gonna kick your ass.”
“You stand up now, the both of you.” Clancy’s finger trembled over the trigger of his rifle.
Liam stood first, his hands thrust into the air. I followed after, keeping my gaze fixed on the twitching man in front of us.
“We can work this out, now, Clancy.” Liam lowered his hands a little but kept them out to his sides. “You still sore ’bout last night? None of us meant no harm.”
“She’s the devil’s whore come to kill us all, boss.” Clancy eyed me along the sights of his gun. “I won’t let her get her claws into us. I won’t.”
“I am no man’s whore,” I said. “And I don’t believe in devils, only evil men and women. Are you evil, Clancy?” Energy surged beneath my skin as if readying to escape my grasp and explode that gun in his face, but I held on to it with a death grip. I’d healed gunshot wounds before but really didn’t want to have to do it again. I needed to keep his attention on me.
“You shut your fucking mouth. Don’t go sticking your forked tongue in my ear.” Clancy motioned toward the bent gate with his head. “Go on up to the house now, boss.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Liam took a step forward.
Clancy swung the gun so it pointed at him.
Liam put his hands up higher. “Whoa, now. Easy.” He shot me a glance that tightened my chest.
“No.” I shook my head. “Just go. I’ll be fine.” I begged him with my eyes to listen but he didn’t move. “Go.”
“I’m not leavin’.”
My thoughts paced back and forth. I refused to kill, at least not on purpose, so that limited my options. I could fold the gun, but if Clancy pulled the trigger I risked killing him. I could knock him out, but if the gun went off and it hit Liam, I might have to heal him. If it hit him in the head or the heart, though, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I could make Liam leave, but if Clancy caught on, he might shoot us both, and I couldn’t heal two of us. Fuck! Why did my options always boil down to bad and worse?
“Fine, Boss. I’ll just have to do you first.” Stillness fell over Clancy’s body.
I lunged at him, thinking I’d either wrestle the gun away, or he’d shoot me.
Liam must have had other ideas. He pounced on me as Clancy swung the gun in my direction and squeezed the trigger.
Another boom rattled through the hills.
Gravel bit into my back when I fell. Liam’s stomach landed on my face, and his knees struck my abdomen. For a second, I couldn’t breathe and flailed beneath him. I stopped when I realized he wasn’t moving.
Gasping, I wrapped my arms around his waist and rolled him over. His face had already gone pale, and a rosette of blood bloomed in the middle of his torso. Copper overwhelmed my senses.
“Liam! Goddamn it, Liam!” My shaking hands hovered above the wound as I screamed into the sky. How many times had I been there, standing above the ones I couldn’t save? How many times had the sticky warmth of their life escaped around my fingers before I could heal them? Too many. No. NO! I would not lose another.
My mind retreated to the place I went to survive. The still place. The white place where pain didn’t exist, and I had only logical, rational thought—the place where my ghosts couldn’t reach me. Where the sounds of death fell silent. Where the scent of blood faded, and the ache in my soul eased. I’d been there before, and I would survive—and so help me, so would Liam.
Footfalls crunched behind me.
A deadly grin bowed my lips.
I rose to my feet, my body calm, my mind a primal, instinctual predator. I turned to stare into the black soul of a paranoid zombie—one of thousands I’d stared into since I’d left home.
“Let the world be rid of the likes of you.” Clancy stared at me through the sight of his gun.
“Do it. I dare you.” I raised my arms to the sky.
Dark slate clouds boiled in above me from the west. The wind breathed against me from all directions, swirling, filling me
“You stand up now, the both of you.” Clancy’s finger trembled over the trigger of his rifle.
Liam stood first, his hands thrust into the air. I followed after, keeping my gaze fixed on the twitching man in front of us.
“We can work this out, now, Clancy.” Liam lowered his hands a little but kept them out to his sides. “You still sore ’bout last night? None of us meant no harm.”
“She’s the devil’s whore come to kill us all, boss.” Clancy eyed me along the sights of his gun. “I won’t let her get her claws into us. I won’t.”
“I am no man’s whore,” I said. “And I don’t believe in devils, only evil men and women. Are you evil, Clancy?” Energy surged beneath my skin as if readying to escape my grasp and explode that gun in his face, but I held on to it with a death grip. I’d healed gunshot wounds before but really didn’t want to have to do it again. I needed to keep his attention on me.
“You shut your fucking mouth. Don’t go sticking your forked tongue in my ear.” Clancy motioned toward the bent gate with his head. “Go on up to the house now, boss.”
“What’s gotten into you?” Liam took a step forward.
Clancy swung the gun so it pointed at him.
Liam put his hands up higher. “Whoa, now. Easy.” He shot me a glance that tightened my chest.
“No.” I shook my head. “Just go. I’ll be fine.” I begged him with my eyes to listen but he didn’t move. “Go.”
“I’m not leavin’.”
My thoughts paced back and forth. I refused to kill, at least not on purpose, so that limited my options. I could fold the gun, but if Clancy pulled the trigger I risked killing him. I could knock him out, but if the gun went off and it hit Liam, I might have to heal him. If it hit him in the head or the heart, though, I wouldn’t be able to do anything. I could make Liam leave, but if Clancy caught on, he might shoot us both, and I couldn’t heal two of us. Fuck! Why did my options always boil down to bad and worse?
“Fine, Boss. I’ll just have to do you first.” Stillness fell over Clancy’s body.
I lunged at him, thinking I’d either wrestle the gun away, or he’d shoot me.
Liam must have had other ideas. He pounced on me as Clancy swung the gun in my direction and squeezed the trigger.
Another boom rattled through the hills.
Gravel bit into my back when I fell. Liam’s stomach landed on my face, and his knees struck my abdomen. For a second, I couldn’t breathe and flailed beneath him. I stopped when I realized he wasn’t moving.
Gasping, I wrapped my arms around his waist and rolled him over. His face had already gone pale, and a rosette of blood bloomed in the middle of his torso. Copper overwhelmed my senses.
“Liam! Goddamn it, Liam!” My shaking hands hovered above the wound as I screamed into the sky. How many times had I been there, standing above the ones I couldn’t save? How many times had the sticky warmth of their life escaped around my fingers before I could heal them? Too many. No. NO! I would not lose another.
My mind retreated to the place I went to survive. The still place. The white place where pain didn’t exist, and I had only logical, rational thought—the place where my ghosts couldn’t reach me. Where the sounds of death fell silent. Where the scent of blood faded, and the ache in my soul eased. I’d been there before, and I would survive—and so help me, so would Liam.
Footfalls crunched behind me.
A deadly grin bowed my lips.
I rose to my feet, my body calm, my mind a primal, instinctual predator. I turned to stare into the black soul of a paranoid zombie—one of thousands I’d stared into since I’d left home.
“Let the world be rid of the likes of you.” Clancy stared at me through the sight of his gun.
“Do it. I dare you.” I raised my arms to the sky.
Dark slate clouds boiled in above me from the west. The wind breathed against me from all directions, swirling, filling me
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