Kicking It(115)

Justin and the cops looked at me, stunned. Worse, they didn’t move.

I wasn’t far away, but I wasn’t fast enough. The shadow boiled over and a gaseous figure emerged. Well, I’d been looking for one of these creatures. Now I had one. Great.

At the creature’s appearance the cop stumbled back, out of the shadow, but Justin stood there, his eyes going wide and his mouth opening in a wordless scream. The creature had no features, but it had no trouble zeroing in on a victim. It lifted what vaguely passed as an arm and swung gaseous talons toward Justin’s chest.

I grabbed him by the shoulders and threw us both backward. The talons passed within inches of us while we fell, and I summoned my crossbow. I squeezed and the bolt shot outward, taking the creature in the chest. Purple lightning passed through the shadow and it paused, but didn’t stop.

I hit the ground but used my momentum to keep moving, and rolled over on my shoulder. I landed on my feet in a crouch, another bolt in my hand, but before I could aim, gunfire sounded behind me. A bullet whizzed by and I ducked low. My jacket was spelled to be bulletproof, but that didn’t mean I wanted to get hit—it would hurt like hell. Justin had pressed himself completely flat on the pavement, but he was still dangerously close to the shadows, not to mention the rain of bullets. What are they thinking?

“There are people here!” The words didn’t have any effect on the amount of gunfire flying around us. They’re panicking. Monsters could do that to people. And speaking of . . . I chanced a glance up at the creature. The bullets slowed as they passed through it, but passed through it they did, and from what I could tell, did no damage.

As the cops seemed intent on emptying their clips, I needed to get out of the line of fire. Dropping, I rolled toward my Hummer. The pavement scraped against my hands, but it took only two rolls to get mostly clear. I ran the last few yards and ducked by the front tire.

The sound of an approaching engine tore my attention from the creature and to Officer Russell Lancaster as he jumped out of his car and ran toward the cover of my Hummer. He had his gun out and at the ready. I looked at it and shook my head.

“You shouldn’t be here, and please do not fire at the creature—there is already enough wasted lead in Justin’s car.”

“I wanted to help.” He sounded very young as he said it, and I tried to force a kind smile to my face.

“You helped already. Go home.”

The sound of guns clicking empty filled the parking lot, and I rose, looking to see if anyone was reloading. They all appeared out. Finally.

Charging at the creature, I summoned my crossbow again, this time with a knockout bolt. The shot passed through what passed for its head. No effect. Okay, something else. I released the crossbow and drew a dagger. It froze any substance it cut—which worked great on water elementals—but did a smoky shadow have substance?

The creature struck at chest level when I approached, which I anticipated, so I went low, driving the dagger up into the hazy shape. For a moment veins of ice crystals spread around the blade. Yes. Then they collapsed on themselves, falling to coat my hand in cold water. Damn.

I withdrew the dagger, aiming a side kick at the shadow as I holstered the blade. My foot slid into the creature’s chest and numbness spiraled up my leg. With the pain and chill came a wave of soul-eating sorrow. Why am I fighting this thing? Why bother. It’s hopeless.

I dropped my leg and stumbled back. The chill dissipated quickly, but the apathetic sorrow was harder to shake. I stood before the creature, and I just couldn’t care that it was hurting people. That it could kill me if I didn’t find a way to stop it.

It just didn’t matter.

“Inspector!”

A body slammed into me, knocking me aside. Then the screaming started. I turned, slow, too slow. Russell stood beside me, his head thrown back, mouth open wide in agony. Dark talons emerged from his chest, and the creature moved as if it were trying to pull sticky saltwater taffy out of his body.

No. Anger burned through me, blotting out the cold traces of false despair. Grabbing Russell, I dragged him backward, far from the shadows around the sedan. Tears slipped from his eyes as he collapsed into himself.

I gritted my teeth and looked from him to the creature. It didn’t know it yet, but it was dead. Right now it was on borrowed time. I fingered the vials on my bandolier, determining the method of the creature’s death. At my sternum, a disk buzzed with a soft heat. Derrick’s charm, healing the last of what touching that creature did to me. He knows. We were going to have to have words. Leaving Russell to a misery I had no idea how to fix, I stormed across the pavement, stopping a few feet from the shadows around the sedan.