Page 68 of Air Of Mystery
Abruptly he threw back his head and laughed. “You think that little toy will stop me?”
“Maybe not,” I said lifting the baton. “But I bet it will hurt like hell when I smash your nose with it.”
I never saw him move. One second, he was across the room, laughing at me, and the next he was right up in my face. I managed to land one solid hit—right across his nose—before his hands shot out. His palms struck me in the chest, and the blow knocked me backwards. I shot through the air again and landed hard on my right arm. My head cracked against the hardwood floor a moment later.
My ears were ringing, and my arm went numb. I couldn’t hold the baton anymore. Despite that, I rolled over and gripped a doorframe one-handed and managed to gain my feet. The camera that had been clipped to my shirt fell in pieces to the hardwood.
“You’ll pay for that,” he said, walking closer.
“How B-movie super villain.” I tried to sound belligerent, but it felt like the damn floor was tilting beneath me. “Next you should say, ‘I’d have gotten away with it too...if it weren’t for you darn kids.’”
Don hissed, flashing some long yellow stained fangs. Which was pretty damn horrifying. It made me recoil, but there was nowhere for me to go. I couldn’t outrun him. Fumbling for the taser sheath hooked on my belt, I managed to grab it with my left hand.
He didn’t seem to notice…because he was too busy telling me all the horrible things he was about to do to me.
Bracing my back against the wall of the hallway I waited. I would only get one shot at this, and I needed him close to use the taser against him.
When he rushed at me this time, I pushed the taser in the middle of his chest and fired. It didn’t take him to the ground, but it did knock him away from me.
Unfortunately, it also really pissed him off.
“How dare you?” he roared.
Before I could blink, he lashed out. His backhanded strike had my head snapping to one side, sending me sprawling to my knees. He grabbed me before I could face plant, and his arms encircled mine. He clamped down, trapping my hands at my side, and the taser dropped to the floor with a thud.
He lifted me off my feet, and I kicked, aiming for his knees. I slammed my head back, hoping to get his nose, but all it did was bounce off his shoulder. He laughed as he carted me towards the basement steps like it was nothing.
Letting loose a primal scream, I did everything I could to slow him down. Because I knew that if he got me down to that basement, it was all over.
Behind us the front door exploded inward. It shattered in its frame and pieces of it went flying around the room. I had a split second to think the cops had arrived. But when Don spun around with me still in his arms, I spotted the last person on earth I had ever expected to see.
Amanda Beaumont-Parker.
The red-headed librarian was standing in the doorframe, looking completely different from the last time I’d seen her. Now she was wearing an all-black leather outfit.
“Amanda!” I gasped in horror. “Get out of here!”This is horrible,I thought hysterically.The nice, small-town librarian cosplaying as Cat Woman is going to get herself killed.
“Don,” she said in a pleasant tone of voice that had me gaping at her. “I believe I made myself clear as to what theconsequences would be if Ieverfound you feeding inside of my territory again.”
Don might have been surprised to see Amanda, but he clearly knew her, because his entire posture had changed. Instead of continuing to clamp down on me, he inadvertently loosened his grip while he backed farther away from her.
“Guardian.” His voice was a cross between a snarl and a sneer.
Guardian?My mind reeled.The Guardian was thought to be a man…A supremely gifted magician, who was an exterminator and clean-up all in one for the magickal community. Surely Don was mistaken…
But I suddenly realized that although he might be wrong, he was also distracted.
Taking advantage of it I squirmed, trying one last time to save myself, and somehow managed to grab the water pistol out of my left cargo pants pocket.
“Let her go,” Amanda ordered, and her voice rang like a bell throughout the room. The weight of the command hit me in the chest with the same percussion as a professional grade firework.
Holy shit,I thought.That’s some potent magick! Sheisthe Guardian!
“She trespassed on my property,” Don said.
“Last chance,” she said, sounding tough as nails.
“I demand restitution!” Don argued. “Her sister killed one of my pets—”
