Page 44 of Savage Little War

Maybe he can be useful.

“Make him use his radio and lure Ferro out to the garden in the back,” I tell Luca. “We’ll kill him if he doesn’t.”

Luca nods and whispers urgently to Marco in Italian as he pulls out his radio. He holds it close to Marco as Andrei yanks the cloth out of his mouth.

Marco glares up at Luca before opening his mouth, the start of a shout bursting from him until Andrei jabs him in the throat with a knife. He lets out a gurgle instead as blood fills his mouth and spills from his throat.

“Bastard. Should’ve listened,” Andrei mutters as he wipes his blade on the Italian’s jacket.

“I can use the radio again,” Luca offers.

“Not right now. Let’s give the others time to get into position,” I tell him. “Andrei, you’ll switch with Luca. He’ll come with us. You’ll stay here with Damien.”

Andrei glances at Cara before looking back at me. “Are you sure?”

I want him to guard Cara, but I can trust Luca to protect her too. I need him positioned here for the attack so that we have help on this floor.

“I’m sure,” I say before walking back to the door. “Let’s try this again.”

Slowly, I open the door, grimacing as it creaks. I give myself enough space to slip through the dark hallway, Cara, Luca, and Damien following me closely. Faint traces of noise sound throughout the estate as Ferro’s guards comb the place.

A soft whine, then silence. The lights die. Power’s out.

I keep moving down the hallway toward the study, my pulse filling my ears in a deafening thudding. We almost make it to the study when the floor creaks up ahead. My eyes lift just as another Italian guard rounds the corner into our hallway.

I don’t have time to do anything but run at him without a thought. I slam into his right side, driving him into the window. The bullet whistles past my ear, the crack of the gun almost deafening me.

The guard’s back hits a window behind him, shattering the glass.

I grab the front of his shirt with one hand and strike him in the face with the other, my knuckles colliding with his cheek over and over until blood coats my knuckles.

The guard weakly swings at me, but he’s too slow to even graze me.

I grab his head and slam it back against the windowsill, hearing the wood crack from the impact. Or maybe it was his skull. Regardless, he slumps against the wall, blood dripping from the back of his head.

“Shit. Come on, Damien.”

I spin around to see Cara and Luca kneeling next to Damien, who lays still on the ground. My heart sinks. I didn’t reach the guard fast enough to keep him from firing. Now, we have a man down, and our surprise advantage went up in smoke.

They know that we’re here now.

Luca looks up at me, moonlight illuminating his grim face as he shakes his head.

“Fuck,” I breathe out. My stomach drops hard.

The sound of rapidly approaching footsteps come from the stairs near the other end of the hallway.

Luca grabs Cara’s hand and pulls her up to her feet. “Run!”

I reach out and take Cara’s other hand, pulling her toward me so that we can all round the corner together to enter another hallway. Gunshots ring out throughout the estate, sounding above us and below us. Our plan went south.

Luca suddenly halts in the middle of the hallway. “Go!”

“What the hell are you doing?” I question him as I stop and spin around.

“Distracting them! Get her somewhere safe!” Luca shouts at me.

“What? No!” Cara protests.