I squeezed the trigger again as the goblin’s hand closed around my right arm. His free fist hit my gun hand, and my shot went high and wide. He twisted my wrist. Pain shot through my arm. The gun clanked to the concrete floor and slid out of sight.
Shit!Hand-to-hand combat with a goblin wasnota good idea. But hey, if I survived, the bragging rights would be good for free drinks at the Djinn Fizz for at least the next decade.
Behind me, the growling stopped, and a third goblin yelped in pain, his voice deep and gravelly. “It’s me, you stupid fucking mutt. Let go!” Orthus growled some more, and the goblin cursed in his native language. “Hagen, help me out here.”
The goblin I was fighting—Hagen, apparently—jerked me forward, his free hand already curling into a fist. “I’m a little busy,” he grunted, pulling harder when I resisted.
I skidded across the floor, fighting to remain upright without skinning the flesh from the bottoms of my bare feet on the concrete. The goblin pinned me against his chest. Foul breath wafted toward my face, and I shoved my left leg up as hard as I could.
My knee smashed into his crotch. Hagen released me to clutch his groin with both hands. Hunching in pain, he howled up at me, dark eyes sparking with fury. “You’re gonna pay for that, bitch,” he growled, twisting despite what must have been great pain to keep his gun out of my reach.
“Put it on my tab.” I stepped back as I glanced around for the gun I’d dropped. “’Cause I’m not done.”
Where the hell is that pistol?
From the nearest office came the sound of something scraping the floor.Cari Murphy. It had to be. By the time I’d searched under the two nearest machines for my dropped pistol, Hagen had recovered enough to stand. Which was all the advantage a goblin typically needed to kick my ass into the next millennium.
“Damn dog’s gone crazy!” the third goon shouted from behind me, his panicked exclamation accompanied by Orthus’s persistent growling.
“Handle it, Dirk,” Hagen said, his voice low and calm as he eyed me from three feet away, blood still dripping down his left arm. His hand hovered over the gun on his right hip. “This little lady and I have a score to settle.”
Little lady?I towered over him by a good five inches.
“Well, make it fast. She’s already shot Berg and bewitched the damn dog. Fucking mage.”
Hagen sniffed in contempt, still holding my gaze as we faced off like wrestlers. “She’s no mage; she’s human. Stupid, but definitely just human.”
While I took issue with his assessment of my mental competence, he got my species right. Mostly. “I’llreallybe impressed if you can guess my age and weight,” I said, circling slowly to bring his brother into sight.
Hagen snarled, moving in a mirror image of my motion.
“Fine,” Dirk snapped, ignoring me completely. “Get rid of thehuman, and come get your damn dog off my ass.”
By then I could see them, out of the corner of my eye. Orthus stood several feet in front of his prey, facing away from me with his tail swishing slowly. He was keeping Dirk at bay, apparently to give me a fair fight against Hagen. As if a fair fight was possible between an armed goblin and an unarmed human.
Of course, I wasn’tentirelyunarmed. Or human. But the goblins hadn’t figured that out.
Hagen pulled his gun from its holster and aimed at my stomach, rather than my head or my heart. He wasn’t planning to kill me outright; he’d make me suffer first.Lovely.
“Face the wall and put your hands behind your back,” he said.
“What the hell are you doing?” Dirk demanded from my left. He started to step forward, but Orthus cut him off with a vicious growl and a sharp snap of powerful jaws. Dirk backed off with his hands in the air, the universal sign for I-mean-you-no-harm. “Quit fucking around and shoot her.”
“We’re going to have a little fun first.” Hagen leered at my practically transparent halter.
He was half-right;Iwas gonna have a little fun. Just as soon as I relieved him of his gun.
“Up against the wall,” Hagen repeated.
Instead, I dropped into a squat and tugged up on the cuff of my left pants leg.
“She’s got a blade!” Dirk shouted from across the room. Hagen grabbed my right arm and pulled me up, and as I rose, I slid the dagger from its sheath. Smiling down at him, I buried it up to the hilt his stomach.
Hagen’s face went pale. He hunched over my hand, eyes already glazing over in pain. I twisted the knife, and he groaned. Blood poured over my hand and the silver knife handle.
The goblin raised his gun slowly, weakly. I took it with my free hand and thumbed on the safety before sliding it between the base of my spine and the waistband of my jeans. Hagen slumped against me, one bloody hand gripping my shoulder while the other hung loose at his side. He shuddered when I pulled the knife from his stomach.
I shoved him back, and he crashed to the concrete floor, blood pouring from the wound.
