Page 61 of Greed
The smoke bombs orbited their heads, struck temples, and then went onto the next. Round and round the little silver orbs went, one by one knocking men out like a brutal tornado. It all happened in the space of seconds and then he was creeping into the warehouse, signaling for Evan to follow.
The instant he got inside, his heart stopped.
Lilo stood at the middle of the open space with a dead body at her feet. To her right, Doppenger pointed a gun at her head—once again dressed as Greed. To her left, a cluster of men drew their weapons.
She was going to get caught in the crossfire.
Before his mind registered his movement, he pushed forward with an almighty grunt. His legs surged, his arms pumped. Had to get to Lilo.
Still a few feet away, the first shot was fired. And the second. And the third. And then a rapid percussion surrounded them, almost throwing his senses into hyper-drive and shutting him down.
But he forced the panic away. He threw his ability out to surround them with a magnetic net. Still running, he skidded to a halt in front of Lilo, enveloped her, and turned his back to the majority of the peppered bullets, just in case. Sound continued to jackhammer the atmosphere in a firework finale of explosion, but his ability remained strong as metal projectiles headed their way. Sweat beaded at his temples, but he held, catching each bullet in his net. The rushing roar begged him to travel back in time to when he was on tour, back when he was tortured. For Lilo’s sake, he stayed present. He couldn’t afford to slip into the past. Not now.
Beyond her shoulder, the imposter’s eyes widened over his face scarf with the realization of what Griffin was doing. In slow motion, Griffin watched him shift the angle of his gun from the mob behind Griffin to point at the back of Lilo’s trembling head.
Doppenger fired until the magazine clicked empty. Within seconds, the mob also ended their shooting. A wall of floating bullets separated them on all sides. He let go of Lilo and all the greed in the room seeped back in, allowing him to supernaturally reengage his opponents’ position. Four with the mob, some approaching from outside, and still one in front of him, the slimiest sense of all, Doppenger.
“Legendary,” came Evan’s voice over the comms. “My turn.”
A black shadow flashed at the corner of Griffin’s vision as Evan raced in. He skidded to his knees across a puddle where two of the mob stood, took hold of a leg on each man, and let rip a blue flash of arcing power. The electricity fried their nervous systems, and they dropped. Evan was up before they hit the ground, moving on to the next two.
That was Griffin’s cue. He sidestepped Lilo, ran toward the imposter, planted his bo-staff on the ground and vaulted feet first to hit the man’s chest, propelling him into a pile of wooden crates.
He prowled up to the writhing body and scrutinized the man, feeling his temper rise. His bo-staff clattered to the ground as he picked Doppenger up by the scruff and punched him in the face. And again. And again. Doppenger’s head snapped back each time. He punched until a wet feeling bled through his face mask to coat Griffin’s fist. Somewhere far away in his mind, he knew he should stop. He knew Doppenger was just a greedy man playing superhero dress ups, that he couldn’t help his addiction, but he’d threatened Lilo. He’d tried to kill her.
Griffin wanted him to pay, and his red, uncontrolled rage wanted to keep hitting.
But movement niggled in his periphery. More sin. More greed. He shoved Doppenger’s limp body back into the crates and whirled to survey the warehouse.
More people were coming in. Some looked like homeless people, others were fallen soldiers from the alley.
“What is this, a free for all?” Evan’s voice came over his ear-comms.
A groan behind him.
Doppenger tried to rise, so Griffin side-kicked him.
Stay down.
But he kept rising, twisting, fighting back. Unnaturally so. For a sheer second of doubt, Griffin considered the man behind the mask wasn’t Doppenger, but his greed signature was identical.
Lilo’s yelp drew his attention.
She stabbed her cattle prod into one of the hoboes approaching her, then in a slick move he didn’t think she had, she sideswiped a man’s knee, and went straight for his throat, in a punch that took no quarter.
Griffin hesitated, impressed. The imposter took advantage of his distraction, got hold of his staff, and swung it against Griffin’s head. Pain exploded at his temple and he staggered back.
Panic compounded in his body as sounds in the room amplified, and the tactile sensations he’d stifled roared to the surface. It was all too much. He had to protect Lilo. Had to get out of there.
With too many variables, he had only one option. Deploy the smoke bombs.
Chapter Nineteen
Lilo couldn’t believe it. The hobo who’d tried to steal her jacket from the woman and baby had come after her! And he brought friends.
Of all the nerve and greedy cheek, to attack her after she’d already been attacked, and while a battle still took place. Years of weekly self-defense training kicked in, and her body moved on instinct. She rounded on the men coming her way and released the cattle prod’s fury. One went down, seizing and urinating his pants. The second came after her with a knee to her stomach, but she’d practiced that scenario many times. She deflected with a window-washer swipe, stepped in and went for his soft spots—punch to the throat, kick to the junk, fingers to the eyes and then… and then…
She looked around. Where was the smoke coming from?
