Page 53 of Mayhem and Ember

At the sound of his deep voice, the gnome jumped, startled. His gaze locked on me, and he growled, peeling his lips back to show me his cat-like teeth. He scurried toward me, completely unafraid of the knife-wielding witch who towered over him.

I grabbed him by the scruff of his neck, but the bugger wiggled and kicked and grabbed hold of my sleeve, giving himself enough leverage to rip from my grasp. He hit the ground with a thud, but before I could get another handful of fur, he sank his teeth into my leg, the sharp points penetrating my pants and breaking the skin.

“Goddess dammit!” Searing pain surged through my calf, the venom working its way toward my veins. I brought the knife down into his back, and he yelped, releasing my leg. Yanking the blade out, I pressed my boot onto his torso and shoved the knife into his heart.

“Oh my! Is everything okay out there?” Betty hurried as fast as her arthritis would allow, and I yanked off my jacket, wrapped it around the bloody carcass, and picked it up.

“Oh.” She stopped, pressing a hand to her chest. “Ember? What…?”

I looked at Ash and the guys and then at the bundle in my arms. “A rat. Huge. It was gnawing on a book.”

“Your leg. You’re bleeding.” She pointed to my blood-soaked pants.

“It bit me, but I’ll be fine. I’ll just take this out the back and toss it in the dumpster for you.” I limped around her.

“Let me get you a bandage.” She patted me on the shoulder.

“I’ll take care of her, Betty.” Ash wrapped an arm around my shoulders. “You might want to mop up the mess before a customer slips in it.”

“You’re right dear. Come back when you can. I set aside some things for you.” She held the door to the storage room open for us. “Make sure the lock clicks on your way out.”

“Will do.”

“There’s a small rift in the corner.” Chaos pointed to our right.

“Ash, can you handle it while I get rid of this?” I sneered at the bloody bundle in my arms.

“Sure thing.”

I took six steps out the door and dropped the wad of gnome…kicking it for good measure. Fire ignited in the core of my being, and I let it build, allowing it to roll down my arm and gather in my palm until I held a massive fireball.

“I sure hope no one is watching,” Ash muttered, pulling the door shut as she stepped outside.

Frankly, with gnome venom climbing up my leg and my favorite jacket about to burn to bits, I really didn’t care. I tossed the sphere of flames onto my jacket and gave the bitty beastie a one-fingered salute. “That’s for ruining my clothes, you little shit.”

The gnome and my jacket turned to ashes in seconds, and I hobbled away, the feeling of icepicks jabbing into my leg making me cringe with each step.

“I can carry you if—” Chaos began.

“Don’t touch me.” I glanced at Mayhem, expecting a taunting remark, but his blank expression looked scarier than I’d ever seen him.

Okay, maybe scary wasn’t the right word because I wasn’t afraid of him in the slightest. Even when he’d had me by the throat, he’d squeezed just hard enough to make breathing difficult…not impossible. He’d been angry, sure, but he wouldn’t have killed me. Something about his energy…the way he looked at me…said it was true.

Or maybe the gnome venom was affecting my brain.

The icepicks in my leg jabbed harder and harder, moving up to my knee and burrowing into the joint. A simple cringe was no longer enough to express my pain. My face contorted, my suppressed groan coming out as a wheeze.

“Do you…” Chaos started again.

“Let her walk.” Ash caught up to me and whispered, “Seriously though, do you need help?”

I couldn’t bend my knee, my calf swelled until it felt like it would bust out of my pants, and the icepicks now felt like they were hooked to a generator. “I’m fine. Keep an eye on the wild one so he doesn’t try to escape while I’m not able to outrun him.”

She fell back to join the demons, and I forced myself to hobble the last three yards to our building. The back steps posed a challenge since I couldn’t bend my knee. Luckily there were only three and my hip still worked. I leaned to one side and swung my stiff leg up to the next stair, hauling myself up with a tight grip on the handrail.

I limped inside, down the hall, and into the library to peer at the stairs. No way could I make it up to our apartment, so I hopped on one leg to Ash’s desk and gingerly rested my butt on the surface. “I’ll wait down here while you mix the antivenom.”

“Nonsense. You won’t be comfortable.” Without warning, Mayhem scooped me into a cradle carry, my stiff right leg sticking up as if I were posing for a social media look how great my life is post.

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