Witch Hunt(25)

Joey pulled me to my feet again and dragged me when I didn’t get up fast enough. He was six inches shorter than me and twice as strong. But I could feel the powder on my tongue tingling, and the strength in my muscles was growing quickly with a familiar buzz.
My shitty spell had worked. Better still, it had worked well. My limbs felt limber and strong. My head was light. Everything fell into hyper-focus—probably the luck part of the spell.
It felt great. Good enough that I didn’t even panic when I noticed the manmade ditch that had been carved into the side of the road just off the shoulder.
The kopis kicked me behind the knees, making me fall on the edge. And then I felt a gun in the back of my head.
It was a by-the-book roadside execution. They would blow our brains out, leave us out of sight of the few people who even come out this way for off-roading, let the coyotes pick our bleached bones.
Definitely not union     procedure.
But I didn’t know that for a fact—maybe this was what the union     did when they black bagged people. Maybe everyone I’d ever arrested had ended up in a ditch in the desert.
Or maybe these fuckers were working for the asshole who had framed me for murder.
Either way, I wasn’t going down. My heart was pounding and I was smiling.
“Say a prayer,” Joey said, pushing the barrel hard into the back of my neck.
This should have been so much scarier than it was.
Lifting my bound, burning hands into a prayer position, I began to speak. “Hail Mary, full of grace, hallowed be thy name. Thy kingdom come, something, something, Heaven…and fuck you, asshole. Amen.”
I twisted and flung the remaining dust into Joey’s face.
A gunshot exploded next to my left ear.
So much for hearing.
His mouth opened in a roar that I couldn’t hear. He fell, dropping the gun, clawing at his face. His skin was rippling and twisting. Watching the boils rise was almost worse than feeling it happen.
Almost.
Eduardo dropped his grip on Stonecrow’s arm and aimed his gun at me. She was gone in an instant, rocketing toward the SUV with its open doors.
Good. One less thing to worry about.
I lunged to my feet and drove my shoulder into Eduardo’s gut, knocking the breath out of him. I managed to throw his ass to the ground. Jerked the gun out of his hand. My fingers were too swollen from the dust to grip it properly. I fumbled, dropping it.
Joey and his Elephant Man features were coming after me again. I kicked sand into his face—into those open, oozing wounds. He screamed.
Eduardo was getting up again. I swung my tethered fists at him and struck. He grunted, tried to punch me, and missed. He barely managed to claw at my face as he fell. My own boils erupted, pouring pus down my jaw.
Both of them regained their footing and jumped on me at the same time. We scuffled, and I didn’t know who was yelling and which guy was elbowing me. Feet and fists slammed into me. I curled up, protected my head. Managed to kick Joey to the ground, and he stayed down. But Eduardo didn’t.
When I glanced through my arms, he was drawing a gun from his jacket. He aimed it at my forehead.
All the supernatural ways I could’ve gone out in this world, and a bullet between the eyes was going to finish me.
How boring.
The gunshot rang in my ears.
But I wasn’t in pain.
I wasn’t dead, either.
It took me a second to sit up and figure what had happened. Eduardo was on the ground next to me, also still alive, but out cold. Stonecrow was holding a bloody rock in one fist, looking shocked that she had actually managed to bash it into his skull hard enough to do damage.
I’d thought Stonecrow had run for it and left me behind, but she had saved me.
I managed a grin for her.
Joey was getting up behind her, preparing to sneak up while she was distracted. I got to my feet and kicked him a few times in the gut, knocking him back down to the dirt. And then I kicked him in the face. Pustules exploded all over the desert.
“Thanks,” Stonecrow said, pushing a lock of hair out of her face with the back of her wrist. She left a smear of blood and dust on her temple.
I kicked Joey again, just because.
“You’re welcome,” I said.



There were more zip ties in the SUV, so once Stonecrow and I had cut free of our restraints, I used them on Eduardo and Joey. They were both awake when I finished. Eduardo seemed like he was having a hard time staying awake, head lolling—he might have had a concussion, but I didn’t really care. Joey was much more conscious and much uglier.
I crouched in front of them. The sun was at their back because I was nice like that. Evening was coming fast. They might not even get sunburned before it got dark again.
“So how was this supposed to end?” I asked. “Was it secret union     procedure, or something personal?”