I stayed close to Josie when she walked forward. She might want to stab me with one of those weapons, but my priority was her. In all honesty, I couldn’t give a fuck what went down with Gable at this point. My goal was to make sure that after whatever was coming our way, she was still standing.

Everyone else was on their own.

Like they were trained, a line was formed several feet back from the door, blocking Gable. Instinct had driven Josie to stand on Solos’s other side. She hadn’t been schooled in this kind of technique, how to form a line against an enemy. There hadn’t been enough time to drill years of training into her. I flanked her, fingers tense around each weapon.

Thunder boomed overhead, deafening as it shook the paintings on the walls. Somewhere in the house, something fell over and crashed. A loud crack followed, and a palm near the driveway broke in two.

Something stirred outside. My eyes narrowed as the wind continued to pick up in one area, near one of the SUVs. It spun and spun in a small area, like a mini-tornado.

“What . . . what is that?” Josie asked.

“Gable,” Aiden said, his voice level. “You need to hide right now. No matter what, you do not come out unless it’s—”

The cyclone shot forward, aiming straight for the doors. I prepared for it to come right through the glass, but it stopped before it connected, spinning in one spot. The cyclone was over seven feet tall and as wide as a person. I had a really bad feeling about what was inside that air mass.

“Um,” Deacon murmured.

A heartbeat of silence passed and then, clearly, the sound of the front door unlocking could be heard.

“What the . . . ?” Alex trailed off as the series of clicks stopped.

“Security systems fail,” I muttered.

The glass doors swung open and the cyclone shot inside. Wind whipped out as the cyclone slowed, unfolding until a figure became visible inside.

“This isn’t a friendly,” Solos said, stepping forward on his right leg as his arm cocked back. “No need to wait.” He let go of a dagger.

It flew through the air, hilt over blade, and went through the mini-tornado, embedding deep in the center. The moment it made contact, a rush of air burst out. A sonic boom knocked all of us back, like we were nothing but bowling pins.

I landed on my ass next to Josie. The Covenant dagger fell from her hand, skidding across the floor. She cursed, rolling onto her side as she scrambled toward it on her hands and knees.