I may now owe my life to a demon. This sucks!
I pushed forward, making the bend just in time to dodge a shot that cracked into the rock behind my left shoulder. I’d escaped a bad blow. Plus the shadow trotting at my feet assured me Astral had come through the firefight unharmed. But I had no time to celebrate. Something punched me in the chest, taking me to my butt. I looked down. The ice had shattered, leaving a hole the size of a pool ball.
Astral sat beside me, her head cocked. “Hello!” she said.
I said, “Shit! They’re ahead of us, Vayl!”
We rolled into the brush, taking shelter behind a pile of nearly leafless branches. Vayl slammed his hand against the trunk of a nearby tree. The ice encasing it shattered, giving him the flexibility he needed to access his sword.
Astral leaped onto my lap, lost her grip, and skidded down my legs like a ski jumper. She hopped clear when she reached my ankles, sat at my feet and stared at me reproachfully.
“See what you get for behaving like a cat?” I told her. “R2-D2 never would’ve pulled such an embarrassing stunt.”
She turned her back to me, licking little frozen shards off one pitch-black paw. Every time she opened her mouth I could hear Foreigner singing, “You’re as cold as ice.”
“Smartass,” I muttered. I squeezed my eyes shut. When I opened them again, I saw what hadn’t been clear before. Movement under a bridge that lay the length of a football field ahead of us. Which put us within range of their weapons. But we’d have to get a damn sight closer before we could strike with ours.
They were a group of chasers who’d circled around and set themselves up under the bridge’s wood-planked shelter. The path continued beyond them, and I studied it with a sense of urgency so deep it made me twitch. We had to get past these goons fast, before Ruvin became infant formula. But how?
Trees continued beyond their position along our side of the hill, so we could approach from that direction. But we wouldn’t have them pinned. Because it looked like a gap in the rocks by the bridge led to another trail.
“What do you think?” I whispered. “Charge them?”
“How many do you count?” Vayl asked.
“Astral, go get me video of those gnomes.”
Though she stalked off like I’d told her cats would never be superior to dogs, her pictures came back quick and clear.
I took inventory. “Eight.”
“All right, then. How is your armor holding up?”
Covering the hole, I said, “Terrific.”
With the exception of letting the Ufranites ahead of us slip their net, Cole and Kyphas were dealing with the ones behind pretty well. But they could only hold them off for so long. Cole would be running low on ammo soon. And Kyphas, despite her heritage, was still only one versus an organized unit. We needed to move this group of troll wannabes out of our way.
Then I heard it again. Barking. Definitely my canine pal, whose Chewbacca-like vocalizations currently let us all know he’d discovered the best game ever.
I could die any second and my mutt is playing. This is so typical. Maybe when I finally croak I should just have my coffin painted like a checkerboard and install a keg in the funeral home’s foyer. That way all my “friends” can party at the visitation.
What I couldn’t place was the second sound joining Jack’s ruffs. Hard to describe. Like a dense thumping, as if the earth was a drum and hands the size of houses were playing it. I could feel the beating, thrumming up through my legs. And then branches started to snap. Bushes rattled. Grass trees whooshed. Here and there a gnome screamed independent of Cole’s gunshots.
Kyphas yelled, “Watch out! They’re everywhere!”
Cole nearly deafened me with his shout. “Jaz! Your dog’s panicked a whole mob of kangaroos! They’re pounding up the hill like it’s a trampoline! Only they’re going, like, three hundred different directions! I never saw such chaos! Aw, man, that one just trampled a guy!”
“Are you in a safe place?” I whispered as I peered around the corner.
Cole said, “Yeah, but I’m not sure about Kyphas.” Was that worry in his tone? And if so, could it be bribed out of him? I was betting he’d promise anything for a lifetime supply of bubble gum.
More screams now, which drew the first two guards out of hiding. I cocked Grief and got ready to run.
Vayl made a motion. Wait.
They crept into the opening opposite the trees, one waving for the next to follow. Finally all eight had moved out from under the bridge, the hems of their pants dark from wading the shallow water of the creek it spanned.
Vayl made four quick gestures, pointing himself in the direction of the trees and me toward their escape route. I felt his powers rise again, a cold wind at the back of my neck that sent my pulse pounding as I moved forward. Luckily the gravel on this part of the path had been ground into the dirt by countless hikers who’d never dreamed that one night two assassins would be stalking up the same walkway, leaving a string of bodies behind them, planning even more destruction ahead.
I set my back to the rock wall, glancing behind me to make sure Cole and Kyphas hadn’t missed any stragglers. Motion. I raised Grief, my finger solid on the trigger. A kangaroo burst out of the trees, paused half a second to recalibrate, spun toward me, and leaped past.
I lifted Grief’s barrel. Laid my head back. Shit!
But then, unmistakable, the sound of running feet. I took aim. “Jaz! I’m coming toward you. Don’t shoot me, all right?” Cole had barely gotten his request out before he appeared, his hair flying as he skidded to a halt.
I dropped my arms. Squinted up at the Big Guy. Really? Are You trying to give me a heart attack, or do close calls give you the giggles? No reply. Typical. Probably the next time my Maker spoke to me, he’d be in full lecture mode and I… well, I’d be altogether dead.
CHAPTERTWENTY-SEVEN
Ileaned hard into the massive rock formation behind me. Something about it made me feel oddly calm. It had only been commanding this location for hundreds of thousands of years. If it could survive that long, I could damn well make it through the next few minutes.
Cole tapped me on the shoulder.
“Quiet,” I directed. “We’re going after another group.” I set off, prepared to shoot anything that looked remotely like a gnome.
Cole fell in behind me. “Okay, but can I just say Jack is having the time of his life down there? Did you tell him you wanted a kangaroo for your birthday? Because I think he’s bringing you a present.”
“My birthday isn’t for four more days. And Jack doesn’t strike me as an early giver. But I’m planning to reward him for his excellent timing anyway.”
“Good. Because they saved our asses.”
“Speaking of asses, where’s Kyphas?”
“Finishing off the few that didn’t get mangled.”
More like leaning over the mostly dead, making deals they’ll eternally regret. Shaking off the image I said, “What a stellar addition to our crew. Now, can you shut up for three seconds while we take out these guards?”
“Okay. We’ll talk about how I got to pet one of the big boys later. It was really beautiful. Like giving a governor a wedgie while he does his adultery confession next to his stunned but supportive wife.”
“How is that beautiful?”
“Things are satisfying in different ways, Jaz. You just gotta go with me on this one. I feel like I got away with something major.”
“Great. Now shut the hell up.”
He clamped his lips together and pulled an imaginary zipper across them. Rolling my eyes, I stepped forward, moving quickly now that I knew Vayl must be in position. When I reached the bridge I slid around the corner.