Murphy put his hands together and Mia placed a foot in. At the same time, Murphy launched her upwards.
Mia sent Romeo and Juliet out, aiming at the largest of the assassins. Her knives met each other just as Mia landed on firm ground. She unwound her jump rope before recalling her knives.
She landed and faced four of the burnt, but still vital, fighters. She couldn’t afford to lose sight of any of them. So far, they just stood there. Why? She called out, “Ted, can you see beyond them?”
“Yes. The Others have their heads together.”
“Shit, they’re calling for reinforcements. You need to go inside.”
“Not a chance.”
“K.”
Murphy took advantage of the quiet to maneuver into position. He was behind the stouter of the Others. He had no idea what kind of beast this was. It could be a man, but it was more likely a demon. Demons were hard to fight because they didn’t die. Mia used to be able to kill them with her angel steel or demon knives, but she had neither. The best they could hope for was to injure them physically, enough for them to be recalled into the earth in which they were spawned.
“If there are going to be more of them, let’s get rid of these stragglers!” Ted shouted.
“Fine,” Mia said. She allowed Romeo and Juliet to sink into her flesh and arranged the skipping rope. Mia started jumping. She sang out, “My drunk daddy went to the bar, driving a shiny new car. He ordered first a whisky and then a rye. He got so drunk he lost an eye…” Mia let go of one end of the rope and snapped it back as the handle connected with the face of one of the bruisers. The handle contained a hidden knife, and this was now embedded in the creature’s eye. Mia twirled around and sent the other end of the rope at the very same bruiser, and as it wrapped around the creature’s throat, Mia pulled hard with the rope. “Mama had a baby and the head popped off,” she sang as the razor wire of the rope took the injured assassin’s head off.
Before the shocked group could recover, she called out, “Romeo and Juliet!” She ran to the side of the road and launched the knives, aiming for the side of one. The other penetrated the side of the third, and as the blades moved through the three, Mia sang out, “Three little monkeys standing in a row…Romeo, Juliet, come!” she ordered. The blades ripped through the fighters, finishing them. She ran past the bodies and launched herself at the tallest of the Others, her feet catching the man full in the chest, taking him to the ground.
At the same time, Murphy took the knees out from under the stout Other. He came crashing to the ground. His body dissolved into oil that ran off the road in rivulets.
Mia wrapped the bloody skipping rope around the waist of the Other. She took out a knife and scratched the side of the Other’s neck. “Cancel the contract, and I’ll let you go free.”
“A contract is a contract,” the Other said, heaving his body upwards.
Mia was flung off. Murphy pulled her to her feet and took a defensive position.
Lightning flashed, followed by an explosion.
“Incoming!” she screamed, running back towards the building with Murphy at her back.
Ted wasn’t on the wall. Maybe he had the sense, after all, to retreat.
Murphy and Mia never made the wall. A fresh squad of assassins stood between them and the hospital. She turned around and saw a new Other had joined the tall one. Mia watched them as Murphy contemplated the best moves to get the two of them into a better position. Nature infused him with power, but he knew Mia was tired. She had the moves, but her body was still that of a child.
“Murph, you have to protect our friends.”
“No. I stay with you.”
“If we don’t make it, it’s been a pleasure knowing you.”
“I know,” Murphy said.
This caused Mia to laugh hard. The positive emotion filled her with hope, and it felt like she had been reborn. She took a deep breath. “I’ll take the tall one.”
“Why?”
“He took my jump rope. I don’t like thieves.”
“Mia Cooper,” the tall Other called. “Give yourself up.”
“Will you let my friends go?”
“No.”
“Then why would I give myself up?”
“I’ll let you bury your dead before you die.”
“What dead?” Mia asked as fear gripped her heart.
“There will be dead,” the Other assured her.
“You touch them, and I’ll come back from Hell with forty legions of demons and wipe out your kind,” Mia promised.
The Other looked at this child who had defeated his best assassins and felt a chill move up and down his body. “Sorry, but a contract is a contract.”
“I’ve read that contract. It never said anything about killing innocents,” she argued. “Where is your honor?” she asked.
“It’s implied.”
“You’ll never collect on that contract because I’m going to kill the bitch who took it out, and then there will be no compensation.”
The Other stopped and conferred with the newly arrived Other.
“Mia, what are you doing?” Murphy asked, concerned by the tone she took on.
“Buying us time,” Mia said.
“Are you expecting the cavalry?” he asked.
Mia opened her hand, and inside was a black feather. “They are already here.”
She turned her attention to the Other. “Can we stop this now? It won’t be a profitable venture if you lose more men.”
“A contract is a contract,” the Other said.
Murphy tossed Mia in the air. She was caught by the arms of Nicholai. She pointed her knives downward, and as he strafed the squad of killers behind them, she dragged her
