Page 232 of Boys Who Hunt

“Meow. Mrrp.”

We all turn our heads to see Bagel casually washing his ass on the shelf in the back behind the passenger’s seats.

“What the fuck?” I mutter. “Why is Bagel here?”

“Shit,” Silas says, sighing out loud. “I forgot he was in here.”

“Why the hell did you bring a cat to a shoot-out?” I groan.

“Because I was trying to train him to hiss at people trying to break into the car, okay?” Silas explains. “And then I forgot.”

“Wow, you forgot about her cat? This isn’t going to end well for you,” I joke.

“How long has he been in here?” Max asks.

Silas shrugs. “A few hours, maybe.”

“Well shit, what are we gonna do with him?” I ask.

“Just leave him here. He’ll be fine,” Silas opens the compartment in front of him and takes out some kibbles.

“You’re keeping cat kibbles in my car?” I growl.

“What else do you want me to use? Wet food?” Silas responds, like it’s not at all fucking weird he did this. He throws some of the kibbles to Bagel, who happily chomps on them.

Max scratches his little head. “Who’s a good kitty?”

“All right, stop. Enough with the cat. Can we focus on our task?” I say.

“He’ll be fine. We’ll take care of business. In and out. Done and over.” Silas grabs a couple of smaller, quicker blades from the bag, along with some guns. “Let’s go get them.”

“Fine, but if that cat pisses all over my car, you pay for it,” I growl, and I grab a couple of thick blades as well as a few guns.

Max takes back the bag and throws it over his shoulder. “Yell if you need more.”

“Got it.”

We get out, and Max whispers at Bagel before closing the door, “You stay and watch the car like a good boy.”

Some of the guards near the gate approach us.

“You think we can convince them to let us in quietly?” I ask.

They’re already clutching their weapons.

Silas tilts his head. “Not a chance.”

I casually pull a screaming Ivan out of the trunk and hold him up as bait. “Surprise! I brought your lil’ friend back.”

They raise their guns, and so do we.

BANG! BANG! BANG!

I use his body as a shield, and he flops around a few times before dying on me.

Three shots, two down. One of them hides in the bushes and aims.

BANG! BANG!