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“I’ve got this, angel. No one will touch you.” Van had his weapons ready and his legs bent to spring up. The look on his face was more than fierce determination. He was in the same position as me, having claimed her. All his Alpha instincts would be focused on her life. He’d killed more soldiers than any of us when he was in the army, and that was what hardened his eyes now. His Omega was in danger, and he’d take down the world to keep her safe.
I would do the same. For Callista, I’d give everything.
She opened her mouth to say something, but I couldn’t give her or anyone else any more time to think it over. We’d already taken too much. The assailants outside could almost be in the house by now.
“Go!” I yelled, and Van rose to start firing, stringing his shots across the row of broken windows.
Levi and I bolted toward the hall, shielding Callista with our bodies. She was fast and didn’t need to be pulled or carried. Her breaths made her chest heave as she flattened herself against one wall.
Just as we got into the hall, the gunmen started to fire again. I didn’t think twice about Van. It wouldn’t surprise me if he took them all down himself.
Levi crouched and led the way toward the hub door. He fired twice, and there were two meaty thuds. “One pair coming from the gym. Down.”
He continued to watch in that direction. I didn’t need to give him the order. Reaching for the lever of the door, I pressed my thumb to the center. It was swiftly scanned and the door unlocked. I slipped inside and motioned Callista to follow. She gripped the banister with one hand and remained close.
Following behind us, Levi closed the door to leave us in a dimly lit stairwell. The gunfire from the kitchen was muffled.
There was no noise from below. If Walton was dead, there wouldn’t be. But the assassin could still be there.
“Stay right here.” I barely breathed the words, and Callista nodded. I hadn’t realized she had a grip of my shirt until she let it go.
My heart pounded as I crept down the last of the stairs and around the corner to where the steel door to the hub was located. There was no damage to the metal or lock. No blood seeped out from the small room.
Something wasn’t right.
This lock was not only a thumbprint scan but one with a number code. Listening one more time, I unlocked the door and kicked it open with my foot before stepping back into the stairwell.
Just in time to miss being shot in the head.
Callista let out a small cry, and another pair of shots came out of the hub.
I went in low and shot the single person in the room in the knee. He screamed and fell to the ground, clutching his injury.
It was Walton.
No one else hid in the room. There weren’t any spots to hide. There was an array of cameras on the wall, two chairs, and a pair of computers with a line of filing cabinets on one wall and servers on the other.
No signs of struggle. No assassin. Only the man I’d known for eight years and hired myself.
I kicked his gun away from him and kept mine leveled at his chest. “What’s going on? Why didn’t you sound the alarm?”
Walton continued writhing and crying, blood gushing out from between his fingers.
Levi peeked into the room, and then seeing it was secure, ushered Callista in. She gasped and covered her mouth at the sight of the wounded guard. She didn’t need to see this. She’d been witness to too much violence this past week. I hated that. And I wondered if the look on my face mirrored the one on Van’s in the kitchen.
“Walton, answer me!” I snapped, not moving an inch.
“I’m sorry. S-so sorry, Talis.” Walton wept and curled up on his side trying to staunch the bleeding. “But he offered me so much money. I have one kid who started at Caltech this year and twins who want to go to Paris on their school trip. My wife can’t work… And it took so much pressure off. I just had to send him info and stay down here and be quiet.”
I wouldn’t have suspected any of my guards to be a leak. Thorough background checks were the least of the things I did when I hired someone. Walton was a good man and an excellent technician. All the stuff about his family, I knew. His wife couldn’t work because of a back injury. What I didn't know was how badly he needed money.
My jaw hardened. I paid my guards well, but apparently someone else paid more. Paid enough for a good man to turn a blind eye to the deaths of his friends.
“Who?” I continued to point the gun at him. My trigger finger itched. He’d put our lives—Callista’s life—at risk because of money.
“I can’t… I can’t.” Walton sobbed. His shaved head shone with sweat and snot bubbled in his nose. “He’ll kill me and my family.”
“And how do you know I won’t?” I lowered my body, pressing the muzzle against his cheek.
