Page 18 of Unhinged Omega

"Remind me again why I keep you walking advertisements for swallowing around?" I ask, keeping my voice level, partly because I'm not sure if the scream building in my throat is capable of toppling the rest of those precariously stacked crates.

"C'mon, boss," Reese whines. "You know we're the two most loyal guys in the Family."

"I meant on earth!" I bellow, loud enough that Reese jolts and Mikey grimaces.

Guess everything stayed in place. Before I can properly rip into them, the crunch of boots on gravel announces Lex's arrival. She skids to a halt beside us, her scarred face a mask of confusion and alarm.

"What the fuck?" she pants, eyes darting between me and the smoldering wreckage of the hangar. "Are we under attack?"

Why does she sound fuckingexcited?

I push myself to my feet, dusting off my coat with deliberate slowness. "Yes," I say flatly. "From within."

Lex's brow furrows, then smooths out as understanding dawns. She turns to Mikey and Reese, both still sprawled on the ground looking like guilty children. "You two dipshits did this?"

Mikey at least has the decency to look ashamed. Reese, on the other hand, seems to have regained some of his usual bravado. He scrambles to his feet, puffing out his chest in a pitiful attempt at intimidation.

"It wasn't our fault!" he protests. "If you'd just let us use the other storage facility?—"

"The other storage facility," I cut him off, my voice low and dangerous, "is occupied."

Reese's mouth snaps shut with an audible click. His eyes dart nervously to Lex, who's watching the exchange with barely concealed amusement.

"Occupied?" Mikey asks, his brow furrowed in confusion. "By what?"

I pinch the bridge of my nose, fighting back the migraine that's been threatening to split my skull for days. "Not what," I growl. "Who."

"I thought it was whom," Mikey muses.

He's never been a bright lad. But unlike Reese, he usually knows when to keep his fucking mouth shut.

Usually. They've clearly been rubbing off on each other.

"None of your business, twatwaffle," Lex barks, smacking Reese up the back of the head. "Go get a fucking broom and start cleaning up this shit!"

"Yes, sir," they answer in unison, scrambling to follow orders. The last time any of my men made the mistake of calling Lex ma'am, they were shitting out their own teeth for a week.

"You thought it was a good idea to leavethemin charge of packing munitions?" I ask through my teeth, deciding my anger would be more properly directed toward the only member of my organization with two working brain hemispheres, apparently.

"No, I leftDieselin charge of handing out jobs," she says gruffly, casting a rueful glance toward the mess hall. "Mistake noted."

"I should take it out of your pay," I mutter, striding toward the wrecked section of the hangar to assess the damage.

Her boots shuffle faster across the gravel. "You don't pay me enough to manage this shitshow as it is, and I can damn near guarantee you the next poor fucker dumb enough to take the job'll eat a bullet in a week."

She has a point. One I refuse to acknowledge with anything other than the vaguest grunt.

I whip out my bandana to breathe through the smoke and survey the smoldering wreckage inside the hangar, mentally tallying the losses. Not as bad as I initially feared. The concrete barrier contained the blast, sparing the bulk of our stockpile.

Well.Mostof the blast.

"Could've been worse," I mutter, more to myself than Lex. "The facility near Belvast should be operational in a few days. We'll move what's left there."

Lex's eyebrows shoot up. "Belvast? Thought that was off the table."

My jaw clenches. Of course she'd bring that up. As if I need the reminder.

Raven.

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