Whiskey Witches by F.J. Blooding (mobile ebook reader txt) 📕

“No.” Lucius took the gun Dexx offered. “I caught up on a fair bit of know-how on my sojourn after jail. Besides, what I really need to do is find a place to hide. If I’m using this toy, I’m not protecting Paige.”

“Good point.”

Balnore sighed at his gun. “Innocent people will die this way.”

Dexx shot him a look of consternation. “Are you sure you’re a demon?”

Paige took the ankle holster and gun Dexx offered her. She hoped she’d remember it in the heat of battle as she’d never trained with one. “Shoot to stun.”

“Bullets don’t stun, Pea,” Dexx said, slamming the trunk shut.

She sent him a dirty look and crossed the empty highway. “Aim for legs or arms. Shoot to wound.”

“When all else fails,” Dexx said, sending Balnore a tight smile. “Just try hitting something. Preferably something not us."

Paige quirked her lips at the demon and chugged her chin in the direction of the mill. “Let’s go.”

They managed to make it as far as the building without conflict. They didn’t have much to hide behind, so stealth was out of the order. The night was still, quiet. No birds. No animals.

Dexx leaned against the pealing white painted wall. “Do you think anybody’s home?”

“Balnore, how many did you see?”

“Many. Twenty or so, maybe more by now.”

“If we’re done chatting?” She got three nods. “Then let’s go. Stay out of each other’s lines of fire.”

“Right.” Dexx gestured with his gun. “Lucius? Try not to get too shot up, okay? Remember, you’re her shield. Without her, we’re fucked.”

Lucius frowned in concentration. “Yeah. Got it.”

“Let’s go.” Paige put her hand to the door. It was heavy and old. A pile of dead leaves from the previous fall lay against it. If this really was the place, the demons obviously weren’t using the front door. There was a slight groan as the door fought to remain still and then it gave with wild squeal.

A shout called out.

A gunshot echoed through the room.

“Shit!” Paige ducked behind the door. She peeked inside, flinching with each bullet. Cover. She raised her gun and ran in a crouched position to a large metal desk. Glass rained over her. She slammed into the drawer side of the metal desk and grunted as the handles found ribs.

The gunfire paused.

Dexx dropped and rolled, finding cover beside her. He sighted down the barrel of his gun around the corner of the desk. Orange flashes burned briefly from the end.

The sound of gun fire overwhelmed everything else. Paige tried to pierce the darkness of the huge room. Two lamps swayed overhead, not casting a lot of light.

A woman screamed.

“Goddammit,” Dexx shouted. “I hate it when people shoot at me.”

A man roared and charged the desk, a red blossom blooming in his chest, legs and arms.

“If you’re going to do something,” Dexx shouted as he emptied his clip into the still advancing man. “Now might be the best time.”

Paige peered over the desk and popped a couple of rounds into a woman running toward their position. “I’m working on it.”

Dexx released the magazine and dug in his pocket for a fresh one. “Work faster.” He slammed it into place and continued to fire

Concentration didn’t come easy. Harder to hear or see. Every time she stood up to protect her position, bullets whizzed a little too close and sent her scurrying back to her hiding place. Whatever her intentions were going in, she had no wish to die.

Lucius collapsed against the desk, his face going red. “This is a bit harder than anticipated, love. Put a hurry on it, would you?”

“Balnore,” she shouted. She needed one moment. “Help.”

Dexx waved at Balnore, saying something Paige couldn’t hear, and ran for the line of bins. Mini explosions of trash ricocheted all around him. He hopped as he ran, shooting blindly at the din of orange flashes.

Someone shouted orders high above their head.

Balnore stood in front of Paige, a bored expression on his face.

A man popped his neck and started walking toward them.

Balnore raised his gun and pulled the trigger. “How long are we supposed to keep this up?”

The sound of a semi-automatic ricocheted through the large room.

“God fucking damn,” Balnore said, diving behind the desk and fingering his chest, glancing around the corner. “I liked this shirt.”

“Shut up, show off.” Paige handed him her shotgun. She rooted around her pockets for shells, retrieving bullets for the pistol instead. She pushed them back in her pocket, hearing the clicks as several fell onto the concrete floor, and reached into the other pocket. She slammed the red slugs on the floor beside the demon. “No one likes a braggart.”

“Paige,” Dexx shouted. “Now—” Garble, garble, “—really good.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Paige gritted her teeth. She gathered her will and concentrated.

The tendons on Lucius’ neck rose. “Hurry,” he mouthed, beads of sweat popping out on his skin.

“Concentrate.” She gathered the energy around her gift and stood up.

A hand grabbed her wrist. “I cannot protect you from bullets,” Lucius said.

Paige heard Dexx shout something that sounded like it could have been “flash bang”. Her eyes widened and she tugged on Balnore’s arm. “Don’t look.”

“At wha—”

An ear-ripping pop split the air and the wall in front of her lit up with an intense white light. Shadow people stopped, their arms raised to cover their face.

Now.

She reached deep inside and focused. The shouts and commands, the bullets and gunfire all disappeared. The smell of gun smoke tickled her nose. The bright light of the flash bang died, sending the room into deeper shadow than before.

Balnore left her side, her arm suddenly going cold. Her vision narrowed as she stood. A red aura surrounded each body. A purple light emanated from her. On the stair, ran a shadow with a yellow light pulsating around him. The woman lying on the ground thrashed, blood pumping from her neck.

Paige called upon the power of Hell and reached out with clawed fingers only she could see. She grabbed the demon within the woman and yanked.

Fear slashed across the woman’s face. She shook her head, her heals digging into the concrete floor as she pushed away.

“Leave,” Paige commanded.

A flash of hellfire, a widening of the woman’s eyes, and then the red aura changed to a fading green. The woman slumped and fell into a slumber.

Paige faced the next demon, reaching with her clawed hand, power tearing through her veins.

Balnore shoved her to the floor behind the desk, his words flowing slowly to her ears. “Youuuuuu’re sssssssshot.”

Paige couldn’t feel it. She shrugged him off and stood, her power reaching. First one demon. Red aura changed to blue. Then another. Flash of orange that melted into darkness.

A single moment of stillness wracked the moment.

Dexx shouted. His gun went off. Another man roared. Something crashed. Dexx’s voice let out a long trail of agony as a single body fell from the second story landing.

Paige clenched her jaw and forced all her remaining power into focus. She reached and pulled, reached and pulled. Red auras faded all around her. Cold beads of sweat trailed down her face.

The lump on the floor moved. Dexx moved. An orange light flashed from the end of his gun.

He lived. Relief swarmed through her.

Paige’s body jerked back. Bullet. She turned her attention away from Dexx and looked at the possessed woman before her.

Balnore shot the woman in the leg. She cried out, her hands raised as she back away.

Paige tipped her head and reached, sending the demon back to Hell. The woman fell to the floor, cradling her leg and crying in pain.

“Fall back,” a male’s voice shouted. Sven’s voice.

The demons scurried away, still shooting as they disappeared through a back door Paige couldn’t see.

She continued to reach for each demon, sending them back one by one, the human host falling to the concrete. Some shouted in pain. Others were silent and dark.

Sven stood on the landing, staring down at her as the last of his minions disappeared into the shadows.

Paige allowed herself to smile. She reached with her hand of power, calling him back to—

Balnore batted her arm away and shoved her onto the floor.

The connection to the demon realm was severed. She collapsed onto the floor.

“Don’t, Peanut,” Balnore said into the near silence. The survivors moaned. A door slammed shut somewhere in the distance.

“We almost had him, Bal. What did you do?” Paige used the desk to haul herself to her feet.

Balnore knocked her back down again. He placed one knee in the pit of her stomach.

Paige thrashed beneath him, but every movement, every breath brought pain. “What are you doing?”

“Preventing you from being stupid.”

“Well, played, Talker,” Sven called out into the sudden silence. “Well played. We’ll see how well you do next time.”