Page 34 of Commanding Chaos

An ear-piercing screech sounded from the left, and a beastie scrambled up the aisle before leaping onto a gas grill. I slammed the lid shut and groaned. “Not this guy again.”

12

ASH

“What are these things?” Chrys tucked her spade into her belt and took one of Shade’s daggers.

“Imps.” I put all my weight on the grill’s lid, holding it tightly against the little guy’s thrashing. “One got through a small rift in the library a while back.”

“And now we’ve got a dozen.” Ember ducked, dodging a flying hammer. It slammed into the wall behind her, embedding into the sheetrock.

Another screech, which sounded eerily like a wahoo, echoed through the store. Two imps rounded the corner, carrying a nail gun. One bore the weight of the tool while the other operated the trigger, sending nails shooting out like bullets. One hit the front of the grill, half an inch from my right hand. Another whizzed by my head.

“Shit!” I opened the lid, using it as a shield, and the little bugger inside jumped, yelped, and fell to the ground, a nail piercing its heart. It turned into a puff of smoke, and the rift sucked it through. “That’s one way to do it.”

The other two rushed toward us, but Ember swung her sword, taking off both their heads in one swipe. “That’s for ruining my hair.”

Their heads rolled, maniacal laughs emanating from their mouths, and their bodies kept going, firing nails all over the place.

Screech! Somehow, one of the heads found the momentum to roll toward Shade and launch itself up. It latched its pointy teeth onto his calf and growled like a rabid chihuahua.

“Son of a bitch!” He jabbed a dagger into its ear, but it kept growling and chewing as if Shade were a dog toy and it was determined to tear the squeaker out. “Why won’t you die?”

“You have to pierce their hearts.” Another array of nails flew toward us. One got me in the shin, and sharp pain exploded down my leg. “Mother may I!”

“You could have told us that from the beginning.” Shade marched toward the headless gunmen, mini Cujo gnawing on him the whole way. He bent down and grabbed the gun, lifting it and the imps toward Chrys. Bap, bap, bap. Nails fired over her head.

“Bad dogs.” She jabbed a dagger into one of the bastards, her gardening claw into the other. Their bodies plopped to the floor, and the head detached from Shade’s leg before going up in a puff of smoke.

“Three down,” he said.

“Nine to go.” Ember gripped her sword in both hands, her muscles tensing as she prepared to go after the rest.

I yanked the nail from my leg, and blood squirted out in spurts. “Fabulous. It hit an artery.” My head spun, and I leaned a hand on the grill to steady myself. I wasn’t a faint-at-the-sight-of-blood gal, but seeing my shin turn into a fountain made my vision tunnel.

Chaos kneeled, gently taking my leg in his hands. He covered the wound with two fingers, applying pressure while I rummaged through my kit for an enchanted bandage. He pulled his hand away, looking at my blood on his skin.

“Don’t even think about tasting it.” I handed him a roll of gauze I’d infused with a spell to slow bleeding.

“Again, you’re confusing me with a vampire.” He wiped his hand on his jeans and wrapped my leg in the bandage. “They will obey me. I can order them back through the veil,” he whispered.

“And then everyone will know what you are. We can’t chance that.” I grabbed three bottles of freezing spells, handing him one. “You’ll have to fight like a witch.”

“Understood.” He gave the bottle back to me. “But I can’t cast spells.”

A racket of metal clanking sounded from above, and an imp swung from a light fixture, chittering at Ember and waving a toilet plunger like a sword.

“Are you making fun of me, you little shit?” She tested the sturdiness of a shelving unit and climbed up, jabbing her weapon at the imp. It screeched and jumped to the next fixture. Then it blew a raspberry at her.

No wonder Higgins called them monkeys.

“I’ve got three freezing spells ready to go.” I left the safety of my grill shield and joined my friends. “We need to round them up so I can cast it on them all at once.”

“I can help with that.” Chaos disappeared down an aisle.

“Try not to burn the place down,” Shade said before following my demon.

“Try not to burn the place down,” I mocked and flicked Ember’s hair. “What happened to you?”

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