that unless the place belonged to him.
"Hmm, if it isn’t the Luna of Icefang, Selene. I’m not surprised you came." Guns swung toward me too.
"I don’t blame you either," he continued. "If my people had finished the job, you wouldn’t be standing here, and you wouldn’t have the audacity to walk into my estate."
Everywhere was white and polished, packed with sleek machines and sophisticated equipment.
I couldn’t care less.
"That’s rude. You know my name, but you haven’t introduced yourself," I said, still smiling, with a gun still aimed at my head.
"Oh, forgive me. I’m Tony, the boss around here, the one who has come to ruin your plans." He said it with so much pride, it almost made me laugh.
"You have someone who belongs to me tied up. Free him, or there will be bloodshed."
"He belongs to you?" Tony scoffed. "You werewolves think you run the yard. You think everyone and everything belongs to you. Humans were here long before you. You’re a biological mistake, and we’re here to correct it."
Then Draven and the rest of the gang that had caused all that chaos strolled out like bosses. I didn’t look at anyone else. I stared Draven dead in the eyes, and the old rage woke up in my chest, hot and hungry.
"Speak of the devil himself. Tony, if this big wolf hasn’t betrayed you already, he will, just give him some time. Nice to see you, Draven. Thanks for the other night." I laughed.
"You don’t get to tell me what happens with my team," Tony snapped. "You couldn’t even lead a successful army. Twenty-something men to come and defeat us? You’re joking." He laughed at his own joke, making a fool of himself.
"In a few minutes, it’s going to be hellfire in here. Either way, everything goes down, worst-case scenario," I said.
"I wish I’d killed you that night in the library," Draven said.
"You didn’t, because you couldn’t. Now I’ll be the one to kill you, and I promise to do a very good job."
"Enough!" Tony barked. "Choose now, Selene. Walk away with Lucas, the traitor, and the beast, or he dies and this whole place turns into chaos."
I smiled. He was trying to negotiate. He didn’t want damage.
And unfortunately for him, damage was exactly what I wanted.
"None of the above, Tony. Do whatever you want to do, and do it now, because I’m not hesitating. What I came to do will be accomplished."
He walked over to Lucas, who was still tied and gagged. Lucas’s eyes found mine, wide and pleading, and something twisted painfully inside me.
"I’m sorry, Lucas. The people you’d die for are using you as collateral damage. Truly, there’s no place like home." Tony took the gun from his soldier.
"Keep this at the back of your mind," I said, my voice low and steady, though my heart was hammering. "You can never wipe out werewolves. Not you, not the Bernia government. We’re an integral part of existence, and you’ll have to learn to adjust to us."
"Watch us do the same impossible thing," Tony replied.
I raised my hand, and boom. The tear gas canister I’d hidden went off. It hit like a punch in the face, and everyone in the room was affected. I snatched a gun while the screaming started.
"Paa! Paa! Paa!" I shot at the soldiers around us, and an unorganised war broke out in that room.
The tools and sophisticated machines were shot to pieces. My soldiers didn’t let the gas wear out; as one canister finished, another was fired. No breathing space for the devil. I tied my handkerchief over my nose and mouth, my eyes burning.
Draven tried to run. I pulled out my gun and chased him up the stairs. We traded a few punches, and I cracked the gun across his head and knocked his own weapon out of his hand. The tear gas had already destabilised him. Damn, I wanted him sharp. I wanted him to feel every second of it.
The only person I couldn’t pinpoint was Tony. Where had that coward gone?
Draven dropped to the floor, and I aimed the gun at him the way he had aimed his at me on the night of the mating festival. My hands were trembling, and not from fear. This was the moment I had dreamed about for so long. If I accomplished this, I’d be the most fulfilled person alive.
"Guess tables do turn, huh?"
He couldn’t move. He looked me straight in the eye and smirked through the pain.
"Selene, just do it already. Even if I never got to fuck you, at least I fucked your sister, and she enjoyed me while sucking my dick."
Fucking hell. He was baiting me, and it still cut deep. My sister’s face flashed behind my eyes, and for one heartbeat my finger shook.
Then it steadied.
"I’ll send her your greetings."
"Paa! Paa!" Two shots, straight to the head. I watched it blow apart and his eyes fall shut.
You live once and die once, yet I made his death miserable.
"I hope you die a million times in hell." I shot his dead body again. I told myself it was to relieve the pain. It didn’t.
I walked down to the main hall, where we had all stood only minutes ago. All the gunshots I’d heard weren’t for nothing.
Only two of my soldiers were still alive. I didn’t know who had survived among Tony’s private army.
Lucas lay dead, the gag still stuffed in his mouth. He’d been handicapped, never given a chance to fight. My throat tightened as I knelt and closed his open eyes with shaking fingers.
I’m sorry. I hadn’t said it out loud, and I never would.
Guess he was collateral damage after all.