“Holy fuck,”I cried, jumping back.
The sounds of Veronica’s growling and snapping teeth, along with the zap and crackle of magic, filled the small alley. I tore my second pistol from the ankle holster, and rose to my feet, blasting with both guns, sending off four quick shots.
Bald Guy raised his hands, creating some kind of forcefield before him, similar to what Veronica had tried to create back at the academy. His version was perfect, and caught all four bullets. In a flash he reached out, grabbed the bullets from the air, crushing them in his grip while murmuring a spell, then threw them back at me.
What returned was a sharp arrowhead. The thing slammed into my shoulder, spinning me in place, my first pistol went flying, clattering on the ground as I tumbled backward, pain lancing through my arm and collarbone.
Clenching my teeth, I raised my remaining gun and fired at his feet. That caught him off guard, and I struck him, though in my pain my aim was off. Instead of blowing his ankle to bits, it grazed his shin. It was enough. He howled in pain and fell to the ground, clutching the wound.
Ignoring the throbbing pain in my arm, I scrambled to my feet and grasped the silver projectile in my shoulder. I clenched my jaw, then yanked it out. My vision went white, then black, shuttering like someone turning the lights off and on really fast.I blinked and shook my head. I couldn’t pass out. Veronica needed my help.
Braided Hair was swinging a glowing, translucent sword through the air, slicing and stabbing at Veronica in her wolf form. She was doing well, jumping, rolling, and bouncing around, trying to get away from the weapon. I stumbled forward, raising my lone gun at him, and pulled the trigger.
My shot went wild as my arm was wrenched aside, caught by a glowing yellow whip. I screamed, the magical binding feeling like live flames on my arm. Behind me, still on the ground, Bald Guy yanked at the conjured whip, spinning me around and hauling me to the pavement. My head struck the ground, sending a jolt of pain through my skull, and my vision blurred.
The burning pain worsened as Bald Guy dragged me forward like some parody of a child’s tug-of-war match. I’d dropped my other pistol when I fell. I clawed at my waistband, trying to grab my last remaining weapon.
“Bastard,” Bald Guy hissed as he pulled me closer. Blood oozed down his leg from where I’d shot him.
My fingers brushed the gun, then slipped around it, pulled it free, and lifted it toward him. His eyes went wide when he saw what was pointed at him, and he frantically pulled at the whip.
“Goodnight,” I growled, and pulled the trigger.
Instead of a loudbang, the only sound the gun made was a quietpfftas a dart flew from the barrel and slammed into Bald Guy’s throat. The potion inside the tranq dart surged into his body, numbing his limbs, clouding his mind, andsuppressing his magical abilities. No sooner had it hit his bloodstream than the whip around my other arm vanished.
I sat up, hissing in pain. The sleeve of my jacket had been burned away, and the skin beneath was blistered and swollen. A yelp of pain from the other side of the alley pulled my attention away from my injury. Veronica lay on her back, all four paws in the air, held by some invisible force. Braided Hair stalked toward her, fists clenched around a dagger made of shimmering red light.
He raised the magic weapon high above his head, ready to strike down at her exposed belly. I raised the tranq gun and fired. The dart pierced him right below his armpit. The man gave a grunt and still tried to bring the knife down, but the potion worked too fast. The magic blade vanished before it could hit home. His fist connected with her stomach, and she gave a great canine woof of pain, but she wasn’t injured otherwise.
Her legs free, Veronica shifted back to her human form as the witch collapsed. She rushed toward me, but my anger was boiling, and I waved her away, stumbling to my feet. I glared at the man on the ground and stomped toward him, hitting my knees beside me.
“Who sent you?” I shouted at him as I grabbed him around his throat and shook him viciously.
His eyes rolled in their sockets, his brain addled by the potion from the tranq dart.
“Who the fuck sent you?”
His eyes focused again, locking onto mine.
“This…is bigger than you,” the witch said, a knowing grin on his lips. “You don’t scare me.”
Grabbing his shirt, I lifted him up and slammed him back down, causing his head to thud on the pavement. He gave a low grunt of pain.
“Declan, stop,” Veronica said, but I couldn’t. This fucker had tried to kill her, and he’d nearly succeeded. I thought about my failure three years ago and nearly lost all control. I lifted and slammed him three more times.
“Tell me!”
Blood oozed from the back of his head now, and his voice was weak when he finally spoke. “The girl will die. She will be sacrificed for a higher purpose.”
“What purpose?” I said, pressing my face close to his. “Whosepurpose?”
The man began laughing. It started as a low-throated chuckle, but it became louder and more aggressive as he went on, like he’d gone mad.
Veronica gasped and grabbed the collar of my jacket. “Get back.”
I pushed away from the man, falling backward at the same moment he pulled a vial out of his pocket and slammed it onto the pavement. Intensely hot flames engulfed him. Behind us, a similar inferno took the other witch. Both men let out blood-curdling shrieks of agony as the flames danced along their flesh and clothes, devouring them. Veronica sat on the pavement, wrapping her arms around me while I stared in horror as both men’s shouts and cries died away, leaving only the rushing sound of fire.
When the spell finally faded, only two piles of ash remained.
