Page 24 of Hell on Wheels

Is it too much to have a normal night where I can forget my goddamn misery and lose myself in the music?

The betrayal and the assassins will still be there tomorrow. I just wanted to have some fucking fun tonight—and maybe piss the guys off. Instead, I had to get into a battle for dominance with what’s left of my team. I don’t even knowwhyI lost the plot with them. It’s not like I give a shit if they want to fuck around with Reb and his friends.

Do I?

A loud thud prevents me from exploring my confusion and I look over to see three slobbering trolls giving me gap-toothed smirks. The tallest one cracks his knuckles, laughing like the big, dumb lummox he is. His friends snicker, mirroring their boss, and I groan.

Yes, I’m having my very own Harry Potter moment—just what I needed after almost getting into a brawl with my own teammates and doing the Kessel Run in less than twelve parsecs.

“Looky here, boys. We stumbled onto a payday without even trying. Our witchy friend told us she’d be here,” the warty leader says smugly.

One henchman scratches his head, drool sliding down his chin as he looks me over in a way that makes my skin crawl. “I dunno Dingus… She's kind of cute. Maybe we should play with her first.”

“What do you think, Mugs? Does Vern have a good idea?”

They’re fucking disgusting, lumpy assholes—like all trolls—but something about the way they’re looking at me as if I’m nothing makes my skin crawl. Trolls are almost at the bottom of the supe food chain because they’re so stupid, so don’t think I missed the part where they were sent to the rave to find me. These idiots don’t have a brain cell each to rub together, and that Mina sent expendable minions after me is almost laughable.

She really has gone full on megalomaniac.

“I don’t think, Dingus. I just do what I’m told.”

That gets a barking laugh from him, and I shiver. He’sdesperatelyin need of a good dentist and some mouthwash—I can smell the roadkill on his breath. I take a deep breath, putting my hands out to defend when they rush me.

I’ll be damned if I go out without taking one of these little bitches out.

Blue flames shoot across the hill, hitting the one they called Mugs first. He screams as they sear the tough hide on his back and I put my hand over my mouth at the stench. The other two look confused, stomping around as they watch their friend burn. I look down at my hands, gaping at the hellfire engulfing them.

“What the fuck? What the fuuuuuck?” I whisper as I watch the fire dance in my palms.

Dingus and Vern turn back to me with ugly grimaces. They don’t seem concerned that Mugs is essentially cannon fodder; in fact, they look even more eager to take me on. The magical clubs their kind can make appear at will are in their hands and they’re holding them like we’re at fucking Dodger Stadium.

“Batter up,” Dingus guffaws.

I raise my hands again, praying I can repeat that last move consciously this time. “Sa-wing, batter-batter,” I mutter as I fling another column of fire towards them. It glances off of Vern’s shoulder and he lets out a roar of pain.

He’s not down.

Trying two more times to strike a blow, I realize I definitelydo nothave control of this shit like I do my magic. If my dust worked, I could take them out, but I can’t use the amount of magic I’d need to take out a troll in my current state. It might drain me completely and I’m still healing.

“That was a wild one, insect. Want to take bets on whether we end up grinding your bones for supper this evening?”

His taunt makes me pause and I stare at Vern for a moment. I thought that was just a fairytale humans told to scare their progeny. Trolls actuallyeattheir enemies—even supes? Fucking gross.

“Mugs had the right idea, Vern. We’ll play with her first, then fry her wings for an appetizer. Bet they taste like chicken.”

I give Dingus a look of pure repulsion before I lift my palms again. The shot goes wild again, and I let out a frustrated screech. “You’re killing me, Smalls!”

“Who’s Smalls?” Vern asks as he drools all over his chest. “Is she high?”

What did I say? Dumb as a mother fucking rock.

Before I can remark on their lack of taste in movies, a loud crack booms through the sky and a bolt of red hellfire nails Vern between the eyes. I look at my hands in a panic, unsure if I’m completely on the fritz. Three powers I’ve never had appearingin one night arebeyond weirdand I don’t relish the karmic blowback from frying these fuckwads on my scorecard.

“Who dares to threaten someone under the protection of the Gemini?”

The thundering voice echoes in the stillness of our battleground, and when the twins land in front of me, I can smell the fear radiating from the would-be assassins.

Of course, they might have shit their pants; who knows?

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