Page 37 of Death Wish

Another carnal shriek blared from somewhere near the house’s boarded window. More shots. My head fogged at the thought of the two men dying outside while I was stuck in here, dealing with this deer in headlights.

“I’ll explain later,” I snapped, knowing full well I couldn’t. I needed him to focus on my words first. “I’m a friend of Cole’s. I won’t hurt you.”

Whatever was going on, it had made me suddenly solid on this plane. Maybe that meant I could manipulate a weapon, too.

“I can help them.” I held out my empty palm. “Do you have a gun?”

He held out a shaky finger, pointing to the fireplace mantel. Under a slew of papers was a cigar box. I ran to it, shoved the crap off the top, and opened it. A dirty-looking revolver sat on a velvet pillow.

Still a little unnerved that everything I was touching wasn’t going right through my grasp, I fumbled with the cool metal as I checked the chamber for bullets. It was loaded.

Problem was, I’d never handled a gun before.

Not that I remembered anyway.

Yet, the moment I held the revolver in my hand, a twinge of familiarity vibrated through me. Like before, when the sorcerer, Tristen, had wrapped his hands around my neck. That same unsettling shiver ran from my head to the tips of my toes.

Damn, this was getting weirder by the second. And I didn’t like it.

Sean was watching me with a mix of apprehension and fear as I went to the door.

“Grab yourself a weapon. Something to defend yourself if this gets bad. And lock the door behind me.”

His wide-eyed expression said it all.

“Do you understand?”

He said nothing. Only remained frozen in place.

I didn’t have time for this.

I kicked open the door and rushed outside where the sudden commotion was such a contrast to the silence inside, I recoiled for a second.

In the center of the front yard was a giant crater, a gaping hole that was so deep, I couldn’t see the bottom from where I stood on the porch. If there was a bottom, that is.

Remembering what Cole had said about the Halflings dragging people to Hell, I swallowed hard.

Two Halflings had Cole pinned against his Jeep, snarling in his face and chomping on his arm until he released the gun. All he had were his fists to beat off the beasts. Wyatt was crouching behind the tireless Buick tucked deep in the tall grass, trying to reload his shotgun with fingers that were slick with blood. A jagged gash marked his forehead, spilling more blood into his eye.

A third Halfling was crawling his way on all fours, making sniffing and huffing noises as if it were catching his scent but without a nose.

These things were ugly S.O.B.s.

Wait there had been four. Where was the—

A vicious growl came from above me. I whipped around just in time to see the blackened creature leap off the trailer’s roof and hurl itself at me.

The size of a large animal, maybe a Great Dane or a small bear, the weight of it surprised me. Especially for a ghostly shadow half-demon. It certainly was more ferocious than any dog, though, even Angel. It snapped its yellow-stained jaws at my arms and neck as it tried to swat my gun away with its claw-like fingers.

Those sharp nails slashed across my forearm, sending pain like fire through my muscles, and I gasped. It was the kind that took your breath away, and I hadn’t felt pain like this in so long. I definitely didn’t miss it, either.

Knowing it was trying to disarm me, I clutched the gun even tighter and bucked my body to dislodge the thing from its place on top of me. After getting one arm free, I whipped the gun across the monster’s face, gaining another horrid squeal from it. But it was distracted enough for me to spin and throw it off my back.

At the corner of my eye, I spotted Wyatt firing another shot at his encroaching Halfling. He hit his mark, right where the heart should have been, but instead of it doing much damage or even slowing it down, the bullets only threw him back a few feet. More of an annoyance than anything else.

It stalked toward Wyatt again. He fumbled to load another round.

I guess Wyatt didn’t have any of those magic bullets in his guns, like Cole did.

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