Page 55 of Cherry Moon

What the hell was it with her and pulling on my locks?

Rude!

Rolling into position behind her, I drove the trowel into a groove above her left ankle. A fab little nook giving off Achillies’ heel vibes.

The tool slid in easily, nicking something soft. Before the fucker could react, I slammed it in harder with a whack of the handle, the soft thing going pop.

Pink liquid gushed from the nook, spraying me in the face.

“Gross!” I yelled, spitting out the warm, floral shite that got into my mouth.

Now she reacted. Screaming and lifting her foot.

I got out of the way just before she turned my head to mush.

The slamming of her foot shook the ground. I wobbled slightly while getting vertical, the tremors knocking over a pot of dahlias.

Proper wanker behavior, that. G spent so long on our garden only for her come along and shit on everything.

I darted around her, checking on my brother.

He held his own against her minions, making short work of the bony bastards, turning them into drying blossoms.

Ha! Is that all she had?

Spinning, I faced the hag, looking for another place to stab.

She hissed, limping closer to me. Pink blood continued to leak from her ankle, spreading across the slabs. I knew it wasn’t enough to bring her down, but now she knew how I felt after the number she did on me.

Her laughter sent shockwaves through the air. “This not a success, Taker.”

“Not yet,” I returned.

She grew slightly taller, possibly eleven feet now. “There is no escape from me. Even if the tenshi meddle and gift your brother with that blade, love still waits to be devoured. I have the power here, their plan will fail. Gone are the days of…”

Yeah, yeah. She could ramble on all she liked. I had a plan.

While she waffled, I’d spotted another slot in her neck. Looked like it might cause her a few problems. Maybe throw her off enough for Zach to gut her with his new weapon.

“It is not too late to claim it,” the tenshi voice spoke. “Your blood is meant for it.”

Ignoring it, I calculated the distance, the force I’d need to fling the trowel into that groove.

“…and there will be no mercy.” Bony Hag finished rambling.

Uh-huh. No big shock there, eh?

Okay. While she held this position, I made my move and threw the trowel, ready for the pink blood to flow.

She snatched it from the air, flinging it back at me.

The tool hit me in the thigh, burying itself halfway into my muscle.

“Fucking hell!” I roared, falling onto my arse.

The pain blazed white-hot, my ankle’s nasty ache back to hurting fully so it wasn’t left out of the pain game.

“Not so clever, are you?” Bony Hag said with too much triumph in her tone.