things find somebody out in the open, they don’t give up the scent.”

Another blast opened a crater in the street only a few feet away.

“Go,” Simon ordered.

The van sped away, careening between wrecks.

Crouching down, Simon pointed the Spike Bolter at a Blood Angel skimming along the street in pursuit of the van. Locked on, Simon squeezed the trigger and rode out the recoil, hoping that the barrels didn’t melt down.

The palladium spikes tracked the Blood Angel, slamming into the buildings behind it for a moment, then quickly overtaking it and ripping into the demon. Perforations opened in the wide-spread wings. Other rounds from other Templar weapons drenched it in flames and blew it to pieces. Flaming chunks mixed with the falling snow and plopped onto the street.

The Templar had managed an uneven skirmish line, but they were holding their own against the demons. Three Templar lay dead in the street. One of them had been torn to bits and the other was in flames.

One of the Templar fired a Constrictor pistol at an attacking Blood Angel. A tangled net of palladium alloy wire unfurled in the air, boosted by the SqueezFast memoryware programmed into the metal.

The net flared wide, then wrapped around the Blood Angel as tightly as a lover. The memoryware cranked even tighter, pulling the demon’s wings against its body. The creature dropped from the sky, screaming shrilly. It thudded against one of the nearby buildings and thudded to a stop against an overturned MGB.

Simon leaped the car and landed on the pavement. He shoved the Spike Bolter forward from less than a yard away, aiming point-blank at the thing’s face. It howled at him in caustic denial. Rage, not fear, twisted its features. A clawed hand sliced through the palladium strands of memoryware that bound it. Arcane energy flared purple as the spell woven into the net repulsed the demon’s efforts.

Squeezing the trigger, Simon aimed at the center of the Blood Angel’s chest and rode the recoil up to the bottom of its chin. The spikes blew the creature’s chest apart. Gore spattered his faceplate.

“Down, Simon!” Derek shouted.

Reacting automatically, Simon dropped facedown and hugged the street. A wave of fire blew over his head and ignited a large section of the nearby building and the street.

“Move!”

Simon pushed up one-handed and stayed low. Inside the armor he moved effortlessly. He almost smiled, knowing that the fear and anxiety that had plagued him for the last few days had passed. He was in his element, right where he belonged.

He fired the Spike Bolter at the wave of Gremlins that darted out from the shadows less than thirty feet away. Laser and electrical shocks from the demons slammed into him in a wild display of energy and color. His armor’s defenses dropped, but he knew that running wasn’t an option. They’d only leave their flank open to attack.

This was where the Templar had determined to live, fighting foes face-to-face over inches of ground, holding a line where evil and darkness stopped. Simon’s heart sang and he knew he was riding an adrenaline high like none he’d ever before experienced.

Freeing his sword, seeing that the other Templar were doing the same thing, preparing to engage the surviving Gremlins, Simon holstered the Spike Bolter, took a two-handed grip on the sword, and charged. He met the first demon with a powerful downward swipe, letting the sword’s weight add to the blow.

The palladium alloy sword blazed bright blue with the arcane energy his father had helped him weave into it. The blade slid through the demon flesh, cutting his foe in halves. Before the Gremlin could fall to pieces, Simon stepped around it and engaged another. The demon thrust a spear at Simon’s face.

The sharp point skidded across the smooth surface of his faceplate, but the impact was enough to stagger him and nearly drive him to his knees. Then he dropped below the line of the spear and threw his shoulder into the demon’s midriff, straining to lift it from its feet.

Torn free of the pavement, the demon went back and down. It landed flat on its back, the breath knocked from it. Dropping with his knees on its shoulders, Simon pinned the demon to the ground, then reversed his sword and thrust the point through the center of its head. The sword didn’t stop until it met the pavement on the other side of its skull. Simon twisted ruthlessly and exploded the skull. Beneath him, the Gremlin bucked out its life.

Spotting a dropped Constrictor only inches from the outstretched hand of a Templar who was dead or unconscious, Simon dove for the weapon, scraped it up in his left hand, and rolled to his knees.

Derek battled two Gremlins, managing to put up a lightning-fast defense to parry the sword and axe his opponents wielded. Despite his skill, though, Derek was being forced back.

Taking quick aim, Simon fired the Constrictor at the nearest Gremlin. The net sprang out and wrapped around the Gremlin, cutting into its flesh and binding it.

The demon stumbled and started to fall. Derek caught it in one hand and used it for a shield. He performed a quick parry on one side of the bound demon, then whirled around it and slashed at the other demon. The sword blade met the demon’s neck cleanly, taking its head off before it knew he’d even changed places.

“Thanks,” Derek said.

“No problem,” Simon replied. He dodged an attacking Blood Angel, then turned to fire the Constrictor. Before he could squeeze the trigger, the demon turned her head and screamed at him. The crimson runes carved into her skin glowed brightly as she threw out a hand.

Simon thought he saw a vague shimmering in the air before him, but before he could move an incredible force battered him, lifting him from his feet and throwing him backward forty or more feet. He hit the ground and rolled as he’d been taught, immediately coming to his feet and moving sideways to cover.

The Blood Angel

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