The troll locked crimson eyes on her and stalked across the clearing. She fought every impulse inside of her that told her to run and waited for him to come. One taloned hand wrapped around her throat and picked her up. Pulling her close, the troll roared in fury once they were almost nose to nose. She wrapped her legs around his waist to take the pressure off her throat. Juliana raised the Taser and jammed it into his ear. Not caring anymore if she fried his brain, she squeezed and held the trigger. His roar changed to one of agony.
He released her throat and raised both hands to his head. He stumbled backward in an effort to get away from her but her legs stayed clamped around his waist. She continued to pour electricity into him until he dropped to his knees. Only then did she put her feet on the ground and back away.
Her opponent stayed on all fours, shaking his head, trying to clear it. The air hung heavy with the scent of burnt fur and troll. As he rose to a kneeling position, she adjusted her grip on the weapon. From the corner of her eye she saw Nathaniel stagger to his feet.
The troll held up his hands in a gesture of surrender. “No more, Walker. I will go where you ask. Wherever you ask.”
Relief eased the tightness in her chest. She wasn’t sure she was up for another round of Taze the Troll. She ran her thumb along the side of her ring preparing to use it to call the portal tied to it. Then the troll began to laugh. A low sound at first, it quickly grew to a volume that made her ears ache. Great. She
After putting more distance between them, she put her Taser away and drew her sword. It left the sheath with a ring of steel. She adjusted her hand on the grip. Nathaniel came to stand beside her, leaning his weight into her leg to let her know he was near. “You okay there, Mr. Troll?”
He opened his blazing red eyes and looked at her. “I’ve had your blood, Juliana Norris. It tells me things.” Apparently it told him her name, because she’d never given it.
Her prisoner wasn’t crazy, then. He was blood drunk. It happened to vamps as well, depending what brand of Altered they munched on.
She ran her thumb along the stone in the ring, summoning the portal. It opened to the left of them and bathed the clearing in blue light. The Agency’s extensive use of the portal mages was what had earned them the name Realm Walkers.
The beast staggered to his feet. “He is coming, Juliana Norris. He is coming and he will bring your death. There is nothing you can do to stop it.”
If there was one thing Juliana hated more than trolls, it was prophecies. She had yet to come across one that wasn’t intentionally vague enough to leave people arguing over its meaning for years or centuries even. What was wrong with saying “Bob will kill you on the fourth of November with a poorly cast stone spell”?
The troll took a step toward the portal before turning and lunging at her. She ran her blade clean through his middle, gritting her teeth against the agony that tore through her shoulder with the movement. He looked down in confusion at the sword protruding from his gut and then back up.
“I had it in my hand. Did you really think I wouldn’t use it?” She pushed him back and Nathaniel launched himself at the troll’s chest. He struck the beast firmly with all four paws then bounced back to land on precisely the same patch of ground he’d leaped from. The blow shoved the troll off her blade and he fell backward through the portal. It snapped shut behind him as it had been programmed to do. The injury she’d dealt wasn’t lethal, not for a troll, but it would hurt like a bitch for a while. Not that he deserved any less.
Despite the gore on the blade, she slid it back into the sheath, which, thankfully, was charmed to stay clean. She staggered to the edge of the clearing and dropped onto a boulder. Her shoulder throbbed in rhythm with her heart. Blood still ran from the wound. The clearing remained peaceful, quiet. The only indications of the previous battle were the marks on the ground and the blood in the snow.
Nathaniel nuzzled her hand and she scratched behind his ears. “Stuff’s at the top of the hill,” she told him and he trotted off.
Juliana stayed where she was, waiting for him to return. She kept her head down and stared at the snow at her feet. The toes to a pair of black army boots appeared in her line of sight and she grunted a greeting.
“How are you?” Nathaniel asked, his voice rough from his recent change.
“I hurt and we just removed a creature from the only home it’s ever known. How do you think I am?”
“It’s part of the job, pup.” He crouched in front of her to inspect her shoulder.
“Well, sometimes this job sucks.” She hissed when he peeled her shirt away from the wound.
He let out a low whistle. “Bet that smarts.” She glowered at him and he responded with a grin.
“What happened to you anyway?”
He growled and dug in the pack that had housed his clothes and still held a med kit. Pulling out a stack of bandages, he placed them against the bite. “Press on that. The damnable troll led me into a game pit. I had to go into a half-shift and climb out with my claws.”
Nathaniel’s half form tended to drain his energy so he avoided it unless absolutely necessary. “Game pit?”
“Yeah, you know, he dug a hole in the ground and covered it. I didn’t see the damned thing until I was already falling.”
“Guess I’ll forgive you for being late then.”
“Gee, thanks. I’ll clean this up and we’ll get out of here.” He draped her coat around her shoulders and then moved to the center of the clearing to put out the fire. She watched his heavily muscled frame move with all the grace of the predator he was. Piles of snow managed to douse the flames of the troll’s bonfire. Juliana burned the bloody snow with a gesture, making Nathaniel jump. There was a lot of magic in blood. It wasn’t something to leave around if it could be helped.
“All right, let’s get you home.” He helped her up from her spot as he pulled out his phone and called the Agency to send a portal. The ring would have to be recharged before she could use it again. A familiar blue glow lit the air beside them. As they stepped through toward home, she tried not to let the troll’s dire prediction bother her. After all, it wasn’t like she hadn’t died before.
The Den of Iniquity made it easier to forget the outside world. Juliana belonged in that little hole-in-the-wall bar at the edge of downtown New Hope. Everyone accepted her and, if not, they at least left her alone to wallow in her misery.
She sat at her favorite table in the darkest corner nursing a smooth scotch, her wounded pride and a troll- bitten shoulder. It could have been worse. She knew that, but she didn’t like having her ass handed to her. The scar on her shoulder would be a lasting reminder that she let the troll get too close. She had a lot of reminders like that. Obviously, she didn’t pay them much attention or she’d find a new line of work.
It was Wednesday so she knew everyone in the bar, by sight if not by name. All three of them, five if you counted employees. A gnome named Chester sat by the jukebox with his sister Charlene. Chester would play dwarf ballads on the machine next to him until threatened with bodily harm, usually by Juliana. He got up to select another song and she narrowed her eyes. They ended up listening to the Bee Gees instead. It wasn’t much of an improvement.
An ogre sat at the bar, his shoulders perpetually hunched against the world. She didn’t know much about him except he came in almost as often as she did. That and he had a wicked right hook. He was the reason all the tables were now bolted to the floor. Apparently, no matter how calm their normal demeanor, Ambrosia-drunk ogres got rather hostile when goaded by a selkie and three nymphs. The Den closed for a week to recover and Juliana was on light duty for the duration. She tried not to hold it against the ogre; it wasn’t really his fault, but they kept their distance from each other regardless.
She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. Her nerves still hummed from the fight, but she hoped with time and alcohol, they’d calm down. If they didn’t, she was going to have a long, sleepless night. The bar normally smelled like old sweat and stale beer, but tonight the heavy scent of lemon permeated the air. She assumed the odor was the remnant of a recent cleaning, but the bar looked just as dingy and dirty as ever. Nothing short of blowing the place up would fix that.
