“They were making a pretty good ruckus,” said Nash, realizing it might be taken as him saying the baying of the Wares had brought him running. He braced himself for the sickening sensation …. It never came. Apparently there was a line there somewhere in his brain. Lying didn’t come naturally to him, and if he was honest with himself, he didn’t relish the idea of learning that particular skill, which worked out perfectly as a weakness for him.
“They were literally about to tear me apart with their bare teeth and make my bones into chew toys.” Livi’s speech was clear now, though still accented deliciously, but there was an occasional hitch in her stride that said she wasn’t a hundred percent yet. “Which is why I’m telling you it was self-defense.”
“Tell it to the magistrate,” said Nash. He wasn’t about to admit that he’d been on the island less than a week and was glad he didn’t have to make any tough decisions tonight.
“I’ll tell him,” muttered Livi. “But coins speak louder than words on Hollow Island.”
“Not everyone here is corrupt,” said Nash, but doubt settled in his head. He’d passed up a chance to help someone to come here for a giant bounty. Did working for The Man make him more or less crooked?
“What, now that you’re here?” She made a scoffing sound. “Oh, save us, o sanctified one.”
“No,” said Nash, coming to stop in front of Livi as they turned a corner. He was sick of people acting like this. “Being a good person does not make me weak or stupid! There are more—”
Zhing! Livi went into a tense crouch as her fangs activated and gleamed in the faint moonlight.
Nash had his gun in hand and pointed at her face before he knew it. Then he realized she wasn’t looking at him, but past him. The look on her face was more sincere that it had been earlier when he’d fallen for that trick. He took a few slow steps away from her, and when he had enough distance, he turned his body, keeping one eye on Livi as he peered into the dark street.
Undefined shapes lay scattered on the ground ten meters away. A shadow deeper than the rest of the night hovered above the shapes, holding a long tool or weapon of some sort. The shadow looked in their direction for a moment, then turned to flee. Nash’s finger automatically made the switch from ‘Barbs’ to ‘Lead’.
The black shape bolted, covering a block and a half in a matter of seconds, moving with a litheness that made Livi seem as graceful as a toddler.
Just before the specter disappeared around a corner, the first lines of a bio appeared. Grim Reaper, AKA Death. RANGERS: EXTREME DANGER. APPREHEND AT YOUR OWN RISK. Kill count: Nascent…
A phrase Nash had picked up in training fell from his lips. “Crepi il lupo.”
The bio was unlike any he’d seen. No age, no former name, no country of origin. More like a character than a real person. The warning to Rangers was new as well. In Nash’s limited experience, other than Livi, no one on Hollow Island had a kill count in their bio.
Livi had been watching longer than Nash, so she must have seen the darkness. The Grim Reaper.
“What does nascent mean?” Nash asked as Livi slinked ahead.
Her attention seemed to be entirely on the scene, but she answered in a low voice, “If it’s the same as nascente in Portuguese, it means something’s budding. Like it’s just starting to grow.” Pulling her attention away from the street momentarily, she looked back and asked, “What kind of bobo question is that?”
Stupid, he thought. Why don’t I just pop my eye out and hand it to her? She completely incapacitated his inner editor.
Looking back at the scene, he asked, “What is it?” since he assumed her senses were much sharper. Why couldn’t the eye give me better vision instead of useless information?
“Blood.” She said it like a Pirate discovering a treasure trove. “Blood and bodies.”
Gun still raised, he moved closer. The squishing of his boots and the odor of blood, urine, and feces hit him before he could make out the massacre. People were dead in the street, dismembered and spread out, making it impossible to count.
Even in the dim moonlight, it was by far the worst sight he’d ever seen, and he caught himself reaching for his wrist to call 9-1-1.
“Pigsquirmy.” I am 9-1-1 now.
Urging himself to keep it together, he took a deep breath and focused on not vomiting. The breath turned out to be a bad idea, and the best he could do was retreat and throw up against a wall.
Livi laughed behind him. “Now I see why you’re a Ranger and not a Vamp.”
How could she make jokes at a time like this? Nash wondered if he was missing out on something, as if this was staged and not a real scene of death.
The face of a woman with black hair and scared eyes looked up at him from the street. She was vaguely familiar, and he just stared. There was nothing flippant or funny about this.
A bio popped up. Chiel Leatherwood, formerly Felisha Monroe from New York City …
“I know her,” said Nash, pulling away and retreating. The gorge was rising again, but he felt like he didn’t have anything to lose. He looked around and saw the outline of a mango tree rising less than a block away.
He could have prevented this.
A handful of days ago he had risked his life to stand up to a couple of thugs who were shaking her down. Half an hour ago, she had plead her case to him. Now she was dead. Killed by the Grim Reaper. Why? And out of all the people in this city, on this island, why did it have to be someone he knew?
And why had he gone after a bounty instead of …
Instead of what? Doing what was right? In this situation, how could anyone even know what was the right thing to do? All he knew was that he had to make this right. If avenging these deaths was all he could do, so be it.
Nash forced himself to breathe through his nose and settle down. He caught Livi watching him instead of examining the grisly scene, and he couldn’t blame her. “You’re not gonna, you know… feed?” He waved vaguely at the scene.
“Don’t be disgusting. Ew. I’m a huntress, not a scavenger.” She came back to him and said in an innocent voice, “And it looks like you’ve found someone way badder than me.”
Point for you, thought Nash, but didn’t feel right saying anything glib. He let his eye rest on the … shapes in front of him. The … people. The Grim Reaper hadn’t just killed them. He’d completely dismantled them.
There was still a lot he didn’t know about how his eye identified people and pulled up their info. With Chiel, her face brought up the bio, but as he stared at various other body parts, he guessed it had something to do with tracker implants, since the other face he saw didn’t pull up anything.
After scanning the scattered bodies for a few minutes, and becoming as queasy as if he’d told back-to-back lies, he learned they belonged to only two people. Chiel and her Viking husband, Viktor.
Nash couldn’t shake the feeling that this was connected to him. Chiel’s death was just too coincidental to be some random home invasion and murder.
Committed by the Grim Reaper.
Death.
Livi would probably claim it wasn’t murder if Death killed someone, but he wasn’t telling her anything.
“I think … I …” Livi dropped jerkily to one knee and put a hand on Nash’s arm.
He looked around frantically, thinking they were under attack again.
“Antidote,” she muttered.
Oh, of course. Duh.
In less than a minute he administered another dose into her thigh, and she slowly regained control.
After stabilizing, she said, “Glad I didn’t try to run again. Thank you.”
In a long string of unexpected events of the evening, that apology ranked near the top.
“You’re welcome, Livi.”
“Look at us,” she said. “Being downright civil to each other.”
“Crappy times have a way of bringing people together.” A lesson Nash had learned well in the foster care system.
Livi stood in fr
ont of him and made compelling eye contact. Her blue eyes caught light from some source Nash couldn’t identify.
“Ranger Nash. It looks like it’s time for you to rally the posse and go hunt that black cloak. What kind of weirdo carries a sickle, anyway?”
“I’m pretty sure that was a scythe.” Until he said that, he’d forgotten that he knew it.
“Wow, not only brave enough to shoot a woman in the back, but a genius too.” And there was the smarminess again.
“I did a school project on obsolete farming methods. It took me hours to make a miniature sickle and scythe.”
“I don’t care if it was a milkshake, that’s still a messed up thing to carry around,” snapped Livi. “Just … dock that eye of yours with the eyes in the walls and pull up some feeds, or whatever that thing is good for, and take care of it.”
So she didn’t know everything about the eye. Nash shook his head. “It’s not like that. As far as the cameras, the Corporation has a strict non-interference policy.” At least I thought they did until tonight. Apparently he still believed it enough to avoid the consequences of lying. “And I have a feeling my fellow Rangers aren’t going to touch this one.”
“Well, well, well.” She strutted around him in a circle, sizing him up. “Looks like you could use a partner, Filho. I’ve always wanted to be involved in a manhunt.”
The suggestion floored him and he laughed out loud. “I came to arrest you, not ask for your help catching a bigger monster.”
The idea of making a deal with the devil woman would never have crossed his mind. Giving up fifty kilos that was only a few blocks away would put him firmly in the misguided imbeciles category. But he hadn’t met any Rangers yet who he could count on to support him if he chose to ‘APPREHEND’ the killer.
A monster was on the loose and Nash’s sister was out there somewhere. Along with half a million other sisters, mothers, brothers, and children. Maybe Nash knew some of them like he’d known Chiel, and maybe they were strangers. Either way, he couldn’t just act like he’d never seen this. If there was ever a time for Nash to stand up, it was now. And this one looked too big for him alone.
He trusted Livi like a cardboard sword, but who else was there? Still, he only half believed she was serious. “Why would you want to team up with me?” he asked.
Livi’s eyes darted along the walls of the street, quickly, as if it were involuntary. Looking for eyes? Maybe her interest in the manhunt was all about increasing her ratings, and she didn’t want to talk about it.
“My arrest tonight has opened my eyes. I now see that I owe a debt to society. Think of it as a way to redeem myself.”
The lie was so blatant Nash expected it to make him sick. “Escape the bounty you mean.” It was a lot of money he was giving up by not turning her in. Not to mention possibly pissing off even more Rangers. That part suited him fine at the moment.
Livi shrugged with one shoulder. “After tonight, it seems my current occupation is unsustainable. Besides, why do you care what my reasons are?”
It had to be ratings. Some people would do anything for attention.
“What do you say?” she asked. “I did beat you like a Druid on a drum during a full moon.”
“Point for you,” answered Nash. Drugged and torn up, Livi had no problem handling him. She was twice the man he was and more woman than anyone he’d ever seen. “Now how many Wares did you take down?”
“Two,” said Livi flatly. “You saw them.”
“Two? Wow!” Nash laid the awe on thick. “I only managed to drop three Wares who will never get up again, not to mention the ones they had to drag off.” Nash wished it wouldn’t have come to that, but he was tired of letting bullies get their way.
“Liar,” said Livi. Her anger was so easy to read it almost made Nash laugh again.
“Let’s go back and count,” said Nash.
“Oh, wait. Big gun, big deal.” She rolled her eyes, but Nash knew she was secretly upset about his big numbers.
“You should be glad there are three fewer Wares on the street,” he said.
“And this is the part where you ask me to thank you again. Give me that gun and I’ll kill more than three.”
“The three were with the gun, plus a few of them who will be digging Barbs out of their hair for days, if they survive.”
“That is a lovely image.” She gave him a lovely smile in return.
“When I ran out of bullets, there were still eight standing, and all I had were my fists and a crock of stew.”
“Crock of stew?” She raised an eyebrow. “Is that another one of your sayings? Like trying to say you’re full of piss and vinegar?”
“No,” said Nash with a chuckle. “I’m talking about an actual … It doesn’t matter.” He looked into her eyes. If only her true heart were as easy to read as her anger and petty competitiveness. “Are you serious about teaming up?” Nash still couldn’t believe he was actually considering teaming up with a wanted criminal.
Livi did another lap, examining him again. When she came around to the front of him, her features caught the faint light. The half moon gleamed in her blue eyes, across her pale skin, and over her black hair. He hadn’t seen anything so exquisite as long as he could remember. She looked into his eyes, probably trying to see if there was anyway a partnership could work.
Finally, she said, “It beats prison.” She held out a hand.
Nash considered telling her she would have to show him how things worked here, but that would just give her ideas and set himself up to be punked. He came up with something better.
“One condition,” said Nash. “You buy all our food.”
Livi pulled her hand back. “You mean I pay for it, or I go to the market and pick out your bananas and papayas? If it’s the second one, you can go fig yourself. I have people who do that for me.”
“Pay for it,” said Nash, fighting to keep the joy off his face. She might actually go for it.
“And here I took you for a man of chivalry. Guess it’s dead and gone after all. I’ll buy your lunch, filho. I’ll buy you whatever you want to eat.”
“Deal.” He shoved his hand forward, then realized it probably looked too eager.
She laid her hand in his like a lady. It was surprisingly dainty, but he had the feeling there was strength underneath she seldom showed.
“Partners,” she hissed.
For the first time since the initial disagreement with John Wayne, Nash had someone on his side. An ally. He didn’t dare think of her as a friend, but holding her hand, he believed he could finally do some serious good.
“Partners,” agreed Nash. “Now, you hungry?”
The End
A Mutiny of Marauders, Hollow Island Book 2 will be out December 10, 2019! Watch for it on Amazon.
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Also by Daniel Coleman
HOLLOW ISLAND SERIES
A Route of Wares
A Mutiny of Marauders - Dec 10
A Grove of Druids - Dec 26
A Party of Rangers - Jan 21, 2020
A Clash of Deathkillers - Feb 11, 2020
For FANTASY readers:
Knights of Wonderland Series:
Jabberwocky
How can one young man succeed where an army has failed?
Hatter
Witness the tangled ascent into madness of literatures most loved lunatic
Red Knight
Wonderland is at peace, but not for long. Just when Chism and his men need them most, their dreams and aspirations are stolen.
ALTERNATE FANTASY
Falyn Sweeney Saga
A girl traveling, carrying secrets of generations. A man steering who has other ideas for the traveler. An entity recording everything, even thoughts…
The Passage of Falyn Sweeney
The Name of Falyn Sweeney
The Calamity of Falyn Sweeney
The Keening of Falyn Sweeney
CONTEMPORARY FICTION
Gifts and Consequences
How far would you go for what you want most?
www.dcolemanbooks.com
About the Author
Daniel Coleman is a firefighter/paramedic, student of creativity, advocate for kindness, collector of PEZ dispensers, proponent of bow ties, believer in magic, and proud husband of one and father of three. For Daniel, writing fiction is an escape from the traumatic days of firefighting and a celebration of the triumphant days.
www.dcolemanbooks.com
You can find him on these sites. He is most active on Facebook and BookBub.
A Route of Wares: An Urban Fantasy Action Adventure: Hollow Island Book One Page 14