Page 40 of Dragon's Desire

They got out of the car and entered the building, scanning the area. They both kept their weapons holstered, though. There was no need to spook the civilians if they could avoid it. Besides, the scanner was showing that he was further back into the place.

"He's further in," Peter whispered.

They walked back towards the kitchen, and when they got to the door, a skinny Black guy abandoned his post at the counter to ask them in a very friendly customer service voice, "Excuse me, can I help you? That area is employees only."

He pointed to the red sign on the door with the huge block letters clearly showing it was, in fact, off-limits to customers. Both Kiercy and Peter pulled out their badges.

"We're in pursuit of a suspect."

"Um, well. Good luck," the barista said before returning to the counter.

Peter and Kiercy pushed through the doors to the confused looks of the employees back there. They held up their badges again. Peter put his away and drew his weapon. They were getting close.

"He's behind that door," Peter said.

On the other side, they were in an almost warehouse-sized room with sacks of green coffee beans and a few industrial-sized machines. Peter enjoyed the smell of coffee, but it was so strong here it made him feel a little queasy.

Legermain stepped out from behind a whirring machine that Peter figured was a roaster of some kind. He tossed the scanner onto a sac and then took out the witch bottle.

"Oh, my. You filled another one already. You must have been busy. But I'm growing tired of this dance. Time to end it."

He raised his hands and chanted.

"Dude, you can't cast a spell on me. Stop wasting your time."

"Who said I was casting a spell on you?"

Peter turned to Kiercy, but she seemed fine. Then she pointed behind him, and he turned just in time to see the scanner flying at his head. He ducked, and it smashed against a wall. When he turned back, Legermain was gone.

"Give it up," Kiercy yelled over the noise. "It's over."

"Not quite," Legermain said.

Kiercy started to cast a spell. That was when a sack of green coffee beans tore itself open, and then individual beans started shooting out of the pile. That was when Peter learned a few things. First, witch bottles had some limitations. Then, that Legermain was full of surprises.

And lastly, green coffee beans are very, very, very hard and hurt like hell. They weren't like bullets tearing through his flesh, but it sure didn't tickle. He held up his arm to shield his face. Losing an eye to a coffee bean, maybe even dying from it shooting through a soft part of his skull into his brain, seemed a rather inglorious way to die.

He dove behind a shelf full of boxes. Whatever was in them stood up to the assault. He loaded his crossbow, stuck his head out, aimed, and fired a blessed bolt at Legermain. A pallet flew up in front of him, catching the bolt before Legermain tossed it aside.

"Do you have any new tricks, Agent Winthrop?"

Peter was about to say something. He was pretty sure it was going to be something witty about sticking to the classics or something. But instead, he yelled as the shelving unit he was taking cover behind tipped over. It crashed down on him, pinning his left arm and both of his legs under it.

Kiercy ran up and tried to pull it off of him.

"Go," he said. "He'll be coming soon."

"I'm not just going to leave you here to die."

"Kiercy, I didn't know you cared," he said, trying his best to grin his way through the pain. Practically his whole body hurt, but especially his arm.

"Just shut up and push," she said.

"I can't. I think my arm is broken, and you can't lift this by yourself."

"You're too much of a stubborn asshole to die like this."

"You're right. I've got this. Trust me," he said.

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