He got the knife free eventually, but it took much more time. He didn’t fire at will again.
"Do you have an anger problem?” I guessed. “Maybe you should see someone about that."
"I do what must be done," he voiced gravely.
"Keep telling yourself that."
"No one can interfere. Not you, not anyone else."
He evaluated me calmly, not moving an inch as his two knifes readied themselves and hovered in the air near him. A moment later, they were on fire.Flaming magic boomerangknives, fuck me. Of course the bad motherfucker who stabbed first and asked questions never brought explosive knives to the magic fight.
The intimidation tactic definitely worked on my heart and nearly my bladder, but I kept the shield up.
“Don’t have to do this, man,” I said weakly.
"It’s my job and business is good."
He fired another knife at the energy wall. It stayed intact, even as I jumped at the impact. I wasn’t quick enough to hold the knife there this time.
Dammit, Bad Mother smiled. He was all cucumber cool, like he did this every day. Maybe he did. Me? Totally opposite. I was a mess, sweating bullets and hands shaking so badly he must notice even from a distance. I kept wishing for Orion, but the incubus hadn’t shown up yet to save me and the day.
This really fucking sucked. The upper hand did not lie with me. What a familiar feeling. I was always the guy winging it and hoping for the best, jumping from moment to moment and trying to avoid one metaphorical fire knife or another.
It wasn’t a great way to live. It sucked even worse when the knives hanging over your head stopped being metaphorical.
And you know what? It pissed me off. I was done being this guy. I was done just reacting. I was done with this bad motherfucker terrorizing me.
So maybe I did something stupid.
I let the shield drop.
“Congrats on the vibe, man, it’s totally terrifying,” I said, giving him a slow clap. “You scare me. Big deal, so do airplanes and Styrofoam packing peanuts.” Glowing energy flowed from the palms of my hands. “I’m not on my own this time.” Orion wasn’t here, but the magic we created between us was. “You can’t push me around. You ain’t stopping me.”
Instead of a shield forming a wall between us, I shaped the energy differently, into a point, into a weapon. Then I took that weapon and threw it outwards with all the force possible, a red spear streaking across the alley.
The knives whirled in the air, flames arcing as they twirled. They cut into the energy and broke it down before it hit Bad Mother.
Whatever. I did it again, walking towards him this time. He cut it down. I did it again. And again.
And again.
The energy emitted a soft warmth, tickling just a bit. It reminded me of Orion’s strength and my humor. And how two different people could still come together and create something great. When I conjured and used our magic, I wasn’t scared anymore.
I kept walking towards him. While not entirely sure what I’d do when I reached him, I only wanted to wipe that smug grin off his face.
But then Bad Mother stopped smiling. He was giving me a much more familiar look, like I was a crazy person. That expression had never felt so rewarding.
And this time, he was the one to step back.
“Find another job,” I suggested. “Archery or competitive knife throwing. Maybe painting if you wanna get less violent. You’renotgonna win.Lexdoesn’t get to win. If you go down with him, that’s just fine with me. So, you tell him I say, ‘hey, what’s up,’ and that I’m coming for the son of a—"
Whipping my magical energy bolts at him as fast as I could conjure them had worked so far. This apparently left things to be desired, tactically. My pattern was too predictable, and he was able to fire one knife at me in between one bolt and the next.
Pain exploded from my right shoulder, and I went flying back into the trashcans. I flailed around in the garbage, trying to right myself and see before he attacked again—but he was gone.
I was alone in the alley. Alone and covered in garbage. Perfect.
Once upon a time, demons didn’t jump out of the shadows and try to slice me up. I missed those days.
