Hunter by S.J. Bryant Page B

dived to the ground.
    A loud bang
echoed around the station followed by cries of agony. Nova lifted
herself from the floor and assessed the situation. Three lecheons
had fallen to the floor. The rest, including Corvus, looked back at
them with confusion. A few officers clasped at wounds but they
would survive, unlike the lecheon victims.
    Nova ran to
the closest lecheon with a wooden stake in hand. Toothpicks
protruded out of the creature's body. It writhed on the floor and
cried with pain. The lecheon was male, with dark hair and a bright
red scarf. Pools of blood poured out from the toothpick wounds and
the skin had turned a mottled green. She lifted the stake above her
head and slammed it into the lecheon's chest. He convulsed,
wailing, and crumpled, dead.
    "What have
you done?" Corvus yelled, storming towards Nova.
    Somehow, he
seemed to have avoided the onslaught, even though scratches covered
his arms .
    "Not so good
with wood, huh?" Nova asked grimly.
    Corvus looked
around at his fallen comrades. There was only him and four others
left standing.
    "What?" He
looked back at Nova with confusion.
    "The perfect
weapon: toothpicks. " Nova reached into her pocket and pulled out
another ball of toothpicks wrapped around explosives.
    She didn't
have time to act; enraged, Corvus moved too quickly for her eyes to
follow. One moment she was standing with a lethal ball of
toothpicks in her hand, the next she was flying backwards, slamming
into the far wall. By the time she looked up, Corvus was
gone.
     
     
     

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER TWELVE
     
     
    "What the hell was that?" Corvus hissed as he ran
through the dark streets.
    His coven
spread out behind him as they fled from the restaurant and the
blood and flying shrapnel which had surrounded them.
    "She knows
what she's doing," Selene admitted.
    Her feet
pounded in time with his on the cold hard concrete. The sound of
them grated at Corvus's eardrums. His own breath wheezed in and out
as he sprinted as fast as he could. The night was dark. The back
alleys they ran down were void of streetlights, yet he saw
everything. A black cat went past in a blur, as did the doorways
and trashcans. They moved too fast for smells to catch up with
them.
    Corvus spared
a glance over his shoulder but all he saw were the large reflective
eyes of the rest of his coven. The police couldn't hope to give
chase. Good. The bitch-woman also wasn't behind them, a pity
because he would very much enjoy draining the life out of
her.
    "Separate,"
Corvus barked. "Tell the rest of the coven to meet us at the
Helliot."
    In response,
members of his coven split off from the main alley. They ran down
side streets or climbed up stairs to get to the roofs. In the blink
of an eye there was just him and Selene. He glanced at her and
nodded. She was adjusting well to leadership.
    A prickle
went up Corvus's spine. The cold shiver went from his lower back
all the way up his neck and into the back of his head. Someone was
watching. He kept running as if nothing had changed, but his ears
were straining for any hint. He could hear nothing. He risked
another glance over his shoulder; only the dark laneway spread
behind him.
    He adjusted
their course. They darted in and around buildings, over bins and
under stairways. It didn't do any good. The chilling feeling
remained with him. He shook his head and tried to force his mind
away from the presence. There was nothing he could do about it; not
right now.
    He and Selene
ran through the night. They ran all the way to their old home,
where his sweet Laticia had died, before doubling back and heading
to the other side of the city. They needed to disguise their
tracks. There were people after them. They had experienced this
before, but for once, these people were dangerous.
    The attack on
the police station hadn't gone anything like what he'd planned.
He'd thought they would be an easy target; he'd stroll in, take the
woman, kill a few officers, and be done with it. Instead