The goon’s hand inched toward his jacket. The other man moved farther to the side, his hand also rising.
How many of you will I need to beat down for you to get the point?
“It’s your problem because you’re the cause of the problem,” the goon growled. “If you get in your truck right now and leave, we don’t need to have a problem. Sounds fair, don’t you think?”
Trey snorted. “You dumb motherfucker. I ain’t here for no Mafia shit, and ain’t even here for no normal bounty shit. Haven’t you fuckers been listening to me at all? Silver Ghost is out there.”
The two men’s hands dropped.
The first goon shook his head. “The Silver Ghost isn’t real.”
“Then who fucking killed the 25K Triad bitches? You telling me some other gang or someone else did that shit but they didn’t take credit?” Trey scoffed. “We both know that’s not how this shit works for either bounty hunters or you bitches.”
“E-even if she’s real, she won’t necessarily come after us. It’s a big city.”
Trey nodded. “Yeah, it is at that. LA’s a much bigger city, and Johnny Lee and his boys are still dead, ain’t they?” He scratched the side of his nose. “Here’s the thing. Until the Silver Ghost is caught, Brownstone Agency is gonna be all over you fuckers because we want her, which means Brownstone Agency is basically giving the motherfucking Mafia free protection from a vigilante who could clear out this whole town.”
“You just want the bounty,” the goon insisted. “You want us to be grateful for that?”
“Bitch, please. Even if we do, you like living, right?” Trey gestured toward the bar. “Maybe that bitch won’t come here at all. Maybe she never comes back to Vegas, but me and my people will stay out of your fucking way if you stay out of ours.” He shrugged. “Or you can take us on and we’ll beat you down, so then you’ll be hurt, and you’ll be wasting our time.”
Trey stared down the two goons in silence. He wasn’t sure how much time passed before they both turned and headed back to the crosswalk.
“Have a good evening, gentlemen,” Trey called after them. “Remember, if you see the Ghost, call us. The life you save may be your own.” He grinned. “And we’ll give you a reward.”
One of the goons flipped him off as they crossed the street.
Trey sauntered back over to his truck and hopped inside. “Not sure if that shit means I’m badass enough to scare fuckers off or if they’re just afraid of the Ghost.”
Victoria shrugged. “Don’t see how it matters as long as they left us alone.”
“True that.” Trey sighed. “But now back to doing nothing but waiting.”
His phone buzzed with a text, and he pulled it out of his coat pocket. A huge smile took over his face as he read the text.
Victoria arched a pale red brow. “What? Did you just get a text for a three-for-one deal on black suits and ties at the Men’s Warehouse?”
“Nah. Just a lucky bastard today. My sleazy boy Anthony’s just earned himself a payday. Silver Ghost sighting, and it’s nearby.”
“You think she’s coming here?”
“Nah. According to Anthony, there’s a Mafia safehouse a few miles away, and she’s closer to that.” Trey started his truck. “He did his part, now let’s do ours.”
19
Trey grinned to himself as they barreled down the road. Considering they were going fifteen over the limit, a cop could have pulled them over, but no one came after them. Sure, some traffic drone was probably tagging his license plate and he’d get a fine in the mail in a couple of weeks, but for the moment, all he cared about was getting to the safehouse before the Silver Ghost escaped.
We’ll end this shit, and then we can all go back to making money and taking down crooks.
He slammed on the brakes, the truck screeching to a halt in front of an unassuming ranch-style house with a verdant and carefully trimmed lawn. The illusion of order was broken by the spider-webbed cracks marring some of the windows, and the front door stood open.
Trey frowned and nodded to Victoria. “You ready for this?”
The witch nodded, her suit already covered with protective glyphs and her eyes glowing red. “If she doesn’t immediately surrender, we’ll need to go at her full force. Hit hard and fast until she’s dead.”
“Yeah, I know.” Trey pulled out his gun and ejected the magazine. He loaded his single magazine of anti-magic bullets. “This bitch is going down.”
Both bounty hunters exited the truck at the same time. Trey took point, his gun raised, Victoria trailing behind him, her wand at the ready.
A few yards of walking toward the front porch revealed two dead men in the living room, one with a huge gash across his chest, the other a charred hole in his back.
“If she’s not here, at least she’s been here,” Trey murmured. “She ain’t subtle, that’s for sure.”
“What misfortune you have,” came a voice from above. “That you would arrive before I left. More parasites, flocking to your deaths.”
Trey jerked his gun up. The Silver Ghost stood on the roof, moonlight highlighting her metallic form. Blood dripped from an arm blade and splattered all over her as if she’d been decorated by a homicidal Jackson Pollock.
Damn. I wonder if this is what bounties feel like when the big man shows up?
The Silver Ghost tilted her head, as smooth and featureless as ever. “Not what I was expecting. Not more Mafia. I know you, Trey Garfield.” She glanced at the witch. “And you, Victoria Stone.”
Trey grinned. “Good, that makes this shit easy. We ain’t no Mafia bitches. We’re with the Brownstone Agency. Silver Ghost, or whatever name you like, there is a level-five bounty on you placed by the City and County of Los Angeles. You need to surrender right now, and we’ll have the Vegas police secure you. Then I’m sure Vegas and LA can fight over who wants you. This shit don’t have to be rough.”
The Silver Ghost let out a soft chuckle. “You expect me to surrender to you, of all people?”
“It’d be nice, yeah.” Trey shrugged. “I know you’ve been kicking a lot of ass, but you ain’t faced no one like Victoria and me. I’ve got anti-magic bullets and magical artifacts. She’s a badass battle witch. This won’t be about cutting up surprised mobsters and bouncing regular bullets off.”
“Haven’t you heard? The AET used anti-magic bullets, and it didn’t help them.”
Victoria narrowed her eyes, her fingers tightening on her wand.
Trey nodded. “Then I’ll waste a lot of money, but I’m sure the big man won’t mind. If the bullets don’t work, between Vic and me, we’ve got plenty of ways to mess your shit up. Look, I know how it feels. Some of these pieces of shit I’ve run into, I’ve thought, ‘Yeah, why do we have to wait for a bounty?’ But we can’t have that shit. You do things right, proper, and thorough, and things can start getting cleaned up. LA and Vegas might not be perfect, but we’re making progress. You can’t just be slicing people’s heads off.”
“I don’t care what you have to say,” the Silver Ghost replied. Her blade flowed back into a normal arm and hand.
She says she don’t care, but she’s disarming. This shit’s working. Yeah, time for Smooth Trey.
“Look, you pissed off the big man when you hurt those cops.” Trey shrugged. “But you didn’t waste them even though you could have, so I’m trying to give you a chance. I think you’ve kind of gone too far, but I get that you probably have a good reason for doing your vigilante shit. That don’t mean I can let you go, though. We just don’t have to have trouble.
The Silver Ghost chuckled. “The big man is James Brownstone, correct?”
“Yeah. Not an official nickname or anything, just what I call him. Granite Ghost. Scourge of Harriken.”
“The monster who hunts monsters.” The Silver Ghost crouched. “It doesn’t make sense. It’s been too long, but I can’t be wrong. I’ve seen him use it.”
“Huh?”
“He’s a monster. You can
’t see it?”
Trey laughed. “You’re running around chopping people’s heads off without bounties, and you’re saying he’s the monster? Come on, girl, think about that.”
He wondered if he should lower his weapon, but even with Victoria covering him, that felt unwise. His tight gut and pounding heart told him talking it out might not work.
“Denounce James Brownstone,” the Silver Ghost demanded, “and I’ll spare your lives.”
Trey’s face scrunched in confusion. “What?”
The Silver Ghost sliced through the air with her palm. “Denounce him. He’s a monster.” Her head twitched a few times. “You’re not like this woman. I can tell. You’ve been deceived.”
What the fuck is wrong with her?
Trey chanced a glance at Victoria, but the witch was keeping her gaze locked on their opponent.
The Silver Ghost’s skin rippled like water, and she hissed, “I’ve been forced to become a monster to deal with him. When my people come, they’ll hate me for what I’ve done. Curse my name and claim I’ve made a mockery of what I swore to be. Despite all that, when I ask myself if I should tell you the truth, I find myself bound to my oaths. It’s pathetic. What oaths does James Brownstone honor other than plotting murder and death?” Her skin rippled again, and her head twitched.
“Look…” Trey sucked in a deep breath. Calling her names wouldn’t help. “I don’t know what your problem with James is. He can get heavy, but that’s only when people come at him. You see, that’s the difference.” He shook his head. “I used to be a street thug, and your ass would have cut me down like nothing, but James saw something and lifted me up. You think you’re cleaning up LA and Vegas? James Brownstone is doing that. Carrot and stick, not just a sharpened stick, you know what I’m saying?”
“Yes, I know all about your background, Trey Garfield. All about the background of your little parasites.” The Silver Ghost stood and marched toward the edge of the roof. “Is that the connection? Does Brownstone see you as expendable?” She shook her head. “I don’t understand him. I know what he is. He’s not behaving as he should, but he’s still violent and bloodthirsty.”
Trey cleared his throat. “You know, this may start some shit, but have you ever thought you’re just a little crazy, and maybe that’s making it hard for you to understand?”
Victoria glared at him, and he shrugged. He was tired of this murderous vigilante running down James. She was the one with a bounty, not him.
“Crazy?” The Silver Ghost leapt into the air.
Trey didn’t fire, only because her trajectory took her away from him. She landed with ease, no hint of strain from jumping twenty feet to the ground.
Victoria took a few steps back, her fingers so tight around her wand that she might have cut off her circulation.
The Silver Ghost’s head swiveled back and forth. It was hard to tell without a face, but presumably, she was looking at the two bounty hunters.
So, she hasn’t got 360 vision or some shit like that. That’s good to know.
“It’s taking too long to calibrate,” she explained. “The instability is making it increasingly harder to concentrate. I’ve waited too long.” She sighed. “I should have gone after him earlier.”
“What the fuck does any of that mean?”
“In a sense, you’re right. You could say I’m getting increasingly crazy.” The Silver Ghost shrugged. “It doesn’t matter. A sacrifice had to be made to save everyone. What happens to me isn’t important, so I’ll give you this one last chance, Trey Garfield and Victoria Stone. Denounce James Brownstone, lower your weapons, and I’ll consider letting you live.”
“Fuck you,” Trey shouted.
Victoria cleared her throat. “I’m not going to claim that I believe in Brownstone as much as Trey, but from what I’ve seen, he’s the horse I want to back. You just got done explaining how even you know you’re a nutjob.”
“I’m running out of time,” the Silver Ghost replied. “It’s unfortunate, but you leave me no choice, and your threats suggest you’ll be useful for more testing and calibration. I’ll even let you have the first shot.”
Trey’s finger twitched on his trigger. “I ain’t here to kill you. Just stand down.”
“Ah, so you do have some restraint. It was wise of me not to cut you down without reason, but let me make something very clear. I won’t surrender to you.” The Silver Ghost took a step forward. “I was going to leave you alive because I’ve looked into your backgrounds and found that although both of you were formerly parasites, you have shown improvement—other than working for that monster—but now I need more calibration, and you’ll provide it. If you won’t denounce him, you’ll atone for your service in another way.”
“Stop moving,” Trey demanded. “Put your hands on your head, and if you can shut down your armor or whatever, do it.”
The Silver Ghost raised her right arm, which rippled and flowed into a sharp blade. “Goodbye, Trey Garfield.”
Three quick trigger pulls from Trey followed. The Silver Ghost stumbled back, three new small indents in her head, but no blood. The crushed bullets fell to the ground a few seconds later.
“Damn it,” Victoria muttered. Golden energy blasted from her wand and struck their enemy’s side.
The Silver Ghost’s skin rippled around the wound, and she stumbled. There was a gaping hole, but no sign of blood or any sort of internal structure other than more smooth silver material.
What the fuck is she?
Trey kept firing, but it felt like he was inconveniencing the Ghost rather than hurting her, and that was annoying considering how many expensive bullets he was putting into her.
Will you die already?
Victoria followed up with another attack, this time blasting a hole in the Silver Ghost’s head. The vigilante stumbled and fell to one knee.
With a click, Trey’s gun signaled it was empty. He slapped in a new magazine filled with conventional rounds and shook his head. “This shit didn’t have to go down like that.”
His witch partner didn’t say anything, instead firing a third shot through the Silver’s Ghost chest. The wounded vigilante fell backward.
Victoria let out a sigh of relief. “I put in a little more energy into those than normal, so they weren’t as fast as I would have liked, but it looks like it was worth it.”
Trey snorted. “Told you she weren’t all that. I also admit that if you weren’t here, I might have had some trouble.” He grinned. “Don’t let it go to your head.”
“It’s strange.”
It took Trey a few seconds to realize it wasn’t Victoria talking. He jerked his head back toward the Silver Ghost.
The woman sat up, the holes and dents in her body sealing. “Redundancy and distribution of what passes for my mind. If all these pieces of me are me, what am I? I wonder if that’s part of the reason I’m losing control. I don’t have a soul anymore. A normal body isn’t supposed to function like this, but it does make me realize I’m stronger than even Brownstone. I doubt he could survive this.”
Trey opened fire, but the bullets didn’t penetrate any better than before.
Victoria fired another blast, but this time the attack didn’t cut a hole through the enemy.
The Silver Ghost stalked forward. “Not perfect, not like that monster, but almost as effective. Additional testing and calibration. It was worth the loss of material.”
Trey threw his gun on the ground and raised his fists. He charged the Ghost and threw a punch. His fist smacked into her head, and it jerked back, revealing a slight indent. She slammed her non-blade arm into him, and he flew backward with a grunt, pain spiking through his chest.
He crashed into a wall and fell face-first onto the lawn, leaving a shallow dent in the wall. A few ribs ached, but he’d felt worse.
Heart pounding, Trey hopped to his feet. He shook his head just in time to see the Silver Ghost stab at Victoria. The blade hit, and a bright flash blinded him. When his vision
cleared, he noticed that the glyphs on her suit had dimmed considerably.
The vigilante stepped back, the tip of her blade now missing. “Impressive. That cost me more material than I wanted to use.” She leapt backward, landing twenty feet away.
Victoria grinned. “Can’t kill me if you can’t hit me. Guess we win after all.”
The Silver Ghost threw up both her arms. Golden energy circled both and fused together before shooting toward the witch.
The attack struck Victoria in the stomach and she cried out, falling backward. The glyphs on her suit vanished, and a deep, charred wound covered her stomach. She raised her wand, her arm shaking.
Her enemy rushed toward her as the witch fired again. The attack narrowly missed.
The Silver Ghost kicked the wand out of her hand and stomped on her fingers. Victoria hissed in pain.
“I ain’t down yet!” Trey shouted, and charged.
The Silver Ghost whipped her arm up and fired a blast straight into his leg. Agony exploded from his wounded limb to the rest of his body, and he tumbled to the ground, his vision swimming and his heart doing its best to force its way out of his chest.
“Excellent,” the Silver Ghost declared. “Despite a few missteps, this proves how effective my calibration has been. I’ll admit you put up a better fight than most I’ve tested myself against. A few other things will need to be adjusted before I deal with Brownstone, but I’m much more confident than I was before.”
Victoria crawled toward her wand. The Silver Ghost impaled her leg, and the witch screamed. Her eyes rolled up and she passed out, but her chest still rose and fell.
Damn it. I got to get a healing potion into her.
The silver-skinned vigilante yanked her blade out of Victoria and sauntered toward Trey, her blade up. “Denounce James Brownstone, or you will die here, Trey Garfield.”
“Fuck you. James saved my life and made me a better man. Even if I die here, at least I’m not dying on the street fighting some other bitch for territory. I’m not gonna go out like a pussy. I’d sooner die than say anything bad about James.” Trey tried to focus on the woman heading toward him. If he lost consciousness, it’d be all over. He could still maybe get a punch in.
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