Page 12 of Daemonium

“No problem,” he replied, quickly pulling her behind him and shaking out his hand.

“Don’t tell me that was your first punch, D,” Maverick playfully taunted.

“It wasn’t. I’m a lover, not a fighter is all.”

“We can add that to your epitaph,” Brody joked. He smoothly veered around Dion, disarmed the clown with disturbing ease, and flipped the blade. In one swift motion, he slashed it across the clown’s throat. Blood sprayed as the clown grasped at its neck, gurgling, before collapsing to the ground.

“What the fuck is she doing here?” Charon suddenly remarked, slipping away from our group.

“Get safe,” Ky commanded, shoving me toward the trams. “Brody, watch her.”

I stumbled forward, my heart pounding as chaos erupted around us.

I glanced back to ask where he was going, but he had already put distance between us, following behind his brother.

“Let’s go for Tram 1,” Lana suggested, moving up beside me with Mel, leaving Brody and Dion at our backs.

“Will the doors just open?” I asked as we ran.

“Only one way to find out.”

From the corner of my eye, I saw an older man trip over himself in his rush to get to the trams. He went down hard, his head bouncing off the pavement. I nearly did the same when I realized that I knew him. I wasn’t sure how exactly but just catching a glimpse of his face had recognition sparking in my head.

“We need to help him.” I broke away from Lana, and without question she followed right behind me, both of us ignoring Brody’s shouted objection. This was admittedly a stupid thing to do.

I hadn’t considered the fact he was an easy target for the clowns. “Get up!” I reached for his arm and Lana took hold of the other. With combined effort and a small grunt, we helped him stand.

“Shit!” Lana lurched forward and we half ran, half stumbled away from the clown that had decided to mark the man, and now us, as its next target.

“Do you two have a death wish?” Brody questioned as he came to our aid, blocking the clown’s path.

“Come on!” Mel yelled. She was in the doorway of the tram we’d been aiming for, Dion barely holding her back as she tried to get to us.

Someone screamed what I assumed was the man’s name and he hesitated.

“If you don’t get your old ass moving, I will leave you out here to die,” Lana snapped at him.

The expression he gave in response was a mix of defeat and offense. Thankfully he listened because I knew she was being serious. I noticed then that all three doors were open, and the clowns weren’t going on board. Tram 2 was closer to us, but I refused to be separated from the others. There was no way to know where these things would take us.

A small gasp escaped my lips as I stumbled, only to be saved by Lana’s quick reflexes and her taking more of the man’s weight. “If this is how we end, I will be so pissed at you, Grace.”

I laughed, despite nothing about this being remotely funny, my mirth sobering as soon as another clown rushed at us.

“At least you’ve made your peace with death,” he commented, his voice dripping with malice. He was enormous, at least three times our size, and unnervingly broad.

“You two really know how to pick ’em,” Brody joked, only a few paces behind us. I wasn’t confident he could handle this one alone after having just dealt with at least two on our way to the tram. He had to be tired.

I didn’t have to worry for long.

Ky and Ciaran were suddenly there, moving into the clown’s path with no regard for the long, sinister blade he brandished. Ky didn’t waste a second. He lunged forward with brutal efficiency, grabbing the clown’s wrist and twisting it with a sickening crunch. The blade clattered to the ground as the clown let out a guttural roar of pain. Ciaran followed up by knocking his feet from beneath him, causing him to collapse to the ground.

“Stay down,” Ky coldly demanded, as he slammed his boot on the clown’s chest. There was an audible crack followed by a wheezing sound from beneath the clown’s mask.

Ciaran crouched, his hand clamping around the clown’s throat with a vice-like grip. “You should’ve known better, Leo.”

“Get them to the Tram,” Ky directed at Brody without looking our way.

“I’m working on it.” He grabbed my arm and Lana’s, pulling us away from the scene, practically launching us on board before jumping in behind us.

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