She bent her torso through the door again for another look and came face to face with Bruno himself. He pushed the door inward, and it swished through her body. A growl erupted from her throat, and the girls went into immediate hysterics, trying to crawl over each other to get farther away from the beefy man.
He waded through the screaming girls and grabbed one by the hair, wrenching her to her feet. She cowered, squealing and trying to wriggle free of him. “My buyer’s gonna want to see proof of merchandise. Behave for him.”
Meaning what? The girl should let another man grope her, rape her? Bullshit.
Tightening his fingers in her long hair, he shook her, though Maron doubted the teen understood a word of English. Raum and Kobal were supposed to be tracking Bruno, but she didn’t see them, couldn’t sense them close by. Well, she was going to have to deal with this herself. She solidified and kicked the door shut. With any luck, his men would think he’d closed it to keep the panicking girls in.
“Hey!” He spun, the teen still trapped in his grip, and she howled in pain. He blinked in the sudden murky light. “What the fuck?”
Demon senses allowing her to see in the dark, she stepped up and jabbed the tips of her fingers into his throat so he couldn’t call for help. He let go of the girl, choking, gagging and grabbing his neck.
“What’s the matter, Bruno? Never had a girl slap you around like the little bitch you are?” Balling her fist, she slammed it into his balls. Now that she was corporeal, the reek of blood, urine and fear flooded her nose, and it was nothing compared to putrescent rot of Bruno’s soul. Her muscles heaved in sickened reaction.
He wheezed, lurching to the side and swinging wildly. One fist struck, catching her off-guard and sending her reeling back. She tasted the copper of blood in her mouth. She shook her head, trying to clear the sudden ringing, trying to focus through the bombardment to her senses. It only made her angrier that he’d managed to make her bleed. He tried to hit her again, but she ducked and backhanded him across the face, using a lot more power than a human woman would have. His lip split, blood and snot dribbling down his face. He reached into his jacket for his gun, and she twisted it from his grip, snapping a couple of his fingers in the process. His mouth moved as if he wanted to speak, but only a loud grunting gurgle came out. The scent of his putrid soul singed her nostrils once more.
A piercing wail filled the air, the sound of sirens blaring from outside. A man’s voice over a bullhorn announced that the police had arrived and everyone should come out with their hands up. She heard windows shatter in the hallway as men came swarming in, and she could feel her lungs and eyes beginning to burn from the tear gas. Gunfire rang out, the boom of it enough to freeze the blood in a person’s veins.
The Russian girls went absolutely batshit crazy, pelting toward the door, screaming and battering at the heavy metal surface. Maron groaned. “Shit.”
If the teens got out, they were likely to get caught in the crossfire. Their combined weight pushing forward kept the girls in front from opening the door inward. For the moment, they’d trapped themselves.
“Maron!” Raum roared from a distance, his voice almost drowned out by the crack of bullets flying. He was echoed by Kobal. “Maron, where are you?”
“Here!” She dissolved, sweeping through the girls and out the door. The demons materialized before her. “Bruno and the girls are in there.”
Kobal swore in about six different languages, then ducked as a canister of tear gas came whizzing by. The men choked on the fumes and evaporated into the safer spirit form. “Can we reap him in there with the girls?”
She shook her head. “Too small. We’d pull the girls’ souls into the vortex as well. We need to get him out, and keep them in and away from the bullets.”
“This might scare them back from the door.” Kobal shook his head and let his entire body burst into a ball of flames, gliding forward so he was half in and half out. The hysterical screams rose higher, but seemed to move farther away. “Raum, open it up, would you?”
Raum solidified, hacked and wheezed on the gas. More gunfire popped from the first floor as he put his shoulder against the door and shoved with his superhuman strength. A few more shrieks sounded, but when the door swung wide, there were no girls hanging around the flaming demon. They were back to cowering in the corner, crying, sneezing, coughing and breathing hard from gas inhalation. A few of them lay unconscious on the floor. From the shock of Kobal’s fire show or being trampled, Maron wasn’t sure.
The dark-haired demon charged in and grabbed Bruno, twisting his arm behind his back. He whispered something in the human’s ear that made horror and terror flash in his beady eyes. Forcing Bruno forward, Raum duck-walked him out of the room. Both of them choked on the gas, tears rolling down their faces. The demon slammed and locked the door behind them, sealing the girls in for the cops to find when they searched the building. That was the best they could do for them. Now they had to do their real job…divesting Bruno of his blackened soul.
Kobal shut off the flames, and Maron solidified, taking over Bruno from Raum. “We’ll take turns until we’re out of the gas. Ghost ahead and check for roadblocks.”
Nodding, Raum did as he was bid without further comment. The moment the fumes hit Maron’s system, she felt her lungs lock up. Every membrane in her eyes, nose and mouth began to burn. It took everything in her to stay in human form. Her heart hammered, adrenaline flooding her veins as sweat poured down her face. Pushing past the pain seizing her body, she clamped her hand on Bruno’s arm, twisting it higher so he didn’t try anything stupid because she was a woman and shoved him toward the stairs. Kobal swept the hall behind her to watch her back.
“No good.” Raum sped up the steps. “Push him out the window and I’ll catch him at the bottom.”
“If he dies, we can’t harvest his soul.” He might end up in hell eventually, but he might turn into a poltergeist that continued to visit his evil on innocent people. He’d be beyond their reach—not dead, but not alive. And Samael would ship them downstairs for eternal guard duty.
Bruno hacked, spittle dripping from his mouth. “Who the fuck are you talking to, bitch? What the hell are you?”
“I’m your worst nightmare. I’m the bitch who’s going to make you pay for everything you’ve ever done.” She croaked it as matter-of-factly as possible, knowing the human wouldn’t truly believe her anyway. None of them did. She swiped her free hand across her face, wiping away sweat and tears. “Both of you go. I’ll launch him. Don’t miss.”
Kobal didn’t bother protesting about leaving her alone. They just did as they were told, floating out the filth-crusted, broken window at the top of the stairs and down to the ground. She leaned out to gauge where they landed as they flashed to physical form.
Stepping back, she dragged Bruno along with her, both of them coughing and choking on the tear gas. She wiped her eyes again, flexed her knees, lifted Bruno, and launched him through the shattered panes. He screamed the whole way, and when it cut off suddenly, she winced and glanced out to see he’d been caught by her partners.
There was no time to breathe a sigh of relief—not that her lungs would have managed relief at that moment—because shouting and pounding feet rang on the stairs. She ducked as more bullets went flying, dispersing her body into the shadows. A shudder went through her as the pain ceased as swiftly as it had begun. The coughing cut off, no more fumes burning her eyes.