in the head, crushing his cheekbone on the left side. Boone howled for help. Maestro followed Steele in, picking up Boone’s gun as he hurried across the room to the closed door. He stood to one side of it and listened while Steele proceeded to beat Boone, using just his boots. He never so much as bent down or got out of breath.
“Shouldn’t have threatened my son or my woman,” Steele said. “You’re going to die slow and hard.” He continued kicking, going for maximum pain, breaking bones and smashing internal organs. He stopped when there was no possible way for the man to move. He was done for. He would lie there suffering until his heart gave out, or he bled to death internally.
Steele crouched down and stared into his eyes. “I’m killing your son and your grandson, so you won’t be going alone to hell. I’ll give that to you as a present.” He stood up and signaled to Maestro he was ready.
“Eyes or ears on second floor,” Maestro asked. “Ink? Can you tell us where the shooters are and what’s around them?”
The others were keeping everyone pinned down in the house. On the off chance that anyone managed to slip through the guard outside, every vehicle had been disabled.
They heard the sound of wings as the birds flew in a mass through the broken windows. The noise was much like a wind gusting at a high rate of speed. The sound of flesh hitting wood was loud to their left as if someone tried to club at the birds. If they did, the blows went through the flock as if they were insubstantial, nothing more than shadows. The wind howled as it retreated. Steele saw the huge flock of birds change shape in the air, looking for a moment like an hourglass with time running out, and then the birds were back in the tree.
“Single shooter in third window to your left. Looks like a sitting room of some sort. Couches and chairs. The shooter is right at the window. Box of ammo next to him. He’s ready for war,” Ink said.
Someone screamed downstairs and a gun went off. More screams—this time the same voice was agonized. Savage was at work, cleaning out the enemy. There were two more upstairs of no consequence, and two downstairs that didn’t matter. Savage was taking out the two downstairs. He’d leave Junk and Bridges until Steele joined him.
“Can you check the entire floor, Ink?” Maestro asked.
“Give me a minute.”
They all knew it wasn’t easy on Ink, controlling wildlife. He could do it, and practiced daily, but keeping an entire flock of birds close and sending them between a child and adults as well as into a house, would take its toll. Preacher and Transporter couldn’t assist him if he grew weak because they needed their rifles for insurance.
Steele’s fingers tapped on his thigh. He was aware of seconds and then minutes slipping by. Downstairs, the screams had faded to sobs and pleas. No one, evidently, had come to the man’s aid. Most likely, Bridges and Junk were cowering together, trying to figure out how to sneak away, leaving behind their brethren to face the enemy.
The sound of the birds’ wings was loud as they once more entered the building like the howl of the wind. They moved through the hallway, feathers brushing the walls and ceiling. They were gone and then came back, entering each room they could though broken windows. The windows had been shot out or broken by someone inside, so they could aim at the Torpedo Ink members firing at them. Most of the time when those inside shot, they were shooting at shadows, not an actual target. It was frustrating and wearing on the nerves. It seemed forever before the wind retreated and it was quiet again.
“Second shooter in the last room facing the pool. It’s a bathroom. Tub to the left as you walk in. The toilet is all the way to the back of the room. Sink by window. He’s there, using the sink to give him height. It’s a tighter space than it looks. A couple of the birds almost didn’t make it out and when they came in through the window, they hit him repeatedly in the face. He covered up fast.”
“Thanks,” Maestro whispered. He opened the door cautiously. “The one to our left? In the sitting room?”
Steele nodded. He didn’t like any of the members of the Swords, but as far