Tome of Bill (Companion): Shining Fury by Rick Gualtieri Page B

second we emerge I’d just as soon not paint a giant glowing bullseye on us.”
    She let go of my hand, but I kept pace, extinguishing my power until we could barely see the ground in front of us.
    “We need to get off the street,” Vincent said.
    “No shit,” I replied acidly.
    If Vincent was shocked by my language, he thankfully kept it to himself, instead changing tactics in a surprising way. “I don’t suppose you can mask us somehow, witch ... Kelly.”
    “Well, will you look at that, he does know my name,” she replied, skidding to a halt as we ran out of alleyway. “Will miracles never cease?”
    “Do we really need to do this now?” I hissed.
    “Sorry.”
    “How’s it look?” Vincent asked.
    “Empty for now. There’s a couple of dumpsters to our left, should provide a little cover. Let’s head across the back lot and see if we can find someplace better than this.”
    Vincent pushed his way forward to take a look. “I think I see a fence back there. The neighborhood looks like it turns residential. Maybe we can find a place to hide.”
    More gunfire erupted from somewhere behind, causing all of us to jump.
    “Did they find us?” Kelly asked.
    “No,” Vincent said. “Listen.”
    He was right. The sounds were more sporadic than they’d been and were echoing from different places. “They’re fighting back.”
    “Or providing cover fire as the rest regroup,” he replied.
    I nodded. Either way, that was good. Not that the Templar were in a firefight with the Boston PD, but that they’d managed to form some semblance of defense.
    “Maybe we can circle back to them?” Kelly asked.
    Fear once more gripped me at the thought of walking back into the fray. Damn Remington for what he’d done to me. Though, physically, all the trauma from that night was long gone, deep down inside, I could still see his cold eyes glittering. “I don’t know.”
    “We should wait until it’s over,” Vincent said, sparing me from the indignity I felt. He turned to Kelly. “Unless your magic can perhaps help.”
    “Lesser of two evils, eh?” She had a sarcastic edge to her voice, but then her demeanor changed. Though it was hard to tell in the darkness, an apologetic, almost embarrassed look appeared upon her face. “Err, this sort of thing is really not my specialty. I’m thinking your idea is best. Let’s wait this out and then head back.”
    There came a noise from behind us, a can or something else rattling along the ground. All of us spun back, thinking perhaps we’d been found, but there was nothing there.
    “Probably just a raccoon,” I said unconvincingly.
    “You’re really not helping,” Kelly replied. “I hate those things. Rabies and all. Ugh!”
    “I wouldn’t worry too much about it. Off the top of my head, I’d say rabies are the least of our worries right now.”
     

CHAPTER 12
    Vincent was right. A fence, it’s bottom obscured by trash and weeds, sat on the other end of the lot. It was a matter of seconds for us to hop over it.
    Throughout it all, I couldn’t help but get a sense of being watched, but dismissed it as little more than paranoia.
    Thankfully, by the time we climbed over the fence, finding ourselves in a small but neat backyard, the gunfire had mostly tapered off. Though there was no indication that our side had won, I nevertheless felt better. That familiar supernatural confidence once more began to wake up inside of me and push its way to the forefront.
    Before us was a row of tightly packed houses, so close that I could imagine neighbors opening a window to request a cup of sugar and being handed it without either leaving their own home.
    * * *
    The firefight we’d run from could have woken the dead, but here, things were eerily quiet. Strange that it should be so peaceful. Under different circumstances I might attribute it to the early hour. I let my mind wander for a moment back to my old life. Though I’d originally moved – or fled, if one wanted to be