Cole shifted his spear to his left hand so he could reach into his coat with his right and draw the divining rod from his pocket. “Don’t mind us,” he said, approaching a spot in the middle of the torn-up section of flooring. “We’re just here to plug a leak.” He pointed the metal end of the rod at the floor and drove it down. The sparks that crackled from the rod weren’t as dramatic as he’d been hoping for, but they caught the Full Blood’s attention. Even without the drops in his eyes, Cole could feel the electric crackle in the air die down as the Jekhibar soaked up the power the Full Blood was trying to use.
“Gypsy alchemy!” Esteban snarled. “You don’t even know why I’ve chosen this place.”
“Don’t know,” Paige shouted, “and don’t care. We’re just here to clean up the mess.”
Having gotten only a minimum of instruction from Ira about what the divining rod was supposed to do, Cole grabbed the wooden end with both hands and twisted it as if exacerbating a giant wound. More sparks flew and the metal spike sank in a little deeper, which caused some of the glyphs inscribed on that end to pulse with a dim orange glow.
Esteban gripped the edge of the hole in the roof and swung his feet over the side. He dropped all the way down, clipping a set of broken lights as well as the piping of what was probably a sprinkler system that had been broken due to neglect. His paws thumped solidly onto the shattered floor and his claws sank in through broken tile. “We have stood by too long,” he growled. “That is over. Your only hope is to hide and pray to escape our notice until your short lives dwindle to an end.”
Paige stepped forward and willed both sickles to fold down so they could be holstered in her boot. Reaching into one of the pockets of the jacket worn over her tactical vest, she said, “Why don’t you just disappear into a forest or somewhere scenic like your friend Randolph?”
The Full Blood’s face twisted into something of a smile. “You have no idea what Randolph is doing. If you had any sense at all, you’d allow the rest of us to gather our forces so we can better deal with what he is prepared to unleash.”
“Like there’s anything worse than this?” she replied. Paige’s hand emerged from her pocket holding the vial that Tristan had given her. “That’s the advantage to being completely screwed. The only direction to go from there is up.”
Esteban shook his head as if silently pitying a small child, then shifted into a bulky four-legged form and leapt at the largest group of humans. Rushing forward to join them, Cole took a straight jab at the werewolf with the newly modified tip of his spear. The weapon not only felt better in his hands than the last time he’d swung it, but the wooden section responded fluidly to his mental command for it to grow into something better suited for fighting a Full Blood. The forked end widened so it could catch one of Esteban’s thicker limbs, and curved spikes emerged from the ends of both tines, making that end of the spear resemble the talon on a bird of prey. Before his limb could be completely ensnared, Esteban phased into a ghostly image so the weapon as well as a follow-up swing from the Blood Blade could pass through without harming him.
The Amriany spread out to surround the Full Blood. Nadya wielded a short sword but was obviously more accustomed to automatic weapons. She swung tentatively at Esteban’s spectral form, and as soon as her sword passed through it, he became solid enough to rip a set of bloody grooves across her face and neck. She twisted away and stumbled backward, hitting the ground on her side.
After running back to the torn section of floor, Cole drove his spear into the exposed dirt beside him. As soon as the blade was wedged solidly in place, he reached out to twist the divining rod, using both hands. The sparks that flew didn’t seem to hurt Esteban, but they drew the Full Blood’s attention. Several Amriany blades as well as a few short chopping attempts from Paige passed through his wraith form as he stalked toward Cole. Opening his mouth in a roar that could not be heard, the beast charged.
Claws that were incorporeal one moment and solid the next scraped at the floor. Saliva that dripped from his fangs either dissipated into nothing or spattered onto nearby shelves. Cole stepped away from the divining rod, took the spray can from the pocket of his coat and waited for Esteban to get closer.
Explosions and gunfire from outside faded into a muffled rush.
Flickering lights seeping in through the windows became a dim smear at the edges of Cole’s vision.
After all of the hell he’d put his body through to learn how to swing his weapon or trade blows with stronger creatures, it now all boiled down to standing in one spot, waiting for the right moment to push a button. Who said playing video games wasn’t going to help him in real life?
Part of Esteban’s head and most of his front paws began to solidify in preparation for tearing the unarmed Skinner in half. Dropping down to one knee, Cole pointed the spray can at the Full Blood’s spectral lower half and pressed the button that sent a shimmering silver mist into the air. He kept his finger solidly in place as he launched himself sideways into a roll while twisting his body around to put his back to Esteban. Thick claws raked against the shoulder of Cole’s coat, penetrating the tanned werewolf hide deep enough to shred through a few upper layers of flesh. He clenched his eyes shut through the pain and continued to roll while hastily calculating how far he was from his spear. Every second that passed, Cole expected to feel the weight of that Full Blood drop on him like a collapsing portion of the roof.
He wound up on his stomach just short of slamming into a wire display rack. Propping himself up, he pulled his feet beneath him to find Esteban still standing in the spot where he’d initially landed. The Full Blood’s back was arched and his head craned back and forth. The glittering metallic specks that were added to the aerosol hung suspended in the Full Blood’s body like stars in an inky night sky as Esteban was painfully forced back into solid form. His voice returned too, booming with an agony and rage that gave Cole an extra burst as he ran to the spot where his spear still protruded from the floor.
Pieces of his body flickered like a fading television signal, but the aerosol was doing its job by making it next to impossible for him to shift into an insubstantial form. Esteban reared up and screamed as the powdered Blood Blade fragments shifted inside him.
The Amriany attacked from left and right. Nadya was still on the floor but managed to pull a borrowed assault rifle around from where it was strapped over one shoulder. As Paige and Milosh were driving their blades into the werewolf, George joined them. Although some of their tattoos had burned off, there was enough remaining in them to batter Esteban or cut into him with more brutal efficiency than the Full Blood could have expected from any human.
Still, no matter how deeply the Blood Blades cut or how many times he was rocked by a thumping impact from George’s iron staff, the Full Blood was too enraged to be put down. He slashed at Milosh, knocking him aside with ease. Paige ducked beneath the claws intended to take her head off, and George blocked that paw with the middle section of his weapon. Cole plucked his spear from the floor and stood so one of his heels remained in contact with the divining rod. That way he could swing and parry as much as he needed without losing track of where the specially crafted tool could be found.
The Full Blood threw a backhanded swipe in Cole’s direction, which was diverted by an expertly performed block using the forked end of his spear. Before he could attack Cole again, the Full Blood was swarmed by Paige and George. Overhead, the thumping of helicopter blades blew in through the damaged roof as one of the NH-90s settled into position over the store.
“Move him closer to the opening,” Ouray said through the earpiece. “I found a few more of those Snapper rounds.”
“They won’t do much against a Full Blood,” Cole said as he reached back to grab the divining rod. He twisted it again and then dragged it through the ground as he backed up to move beneath the ragged hole.
“Maybe not,” Ouray said calmly through the earpiece, “but it might give you some breathing room.”
Since he wasn’t about to argue with getting backup, Cole shouted, “Over here!” to Esteban as well as Paige and the Amriany. Paige, who also wore one of the earpieces, already knew what he was trying to do, and swung both sickles at the Full Blood. Her eyes glazed over as she hacked at Esteban. She moved with deadly fluidity, ducking and leaning to clear a path for a few attacks without seeming to notice that sections of her tactical vest had been ripped away. Nadya stopped firing, but George and Milosh closed ranks around Paige as one swipe from the werewolf completely shredded the layer of Half Breed skin that was her vest’s main line of defense. A clubbing blow from the claw at the end of George’s staff that finally dropped Esteban down to all fours.
The glyphs etched into the divining rod were seething now. Cole could smell burnt iron, which meant the Jekhibar had absorbed all it possibly could. Plucking the rod from the ground, he prodded the Full Blood with it to create an even bigger shower of sparks.
Drawing once more on his experience as a game developer when something unexpected and cool happened,
