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Em sings louder. Exaggerates his movements. And changes the lyrics to "here to fight Barnabas and kick him out."
A stunned silence fills the space in the wake of his weird song.
What the fuck was that?
Attention breaking. It worked too,Em retorts with an air of superiority that's completely at odds with the idiotic song and dance he just did."Remember, he's going to try to turn us against each oth?—"
"We know," Dev snarls, racing for the stairs as if he's bound and determined to punish Barnabas for getting inside his head.
I kind of want to do the same.
“Try to keep your thoughts neutral. Don’t think about anything you truly care about, or Barnabas will warp your feelings until it becomes an obsession,” Creep adds, his tone monotone and his eyes distant.
I wonder how many times he had to deal with Barnabas’s twisted mind games.
My turn,I tell Empty.
Then I take over my limbs and reach into my pocket for a new magazine so that I'll have it at the ready when the current one runs out. I want to unload every single bullet into the bastard upstairs.
Licking my lips, I follow the Devourer.
My heartbeat doubles, and my palms sweat against the grip of my gun. In the distance, thunder rumbles, and I think I may hear the soft plink of raindrops on the glass windows of the building, but I pay them no mind as I try to control my breathing, keep my pulse from going haywire as we hurtle up the stairs for our final faceoff.
Remember—neutral thoughts. Rocks. Grass. Puppy dogs—no, scratch those. I fucking want a puppy, and those fluffy little tail-wagging assholes hate ghosts. Not that one,Em coaches.
You work on thoughts. I'll work on shooting the motherfucker until he's as holey as church water.
What the fuck does that mean?Em questions.
I don't have time to tell him that it was a saying I picked up from my grandfather because we emerge on the top floor of the building, which has floor-to-ceiling windows all around and these strange, oversized badge-shaped metallic contraptions on poles in front of each one.
The center of the room is filled with a cluster of monsters packed so tightly that, initially, I can’t tell if it’s one giantmonster or a bunch of them. But they detach when they see us, rolling out one by one, and I spot at least thirty of them.
Yes, we’re outnumbered…but it’s not nearly as bad as I expected it to be.
Until I note one monster who clones itself, quickly turning from a single humanoid figure into twenty.
Well, shit.
Shit stains, underwear, lace doilies, wagon wheels.Em keeps up his chanting of random objects while I search for a target.
But I don’t have more than a second to search before I find that I’m the target.
A massive roar attacks my ears as a Minotaur charges at us, steam erupting from its nostrils. I raise my gun and start shooting as, out of the corner of my eye, I see Dev leap on some pink monster woman.
Aliana rushes in from behind me and lobs one of those jewels she's got into the crowd of monsters. Green puffballs appear in the air above the clones, which then fall onto a half a dozen or so heads, the giant cotton balls encasing monstrous faces. Their arms rise, and they try to claw the strange items off their heads with no luck. The other clones snarl and quickly repopulate.
My love curses because that jewel definitely didn't have the massive effect she was hoping for. There are still tons of monsters in the cluster, and the center of it contains Barnabas.
I wish we could just get a direct line right to him. Not face all these pricks,I grumble.
But Empty is quick to chastise me.Don't get greedy about the fight.Remember what Creep said. Think about duct tape. Dirt. Toilet paper.
His idiotic chatter distracts me, and we go sprawling when a waxy-looking shape shifter clobbers me in the side of the head. At the same time, the Minotaur lowers his head, horns glinting ominously, and charges in my direction.
Your job is supposed to be fighting. Do I need to do everything around here?Em snarks.
I snarl at him as I lurch back to my feet, firing off a shot to the side that's a waste of a bullet because the wax man just morphs his body so the damn thing misses. I crouch, ready to leap aside when the Minotaur reaches me.
