“Daisy.”
“It’s good to meet you, Daisy.” I actuallymeant that. I wasn’t so fond of her ghostly companions, but if Iever did talk to an angel, and that was a prettybigif, I’d definitely put in a good word forDaisy.
“You also, World Walker.”
“Excuse me?” I blurted while the othersexchanged startled glances.
Daisy opened her rosebud mouth to reply, butthe ringing of the bell on the front door stifled what she wouldhave said. We all froze, our gazes locked on the swinging doorsleading to the dining room as Ethel shouted at the demons that theyweren’t welcome here. At least it was her universal greeting and wehadn’t been singled out.
“Where are they?” Someone demanded from upfront, and I immediately recognized it as the voice of the handsomedemon.
Daisy jerked her head at us and fled towardthe swinging doors at the back of the kitchen. She disappearedthrough the doors without causing them to move a centimeter.Corson’s hands clamped around the salt, but he nudged me to gobefore him.
I snatched a container of salt from thecounter and followed Daisy toward the back of the kitchen. She saidthe ghosts wouldn’t follow us, but I wasn’t going to continue onwithout the only sort of deterrent we had against them.
Taking a deep breath, I braced myself as Irested my hand against the cool metal door. I didn’t know if thedoors were going to squeak or not, but it wouldn’t matter if theydid, we had no choice but to move deeper into the building.Pressing against the door, I slowly pushed it open as I waited forsome noise that would give us away.
Thankfully, the door didn’t make a sound andI went through it with the others close on my heels. Once on theother side, I stopped to shove the container of salt into thewaistline of my pants, tucking it securely against my hip.
Tugging my shirt over it, I pulled one of myguns from the holster and held it pointing down in front of me. Myhands may be my most lethal weapons, but I didn’t want to giveanything away too soon. No, it would be a complete shock to themwhen I lit their asses on fire or shot a ball of life harnessedfrom the earth into them.
We moved down a small hallway before steppinginto a cavernous room. I looked up to search for Daisy and froze.My heart plummeted at the sight of the thousands of transparentfaces that turned to look at us when we entered the warehousefilled with boxes of supplies stacked from floor to ceiling againstthe walls.
All those eyes stared at us as some of theghosts floated forward. Most of their heads tilted in curiosity.Some of them looked completely bored, while others bounced up anddown with the energy of a five-year-old who’d just eaten theirentire birthday cake in one sitting.
The salt tucked against my side felt woefullyinadequate as they drew closer and closer.
CHAPTER 20
Kobal
Two more bullets slammed into my shoulder,causing me to stagger back a step. I spun, leaning back and towardthe side when the whistle of a bullet sliced through the air towardme. A small breeze tickled my cheek as it went by. It would havehit me dead between the eyes.
“Fuck!” I snarled.
Bale cried out when blood pooled across herthigh to soak her pants. Morax leapt on top of Verin and pulled herdown beneath him. His body jerked as it was pummeled by bullets.Intending to draw the human’s attention away from them, I dodged tothe side as another round of gunfire pierced the air.
Racing through the forest, bark explodedaround me as the bullets smacked into the trees near my head. Myclaws extended, and my fangs pricked and lengthened. I should endthis now, but still I hesitated to kill them. These humans hadsurvived this long; I actually admired the cunning and strength ithad taken them to do so, and I had promised River I would restrainmyself from killing unless it was absolutely necessary.
However, if this didn’t end soon, I was goingto torch these assholes and call it a day. The bullets in my bodyburned as they worked their way out while I raced through thewoods, circling around them.
The woman kept her gun trained on me as shefollowed my movement through the forest. Moving too fast for her,no more of the bullets she fired at me pierced my flesh. Resting myhands on a boulder, I vaulted over it. Bullets smacked off of itssolid surface and shards of rock shot into the air. I ran behindthe boulder and burst out the other side, jumping over a log beforeturning and charging at the woman.
Her bullets sliced over my skin but none ofthem directly hit me. I was almost on her when a man stepped infront of her and lifted his gun to aim at me. I grabbed the end ofhis rifle as he fired. The bullet tore a hole into my palm and outthe back of my hand as I yanked the gun away from him.
His mouth fell open before I drove the buttof the rifle into his forehead with a loud crack. Blood explodedfrom his skin, his head jerked back and he crumpled to theground.
“No!” the woman cried.
Spinning the rifle around, I pointed the gunat her. Warm blood oozed from the hole in my hand and dripped ontothe forest floor as the woman stared defiantly back at me with hergun aimed at my chest. “Drop it!” I barked.
The other man with her stepped closer againsther side and protectively in front of the one I’d just knocked out.The man raised his rifle and aimed it at Shax.
“You’re only going to kill us anyway,” shereplied.
“If I wanted you dead, you would be already.”To emphasize my point, flames rose around my wrists. “Now, put itdown!”
Her hand wavered, and her blue eyes widenedon my flames before she lowered the weapon. Stepping forward, Iripped the rifle from her hand and tossed it aside as Shax and Baleapproached the man. They both looked mad enough to kill. Shaxjerked the rifle out of the man’s grasp and threw it into thewoods.
