Page 123 of Awry
Quiet falls behind us — except for the crunching of bones.Then pounding footfalls follow in our wake.We’re about to be chased.Which means that Chains and his enforcers are immune to or protected from whatever they hit the rest of the club with.
I run now, not having to encourage DeVille in the least.Practically side by side, we blow through the rear entrance and into the mist-shrouded night.There’s an overhead light above the door, a composter to our right, and a large fenced parking lot filled with motorcycles between us and the neighboring building.
Reck and the two Authority agents, the mage Clara and the shifter Brett, spin toward us as we tumble through the door.They’ve clearly been arguing, and clearly haven’t heard or felt any of what’s occurred in the club.At a quick glance, the rest of the immediate area is quiet, practically silent.Windows in the apartments tucked behind and over the closest storefronts are all dark.
The mage and the other shifter instantly train weapons on us.
Theknowingsnaps out ahead in a pulsating pattern, toward them, presumably because they’re attempting to block our way to the side street.
I realize that it must look as though we’re trying to kidnap Presh.
But before I can offer any explanation, time slows.Literally.
The agents fire their weapons.
“Stay with me,” I whisper, shoving my shoulder against DeVille’s side and forcing him two steps to the right as we continue to run directly at the agents.
A projectile wings past my cheek, cutting through my hair.Another skims DeVille’s shoulder, creasing his leather jacket.
“No!”Reck screams.
I let go of DeVille’s hand, stepping fully in front of him.And because the universe has a strange sense of humor, thatknowing-prompted maneuver puts me directly into the path of the third bullet.Apparently, the shifter has already pulled a second weapon.
Purple eyes really do freak the Authority out, even more than for most other people.Through hard-earned experience, no doubt.
Reck grabs for the extended arm of the mage — she’s pulled a wand — even as the shifter gets off a third shot.
The fourth bullet — because I’m apparently counting while still trying to run — abruptly veers to the right, taking a chunk out of the brick back wall of the clubhouse instead of embedding itself in my forehead.
The fifth bullet explodes just as it’s exiting the chamber of the gun.It takes the gun, and possibly the shifter’s finger, with it.
“Holy fuck!”DeVille shouts, tight at my back.
Still running, I weave between the now-screaming shifter clutching his hand and the mage who’s wrestling with Reck.
The rear door to the clubhouse slams open a second time.Surrounded by that darkly tinted miasma of corrupted essence, Chains strides through, swiftly followed by his two berserker buddies.The berserkers haven’t transformed.Yet.
Reck and the mage instantly turn to confront this new threat.But whatever was contained in those dire potion vials gets to them first.It twists up around their feet and legs.The last licks of it grab the wounded shifter as well.He screams, as does the mage.But even as the darkness is twisting around Reck’s neck, he somehow manages to look to us and shout, “Run!”
We’re already running.
We are not, however, faster than a shifter and two berserkers.
Presh screams once more as her brother goes down.I veer around the corner out onto the street, DeVille keeping pace with me.
Theknowingholds me tightly in its grasp, forcing me to run down the middle of the street, toward the beach — I can hear crashing waves in the near distance.A few resorts and motels speckle the coastline to the north, but that all ends abruptly at the forested border to my dominion.A residential area spreads out on the other side of the main road behind us.All the other shops and restaurants around us are closed.I’m hoping that means few innocent bystanders will be caught up in what’s happening — in what’s still about to happen, given the strength of theknowingdragging me forward.
Chains and his buddies are on the street behind us, closing in quickly, when something explodes.Something massive.Debris is suddenly pelting the pavement all around us — metal roofing, hunks of two-by-four, plywood, drywall, and copper piping.
None of it touches me or DeVille or Presh.A clearly delineated path stretches out before us.
Chains and the berserkers shout behind us.Splitting up, they dart to the sidewalks and under the cover of storefront awnings and covered doorways to avoid the rain of debris.
An earth-shattering roar follows the explosion.
Theknowinghiccups oddly, releasing me for a moment.
I stumble to a halt, glancing back.
