Dark Moon Falls

Chapter Six - Logan

But they should have.

“This is ridiculous," Dusker spat. “What is Levi thinking? There's too many people in here. I can't even take a deep breath without bumping into someone."

Logan chuckled as he lifted his empty beer bottle to his lips. “Well, you have been putting on a little extra padding. You should lay off the Ho-Hos."

Dusker just laughed as he shook his head. “Says the man who can eat a twelve-inch pizza by himself. Brother dear, I hate to tell you, but you're a little rounder around the middle than I am."

Logan shrugged. “I blame our father's side of the family."

Dusker laughed even harder. “Yeah, don't blame those late-night binges of Rocky Road ice cream." He glanced around, shaking his head as he held his own empty beer bottle in front of him, pretending to be ready to take a drink. “I still say there's too many people in here to take down Doyle and his rogues. Someone's going to get hurt."

“You know I can hear you, right?" Levi said through the earwigs they wore. “And your objection has been duly noted. That doesn't change the fact that the intel says Doyle will be here. We're not giving up this chance to take him down. Luca and Teri have the back, Kit's behind the bar, and Sam is running the tech tonight. I got the front door. You two keep the patrons from getting in the way. As soon as we see Doyle walk in, we take him down, quick and quiet. Got it?"

Logan looked over and gave his brother a smirk, doing his best not to laugh.

Dusker sighed. “Yes, sir. Understood."

“Oh, and Dusker," Levi said, his tone casual, light. “I can eat a fourteen-inch pizza by myself. What are you trying to say?"

Logan did laugh this time as his brother's eyes went wide. “Nothing, sir," Dusker said, shaking his head even though the other man couldn't see him. “Um, nothing at all. Promise."

Logan shook his head as he said, “Don't worry, Levi. I'll make sure he makes it out all right."

Dusker just shot his brother a dirty look, letting Logan know there'd be a bill due once this night was over.

They both took fake sips from their empty beer bottles, Dusker obviously deciding it was better to remain quiet while their conversation was being overheard.

The crowd continued to grow, the music getting louder as more drinks were consumed by people who had no idea what was about to happen around them. After a while, Logan thought the intel had been faulty, that Doyle wouldn't show up.

But he did.

Doyle Carter walked in along with a few of his crew, looking for a good time without even realizing that he walked into a trap. The whole thing seemed so unlike the man, so out of character. Logan had a hard time believing that the rogue they had hunted for seven years could be so careless.

Then Doyle turned, looking Logan right in the eye, and grinned. The trap was itself a trap, Logan realized. “He knows we're here," he said as he started to rise, but before he could stand completely up, small bursts happened near the bar and the back door, near the bathrooms, and in the middle of the room. The Hunters had been set up.

With each minor explosion, the crowd started to scream, rushing to get outside. Dusker and Logan, both, sprinted out of their chairs and headed for Doyle and his men, but the crowd was too much, the chaos too overwhelming. Bodies pressed in from every side, and it was everything Logan could do to keep on his feet. When he got separated from his brother, he had no idea, but once he realized it, he was frantic to locate him.

The others were screaming in his ear, people shouting around him as they shoved others out of their way, each one desperate to get outside and away from the explosions. The fireworks were merely a distraction, however, not causing any real damage, just mayhem inside the inn.

“Dusker!" Logan shouted, his wolf howling within, but it was impossible to be heard over the madness happening around him. He searched frantically for his brother, trying to find the rogues who had caused the chaos to take them down. However, when some of the smoke cleared, he saw Doyle standing on the other side of the bar, Dusker pinned against the wall in front of the rogue. Doyle stared at Logan, sneering at him.

Logan shoved people out of the way, but there were too many to push through. He screamed his brother's name again, reaching out for him, just as Doyle shoved his blade upward into Dusker's chin and up through his skull.

Logan screamed as people shoved at him in their mad escape, anguish boiling up inside of him as his heart felt as if it exploded in his chest. “No!"

Doyle shoved Dusker's body to the side as he turned and vanished in the crowd. All Logan saw was his brother's body slide downward along the wall as the crowd kept trampling anything in its path.