crunching sound that set her teeth on edge.
She’d never been this close to one before, and now that she was, she was reevaluating her initial opinion that they were beautiful creatures.
In a distant part of her brain that was just now waking up, she realized that she wasn’t afraid. Pissed off? Yes. Disgusted? Big yes. But there was no fear.
What could this creature do to her that was any worse than taking from her the man she loved, and killing their unborn child? Everything she loved had been stolen. All the thing could do now was kill her, and that was a pale comparison to the hell she’d already endured.
Her head throbbed. She felt the wet trickle of blood cooling along her hairline. A slow pitch and roll of nausea sloshed in her gut.
She tried to sit up to ease the queasiness, but the ’Gast’s grip on her throat kept her immobile.
“Simone?” came a voice she recognized.
Brighton. He was across the room on the platform, that hammer raised in threat.
“Hold on. I’ll get us out of here.” Confidence rang in his tone, making her laugh at the ridiculousness of his claim.
“Yeah, you get right on that. I’ll just be here, hanging out.”
The ’Gast holding her screeched, and gave her a hard shake. Her head nearly split apart with the sound.
“You leave her the fuck alone,” warned Brighton. “You hurt her and your precious machine will be in pieces before you can stop me.”
The machine—the one that was going to let more of these murderous Fractogasts crawl through. It was glowing and whirring like it had been fired up.
More people would die. More husbands. More children.
A fiery wave of anger burst in her chest, clearing away the fog that had left her passive and compliant. No way was she going to let these things win. Sure, maybe the idea of dying didn’t scare her that much, but what about that kid they’d saved? What about his mother? His father? They were afraid of death. They all had something to lose.
There were a lot of happy families out there, and Simone wasn’t going to let even one more of them get ripped apart by these creatures the way hers had.
She shifted in the Fractogast’s grip, moving just enough to reach the knife in her purse. She didn’t know if these things had a soft spot, but she was going to find out.
The ’Gast’s beady eyes were fixed on Brighton, like he was the only threat in the room. From somewhere across the space, she heard another of those grating screams, but the warning came too late.
She plunged her knife up, aiming for the ’Gast’s throat, right under its chin. The blade barely penetrated the skin, but it was enough of a shock to make the thing drop her like a hot rock.
Simone hit the ground hard. She tried to roll away, but the blow to the head had left her dizzy and clumsy. Instead of getting out of the range of those giant feet, she managed to make it only about two yards before she rolled right into the body of the old woman.
The shadow of the Fractogast’s foot passed over her. Brighton shouted her name in frantic warning.
Simone slipped another knife from her boot and leveled it just as the platter-sized foot came crashing down.
The blade skewered its foot, shoving the butt of the knife into her chest.
One of her ribs cracked. The ’Gast reeled back and toppled over. It landed in a pile of discarded metal. Something snapped as loud as a tree branch breaking.
When she looked, she saw that the ’Gast was still. Dead or disabled. She really didn’t care so long as it wasn’t coming after her anymore.
Two more of the things surged forward.
Brighton yelled, “Stop!” at them, raising his hammer a few more inches in warning.
They stopped.
“You’re going to run, Simone. The boots will make you fast. Hide you. I’ll be right behind you.”
“I’m not leaving you behind again.”
“Just go. Now.”
She’d already left him once to get the kid out. She could have kept running then, but something in her— something she had thought long dead—forced her to turn around. There was still some life left in her. Some goodness. Some fight.
A whole lot of fight.
She pushed herself to her feet, swaying. Bloody hair fell into her eyes. She didn’t bother to wipe it away. Every bit of strength she had left she needed to kill these fuckers.
Safety net number two was still in the purse. “Boom incoming.”
“What are you doing?” asked Brighton. “Get out of here.”
“I’m improvising. Be ready to run.”
“I’m not leaving until this machine is disabled.”
“We’ll disable it after we leave.”
“Explosives?” he asked. “It might not work.”
“Explosives always work.” If she used enough of them.
“It took a magic hammer to build this thing. It may also take magic to destroy it.”
“I’m all out of magical C-4. Sorry. We’ll have to take our chances.”
“Not this time, Simone. I’m sorry.” With that apology hanging in the air, he slammed the hammer down onto the machine.
Both Fractogasts screeched in fury and lunged forward.
Simone ran toward Brighton as she flung one of her throwing knives at the ’Gast in front. The blade bounced off its skin, but its attention shifted to her.
Brighton swung the hammer again, only this time, the machine’s pitch rose as if it were speeding up. Flickering lights inside the oddly shaped ring began to glow brighter, turning the charging ’Gasts’ skin to rainbows.
The effect sent a wave of dizziness spinning in her skull. She grabbed the edge of the raised platform where Brighton stood to steady herself. He was nearly within her reach now, but he was also in reach of the ’Gasts.
“Behind you!” she yelled.
Brighton ducked just as a massive backswing came whooshing in. The blow knocked the hammer from his hand and sent it flying her way.
Simone jumped, going higher than she ever could have without the magical aid of the boots. The hammer hit her in the chest, causing a flicker of pain to light up her brain.
Something in there was definitely broken.
When she landed, the pain made her stumble, but she held on to the hot hammer.
The machine’s whir became a scream. The spinning lights spun faster.
Brighton rolled off the platform and grabbed her by the arm, hauling her to her feet and out of the way of the next swinging blow.
One ’Gast was at the machine, its big hands moving in a desperate attempt to fix the damage Brighton had done. The other was coming for them, too fast for them to get away.
They backed up to where the dead Fractogast was sprawled.
Brighton ripped the knives from its skin and handed them to her as they kept backing away. “Give me the hammer.”
“You’re not going back up there.”
“I don’t have a choice.”
They squeezed between the wall and a metal shipping container. The ’Gast tried to reach them, but even its long arms weren’t long enough.
Simone stepped forward and stabbed at its fingers, just to give it pause.
“I won’t let you kill yourself,” she told him.
