AllFreeNovel
Share Us
"You wanna dance?" Clementine asked, her hands closing into fists as she slowly advanced on me. "By the time I get done with you, there won't even be any bones left to feed the fish. "
"Come over here and say that again, sugar. "
She let out a loud roar and charged forward.
Chapter 25
I raised my blades and let her come to me. I also reached for my Stone magic and used it to harden my skin. Despite my mockery of her, Clementine was a dangerous enemy, made even more so by the grief, rage, and adrenaline pumping through her veins right now. I needed to put her down as quickly as possible, or I'd be in a world of hurt.
When she was in range, I stepped forward and slashed out with my knives, determined to end her with that first strike. But Clementine anticipated my plan and sidestepped me at the last second, so my weapons only sliced through empty air. I whirled around for another strike, but Clementine was already moving, moving, moving. Her fist slammed into my jaw, spinning me around and making a few stars wink on and off before my eyes. I stumbled back, but I managed to stay upright and keep my grip on my Stone magic.
Clementine came at me again, her fists raised in a classic boxer's stance. For the better part of a minute, we bobbed and weaved back and forth, each one of us trying to end the other. Clementine wanted to plant her fist in my chin again, while I wanted to slice her from guts to gullet with my knives. But we both dodged this way and that, trading shallow, glancing blows and never giving each other a clear opening.
The longer we bobbed and weaved, the more I felt the dreaded exhaustion creeping up on me. My breaths grew hoarse and raspy, sweat trickled down my face, neck, and back, and my legs twitched with the effort of staying upright. It had been a long night already, and now here I was, locked in another fight to the death. Sometimes it just didn't pay to leave the house.
Not for the Spider, anyway.
Back and forth and around and around, we do-si-doed in the front of the boathouse, neither one of us able to break through the other's defenses.
At least, not until my boot slipped.
I didn't know where the puddle came from. Maybe a paddleboat bumping into a docking station and spraying water everywhere, maybe a freakishly large wave arching up and spilling over onto the stone, maybe even a fish jumping in the river and doing a cannonball. But water had pooled on the marble walkway, making it as wet and slick as glass. I blocked the giant's latest blow and stepped forward to deliver one of my own - and slipped. Even as I windmilled my arms and tried to stay upright, I lowered my guard, just for a second, and Clementine took the opening.
She slammed her fist into my face.
Since I was still holding on to my Stone magic, the blow didn't crush my cheekbone, but it knocked me back all the same. Clementine immediately pressed her advantage. She slapped one of my knives away, then the other one. The weapons skidded along the stone walkway, the blades throwing up bright silver sparks as they tumbled end over end. Before I could reach for my other pair of knives, the giant was on top of me.
"You think you can kill my girl - my Opal - and get away with it? I'll show you," Clementine snarled. "I'll show you. "
She grabbed my arms, lifted me into the air, and then slammed me into the ground with all the force she could muster. She would have splintered every bone in my back if I hadn't had my magic to protect me. Even with my Stone power, I still felt like I'd plummeted out of a high window and hit the ground at warp speed - splat. Before I could even think about moving, much less fighting back, Clementine was straddling me.
Thwack. Thwack. Thwack.
She pounded her fists into my body over and over again. Each punch seemed to add fuel to her rage, and every blow was harder and sharper than the one before it. Any one of them would have been enough to do major damage. The only thing saving me right now was my Stone magic and the hard shell of my skin, but that wouldn't last long under a beating like this.
It was always a concern when fighting dwarves or giants, letting them get their hands on you. Because once they did that, it was just a matter of them wearing you down. Power was still power, whether it was a giant's strength or an elemental's magic. One always succumbed to the other in the end, and the loser died.
This time, the loser was going to be me.
Clementine kept hitting me and hitting me. She showed no signs of tiring. Or stopping.
But she quickly realized that something was wrong, since I wasn't screaming with pain and gushing blood from every available surface. She snarled with disgust when she realized that her blows weren't having the desired effect, and she finally noticed the magic glinting in my gray gaze.
"Stone magic," she muttered. "I should have remembered that you have that. I fucking hate Stone magic. But don't you worry. You'll run out of that long before I get tired of hitting you. "
She stopped her assault and pulled back just long enough for me to throw my hand to the side, reach for my Ice magic, and use it to form a sharp, cold knife. I raised the weapon and drove it into her chest, but since I was flat on my back, I couldn't put enough muscle behind the thrust to make it do any real damage.
Clementine stared down at the Ice knife sticking out of her chest a couple of inches above her heart. "Really? That old tired trick? Does that ever actually work for you?"
Her distraction let me reach down and fumble for the other weapons on my utility belt. I didn't have much to work with. I'd emptied my gun during the firefight with the giants earlier in the museum hallway, and the metal baton was too long for me to slide it out of its loop. So was the flashlight that was tucked through another loop. But there was one other small tube hooked onto the belt: the pepper spray I'd taken off the first giant I'd killed.
Clementine pulled the knife out of her chest and crushed the Ice with one hand before flinging the melting bits off her fingers. "Is that the best you can do?" she mocked. "Why, that didn't hurt any more than a little ole bee sting - "
I pulled out the tube, flipped the nozzle, and gave her a face full of pepper spray, even though the close proximity made my own eyes water and nose burn. Clementine cursed and slapped the spray out of my hand. It too disappeared into one of the pools of water. The giant looked at me, her whole face red, puffy, and soaked with tears.
She drew in a breath, and I thought she might start screaming with pain.
Inst
