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And ere only huht to offer, Kel struggled to his feet nearby His silver knife glea machine His pale skin ran with blood and black ooze His tattoos gloith a faint blue light through gore and mud

Claws sank into his flesh;him down Their teeth tore whole chunks from his torso while he snapped necks and broke jaws I didn’t kno he kept going; Christ, I’d thought he was dead His blood ran but he didn’t seereater ferocity Kel wouldn’t stop until he reached his target, not for death or the devil himself

Kel carved the last of theround Like the tormented anis had no choice but to answer his coile flesh I’d never seen anything so ore, God’s Hand swayed on his feet A feounds on his back showed the pale glint of bone For a ladiator of old A chill went through ht about steadying him but I couldn’t make myself reach out

"We have to find hiriets away here, now, it’s over We have no hope if he has a chance to rest up for the next round"

To say nothing of Chuch and Eva, whose lives depended on us Since I could barely walk unassisted, that didn’t bode well for theive up Not e’d come this far

"Can you home in on him?" I asked Chance hopefully

He shook his head "I’ left I’m sorry"

I remembered how he’d bled out the nose "Don’t be"

"If he tries to run, we’ll have him," Kel said

I frowned "He won’t run Not when he knows this area better than we do He’ll lay low, hoping we limp away But he doesn’t know us very well if he thinks we’ll accept a standoff I guess you didn’t see where he went after--"

Kel fixed ar," I realized out loud "The house is destroyed Maybe he’s got a car or a panic rooed a look, and then Chance said, "Let’s go"

All of us liar The stor to an al the space an oddly tympanic sound

So many empty crates, from which the bodies of stolen wo at each creak, each scuff of a shoe against the cement floor I couldn’t see shit, and I hurt all over More than anything, I wanted this to be finished

And then I got my wish

"Move, and she dies," came a raspy voice

Arms came around me from behind I couldn’t see him, but Chance could because the nose of his rifle ca the likelihood ofthe kill

"I’h power left to take her with o"

Since he stole souls, I’d wind up bound to him in whatever hellish afterlife awaited I tried not to whiether sure I succeeded At that point I just focused on not pissing

"Okay," Chance said soothingly "Let’s talk terms What do you want?"

"Oh, it’s too late to parlay," he rasped "But I’ll take her with me as insurance"

Like hell you will I couldn’t feel a weapon; nothing pressed into ainst my throat He wasn’t terribly tall either because I could feel his breath on ainst his nose and stomped down hard on the top of his foot just as Chance muttered, "Just like Tuscaloosa, Corine"

I dropped onto h to save my soul

The rifle report echoed like ar, but it did the job A warlock who’s shot his wad dies just like anybody else More blood spattered ies crackled around us as thethunder The earth shuddered as if it would split wide open beneath our feet But as the warlock gasped his last, I thought I heard the rustle of leathery wings

Kel reached ed me to my feet I didn’t knohat it meant when I accepted his help without hesitation Christ I stared at the dead guy on the ground Chance had blown his face clean off