Page 83 of Deathless
Another figure took shape in the smoke, striding toward the edge of the awning and dropping gracefully to the ground.
“You gotta be faster than that, Uncle Shadow!” Valorie’s voice was muffled by a bandanna tied around the lower half of her face.
Grudge signed something to his daughter in fast, aggressive gestures. Val rolled her eyes and signed back as she spoke. “Yes, Dad. I’ll stay off the roofs.”
“Hey!”
Torr rode up to us then, braking his bike with a harsh jerk. “You all seen Rori?”
“I thought she was with you,” Shadow growled.
Torr shook his head, worry and regret taking over his features. “We got separated in the smoke. Can’t see for shit.”
“Split up. Find her,” Shadow ordered. “My daughter willnotend up in their hands again, you fucking hear me?”
Our small group took off in different directions without another word. Devin and I headed toward the southern end of the village, where we’d picked off the night patrol on the fenced-in area. Parts of the fence were already broken down, like motorcycles had crashed through them.
Another shootout was happening, the Hunter squeezing off round after round with grim determination at cultists hiding behind the same cars I had.
A woman’s head popped up behind the hood, and she returned two more shots before her gun clicked empty. The Hunter holstered his weapon with a triumphant grin and returned his hands to the handlebars, driving his bike forward through the tilled earth.
“Don’t worry, Hunt. We got them,” Devin yelled as we made our way to the cars.
But the Hunter either didn’t hear or was too hopped up on vengeance and adrenaline to care. He picked up speed, heading straight for the enemies, and disappeared.
It happened so fast, I thought I was hallucinating. One second he was riding, the next, he pitched forward and disappeared like he’d been swallowed by the earth.
Fortunately, Devin caught on faster than me. “There’s holes in the ground! Don’t drive over that, they’ll trap you!”
The time it took for us to realize what was really under the tilled earth was enough for the cultist to reload and fire at us.
A bullet whizzed by my ear, and I hit the ground, scrambling for cover. More bullets sent mini explosions of dirt and fence splinters all around me. This bitch was actually a decent shot.
“Hey, you dumb cunt! I’m over here!” More gunfire, but this time, the bullets pinged off a metallic surface.
“Fuck, Rori!” She was barely visible in the smoke, her black leather jacket and short crop of blonde hair the only features I could make out.
The beautiful, ruthless, and insane love of my life spread her arms wide in a taunt to the other shooter. “I’m the one you want, right? Come stuff your stupid goddess back in me, I dare you!”
The shooter remained silent behind her cover, but she was definitely alive and moving. Rori could see it too, and when she was this pissed, she wasnotpatient enough to wait out her prey.
She stuck the gun in her holster and gripped her handlebars, jerking her wrist to accelerate the bike forward.
“No!” I screamed. “Don’t drive across, you’ll fall!” But the smoky air had already wreaked havoc on my throat, and my voice couldn’t cross the distance between us.
Devin tried too. “Go around! Don’t drive through, it’s a trap!”
Rori was already several yards deep into the tilled earth patch. When she heard Devin, she actually slowed the bike and lifted her head as if looking for him.
I cupped my hands around my mouth to yell at her again, but I couldn’t scream louder than the shot that rang out.
The shot that hit her in the shoulder, making her body jerk to the side with the motorcycle following.
And then the ground swallowed her whole.
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RORI
