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I pulled on eline and skidded toward the hole in the roof,on the old roof tiles The hole ca enough for ed, I’d be chopped up by the hedge and hit ground far belohat had to be a pile of rubble I twisted fast in a one-eighty turn and dropped toward the attic Grabbed a roof joist It gave I’ainstinto the attic and landed

The floor of the attic--loosened by the C4--fell through into the rooht myself on my hands and hauledBelow, in the house, I could hear the sounds of fighting

Soul landed besidemotion that was in no way human She didn’t bother with the innocent look this ti that she had proven herself soestured for ue, but this tiht on it

I landed on the floor just as the first rays of the sun burst across the horizon Pinkish light filled the sky, brightening everything Including the fight in the center of the house In a single eye blink and inhalation, I took in the scene and found pattern in the madness The stench ful--death and aBruiser One looked like a ith hus and arms; the other like a spider Spidey va over Rick, asn’tat all Crap

Bruiser’s swords , a ind of steel, the center of the double-edged blades silver plated and catching the pink glow It see whirled and lashed out at ht The spidey-revenant-vaainst ed and wicked sharp I fired And fired again The stinger was gone, leaving a drooling stuoo All I could think of was the oldreeled to ood look This was no Casper

The carapace that seee hornet--not hus It had a human jaw and vamp canines Its eyes were h furred and striped like a hornet And on its chest hung a pocket watch I didn’t bother aiht kill it I aimed at the amulet and fired The vamp jerked to the side as if it knehat I ai off chunks, but see on its hus

Backpedaling fast, I fired again This time I hit the amulet The spidey vamp stumbled I had one shell left and bracedFired my last shot

The silver fléchettes smashed the a I pulledat the neck Its flesh was hard, with a carapace just under skin But I kept at it until the head separated fro and rolled a short distance, hit a brick froht An eye see up to me, as the head started to sizzle and burn The stink of rotten, burning meat filled the air

The body was still in shadow I leaned down and gathered up the remains of the amulet Stuffed it into a pocket And pulled the spidey vaht It weighed a ton The body started to s from my handy-dandy belated birthday present was a whiz It was only six rounds, but it was a lot faster than pulling the hard as I readied the weapon and took in the roo, but now Soul stood over Rick, her ar It looked like a ward, but it didn’t see the stock against my shoulder "Bruiser! Drop and roll!"

As if he understood perfectly, Bruiser folded his blades and threw himself into a sohting spun to follow and sawit; I just spotted the a Ifell I had no idea where its head was located Bruiser pulled a shotgun and fired four rounds, two into each eye It went still He reloaded and started firing again Soul raced into the back of the house, into the shadows

I bent over Rick He was bleeding fro, and I could see his pulse in his throat I checked his pupils, which were equal and reactive But his earpieces were gone Not good Even though the moon was over the horizon, it was still full--even ht As I released his eyelid, his hand slammed intome to the side

I rolled with the force of the blow and ended up with Rick on top of rowled and hissed and showed me his teeth Soul appeared behind him and placed her hands on his head Rick went still as a block of ice His partner was holding the earpieces The glow of his eyes faded, and he took the earbuds and inserted the one frouns, but the shadows on the walls told me eren’t finished The as in the back of the house, fighting for his life I pointed and Rick sped past me into the back room, Soul on his heels

Eli had h another doorway on the right That is when I realized There were no witches here Not one

"Son of a freaking gun," I muttered "We’ve been conned" On the run, I picked up the parts of the amulet that I could find and stuck them into another pocket