Time Jacker by Aaron Crash (nonfiction book recommendations .TXT) 📕

Carpitia licked her rotten green lips. “A spell to reload the Eternity Cannon, a mother’s love, time itself. You shot Gudzu but not with the magical bullet. I can tell you the secret.”

“First,” Bailey said, “give us your tooth.”

Carpitia winced. She tossed the spear to Bailey, who grabbed it out of the air.

“I know the magic,” Bailey said. “Shoot her, Jack. We have what we need.”

Gabby didn’t say a word. There was a definite chill in her eyes. She had no mercy for these demons.

Carpitia’s eyes widened. “But...but...but we had a deal!”

“We never made a deal,” Jack said. “And like Bailey said, we have what we came for.”

He used his last round to blow the top of the demon’s head off. She fell into a pool of blood and brains, and again, Jack sucked in the Nefesh and Decaysia and found he could hold it inside the gun connected to his right hand. Both he and the ancient weapon were completely full of energy.

He directed the energy where it should go. “Aeterna, max out my Kairos.” He touched Gabby’s sweaty back. “Give half of what’s left to Gabby in the form of Nefesh.”

He felt the energy leave the gun, flow though his body, and stream into Gabby.

She sighed. “I feel love and a definite connection with you. The energy is life itself. Thank you, Jack.”

“You’re welcome.” Jack felt her Nefesh core, the Corpus that made up her body, but he could also feel the other Septua energies swirling around in her body. She wasn’t just Nefesh. It was like she had a full human soul.

“It’s your turn, Bailey.” Jack motioned to the demon. She came over, and Jack touched her arm. There was some Corpus damage from her fight with Gudzu, so he fixed that and then used the last of the energy to fill her Ijjinaya core. Aeterna followed his every command, and he thought the gun would talk to him, but it stayed quiet. He kind of missed that quiet, feminine voice.

Gabby stooped and started grabbing blood-speckled hundred-dollar bills. “We need to clean this up, or at least clean it up as best we can. These men shouldn’t know we were here. The bodies and the viscera will melt away back into their component energies. But the damage to the wall and the scattered money would be noticeable.”

“Who in the fuck cares!” Bailey sighed. “Fuck these humans.”

The gore on the wall from Gudzu had faded and was disappearing. The body itself was shrinking, turning to liquid, and that liquid was fading away.

The money the angel had gathered was now as clean as it had been when it was minted. All signs of the supernatural creatures would fade away. With the money back on the table, it would be like nothing had ever happened.

While Gabby cleaned up, Bailey went to the bar and grabbed a bottle of Jim Beam. Her war pick, the scimitar, and the spear were nowhere to be seen. She must’ve tucked them away in her little alternate dimension. The demon guzzled down a good portion of the fifth. “Well, that was fun. I’m surprised Gabby isn’t more pissed. You fucking totally shot Carpitia in the face after we promised we’d make a deal with her.”

“I know I should be upset.” The angel started stacking up the money like it had been before. “However, those demons would’ve fought on the side of hell in the war we can’t talk about. The fewer soldiers hell, has the better. And I guess I just hate demons.”

“Gee, thanks,” Bailey said, obviously hurt. She sulked and drank whiskey.

Jack saw all that money on the table. He pulled out five hundred dollars.

Bailey saw. “That’s all you’re taking? I’d take half of it. Hell, I say we take all of it. Those jokers can afford it. Remember, it’s a hundred grand just to get in the door. Orgies cost more. Lots of orgies here. It’s such a party.”

The angel shook her head. “No, we can’t take a single dollar. It would cause such chaos. They would think one of them cheated. And even this Wycombe House management might be blamed. It wouldn’t be right.”

The demon sucked down another swallow. “Check their Nefesh, Feathers. You’ll see these fuckers are rich pigs. They won’t miss that money. And it’s just those six at the table. The bartender is back here, and Guido Kneecaps is over there in the corner. We either take all of it or none.”

Jack counted out another five hundred dollars. “Or we take enough that they don’t notice. They won’t notice by the end because it’s not like chips. A thousand shy? They won’t miss it. And I know exactly who needs it.”

Gabby’s face darkened. “It’s not right, Jack. We’ll sell the Enochian gold and the goblets. We’ll have enough.”

“This is just like me throwing the rock through the window,” Jack said. “I’m robbing from the rich and giving to the poor. And I’m not a nice man, Gabby. I might’ve been once, but the world is too gray to be nice. Read the men. You’ll know they can afford it.”

“Stealing is wrong.” The angel strode away, leaving Jack alone with Bailey.

The demon shrugged. “Still surprised that she’s more upset about you grabbing pocket change from rich people than shooting the unarmed demon.”

“I have to say, killing the demon was easy since, you know, demons are inherently fucking evil and ugly as shit.” Jack went over, grabbed the bottle, and took a shot. He then put the hooch away.

“Am I ugly? Am I the bad guy?” Bailey asked uncertainly.

“Not ugly. Not the bad guy. You and Gabby nearly have souls, I think. In the end, you’re good to me. You tease Gabby, but I think you like her. And if you were truly evil, you wouldn’t have helped Evelyn Mundi get back home.”

Bailey had tears in her eyes. “Thanks, Jack. I want you...I want both you and Gabby to like me. I’m changing, I can feel