Skull walked to the nearest hall and checked the first room number he came to: 502. At the far end a pair of boys in blue sat in stiff chairs and sipped from paper cups. He grinned and stalked towards them. As he walked, Skull sent his thoughts into the gauntlet, drawing out the fire spirit’s power the way Mistress Raven had taught him. When the back of his hand grew warm he knew it was ready.
He was almost to the room when one of the cops hopped to his feet and raised a hand. “I’m sorry, sir. No one is allowed to visit this patient.”
“But I brought him flowers.” Skull held out the bouquet. “Can’t you at least give these to him?”
When the cop was only three feet away Skull lashed out, driving his gauntlet-covered fist into the cop’s gut and releasing a blast of fire. Bright orange flames burst out his back and the cop collapsed.
Skull caught him and hurled the dead cop at his still-living partner. The corpse caught the second cop halfway out of his chair. He scrambled to avoid it, but the weight of the body drove him back down.
Skull rushed over, grabbed the living cop’s head and poured fire into it. The cop’s skull burst like a ripe melon. That was always good for a laugh.
An alarm sounded and sprinklers sprang to life, drenching the hall. Skull stepped into Mort’s room and found his target struggling to sit up with his hand cuffed to the bed rail.
Mort stared at him with wide, frightened eyes. “Who are you?”
“No one special.”
Skull lunged across the room and slapped his gauntleted hand across Mort’s mouth. He called on the magic again, sending flames down the mark’s gullet, incinerating his internal organs. When he finished, smoke was literally coming out of Mort’s ears.
Skull couldn’t stop grinning. That had worked even better than he’d hoped. The only problem was when you burned up their lungs the target couldn’t scream. Maybe next time he’d burn up some less vital organs and leave the target to die slowly.
Then again, if Mistress Raven wanted someone kept quiet, letting them die slowly might not be the way to go. Skull would just have to try it on one of his own victims. Maybe he’d grab someone on the way home. The guys would probably enjoy the show, take their minds off Numb getting his dumb ass killed.
Skull left the still-smoking corpse of Mort Call smoldering in his bed and stepped out into the hall. Voices shouted and nurses hustled patients and visitors toward the stairwell. It didn’t look like they’d made it this far or noticed the dead cops yet. Skull considered dragging the bodies into Mort’s room, but dismissed the idea at once. It would only delay the inevitable by a few minutes at best.
He stepped over the bodies, doing his best to ignore the streams of water plastering his mohawk flat against his head, and headed for the elevator. He pressed the call button, but it didn’t light up. Annoyed now, he stabbed it three more times.
“Sir.” A big, broad-shouldered orderly in purple scrubs spotted him and walked over. “The elevators are disabled during a fire emergency. You’ll have to take the stairs.”
“Of course they are.” Skull shook his head. That was the problem with hospitals, too safety conscious.
A gasp from the orderly drew Skull’s attention back to him. He was staring down the hall at the dead cops. Too bad, he seemed like a nice-enough guy. On the other hand Skull never passed up a chance to use his gauntlet.
The orderly looked away from the bodies just in time to catch a heavy fist to his forehead. At the moment of impact Skull released a burst of fire. The orderly’s head exploded in a shower of blood and flames.
Skull grinned. That was the coolest fuckin’ thing ever.
A feminine scream from down the hall caught his attention. A pretty redheaded nurse stood trembling, her hands to her mouth, staring at him. He stomped down the hall toward her, ignoring the scattering of people headed for the stairs.
Skull clamped his bare hand around the back of her neck. “Shame you had to see that. Now, we’re going to walk out of here together. Give me any trouble and I’ll pop your head like a zit, got it?”
She managed a silent nod.
Skull guided her toward the stairwell where they merged with the flow of people coming from the floors above. It wasn’t a particularly speedy group considering they were evacuating a fire. Maybe they thought it was just a drill. Of course all the people with canes and walkers didn’t hurry things up any.
The faint whine of sirens approaching reached him. Sounded like the fire department was taking it seriously. The sirens also convinced the healthier people to step on it and several jostled Skull in their haste to flee. Remembering Mistress Raven’s lecture about self-control, Skull refrained from burning them all to death.
At the bottom of the stairs people were streaming out the nearest door. For his part Skull turned down the hall that led to the main entrance where he’d left his bike.
“Please don’t hurt me,” the nurse whispered.
Skull loved it when they begged. It made him want to hurt her even more. Looked like he wasn’t going to have to grab someone on his way home. He’d just take—Skull glanced down at her name tag—Janice home with him.
The main waiting area had cleared out by the time they arrived. Through the glass doors four cop cars were visible. Each car had a pair of cops behind it pointing their guns at the entrance. How the hell did they know where he was going?
“Where are all the cameras in this dump?” When Janice didn’t answer Skull gave her a shake. “Answer me.”
“Everywhere.” The word came out more of a whimper.
Great, the cops were probably watching him right now. He looked around until he spotted one of the cameras and flipped it off. Skull had hoped to make this a quick in and out, but it looked like he’d get to have a bit more fun before the day was done.
Skull forced Janice directly in front of him and marched her closer to the door so the cops could take a good look. If there was one thing you could count on it was a hostage keeping the boys in blue honest. If they so much as farted in his direction Skull would burn her to death.
“We have you surrounded.” Some asshole must have found a bullhorn. “Come out with your hands up.”
They always said that. Skull looked down at the now-crying Janice. “Do you think that line ever works?”
“I don’t know.”
“Me either, but it’s not going to work today.” Skull pushed her close enough to trigger the automatic doors. “Clear the fuck out of here or Janice is going from the hospital to the morgue.”
A little whimper escaped the captive nurse. It was a nice touch, but he doubted the cops heard her.
“There’s nowhere you can go,” the asshole with the bullhorn said. “Release the girl before someone gets hurt.”
Skull shook his head. “These cops need to catch a clue. There’re already four dead guys upstairs.”
No comment from Janice. She was probably overwhelmed by all the excitement.
Skull raised his gauntleted hand and called the fire. A stream of flame streaked toward the car nearest where he’d left his bike.
The cops behind it scrambled to get clear.
A moment later the gas tank exploded, sending the car up into the air before it came crashing down on its roof. He adjusted his aim and commanded the fire to come forth again.
Lin led Terra out of the cafe and toward their cars. She really was a remarkable woman, strong, smart and dedicated. If she worked for the police department he would have been delighted to have her for a partner.
Terra took a deep breath and stretched. “So what now?”
“I need to focus on finding the Skulls. I wish I could help you find your missing wizard, but the gang represents a direct threat to the city and so gets priority.”
Terra waved off his apology. “I understand. Finding Mercia is the Department’s responsibility anyway. What about Conryu? Chief Kane has him basically on lockdown, but that won’t last forever. At the very least he’ll have to leave his building to s
tart school.”
“Knowing Conryu he won’t last seven weeks cooped up inside. The truth is, and I’m reluctant to say this after my earlier mistake, I doubt there’s an active effort being made to go after Conryu. As far as I can tell Mort acted alone and the incident at the carnival now looks more like an attack of opportunity.”
“That suggests if another opportunity should present itself he might still be in danger.”
Before Lin could respond his phone rang. “Excuse me.”
“Mort Call has been murdered at the hospital along with his guards,” the police secretary said.
“What? You’re sure?”
“What is it?” Terra asked.
He held up a finger.
“We’re sure. The attacker matches the description of one of your gang members. They have him surrounded. Since you’re the officer of record for the case they asked me to let you know.”
“I’m on my way.” Lin disconnected. “We’re in luck. One of the Skulls is trapped in Sentinel Central Hospital. The guys are moving in now to apprehend him.”
“I’ll come with you. If it’s the one with the Flame Fist Gauntlet you’ll need my help to subdue him.”
“Climb in, I’ll drive.”
They loaded up and Lin took off at full speed, siren blaring. It only took five minutes to reach the hospital. The smoke was visible after three minutes and the flames after four. Lin followed the smoke to the main entrance. Two police cars were burning. Beside the doors a man with a mohawk held a woman hostage. On his right hand he wore a glowing gauntlet.
The biker pointed the gauntlet at a third car. Terra lowered her window and began to chant in a hissing, sibilant language.
A ball of fire shot from the biker’s glove.
Terra snapped her fingers and pointed. The fireball fizzled out halfway to the car.
Lin swerved to a stop behind the two intact vehicles. Terra never took her eyes off the biker and never stopped the chanting. She climbed out of the car and marched straight toward him. One of the uniforms rushed to stop her.
“It’s okay.” Lin waved him off. “She’s a government wizard assisting in the investigation.”
Terra snapped and pointed again. Lin looked away from the patrolman as the last sparks of the fireball sputtered in the air ten feet from the cars. She took another step forward.
“Don’t go too close,” the patrolman said. “He’s holding a hostage.”
Terra stopped moving, but continued chanting in that strange language. A twenty-foot wall of flame roared to life in front of the biker. Even from a distance the heat made Lin flinch.
There was movement then a figure staggered, screaming, through the flames. It was the nurse and her uniform had caught on fire.
“Don’t shoot!” Lin shouted. “It’s the hostage. Keep your eyes open for the perp.”
Terra snapped her fingers a third time and the flames covering the woman vanished. She raised her voice and the cadence of the chant sped up. Terra threw her hands to the side and the wall of flame disappeared.
She blew out a breath and fell silent. Lin rushed to check on the nurse. No sign remained of the biker.
The nurse had first- and second-degree burns on her hands and face, but the damage wasn’t anywhere near as bad as it might have been if Terra hadn’t been there.
“Are you alright, miss?” Lin asked.
She nodded, tears streaming down her face. “I thought he was going to kill me.”
“You’re safe now—”
The rest of Lin’s words were drowned out by the roar of a motorcycle. He scanned the parking lot and spotted the bike thundering toward the exit.
Two patrol cars blocked the opening, but he raised his glove and twin blasts of fire streaked ahead of him, blowing the vehicles out of his way. The rumble of the motorcycle quickly faded.
An EMT arrived and Lin handed the burned girl over to him with a final pat on her unburned shoulder.
“We have to get after him,” Lin said. “This is too good an opportunity to let him slip through our fingers.”
“Don’t worry.” Terra joined him near the burned nurse. “That gauntlet is putting out enough magical energy that I’ll have no trouble tracking him. I’ll call Clair. We’re going to need all the help we can get.”
What a fucking rush! Iron Skull roared down the street, his gauntlet still hot and glowing from all the fire he hurled. He hadn’t had that much fun in years. At least until the wizard showed up. She made the fire do what she wanted instead of what he wanted. He hated her more for that than for spoiling his fun. He revved the engine and put on more speed. The people on the sidewalk stared at him and Skull gave them a one-finger salute.
He glanced over his shoulder. No cops. Too bad, Skull would have liked to blow up a few more of their cheap-ass cars. Despite the lack of pursuit, Skull knew he wasn’t in the clear yet. Mistress Raven had taught him enough about magic to know that the wizard from the hospital would have no trouble tracking him.
Well fuck her and the cops. Let ’em come. The boys had been itching for a fight since they got to the city last month. Today they were going to get it. Lucky they had plenty of treats stored up for just such an occasion. He turned down a side street toward the rough part of town where his gang had set up shop in an empty flophouse. Empty now anyway. They’d had to gut a handful of bums and pushers when they first arrived, but the locals quickly learned The Black Skulls were no one they wanted to fuck with.
Bloody Skull was standing watch on the front steps of the boarded-up two-story shack when Iron Skull parked in front of the building. He had his trademark blood-red bandana tied around his face and the grip of an automatic pistol poked out of the waistband of his oil-stained jeans. “All finished, boss?”
Iron Skull ignored the question. “Get the boys ready. We’re going to have company soon.”
“What kind of company?”
“The heavily armed, blue kind. Go on.”
Bloody Skull let out a war whoop and ran inside. Of all the gang Bloody was the only one that liked to fight more than Iron Skull. He’d get his fill today, no doubt.
Iron Skull drove around to the rear of the flophouse. Across the street was an empty garage beside a collapsed house. He pulled his bike inside next to the others. To keep the guys busy while they waited for Mistress Raven’s orders Iron Skull had them dig a tunnel connecting the basement of the flophouse to the garage. His mistress had been kind enough to use her magic to reinforce the tunnel for them so he wasn’t worried about it collapsing during the fight with the cops.
Iron Skull switched his bike off and closed the garage door as far as it would go. Hopefully the cops wouldn’t notice the bikes parked inside. He crossed the street and Grim opened the door for him. “We really gonna fight the cops, boss?”
Grim sounded like a five-year-old on Christmas morning, or as much like one as a six-and-a-half-foot-tall, three-hundred-and-fifty-pound bald man covered in tattoos could.
“Damn right. I want you upstairs on The Pig. How many ammo belts we got for it?”
“Ten, I think. That’s five thousand rounds, right?” Grim wasn’t quite as good at math as a five-year-old.
Iron Skull patted his leather-clad shoulder. “Close enough, Grim. Take Tough and a box of grenades with you.”
Grim smiled, revealing his three remaining teeth, and ran off to find Tough and the grenades.
Iron Skull went deeper into the house, ignoring the exposed framing and the stink of beer and piss. They’d stayed in worse places over the years. Not much worse, but a little.
“Boss.” Bone Skull emerged from a side door. He was dressed in all black, his long hair slicked back from his face and only one tattoo visible. Bone was the only member of the gang that, if he walked down the street, wouldn’t draw a second look. That made him useful, but his brain made him Iron Skull’s second in command. On the bed behind him, Iron Skull caught a glimpse of machine guns and boxes of ammunition. “What kind of opposition we lookin
g at?”
“Every cop they can call in and at least one wizard. She’s good with fire magic so my glove won’t be much use until we take her out.”
“Easier said than done. Wizards are tricky to deal with, especially surrounded by cops.”
Iron Skull nodded. “We’ll just have to hope we get lucky and a stray bullet blows her brains out.”
“And if we don’t get lucky?”
Iron Skull lowered his voice. “That’s what the escape tunnel’s for. You and me’ll split while the others hold them off. You know once they get started the others will never run.”
“Bloody won’t, that’s for sure.”
Overhead, Grim stomped around, getting his machine gun set up. It wouldn’t be easy for Grim and Tough to make their way downstairs once the bullets started flying. Iron Skull blew out a snort. Who was he kidding? Once the fighting started it would be a wonder if he could pull himself away from the battle. He never felt more alive than when he was an inch from death.
Lin led a parade of cop cars and two heavily armored SWAT vehicles down the street. Speakers broadcast a warning to the people staring at the passing motorcade to stay inside and away from windows until the police gave the all clear.
In the seat beside him Terra stared straight ahead, the magical glasses perched on her nose. She’d been guiding them since they left the hospital ten minutes ago. The second Department wizard, Clair, sat on the back seat muttering in a deep, guttural language. Terra had said Clair was skilled in earth magic so that was probably the language she spoke. What the wizard hoped to accomplish he had no idea. The police wizard was busy with a surveillance job and according to the captain couldn’t join them.
“Turn left at the next intersection,” Terra said. “We’re getting close.”
A quick look at the neighborhood would have told Lin that even without Terra’s warning. He hadn’t expected the gang to set up shop in the money district so it was no surprise they’d moved into the roughest part of the city. It made the tenement they’d visited the other day look positively gentrified. This neighborhood would have looked right at home in a southern border town. The only thing missing was a pack of half-human heart hunters.
The Impossible Wizard: The Aegis of Merlin Book 1 Page 14