Page 38 of Death Wish

Turning toward the Halfling on the floor, I aimed at its head and pulled the trigger. The bullet hit, but just like with Wyatt’s shot, the creature only bared its teeth at me and growled.

Not good. I was going to have to get a hold of one of Cole’s weapons to really make a difference in this fight.

As my foe started to climb back to its feet, I spun and kicked it back down. Then, I sped down the porch toward the Jeep where Cole was still struggling to bat away his demons.

Just before I reached him, though, there was a flare of reddish-yellow light and a rush of heat that blew my hair back and stung my eyes. I skidded to a stop in time to see both Halflings fly back, black smoke billowing from their already blackened bodies and the smell of burnt flesh filling the air.

Cole’s head whipped toward me, finally sensing me standing there, and what I saw scared me more than anything I had ever reaped. Red glowing eyes—as red as the embers of a fire—stared at me without any hint of recognition at all. His breaths were so ragged, his shoulders and chest heaved from the effort, and his skin appeared gray, sickly almost, as if he’d been deprived of water for days.

“Whoa, Cole.” I couldn’t help it. The words came out on their own with my shock. “Are you okay?”

He blinked, staring at me, as if he were seeing me for the very first time.

Beside his feet was the loaded gun with spirit-repelling bullets, though. Exactly what I needed.

He clenched his hands into fists, and they glowed red.

Uh-oh. Was I really going to have to fight him, too?

I held my hands out in surrender. “Cole, it’s me. Jade. We’re on the same side, buddy. Why don’t you extinguish those bad boys, and come back to earth here with me. We’re on the same side.”

His head cocked, studying me.

Wyatt’s gun went off behind me again, making me jump.

Shit. He was going to run out of bullets soon.

I didn’t have time for this.

As I snatched the gun off the ground, Cole’s hand clamped around my wrist. His touch was searing, and I screamed, launching my fist for his face. The moment my knuckles met his cheek, white light erupted from my palm, sending him sprawling back into the Jeep hard enough to break the glass. He landed in a heap by the tire.

Suddenly, it was as if someone had plunged a spike through my temples. Gasping from the sharpness of the pain, I rested a hand on the hood of the car. My vision blurred, and I blinked rapidly to prevent everything from going black. Heat climbed up my neck, along with the threat of losing consciousness.

Was this going to happen every time I used this new power? It seemed like my reaction afterward was getting worse.

I gave myself a hard slap on the side of my face. Anything to urge my mind to stay present. Slowly, things came back into focus.

A chorus of half-demon wails filled the air, their jaws extending in an unnatural way. All at once, they rushed at the hole in the center of the yard. The two Halflings that Cole had been fighting leapt over the Jeep, no longer interested in Cole or me, and dove headfirst into the pit, followed by the one stalking Wyatt and the fourth I had clocked in the head with my boot.

The moment the last one disappeared, the ground filled in where it had been missing until the hole was completely gone. The grass, the rocks, everything was there undisturbed as if there wasn’t an opening to a Hell dimension there a second ago.

Not sure if the danger was completely over, I sank to my knees beside Cole and gave his face a light tap.

“Cole, wake up.” I slapped him again, a little harder this time, and his eyes fluttered open. The same cool blue color I was used to.

“J-Jade?” he stammered then groaned. “Oh shit, my head.” He rubbed the back of his head and looked at his palm, no longer glowing with fire but now wet with blood.

“Oh, sorry about that. But you went full evil on me,” I said.

“I did?” For the first time, there was genuine dread on his face. “Did I hurt anyone?”

“Just a couple of pissed off Halflings.”

He glanced around. “Where did they go?”

“Hopefully back to whichever Hell they crawled out of, never to return.”

“How…?”

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