trade uniforms. It was like we’d kicked a beehive full of electricians and welders, only, you know, I’d never seen a plumber shed his skin and become a flesh-eating lizard person before.
“What the fuck!” I screamed as Danton gunned the engine.
“Try and make a hole!” Danton yelled back, and needing no further persuasion, I called upon my power.
“Ignis!” I cried, calling to life a huge amount of Hellfire.
I let the blast fly straight at the center of the surging gremlins. They scurried out of the way, weaving past my attack like it was in slow motion. Danton must have anticipated this because he surged forward in a squeal of burning rubber and hit the hole in their blockade. We careened past the creatures and out into the street, narrowly avoiding a tooled up F150 as it turned into the neighborhood.
We served out through the oncoming lane and into the dirt field beside the complex before Danton halted our momentum and pulled us back onto the road. Sparks flew off the back of the car, mostly due to the rear bumper hanging off the hooptie’s back end. I watched the bumper catch a pothole and rip off the car. It bounced a few times, but Danton didn’t seem to care about it very much. I guess given the car’s sad state, what good was crying about a lost bumper?
“Next time I tell you to shut your damned mouth, you do it, Mac,” Danton growled, taking a second to glare at me before bursting through the red light amid a screech of horns and tires as people struggled to avoid him. “Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” I said, hardly able to catch my breath as adrenaline surged through my veins. “Never mention movies around gremlins. Got it.”
Danton sighed. “They’re a little touchy ever since the gnomes put out those movies. Afterward, people started making fun of them, and they decided there was only one way to get respect back. Fear. Normally, they flay people who bring them up.” He gestured at the destroyed car as the side mirror ripped off the passenger door and flew off into the road. “This was them being nice.”
“Awesome,” I muttered, hoping I wouldn’t run into anymore of the little monsters anytime soon. Either way, one thing was clear. I needed to get some more ammunition. “They know who I am. Should I be worried?”
“I doubt it, but the next time you call a plumber, you want to make sure he’s over six feet tall. It’s hard to know if a person is just short or a gremlin until they try to eat your face. Since gremlins like to fix things and are pretty good at it, having a gremlin mechanic isn’t so bad.” He shot me a grin. “I might get Emi to fix up my baby after this is all said and done. She might hate me, but she loves to work on cars.”
“Uh, huh,” I said, thinking it would be easier and cheaper to just get a new car. It wasn’t like this gold monstrosity had been particularly awesome before its date with the gremlins. “So what’s the plan now?”
“We go to the bar and apprehend Sal,” Danton said, thumping his hand on the steering wheel. I was amazed it didn’t fall off. “Then we make him tell us where your family is before throwing him off a building. Sound like a plan?”
“You know, for someone who is remarkably good at nearly getting me killed, you do know what I like,” I replied, marveling at how the angel bobble-head had, somehow, remained pristine despite being in a car that had been all but ripped to shreds.
“Call it a gift.” Danton shot me a grin. “Are you any good at pool?”
“I honestly have no idea. Why?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at the demon hunter. “It isn’t like we have time to go shoot pool. We’ve got a Cursed to kick in the teeth a few dozen times, or have you forgotten?”
Danton glanced at the angel on the dashboard. “My gut is just telling me we’ll need to play some pool, and I’ve learned to listen to my gut. I suck at pool, darts, and pretty much every other kind of bar game. So whatever happens is
“What the fuck!” I screamed as Danton gunned the engine.
“Try and make a hole!” Danton yelled back, and needing no further persuasion, I called upon my power.
“Ignis!” I cried, calling to life a huge amount of Hellfire.
I let the blast fly straight at the center of the surging gremlins. They scurried out of the way, weaving past my attack like it was in slow motion. Danton must have anticipated this because he surged forward in a squeal of burning rubber and hit the hole in their blockade. We careened past the creatures and out into the street, narrowly avoiding a tooled up F150 as it turned into the neighborhood.
We served out through the oncoming lane and into the dirt field beside the complex before Danton halted our momentum and pulled us back onto the road. Sparks flew off the back of the car, mostly due to the rear bumper hanging off the hooptie’s back end. I watched the bumper catch a pothole and rip off the car. It bounced a few times, but Danton didn’t seem to care about it very much. I guess given the car’s sad state, what good was crying about a lost bumper?
“Next time I tell you to shut your damned mouth, you do it, Mac,” Danton growled, taking a second to glare at me before bursting through the red light amid a screech of horns and tires as people struggled to avoid him. “Are we clear?”
“Crystal,” I said, hardly able to catch my breath as adrenaline surged through my veins. “Never mention movies around gremlins. Got it.”
Danton sighed. “They’re a little touchy ever since the gnomes put out those movies. Afterward, people started making fun of them, and they decided there was only one way to get respect back. Fear. Normally, they flay people who bring them up.” He gestured at the destroyed car as the side mirror ripped off the passenger door and flew off into the road. “This was them being nice.”
“Awesome,” I muttered, hoping I wouldn’t run into anymore of the little monsters anytime soon. Either way, one thing was clear. I needed to get some more ammunition. “They know who I am. Should I be worried?”
“I doubt it, but the next time you call a plumber, you want to make sure he’s over six feet tall. It’s hard to know if a person is just short or a gremlin until they try to eat your face. Since gremlins like to fix things and are pretty good at it, having a gremlin mechanic isn’t so bad.” He shot me a grin. “I might get Emi to fix up my baby after this is all said and done. She might hate me, but she loves to work on cars.”
“Uh, huh,” I said, thinking it would be easier and cheaper to just get a new car. It wasn’t like this gold monstrosity had been particularly awesome before its date with the gremlins. “So what’s the plan now?”
“We go to the bar and apprehend Sal,” Danton said, thumping his hand on the steering wheel. I was amazed it didn’t fall off. “Then we make him tell us where your family is before throwing him off a building. Sound like a plan?”
“You know, for someone who is remarkably good at nearly getting me killed, you do know what I like,” I replied, marveling at how the angel bobble-head had, somehow, remained pristine despite being in a car that had been all but ripped to shreds.
“Call it a gift.” Danton shot me a grin. “Are you any good at pool?”
“I honestly have no idea. Why?” I asked, quirking an eyebrow at the demon hunter. “It isn’t like we have time to go shoot pool. We’ve got a Cursed to kick in the teeth a few dozen times, or have you forgotten?”
Danton glanced at the angel on the dashboard. “My gut is just telling me we’ll need to play some pool, and I’ve learned to listen to my gut. I suck at pool, darts, and pretty much every other kind of bar game. So whatever happens is
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