Hunter by S.J. Bryant

risk,
returning to the warehouse to collect her weapon but she'd be lost
without it. Not that it would do her much good against a lecheon.
"Do you have wooden bullets?"
    "We have some
here at the station."
    "Enough to
take out thirty lecheons? I'd say there are at least that
many."
    Briggles
frowned. "There are fifty officers here but we don't usually stock
many wooden bullets. We've probably got twenty rounds."
    "Not
enough."
    "Not for the
whole coven," Briggles said, shaking his head.
    "What about
the prison? Are there more there?"
    "There used
to be. The lecheon bastards took them all when they took
Corvus."
    "Clever
bastards," Nova said. "Hand the bullets out to your three best
shooters."
    Briggles
nodded.
    "What
businesses are nearby?"
    "There are a
lot of antique shops in this area. A gym and a restaurant just
around the corner. Oh, and a bakery."
    "Okay."
Nova's mind raced. There had to be a way to take down this coven.
They were so strong and as soon as night came they had the
advantage. "Alright, we'll set up here."
    "There's no
way they'll come here. They know better than that."
    "Trust me.
Corvus wants revenge. He won't let a police station stop him. Get
your people moving; if they don't they'll make a very tasty treat
for the incoming lecheon coven."
    A bead of
sweat dribbled down Briggles's forehead as he rushed off to start
routing his officers. Nova looked around the station. It was much
like any other on this world. Everything was made of metal with not
a single scrap of wood to be seen.
    "Send two of
your deputies to the restaurant. I want them to collect every scrap
of wood they can find. I especially want them to bring me every
single toothpick."
    "Why?"
Briggles said.
    "Because I've
got food stuck in my teeth," Nova said. "Just get on
it."
    "You heard
her; toothpicks," Briggles barked, nodding to two of his nearby
officers.
    They nodded
in response and jogged up the street towards the restaurant which
was spilling warm light into the road. Nova watched until they
disappeared inside and then turned to the rest of the
station.
    She marched
inside, followed by. She took stock of the thin doorways and the
metal desks. It wasn't going to be easy but here was as good as any
place.
    "Set up a
barricade near the door. We need a clean line of sight but we don't
want them getting in," Nova said. "Arrange your officers; make sure
the ones with wooden bullets are behind the counter and out of the
way. I want every one of you to have a gun in hand and be in
position within ten minutes."
    "What will
you be doing?" Briggles asked.
    "Plan B,"
Nova said, as the officers returned carrying handfuls of
toothpicks.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER ELEVEN
     
     
    "Oh, little killer. Come out, come out, wherever
you are," Corvus sang. His shadow and those of his coven were
outlined against the barricaded glass door.
    Suddenly, the
lights cut out, plunging the police station into
darkness.
    "Candles!"
Nova yelled.
    Candles
flared up around the room. The power had been cut just as she'd
predicted.
    "Hold
positions," Briggles said to his officers.
    "If she comes
out we won't hurt her little police friends," Corvus
called.
    He paced back
and forth outside the door. The rest of the coven stood like
statues behind him.
    "I'll have to
kill you all if you don't come out. Surely at least one of you
officers wants to live? Just give the foreign woman to me and you
can go free."
    "Don't listen
to him," Briggles said. "The lecheons are known liars."
    Nova looked
around. Although their hands shook, the officers held their
positions. A few glanced in Nova's direction but turned their
sights straight back to the door when she caught their eyes. The
rasping quality of Corvus's voice was obviously getting into their
heads; a few of the officers were twitching.
    "Fine. You
leave me no choice," Corvus said.
    The main door
exploded in a shower of glass. The lecheons pushed past the
barricades as if they were made of paper instead of