“Yeah, I’m thinking that would probably do the job, too. But not handy on the street, so I’d like to keep that option as a last resort.”
“Good point. We can’t really walk around beheading people in the downtown business district, can we?”
“Uh, no.” He led her over to another table. “Similar to the rifles, these are more compact guns with the same kind of liquid nitrogen bullets. Easier to conceal inside a coat or jacket. You can choose any size and weight and we can manufacture bullets sized to accommodate the weapon, plus add a silencer.”
Mandy nodded. “This is really impressive.” She chose a forty-five caliber. “Got bullets made up for this one?”
“Already loaded up with an extra clip to the side. There’s a holster next to it if you need it.”
“I won’t.”
She was admiring the weaponry when lights flashed and alarms sounded. She jerked, instantly on alert, and started grabbing weapons.
Michael picked up his comm, listened, then frowned.
“Drop the temp in the entire compound. Secure the area. Now!”
He turned to her. “Demon has escaped the cold room. Killed a tech and two guards.”
Mandy didn’t say a word, just tucked extra clips into the side pocket of her camos, then shouldered the rifle by the strap and ran like hell out of the room and down the hallway Michael right on her heels.
“You take the north. I’ll come around on the south side,” Michael said.
Mandy nodded, not even stopping in her dead run down the hall toward the room where the demon had been held.
When she got there, she grimaced at the bodies on the floor, the blood, the guards standing over them holding their weapons, then she was off around the corner, shivering at the rapid drop in temperature as the compound went to subzero in an effort to keep the demon from dematerializing.
That bastard was not going to get away.
She tried doors along her way. They were all secure, the compound having gone into lockdown as soon as the alarm was set off.
By the time she made a complete circle and ran into Michael, she was utterly out of breath, sucking in frozen oxygen and confused as hell. Where was the demon?
“Emergency exit door,” Michael said, turning on his heel. She followed right behind him, hitting the stairs two at a time as they punched through the exit door and up the stairs to the second level.
“What’s up here?” she whispered over Michael’s shoulder.
“Nothing. Storage. All the rooms should be secure.”
“I’ll take the south end.”
He nodded and she pivoted, lifting her weapon and moving as fast as she could despite the extreme chill making her shiver all over. But if the subzero temp slowed her down, it would slow the demon down, too.
As she rounded the corner, she saw a flash of … something. She sucked in a breath and ran, hard, sliding around the corner.
The demon crashed into her and slammed her against the wall, knocking the breath from her. She lost the gun, watching it slide down the hall and just out of her reach.
Shit.
But she still had her rifle. Unfortunately she couldn’t pull it over her shoulder because the demon had her pinned to the wall.
Fury thawed her frozen body out, gave her some strength. And James was weakened by the cold that affected the demon more than her, allowing her to give it a good, hard thrust and make some space between them. When she did, she lifted her foot and planted a boot in its midsection, shoving it away.
James landed on the floor and she went for her rifle.
Stunned or winded, she didn’t know which, the demon lay there, unmoving, staring at her.
She aimed, her finger on the trigger.
The demon scrambled to get up, then froze as she got it in her sights.
“You’re dead,” she said, her finger hovering on the trigger.
But as soon as she started to pull, the demon’s face disappeared. She was transported back to that awful night in Italy, when they’d stood in front of Lou and were forced to fire on him, kill him.
She blinked, trying to obliterate the vision from her mind. She lifted her head for a second, clearing the sight, then refocused, but all she could see was Lou, fighting the demon inside him, begging them to destroy him.
She wasn’t going to let this happen. She wasn’t weak. She’d recovered from Lou’s death. It was in the past.
Michael pulled up behind her. “Pull the damn trigger, Mandy”
She blinked and leveled the laser, but the demon leaped and came at her, knocking both her and Michael to the ground. Too late to fire, she swung the butt at the demon’s head, knocking it off balance. Her rifle went flying.
Shit. She scrambled for her gun, grabbed it with her fingertips, and turned around, aiming for the demon as it grabbed her feet. She aimed, and there it was again.
Lou’s face. Not the demon’s.
What the hell was wrong with her?
“No,” she whispered, pulling back from the sight.
It was Lou. Not the demon. She held her hand out in front of her, trying to banish the visual. “No, I can’t.”
“Mandy!”
She heard Michael’s voice, but it was as if it came from a tunnel, far away. All she could see was Lou in front of her, coming toward her, his hands outstretched, reaching for her.
God, she missed him. Tears filled her eyes. She leaned up toward him. “Lou.”
Her world tipped when Michael shoved her out of the way. Shocked back into reality, her vision cleared just in time to see the demon leap over her and lunge at Michael.
Oh, God, what had she done? She’d utterly lost it. It hadn’t been Lou reaching for her, it had been the demon. And now Michael was being attacked by the demon, who’d landed on top of him. She tried to get up, but her legs felt like rubber, unable to support her. All she could do was stare in horror as the demon wrapped its fingers around Michael’s throat.
Mandy held her breath, feeling what Michael felt as the demon squeezed.
But Michael wedged his gun between his body and the demon’s and fired, slamming the demon off him.
James looked down at its chest and then back up at them, smiling.
“You can’t stop me with bullets.”
But then its smile died, its eyes widening as the liquid nitrogen began to work. The demon started to jerk wildly, falling to the ground like it was having some kind of neurological attack, then stilled completely. After waiting a minute, Michael leaned over the demon, still holding the pistol trained on its chest.
Michael punched his comm. “Security and tech, we’re on second level and demon is contained. Get up here.”
Within a minute a security team and three technicians showed up. The security team inspected the demon first, then pronounced it dead so tech could remove it.
“Restrain it and keep watch. I want to see if it comes to.”
They nodded and removed the demon. Michael holstered his pistol and went to Mandy bending down to help her up.
She pulled away from him and pushed herself to a standing position, hating the weakness that still made her legs feel wobbly. “I’m fine.”
Michael took a step back and nodded. “Let’s go to debriefing.”
Mandy followed Michael silently, not understanding what had happened.
For someone so grounded in the here and now, what had gone down had been really fucked up. She’d always been able to do her job.
So what the hell had happened to her?
Michael led her into the office and waited while she stepped in, then closed the door behind him. Mandy laid
