Next book, I’ll write about Shay perhaps, or ask Shay to write my Author Notes, we shall see.
This book, I just wanted to congratulate my collaborator for showing us what true dedication means.
Ad Aeternitatem,
Michael
Bury The Past, But Shoot It First
I Fear No Evil Book 2
Bury the Past, But Shoot It First
Chapter One
I do not have time for this shit. The thought rolled through Shay’s mind as she stepped out of Olio Pizzeria. She wanted a little quality pizza before she headed to her meeting at the Leanan Sídhe, the Irish pub where she would meet James Brownstone, the bodyguard the Professor was forcing on her for her upcoming job.
Instead, she had to deal with six assholes with skull tattoos chilling in the parking lot, waiting for her, grinning as she stepped out of the place. A nervous old man hurried by them, but they ignored him.
They were all members of a local gang, the Demon Generals. She’d tried to make a reasonable point with them about not shaking down her local pizzeria. Her restraint had backfired, it seemed.
Should have just killed them the first time. Then again, murdering three people and expecting some random pizza shop guy to clean it up might be too much. Not everyone’s been killing since they were 15.
Shay let out an annoyed groan and rubbed the back of her neck. She just wanted a normal life. Well, as normal a life as anyone could manage when they hunted down magical artifacts for a living, but when she was not on the job, she wanted to be able to go out for pizza without having to worry about if she was going to have to kill anyone.
Is this the universe’s way of telling me, “Once a killer, always a killer?” Whatever.
One of the gang members took a few steps toward her but kept his distance. Smarter than they looked.
“Hey, bitch. You must be the one my homies told me about.”
“I have no idea what you’re talking about.” Shay wasn’t afraid of any of these assholes. She could kill them with ease, but she also didn’t want to have a fight in an open parking lot.
“Nah, it’s got to be you. No other hot-ass tail that hits the place up except you, bitch.”
Shay glanced back at the squeak of the front door behind her opening. The pale-faced owner wiped some sweat off of his forehead.
“Should I call the police?”
The gang member in charge frowned. “You think the police can get here before we cap your ass, man?”
The owner’s face twitched.
Shay let out a long sigh. She’d never intended to get involved in this sort of problem. All she cared about was making sure one of her favorite local pizza places didn’t go under. It’d be nice if the Demon Generals could go harass some doughnut shops instead.
Why do I have a feeling I’m eventually gonna have to kill every single person in that gang?
“Don’t worry about it.” Shay pointed toward a nearby alley. “I think me and these gentlemen are gonna have a little discussion. No reason to get the police involved in a nice friendly chat between men and a woman sharing a mutual respect for one another.”
The Demon Generals all laughed.
“Yeah, that’s it.” The lead Demon strutted back and forth. “Just a fucking little chat over tea and crumpets, bitch.” He grabbed his crotch.
Shay kept her gaze locked on the gang members but kept speaking to the owner. “I suggest not coming out and checking on that alley for a while, no matter what you hear. If the police ask you anything later, just say you don’t know shit. It’ll be better for you and everyone else involved.”
“Yeah,” the gang member said. “Bitch has a point. You don’t know shit.”
The owner nodded and hurried back inside.
The gang members all chuckled, already sure of the ending.
Their representative nodded toward the alley. “Let’s go, bitch. If you make us all happy over there, we can forget about what you did to our boys.”
Shay rolled her eyes and considered how an oversupply of testosterone could reduce a man to a complete fucking idiot. Without saying another word, she headed toward the alley. The Demon Generals fell in behind her a few yards out.
She waited until they were safely ensconced in the alley to reach into her jacket pocket and activated a short-range drone jammer. Her survey of the area revealed no cameras within line of sight.
“So, here’s how this is gonna go,” Shay said. “I’m gonna kill all of you. I thought about leaving you alive, but once your gang hears you’re all dead, they’ll understand not to fuck with me again.”
“You stupid bitch. You think you can kill us all? We’ve gonna fuck you up and then we’re going to take our time fucking you. Got me? Then you’ll know why no one messes with the Demon Generals.”
The gang members all laughed. Several started pounding their fists into their palms and licking their lips. Shay assumed they were trying for intimidating, but the whole thing came off rather desperate.
She offered them a thin smile “Not gonna walk away? Last chance. Makes no difference to me, assholes, if you live or die.”
“You fucking bitch, I’m tired of this.” The gang’s leader rushed at her, cocking back his fist. “I’m gonna enjoy hearing your scream…”
His eyes widened, and only a soft gagging made it past the knife Shay jammed in his throat.
Shay didn’t wait for the other men to recover from their shock. She pulled the blade out and pushed the man toward two of the others before charging a third.
The poor asshole went for his gun, but Shay slammed her knife into his heart right as his fingers grasped it. She held him as a shield and yanked the man’s gun up. Three quick shots sent his friends to the ground.
The last man left alive managed to squeeze off two rounds, but Shay’s dying gang member
