Shaney closed his eyes. “I can’t wait until tomorrow. I have to go to him. If Silas gets in my way, I’ll just blow him up.” Guess he did know what he was doing about Silas. “I’m going with or without you,” Shaney said, turning determinedly and walking toward the SUV. Fuck waiting.
“Shaney, wait!” Todd cried desperately.
“Whoa,” Maximus said, halting Shaney’s progress with a meaty hand on his shoulder. Shaney threw him an annoyed glare over his shoulder.
“You ‘whoa.’ I don’t care how big you are. I will fry your ass if you don’t back off! If Silas had Caleb, you wouldn’t be sitting around with a thumb up your ass,” Shaney growled back.
Maximus narrowed his eyes, unfazed by the threat. A deadly glow lit his eyes. Okay, still scary. “You’re damn right I wouldn’t be sitting on my ass. I’d be planning, gathering intel, putting together plans A and B and C, and fucking D. You go in there, guns blazing, then your man is dead, as well as the rest of us. This is my area of expertise. I may not know shit about the occult, but I know about running a successful mission. I know Silas and how his operation works since I used to be the head of his security.”
Caleb settled his hand on Maximus’ arm and smiled up at the man, nodding.
“Shaney, just listen to him. Please? We need to go in there prepared.”
Shaney’s confusion clouded his judgment—but then again, even when the world wasn’t ending, Shaney had never had the best judgment. That’s why Todd was so good for him. If he trusted Todd to guide him, then maybe he could save the fucking day. Shaney nodded tersely, eliciting a grateful smile from Todd.
“What is this security I keep hearing about?” Todd asked Maximus.
Maximus crossed his beefy arms over his chest. “Silas didn’t just go to his local library to get the information he’s obtained. We’re talking about trips to other countries, many Third World, along with military zones, and backwater countries where no one wants to set foot. This information is priceless and people will kill to protect it—have killed for centuries and longer to protect it. Most of what Silas has collected, he didn’t acquire by strictly legal means. That’s why he employs mercenaries as his security team.”
“Mercenaries?” Todd asked, his eyebrows dipping.
“People who like to shoot and blow shit up for money. It doesn’t matter the motivation or ultimate goal. It’s all about the paycheck,” Maximus said, sounding guilty. He even looked remorseful.
Big story there, but they didn’t have time. Later, over victory drinks. Now they had to get Hudson back and take Silas down. It was the taking him down part that.
“There was anywhere between two to six of us, depending on the job,” Maximus continued. “I need to find out how much backup Silas now employs and try to eliminate that part of the threat.”
Shaney tried to calm his racing heart. Black magic and mercenaries? Sounded like a cult-classic he would have enjoyed watching just a week ago. Too bad in this movie, he’d been cast as the unlikely hero. Not much of a box office draw. Time to plan a big finale and pull up the ratings. God, he just hoped this wasn’t his final performance.
“So let’s make a plan.”
* * * *
Shaney paced Hudson’s kitchen. If he didn’t keep moving, he’d spontaneously combust from the energy his emotions churned up. Add to that, Caleb’s outrageous suggestion, and he was ready to blow something up from sheer anger. Of course, Caleb had informed Shaney about the double-edged sword of having powers affected by his emotions. There was always a catch.
Just as they had when he’d demolished the cup and shelf, Shaney’s emotions could take control. That was obviously the bad edge of the sword. The good part…well, he hadn’t heard about that yet. He was distracted by the asinine proposal on the table. Add to that his overriding fear that Hudson would spend the next twelve hours suffering and it all fucked with Shaney’s emotions big time.
“Why not? It makes sense,” Todd argued.
Shaney paused his pacing and frowned at Todd, who leaned casually against the counter. Their planning session wasn’t going quite as Shaney had hoped. Plan to storm the building, kick some ass, get his man, then clean up the mess! Easy, right? Nope. Nothing was easy about his life.
“The atomic bomb made sense. Doesn’t mean it was a good fucking idea.” Shaney shook his head. “No,” Shaney said vetoing the idea again.
Caleb sat at the kitchen table, absorbing Hyrum’s journals and the information suspiciously handed over by Silas. There was definitely a catch there. Nothing was ever free, especially from a power-hungry madman with black magic and a security detail of mercenaries. Sitting next to Caleb, Maximus perused apps on his iPhone and did something he had called ‘tactical planning.’ Shaney hoped he wasn’t just playing Angry Birds.