Page 44 of The Cauldronball Run
A troll picked him up by the ankle and used him as a club to hit another demon."Troll way is best way."
The clubbed demon went sliding across the floor on a trail of his own meltwater, crashing into a stack of boxes labeled evidence.The boxes exploded, revealing confiscated racing supplies, and what looked like Bondo's collection of fake spy gadgets.
"My tracking devices," Bondo cried, diving for a box of what looked like regular car air fresheners with tracking device written on them in Sharpie."Those are classified."Bondo dove for them and accidentally clotheslined a demon.
The demon spun, slipped on the energy drinks now rolling across the floor, and crashed into his partner.They went down in a tangle of limbs and melting ice.
That's when Smokie walked through the main entrance, Mr.Snuggles under one arm and his eyes wide at the carnage.
"Oh no," he said loudly."What a terrible situation that I've walked into completely by accident."
He pulled out his key ring, fumbled with it dramatically, and flung it across the warehouse where it landed near the prisoners.
"Oops," Smokie said."Butter fingers.Now I have to go get those keys."
He took one step forward and then fell flat on his face with a theatrical "Oof!"
"Oh no," he said into the floor."I've been knocked unconscious.I'll probably be out for twenty minutes.Maybe thirty.Can't see anything that's happening."
He commenced the fakest snoring J.J.had ever heard.
The battle was winding down.Most of the demons had given up and were sitting in puddles of their own meltwater, hands raised in surrender.One was actually crying.
"I just wanted a summer job," he sobbed."Mom said security work would be easy money."
"There," a troll shouted, pointing at a door markedImpound-Evidence."Our rides!"
The rush for the door was immediate and chaotic.The trolls, of course, ignored the door entirely and went through the wall next to it.
"Doors are for humans," one bellowed as they crashed through.
"Wall-breaking is proper way," the other agreed.
The trolls' RV and Bondo's Astin Martin were there.
"My baby," one troll crooned, actually hugging the tire.
"Everything's still here," Bondo announced."They didn't find the secret compartment."
"You mean the glove box?"Torch asked.
"Secret.Compartment."
As J.J.and Farrah ran past Smokie's still form, the deputy raised one hand in a subtle wave without lifting his head.
"Still unconscious," he announced."Can't see which way anyone went.I might be unconscious for another hour."
Engines roared to life.
"Let's go!"someone shouted.
J.J.started the ambulance and pulled Farrah into the passenger seat.Through the bond, he felt her exhaustion giving way to adrenaline and joy.
The convoy hit the desert highway like a supernatural stampede.In the lead, the trolls' RV left grooves in the asphalt.Behind them, the dragons wove between lanes on their bikes.Bondo brought up the rear.
J.J.kept one hand on the wheel and reached for Farrah with the other.Her fingers laced through his, and through the bond he felt her exhaustion mixing with love.
“I love you,” he said to her.
