Mom ... mace did nothing ...”
Tom was shaking too. Monsters in the night, coming after his girls.
Not his girls.
He went for his shotgun.
Kaye braced as Bastian flung open the door. She watched as he shifted his weight to the side and kicked the wraith ascending the front steps. He’d have to work on the human thing; that kind of force took something more. The creature fell backward, Bastian’s foot gripped at its chest. They hit the brick steps together with a dull whump .
On instinct, Kaye leaped on the sprawling limbs to free Bastian.
He hollered at her touch. Fire. She’d apologize later.
The wraith shrieked, its dagger teeth bared, but it was pinned just long enough for Kaye to lay her hands on its yellow skin and make the monster—a woman, by the looks of it—burn. The sound in the creature’s throat went wraith falsetto as the flames caught. But it was the stench of the decay that made Kaye lose her fire. The wraith burned before her, its silhouette a human engulfed in Shadow flame.
“You should run,” Bastian was saying. “You didn’t sign up for this .”
Kaye laughed out loud. Run. Now he told her.
She watched two more wraiths glide down the street toward the town house. Sirens wailed a block over. Help coming, as if they could do anything. As if law enforcement wouldn’t shoot the woman wielding fire too.
“There’s nowhere to run,” Kaye said, recovering her equilibrium. She should know; she was the expert. “There’s no way out of this ... but through. And I really need to be through with it.”
“The host can be here in five minutes.”
“And then Grey would know I was lying.” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted another wraith spider-walking down the side of the building. “And he’d have to come after me.”
“Then we’re going to fight?” His gaze flicked around the scene.
Kaye snorted yes.
“Don’t try to protect me this time,” Bastian said.
“Don’t worry.”
A wraith dropped behind Kaye. Jack grabbed the thing by its throat and used his weight to push the creature off balance. The wraith’s stringy hair went flying, and its noxious smell smeared through the air. In the lurch of movement, the wraith brought two clasped hands down on Jack’s arm—the bone cracked as it broke, but the real pain came from Kaye’s accidental faefire burn, roaring on the underside of his forearm. The bone would heal quickly, the scorched skin, never.
Kaye grasped the matted hair of the wraith, and the creature ignited, screaming agony into the frigid night as the wick took and the wraith’s candle flesh stretched into a fiery plume.
... Assistance is on its way.... The thought, angelic in origin, wafted through the air.
... No ... Jack pushed back. This has to be just us ... but delay the police.
... We could pick off the rear wraiths....
... No ... Jack insisted. Not if this really was some sort of test. He could handle it. He knew battles against creatures of Shadow. Every thrust, kick, strike was recorded in his muscle and bone. That’s why he’d been called for yet another tour of duty on Earth.
... Goddamn motherfuckers ... This time a human source. ... going after my girls ...
The blast of a shotgun abruptly brought Jack’s attention down the row of houses where a man had emerged to fight. A wraith tottered, half its face missing.
A ratchet sounded as the man cocked the shotgun. Another swift aim. ... stink like yesterday’s garbage ... Blast.
A shivering wight, a wraith beyond all humanity, darted from the sky toward Kaye, blurring with speed. Jack flung his good arm out, got the monster in the neck, but the wight still sent Kaye tumbling to the sidewalk. She snarled and threw fire.
Jack dodged her bad aim. One burn was quite enough.
“Get inside!” he called to the man, the neighborhood’s wraith vigilante.
“I have to do something!” the stranger yelled back. Ratchet. Blast.
A good effort, but a wasted one. Nothing mortal could
Tom was shaking too. Monsters in the night, coming after his girls.
Not his girls.
He went for his shotgun.
Kaye braced as Bastian flung open the door. She watched as he shifted his weight to the side and kicked the wraith ascending the front steps. He’d have to work on the human thing; that kind of force took something more. The creature fell backward, Bastian’s foot gripped at its chest. They hit the brick steps together with a dull whump .
On instinct, Kaye leaped on the sprawling limbs to free Bastian.
He hollered at her touch. Fire. She’d apologize later.
The wraith shrieked, its dagger teeth bared, but it was pinned just long enough for Kaye to lay her hands on its yellow skin and make the monster—a woman, by the looks of it—burn. The sound in the creature’s throat went wraith falsetto as the flames caught. But it was the stench of the decay that made Kaye lose her fire. The wraith burned before her, its silhouette a human engulfed in Shadow flame.
“You should run,” Bastian was saying. “You didn’t sign up for this .”
Kaye laughed out loud. Run. Now he told her.
She watched two more wraiths glide down the street toward the town house. Sirens wailed a block over. Help coming, as if they could do anything. As if law enforcement wouldn’t shoot the woman wielding fire too.
“There’s nowhere to run,” Kaye said, recovering her equilibrium. She should know; she was the expert. “There’s no way out of this ... but through. And I really need to be through with it.”
“The host can be here in five minutes.”
“And then Grey would know I was lying.” Out of the corner of her eye, she spotted another wraith spider-walking down the side of the building. “And he’d have to come after me.”
“Then we’re going to fight?” His gaze flicked around the scene.
Kaye snorted yes.
“Don’t try to protect me this time,” Bastian said.
“Don’t worry.”
A wraith dropped behind Kaye. Jack grabbed the thing by its throat and used his weight to push the creature off balance. The wraith’s stringy hair went flying, and its noxious smell smeared through the air. In the lurch of movement, the wraith brought two clasped hands down on Jack’s arm—the bone cracked as it broke, but the real pain came from Kaye’s accidental faefire burn, roaring on the underside of his forearm. The bone would heal quickly, the scorched skin, never.
Kaye grasped the matted hair of the wraith, and the creature ignited, screaming agony into the frigid night as the wick took and the wraith’s candle flesh stretched into a fiery plume.
... Assistance is on its way.... The thought, angelic in origin, wafted through the air.
... No ... Jack pushed back. This has to be just us ... but delay the police.
... We could pick off the rear wraiths....
... No ... Jack insisted. Not if this really was some sort of test. He could handle it. He knew battles against creatures of Shadow. Every thrust, kick, strike was recorded in his muscle and bone. That’s why he’d been called for yet another tour of duty on Earth.
... Goddamn motherfuckers ... This time a human source. ... going after my girls ...
The blast of a shotgun abruptly brought Jack’s attention down the row of houses where a man had emerged to fight. A wraith tottered, half its face missing.
A ratchet sounded as the man cocked the shotgun. Another swift aim. ... stink like yesterday’s garbage ... Blast.
A shivering wight, a wraith beyond all humanity, darted from the sky toward Kaye, blurring with speed. Jack flung his good arm out, got the monster in the neck, but the wight still sent Kaye tumbling to the sidewalk. She snarled and threw fire.
Jack dodged her bad aim. One burn was quite enough.
“Get inside!” he called to the man, the neighborhood’s wraith vigilante.
“I have to do something!” the stranger yelled back. Ratchet. Blast.
A good effort, but a wasted one. Nothing mortal could
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