According to her snow trail, Angie was directly between two snow-mounded vehicles parked on the street across from the dancer’s car. He could make out nothing on the far side of the car, no movement, only the faintest of musical notes. He was magic-blind to the workings being employed. If not forAngie’s gift, they would have been attacked and they would all be possessed and killing people right now.
Theta opened in his mind. His mental focus tightened. “If the window opens, take the shot,” EJ said. “Repeat, you have a ‘Go’ to fire a flash-bang grenade if the window is opened.”
A single note rang on the air. EJ said, “Angie has ablood hedgeopen beneath theobfuscation.” The note told him she had cut herself, likely on her inner arm. Just a tiny piercing allowed his sister to open ahedgestrong enough to repel most anything, military quality or not. Of course, her blood-scent was now on the wind, probably enough for a vampire to know she was present even if they didn’t know where. With a tap on the attack flute, he opened ahedgebeneath hisobfuscation.
“The window in building B is opening,” Boots said.
“Flash-bang and demon-zooka. Fire at will,” EJ said.
Angie’s cloak appeared for a single second.One-one-thousand. Then it was gone.
In that second, Raccoon fired his flash-bang grenade launcher.
Villetti fired the rocket to take out the military bot.
An instant later, the concussive explosion hit. Even beneath hishedge of thorns, EJ was knocked back. Landed in the snow. Curled tight, as debris shredded the air. Shrapnel rammed into hishedgewith sizzles and thumps. Things clanged and crashed into the street. He fought his way upright.
The wailing of hell erupted. Stopped. The temporary disruptor of the small rocket had gone into effect.
He struggled across snowdrifts, between two buried cars, and got a clear view of the street. The ice created by compressed snow and car tires was slicker than owl snot. To his side, his sister stood upright from her crouch, her cloak sealed tight, her staff in the air, held in one hand, a silver-plated shortsword inthe other. He had no idea how long they had before the stasis effect of the rocket let the demons loose.
He hoped—
From the side, a soft note tingled on the air. EJ crouched, one hand outspread for balance on the ice-covered street.
He opened Delta Mode. Wide. Complete. His own bio-chemicals flooded his system. Hyperaware. Time slowed. Battlefield awareness at a level few could achieve. Witch powers hummed through him.
Something tapped hard against hishedge, a flash of steel in the streetlights. An amulet. A flat note sounded as the amulet released adisruptorworking. Hishedgewavered. A vampire popped toward him, displacing air. The vamp impacted his damagedhedge, as if expecting it to be gone. The vamp rolled across the weakening energies to the side and into the dark.
Thehedgefell. Snapped back against EJ.
Expecting it, he directed the energies toward where he thought the vamp landed. A blast of sound, like a horn section, all blowing different keys, erupted. Snow exploded upward.
EJ ducked and darted to his left.
Fired at the second vampire coming at him. Three shots. Silver-lead shredder rounds.
But the vamp was popping through the air at hypersonic speed. EJ missed. Threw himself to the side. Snapped out with his legs. Caught the vamp in the side of his knee.
Momentum carried the vamp forward. His broken knee crumpled. His other foot slipped on the slick ice. Toppled.
The vampoofedout a breath.
The breath marked him as young.
EJ whistled. Hit him with asleepy-timeworking. The vamp stopped. Black eyes wide. Fangs slender, less than two inches long. He blinked once. His pupils started to constrict, revealinga pale iris, barely visible in the red sclera, shades of gray in the night.
EJ stabbed him in the gut with a stake. Followed it with a single shot to the chest with a standard round. They could question this one later, if he survived.
He whirled to the vamp who had rolled across him. Older. Bigger. Already shaking off the energies EJ had directed his way. Terenzio Marrazzo.
Why would the big guy be here?
Walter…They want Walter.
In Delta Mode. EJ fired six shots, mid-center. Terenzio stumbled and popped away.
“Guard Walter!” he shouted into comms.
