banana, complete with skin, followed the apple and landed on the floor with wet splats. What the hell was in there...the lesser-spotted fruit-monster?
Snarls had him focused on the doorway again. Reaching it, he swung around the corner, hand with the gun slicing in different directions as he checked the room out. What he saw almost stopped his heart. A fully-furred up Lycan advanced on Laney, wickedly sharp claws glittering in the dull light through the window.
“Hey, asshole.” He aimed for the back of the creature's neck. Sever the spinal cord, and no matter what supernatural mojo the fucker was channeling, it was all she wrote. “Get away from the lady.”
The reaction was instantaneous and so not what he expected. Far from the damsel in distress swooning gratefully at his timely intervention, Laney shot him an irritated glance.
“Troy, will you fuck off? The monsters are playing here.” As if to underline her point, she threw the now-empty fruit bowl at the creature. It hit the creature up the side of the head with a clang, and shattered on the floor. The Lycan snarled, whipping its head around to focus on her again.
“Come on,” she snarled back, spinning those strange blades of hers over the back of her hands. The look on her face was determined, with a dark edge that sent a shiver along Troy’s spine. His jaw dropped, mouth opening like a guppy’s, as she advanced on the beast.
She met the creature head on, bellowing with rage. The blades in her hands flashed as she landed blow after blow. Silver shimmered along the wicked edges. Within seconds, the shine was gone, replaced by dark wetness.
Troy’s hand wavered, trying to pick a clean shot, but she was everywhere, dancing around the Lycan like a prima ballerina. What the hell was she? She moved like nothing he’d ever seen before, lethality and grace wrapped in one kick-ass package.
Spinning, she sliced downward and the Were roared in pain. Blood splattered over a cupboard door, a gory pattern that was almost beautiful. He spotted an opening, lifted his arm to take the shot. The retort of the gun rang out twice, the sound near deafening in the enclosed space of the kitchen. The bullets thudded into thick fur, the creature jerking with each one. Dark, wet patches spread out like flowers blossoming, but the thing didn’t drop like he expected.
And it needed to go down before it took another swipe at Laney. Sure, she was shit-hot with those blades, and fast as all hell, but it would only take one mis-step and... His heart clenched in fear, he didn’t even want to think about it.
“For fuck’s sake, would you die already,” Troy snarled, stepping into the room.
“Stay out!” Laney yelled, but it was too late.
He pulled the trigger again, aiming for the back of the thing’s head. With a preternatural speed, it ducked, the slug slamming into the cupboard behind it. The creature turned its head and fixed him with a yellow stare. He swallowed, fear rooting him to the spot for a second before he fought it off. Damn that whole human “freeze, flight, fight” response. He was so going for fighting, every time.
“Get out of here,” Laney bellowed, and Troy’s world became something out of a fantasy film. Her voice deepened somehow at the end of the sentence, becoming more. Bigger. Like the sound of a thousand men screaming in pain on a battlefield, or the near silent rattle of a terminal illness as it claimed its victim.
He blinked as she vaulted over the island counter, the petite woman he saw overlaid with something else. Something that wore a robe, the hood shadowed with a darkness every cell in his body told him he didn’t want to look into. The small blades in her hands lengthened, became a scythe between one blink and the next.
Her booted foot lashed out and up, catching the Lycan under the chin with a click and a crunch as his mouth was forced closed before the jaw broke. With a wordless bellow, she crossed her arms, slashing the
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