by Michael Todd
The two men on the couch jumped to their feet and pulled their guns. Katie dodged to the side to avoid the bullets they sprayed into the wall behind her. She pulled her pistol as she rolled across the floor, coming to a halt up on one knee.
She put two rounds in the first guy’s skull and he burst into dust, covering the leather sofa with grit. The second guy pulled his trigger, but all it did was click. He dropped the empty gun and ran toward the table in the back where three knives and another gun sat.
Katie shook her head, pulled one of her knives, and threw it. It slammed into the guy’s hand, pinning it to the table. She stood up and pulled her separated staff poles from her back sheaths, clicking the buttons as she whipped them down to reveal the sharp blades.
“Got your hand caught in the cookie jar, huh? Let me help you with that.”
She raised one pole over her head and swiped down, taking off the guy’s arm. Before he could react to the pain, the other pole sang through the air, coming to a stop in the top of his head.
Katie tilted her head and watched his eyes flicker red before his whole body turned to ash. She retrieved the pole from his head and put both back in their sheaths, then grunted as she yanked the knife out of the table.
The one called Bailor looked panicked, stepping back and forth as he tried to figure out where to go. He grabbed the carafe of liquor off the bar and threw it at Katie, then bolted for the back door. Katie ducked to the side and sighed before sticking the knife in her sheath and taking off after him. She groaned in irritation as she pelted down the back stairs and followed him to the door, yelling the whole way.
“Where are you going? I thought you wanted to meet me? Here I am, and honey, I am more than ready to take care of you. More like kicking your fucking nuts so hard, I’ll make a hole-in-one on a golf course—in DC!”
Chapter Two
Katie reached the bottom of the stairs and pulled open the door Bailor had just slammed, blinking wildly as the spotlight from the dance floor raked her vision. The music throbbed loudly as she stepped into the crowd.
She narrowed her eyes, looking for the Bailor’s clothing in all the movement. She glanced at the VIP tables, but everyone there was a normal, uninfected person—there to laugh, flirt, and have one hell of a night. Just then shouting from the dance floor caught her attention, and she found her target fighting his way through the dancers.
Katie smiled and moved quickly to the edge of the floor, never taking her eyes from her target as he pushed through the crowd. He stopped and looked back, panic on his face when he spotted her closing in.
Katie’s chuckles faded when he grabbed one of the dancers and held a knife to her throat. She whimpered and looked at Katie, who was now pissed as hell, with frightened eyes. The guards spotted the knife and began heading over, so Katie bolted toward Bailor. She didn’t hesitate when she reached him, just punched him square in the nose. He dropped the knife and pushed the woman to the side, stumbling back before turning toward one of the approaching guards.
He lunged and grabbed a gun from a guard’s hip and turned to point it first at Katie, then at one of the dancers. He yelled at Katie. “I know who you are.”
She slowed her pace and put her hands in the air, watching him closely. “Then you know that what you’re doing is a very bad idea.”
The hand holding the gun shook. “Fuck you, Lilith or Katie—whichever one is talking. Do you know who I am?”
“No.” Katie shrugged. “And I don’t really give a fuck. Put the gun down.”
He darted into the crowd and grabbed a small woman in a tight red dress before Katie could stop him. The woman screamed as he dragged her toward him and held her body in front of his. He pressed the gun to her temple, hiding his head behind hers. Whichever direction Katie shifted, he pulled the woman with him. Slowly, he began to back up, dragging her along. The woman was crying at this point, and she stared at Katie.
“Please,” she whimpered. “Help me.”
“Quiet, you stupid bitch,” Bailor growled. “You do what I say, and you might make it out alive.”
Pandora sighed. What a fucking pussy, using a damn human as a shield. I bet he shit his pants, too.
If he hasn’t, I’m gonna make sure he does.
Katie reached behind her and surreptitiously pulled out a knife. She looked the woman in the eyes and tilted her head to the right as she slowly lowered the knife and hid it behind her leg. The woman blinked, understanding what she was trying to say. Katie nodded, and the girl nodded back.
Uh, did you just decide to knock the gun out of his hand with your knife?
What else am I supposed to do? He’s desperate. He’ll shoot her in a heartbeat.
Do you actually think it will work?
Sure. I just hope he doesn’t pull the trigger in the process.
Oh lord, Pandora moaned. Not that I’m complaining about dead humans, but I am complaining about dead humans when it’s our ass on the line.
Relax, I got this…I think.
Katie stared at the woman and gripped the handle of her knife tightly. She mouthed the words, “One, two, three.” The woman took a deep breath and threw her head to the left, squeezing her eyes shut. Katie didn’t hesitate. She pulled her arm back and let the knife fly. It was like watching a car wreck in slow motion, and even Katie held her breath as she waited for contact. The butt of the knife hit the gun and dislodged it from Bailor’s hand, but not before he got a shot off. Luckily, it was already pointing up away from her head and the bullet flew into the lights, raining a shower of sparks over the crowd.
Katie put her arm up to block her face.
Bailor growled loudly, then tossed the woman to the floor and took off for the back door.
Katie stopped near the woman. “You okay?”
“Yeah,” she replied breathlessly. “Thanks.”
“No problem,” Katie told her and took off after Bailor.
By that point, people were starting to realize what was going on and stood back, clearing a path for both of them. Bailor reached the door and disappeared out the back before Katie could get to him. She gritted her teeth and barged out into the alley, where she plowed right into Calvin.
“Whoa, whoa, whoa! Slow down, crazy lady.”
She looked left and right. “Where did he go?”
“Who? You mean him?” Calvin pointed to Bailor, who was unconscious on the ground. “I cold-cocked that motherfucker as soon as he came through the door all red-eyed.”
Katie glanced down. “Dammit, my foot had a date with his fucking balls.”
Calvin’s eyebrows rose. “Uh, that sounds serious.” He pointed to the body. “If it makes you feel any better, it doesn’t look like I hurt him enough. He hasn’t turned yet.”
Katie and Calvin both looked down at Bailor, and his body burst into dust. Katie sighed and kicked the stuff off the top of her boot, then looked at Calvin and put out her lip.
“Aw, don’t worry. There are plenty of demon nuts out there for you to crack.”
She stomped her foot and put her head back. “But Calvin, this one deserved it the most!”
Calvin chuckled and put his arm around Katie. “How about a donut and some sleep?”
“So not the same as the sweet feeling of emasculating assholes.”
Yes, it is!
“But I suppose it will do.” Katie finished.
“Shut up and sit down. We’ll deal with you in a bit,” one of the cops yelled into the back of the truck.
Katie let out a low whistle as she looked into the back of the truck. “All of those, just from the club? Wow, that’s more than I thought there were.”
The cop touched his forehead in respect. “A good day for the city, thanks to you and Calvin.”
Katie glanced at him. “That’s my job. It was nothing special.”
“To us, it’s pretty amazing. There was no way we were going to get all these guys and the ones upstairs on our own. We really appreciate you helping the precinct.” Th
e cop put his hand out and shook Katie’s, aware of the strength in her grip.
“Well, we appreciate your appreciation.” Calvin smiled and shook his hand as well. “Hopefully, these people can get the help they need, and if nothing else, they are off your streets.”
“Exactly. The more we get off the street and the more we treat, the safer the city will be. This war is already hard enough with the demons attacking us every which way. To have the infected let their demons take the driver’s seat just forces us to turn our attention away from the more pressing issues. Oh, and the captain said to let you know your consulting fee will be in your bank account within forty-eight hours.”
“We appreciate it.” Katie smiled, shutting the truck doors and latching the handle. “Do you need us to escort these guys to the holding facility?”
“No,” he told her, slapping the back of the truck. “We can take it from here. You guys have done enough.”
Katie nodded and turned to Calvin as the cop walked off and the truck pulled into the street. “And I didn’t even mess up my clothes! I call that a victory.”
Calvin lifted an eyebrow and glanced at the hole in her top, right at the waist. Katie followed his eyes down and ran her finger over it, then lifted up her shirt to find a bullet hole. She sighed and grabbed a towel off the medical cart that was being pulled away.
Were you planning on telling me I had a bullet in me? I don’t even feel it.
Excuse me! I only made it so you didn’t feel the pain and go down in the middle of the battle. Would you like me to give you the pain back?
No, let me get the thing out of me.
By all means, do it your way.
Don’t be like that. I could have bled out and died.
Come on, like I would let that happen? I need your body.
Me, too.
Katie took a deep breath and grew two long demon fingers with pointy nails, then looked down at the wound and shook her head. As she began to dig around for the bullet, she looked up at Calvin. “I wonder how Timothy and Joshua are doing? I hated leaving them behind, but I suppose I’ll get used to it.”
Calvin grimaced at the sight of her fingers knuckle-deep in the bullet hole. “Uh, yeah, you’ll get used to it, but I don’t know if I’ll ever get used to that.” He pointed.
“Huh?” She looked down at her fingers and back up at him. “Oh. Cheaper and faster than the local hospital. Plus, they don’t like dealing with demons there.”
Calvin grimaced. “Is that even sterile?
She shrugged. “I mean, I guess? Pandora will take care of the rest once the bullet is out.”
Calvin looked up the street while she worked. “Never in my life did I think I would watch a person nonchalantly perform surgery on themselves while standing in the streets of LA outside of a nightclub.”
Katie snorted. “You’ve seen weirder.”
He looked back at her and made a face. “Maybe, but this is definitely the most cringe-worthy. My black ass would have been pumping the morphine, telling them to put my ass under.”
“If you had Pandora, you would be doing the same thing. Oh! Hold on, there it is.”
The demon fingers and nails disappeared as Katie carefully pulled them back out of the wound. She held the blood-covered bullet up to her face and looked at it for a moment before tossing it on the ground. “At least it wasn’t one of mine.”
Calvin snickered. “Yeah, that’s the positive we can take from this.”
One of the cops poked his head around. “Isn’t that evidence?”
Katie looked down at the bullet and back at the officer. “The guy who shot me is dead, so don’t think we need to worry about evidence. I mean, maybe if there was a body, but all we have is a pile of ash and a few witnesses. I think he’s paid for it.”
The cop nodded and shrugged. “You the boss, lady.”
Katie nodded, looking back at Calvin. “I like that. ‘You the boss.’ You should learn that phrase.”
Calvin grinned. “Dream on, superhero. God, I can’t wait until my vacation starts. No bullets, no fighting, no weirdness where my partner digs a slug out of her gut. Just quiet, sun, sand, alcohol, and maybe even a few women.”
“And the whole time, you’ll be wondering what we’re doing over here.” Katie chuckled, shaking her head.
“Nope, I’m not like you. I can just float it away in the waves.”
“Well, don’t float it too far away. You’re going to need it when you get back here. I am so not retraining your ass.”
“I think you’ve forgotten who got here first. I helped train you, you little volleyball player.”
Katie laughed. “Details.”
The cops were moving out and gave Katie the word that it was about time she and Calvin did the same. She was about to suggest a restaurant for some late-night food when her phone began to buzz in her pocket. She pulled it out and looked at the screen.
Calvin lifted an eyebrow, and she showed him the name with a sigh. He nodded in understanding and went out to the street to give her some privacy. Katie ran her finger over the call button before answering.
Duty never seemed to end.
Katie kept her voice light. “General, it’s good to hear from you.”
“Good to hear your voice, too, Katie. We haven’t spoken for about six weeks, and I wanted to check in and see how everything’s going.”
“Of course. Well, we just finished a job, rounded up a bunch of infected and took out three more powerful demons. They had completely taken over their humans, so there was no saving them.”
“Too bad, but it’s good to hear you’re in the game and kicking ass.”
“I don’t think I could get out of the game if I wanted to.” Katie chuckled. “The last six weeks have been a lot of preparation and making deals with the government to help whenever they need it on contract terms. My IT is back at the base streaming intel, and Joshua is busy as always pumping out the ammunition with the company.”
“How do you like your new setup?”
“Honestly? I worked with what I had. With Eric in New York, Korbin and Stephanie exorcised, and Damian off on his own adventures with the church, I figured this might be a better option than waiting to get some new teammates. Besides, it gives us a bit more freedom, especially now that the demon issue is more widely known.”
The general sighed. “Things used to be so much simpler. Make a call, kill a few demons—that was it. Now there’s red tape upon red tape. It’s insane.”
“No arguments from me!” She chuckled. “I always thought it would be simpler with everyone knowing but that was apparently a fantasy. Things, at least for us, have become much more difficult.”
“Oh, for the days of old.” He sighed. “Have you met with that stranger again?”
“No, he came, he gave me very little information, and bolted, leaving me with a lot of questions.”
“Well, things will become clearer as time passes. They always do. I have to admit, I do feel a little better knowing you have some angel blood in there somewhere.”
It’s bullshit, in my opinion. I would swear Nephilim only had demon blood in them. But noooo—the weirdo guy shows up and all of a sudden you are chillin’ with Jesus.
I wouldn’t go that far.
“How is Pandora taking the news?”
“She has her opinions.” Katie snickered. “As she does with most things. How are the battles going?”
“While there sure are a lot of them, none of the big ones are in major cities—at least for the moment. That’s why I still need you guys and the teams to be working in the cities to keep the demons out, so they don’t create larger infestations within the populace.”
“Got that, and it’s important to keep the progress we’ve already made in mind. We’re definitely getting to them, though, big chunks at a time. For once, I saw more savable infected than not tonight. It makes me feel like we’re doing something right.”
“Absolutely, and every bit helps.”
“Thank you, General.” She looked around while she spoke. “We’ve definitely come a long way in our relationship.”
He grunted. What time was it where he was? “That’s for damn sure. But now I have to be honest, unfortunately. I did call you for a specific reason.”
“Okay, shoot.”
Pandora sighed. Oh boy, here it comes.
“I know this isn’t going to make you happy, but I have to ask you to go to New York.”
Are you fucking kidding me? Pandora immediately started bitching. There’s nothing but Dunkin’ Donuts in New York City! It is the barren wasteland of donuts. There’s not even a good old McDonald’s on every corner, much less the evil Chick-fil-A! I’m going to have to eat shitty donuts and even shittier chicken nuggets. I swear to God this man hates me.
“I can’t hear her, but I feel like Pandora isn’t happy.”
Katie chuckled. “Yeah, well, ‘tis life, I suppose.”
“We have you booked at the Stewart Hotel. I specifically picked this for Pandora, since it’s one block away from Madison Square Garden.”
Great. I can take in a show with my shitty donuts.
“And,” the general continued, “underneath Madison Square Garden is a Krispy Kreme donut place, which also happens to be right next to one pretty good pizza shop.”
I…well… Okay, I can be bought. Let’s hit the road, bitch. The Big Apple awaits!
I’m going to stick with the humor of this situation and not worry about how easy it is for your ass to be bribed.
“Sounds good, sir,” Katie responded. “Does that mean I’ll get to see how Ella’s doing while I’m there? It’s been a while—Incursion Day, actually—since I’ve seen her.”
“I wish, but unfortunately Ella has gone down to Texas to handle some business. She seems to be kind of in the same boat as you right now, a bounty-hunter-for-hire thing.”
“Oh, I didn’t know that. I figured she was with the team. What about Eric?”
“He went with her. The two seem to make a pretty good team, and the truth is, there seems to be more money in the for-hire business right now than with the teams. She still helps them whenever they need her, but the two of them are jet-setting wherever the contracts take them.”