Page 22 of Omega's Vengeance

“I see.” I don’t really have time to worry about Enzo, but I don’t want to piss Alessio off by seeming overly callous.

When I don’t say anything else, he glances at me and his face hardens. “Anyway, where do you want me to be?”

Glad he’s back on track, I lead him toward the stairs. There are short walls on either side of the stairs. At the edge of each wall there are shallow alcoves where we should be able to hide. Enzo and Alessio were too familiar with the layout of the cellar for me to use those alcoves to my advantage. But Carlo and his men don’t seem familiar with this place. I’m praying that will work to our favor.

“When they come down the stairs,” I say, “I’m sure they’ll look to the side to be sure we’re not standing there. What I’m hoping is they have no idea there are hidden spaces. Either way though, that’s our best option. We have to surprise them or we’re dead meat.”

“If Carlo is behind them, how do we take out the first guys without spooking Carlo back up the stairs?”

“We’ll have to wait until Carlo is down the stairs fully. Then we pounce.” I do my best to sound confident about my plan. The truth is, it’s gonna take a miracle to make it out of here alive. Especially both of us. The odds are not in our favor, but I’m not going to lie around and let them murder me without a fight.

Alessio nods, but he looks uneasy. He’s not stupid. I’m sure he knows our chances of survival are small.

“You think you can handle two of them?” I ask. “Once Carlo is down the steps, we’ll have to move at the same time. We have to be coordinated. I’ll help you if I can, but I need to take out Carlo first.”

Alessio shrugs. “I’ll do my best. I don’t know these guys. Maybe they’re amazing at hand to hand combat. Maybe they’ll kick my ass.”

I scowl. “You said you could handle yourself in a fight.”

“I can. I’ll give it my all. I’m just saying, I don’t know these guys.”

“Don’t go into it with a negative attitude.” I frown, anxiety eating at me. I can’t take on three guys at once.

He opens his mouth, and from his surly expression, I assume he’s going to give me one of his smart ass retorts. But instead, he closes his mouth and nods. “I’ll fight with everything in me, Dario. Okay?”

“That’s all I ask.”

There’s the sound of footsteps upstairs and both of us freeze. Adrenaline starts pumping through me like a tsunami. They’re actually earlier than I thought. I meet Alessio’s gaze and we nod and retreat to the alcoves on the side of the stairs. I press into the small area, heart racing. I’m practically shaking I’m so pumped up for this fight. This is the moment of truth. I’m not ready to die and I hope to god it isn’t my time.

The door at the top of the stairs opens and I hear the thud of boots on the steps. It’s hard to hear over the blood rushing through my head. I grip the fishing pole, praying it does a good job as a weapon. There are so many variables, it’s impossible to feel confident. It’s also terrifying to have to rely on Alessio when I have no idea of his capabilities. We can’t look at each other or communicate, so all I can hope is he has good instincts on when to attack.

I see the two alphas from yesterday reach the bottom of the stairs and pass by. They stop a few feet away, probably waiting for their eyes to adjust to the dark, just as I’d hoped. Carlo appears too, although he’s hanging back a little. All three of the men are peering toward the cot at the end of the room as Alessio bolts from his hiding spot, and attacks the alpha nearest him.

With the element of surprise on his side, Alessio manages to spear the guy square in the face. The guy makes a horrifying gurgling sound, and Alessio grits his teeth as blood splatters on his cheek. But Alessio doesn’t hesitate or freeze. He yanks the pole out of the first alpha, and as the guy slumps to the ground, he attacks the second alpha.

Before the first alpha hits the ground, I’m already lunging for Carlo. He lets out a growl and starts to leap for the stairs behind him. I ram the fishing rod toward the side of Carlo’s neck. He must sense my presence because he raises his arm at the last second, and the pole stabs through his upper arm. He screams in pain as I swear under my breath because I missed my target. As Alessio wrestles with the second alpha, I yank at the pole embedded in Carlo’s arm, trying to pull it out so I can try again.

There’s a loud bang as a gun discharges beside me, and I can’t hear for a few seconds. I don’t feel any bullets ripping through my flesh, but I have no idea if Alessio has been shot. However, I can’t stop to find out. I manage to pull the pole out of Carlo’s arm, and I try again to jab it through his throat. The fucker once more manages to block me. With a snarl, I kick his leg sideways and the snap of bone is audible. Carlo screams and goes down to the ground.

I still don’t know if Alessio has been shot or not, and I sneak a quick glance and find him wrestling for the gun. The alpha is bigger than Alessio and muscle bound. My gut churns as I realize the alpha is winning the wrestling match. He’s inches away from blowing Alessio’s brains out. I should just finish Carlo off, but for some reason I’m driven to help Alessio. Swearing under my breath, I dive toward them and shove the gun away from Alessio’s face.

The gun goes off and Alessio looks stunned for one second, as if he’s not sure if he’s been shot or not. I punch the alpha’s head as hard as I can, and he falls down on the ground unconscious. Alessio grabs the gun out of the guy’s hand and he stands over him and puts a bullet in the guy’s head.

I turn back to Carlo, who’s lying on the ground. He’s not making any noises. He’s still as a corpse. I’m about to shove the fishing pole through his skull, when Alessio’s foot slips in a pool of blood. That causes him to stumble into to me, throwing off my aim. I scowl at Alessio, who’s covered in blood spatter and sweat. He opens his mouth to speak, but before he can get a word out there’s another loud bang from behind me. I swing around to find that Carlo is now sitting up, holding a small hand gun and looking murderous.

Shit. Shit. Shit.

By some miracle his first shot missed us, but then Carlo starts firing wildly. Alessio cries out, and drops the gun he’s holding. Cursing, Alessio cradles his hand as blood drips from his fingers. There’s no time for me to find the gun Alessio dropped. We need to get the hell out of the cellar before Carlo’s aim improves.

I shove Alessio toward the stairs as Carlo fires again. The wall next to my head splinters as a bullet hits it. I scramble after Alessio, fully expecting to feel a bullet rip through my spine. By some miracle, we make it upstairs without dying. Maybe Carlo’s injured leg slowed him down, because by all rights, we were sitting ducks on those stairs.

We burst into the kitchen, and I sprint toward the back door at the end of the room. I expect Alessio to follow me, but he stops next to a body on the ground next to the stove. There’s a big pool of blood around the body, and Alessio kneels down, looking rattled.

“What the fuck are you doing?” I growl, giving the door to the cellar an uneasy glance. “We need to go.”

“It’s Enzo. I… I think he’s alive,” Alessio mumbles. “I think I saw him move.”

“Are you nuts?” I roar, moving toward him. “We can’t help him even if he is alive. We need togo, Alessio.”

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