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His voice was dull, lifeless, just like the rest of him.
“Then you’re about to have the time of your life,” I said, and calling for my magic one more time, I moved.
He probably wasn’t expecting an attack, which is why my magic hit him square in the chest before he thought to move away. He stumbled back a couple of steps, and I got a little closer. My fist connected with his jaw hard, and when he moved back, his shadows spread wider. They barely touched my leg, and a cold I’d never felt before had me freezing in place for a long second. Staying away from them would probably be the best idea, but I had to take my chance while he still had his guard down. Cursing under my breath, I charged him again, but he was done underestimating me. He ducked away from my fist with ease, in perfect timing, grinning widely. I did manage to kick him in the gut a couple times, but the damage was small. The plan was to turn him to the other side, so I had access to the broken door. There was a good chance that I could outrun this guy for a bit, and my gun was right on the breakfast table in the living room. All it took was a bullet to the head, and I would be safe.
But the wraith didn’t budge. His shadows kept on spreading, and he got angrier every time I hit him, but that awful grin never left his face. When he raised his hands at me, I moved to the side, and his ice-cold magic slipped right past my shoulder, freezing my arm for a second. I was fast, but he didn’t have to come close to me to use his magic. I brought up my own shield again as I moved away from the tendrils of shadows he unleashed on me, but my magic wasn’t strong enough to withstand his. I was backed into the corner right behind the door. It was barely five feet away from me, but the wraith was coming closer. I held up my magic with all my strength, and his shadows clashed onto it, spreading up as if searching for a crack to slip through to reach me.
My hands shook as I held up my fists, my magic still there, but not for long. And then the wraith’s face was right in front of me. He’d withdrawn his shadows down to his legs again to get a better look at me, and that’s when I chose to act. I dropped my magic at once and jumped forward, arms wide to my sides to take him into an embrace. He didn’t see that coming, either, and that’s why he tumbled back and hit the ground with me in his arms, even though I was just over half his size. I pulled up my knee as soon as we hit the floor, and he groaned right into my ear, still holding onto me. I raised up my head and slammed my forehead on his face without really looking, and I hit his nose with a loud crack. Stars took over my vision. I faintly felt his arms loosen from around me, and I rolled to the side, still unable to move properly or see anything.
Get up, get up, get up, my mind urged me, and I blinked the darkness away from my vision as fast as I could, while trying to make it to my feet. By some miracle, I did. My knees shook and my head was pounding. I must have hit him harder than I thought. Maybe I’d gotten lucky and he’d lost consciousness? A broken nose hurt like a bitch. Not that I’d ever had mine broken before, but I’d read plenty about it.
I moved back as fast as my legs allowed, and finally, the pain began to fade, and my vision returned. The wraith was not unconscious—and he was right in front of the door.
“Damn it,” I breathed, spinning the pen in my hand. The wraith’s face came into focus slowly, and his mouth and nose were covered in blood, his eyes teary. He blinked and blinked, just like I did seconds ago.
Now was my shot. I was going to jump into his arms again, and I was going to stab him on the side of his neck with the pen. It wasn’t going to kill him, but it was going to give me a precious second to get to the living room and grab my gun.
Taking in a deep breath, I moved forward. The wraith’s shadows exploded all around him, spreading and spreading, and—
A loud thud reached my ears, and the shadows stopped expanding. The wraith stopped moving. His eyes rolled in his skull, and he hit the floor on his knees, then with his face.
The man who’d appeared behind him had a bat in his hands, a smile on his face, and he burst out laughing while he raised up the bat and slammed it on the wraith’s back over and over and over again.
Blood sprayed everywhere. The bat was covered in metal spikes and chains, and I had to move back again, just to make sure that the blood wouldn’t get all the way to me.
My mind was at a loss, but my survival instincts were still intact, so I started moving to the side slowly, hoping to get around this guy who was determined to slam that bat on the wraith until there was nothing more left of him.
But he must have noticed me moving because he suddenly stopped and straightened up, wiping some blood from his cheek with the back of his hand. He turned to me and smiled brightly, and his green eyes sparkled.
“Hello, Teddy,” he said, putting his bat over his shoulder. “Sorry I’m late. There were others out in the hallway.”
“H-Hello,” I whispered, unsure what the hell was going on.
“I thought for sure he’d gotten to you,” he said, kicking the side of the dead wraith’s head, as if he were making sure he wasn’t moving still. Couldn’t he see what he’d done to his back? His bones were perfectly visible, for God’s sake.
“Who are you?” I asked in a shaky voice, all the while urging myself to breathe.
Easier said than done.
“I’m Derek,” the man said, running his tongue over his lower lip to catch the drops of blood there.
And I could have been mistaken, but I was pretty sure he liked the taste.
“Anyway, all’s good. He looks pretty dead.” He nodded at the wraith’s body by his feet.
“I’m sorry,” I said, shaking my head. “Are you an agent? I don’t think we’ve met.”
“Oh!” he shouted, so loudly it made me jump back. “No, no, no, I’m not—no. He didn’t tell you? Of course he didn’t tell you. I’m not an agent.” And he laughed again.
“No. Nobody told me anything.” Which shouldn’t have come as such a surprise to me still, considering how everything had played out these past three days.
“Dom sent me,” the man said. “My little brother. He’s a big shot around here, but you already know that.”
“Dom?” I breathed. “Dominic Dane?”
“Yep,” he said with a proud smile. “That’s my baby brother. You know Dom.”
I found myself nodding. “I know Dom.”
