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Juggernaut and Grove, however, were still tangling with their boar.

It whirled in a circle and Juggernaut ducked beneath its tusks. “That was unfairly easy for you, Blood,” he said. “Why can’t we all get guns?” He tried shooting the boar with a bolt of purple lightning but missed and struck the traffic light above us instead, blowing the light out and showering us with glass.

Grove shook his head at Juggernaut with pity as he rummaged around in his bag. “Wow, you’re really oblivious. I’m possibly the least responsible of our team, and evenIknow why only April and Blood get guns.”

I grabbed Grove and yanked him backwards, whisking him away just before the boar slammed into the tree Grove had been standing by.

The boar broke through the tree trunk like it was a toothpick, shattering it so chips of the trunk and splinters shot through the air.

I took cover behind a trash can and yanked Grove after me. Unfortunately, he was a second too late and was pelted with some shrapnel.

I felt my throat tighten before the scent of blood hit me, and I made a hurried inspection of Grove. It didn’t look serious—he had a few cuts on his face, but his uniform wasn’t even frayed.

The tree trunk was caught in the boar’s tusks, so it thrashed until the trunk slid and fell off into the street.

I let go of Grove and he staggered a step. “Grove, stay out of range,” I said.

“Gotcha. Lesson learned,” Grove said.

The second boar was thrashing too much for me to get a good shot—he was pretty upset about the poison in his eye—so I flicked my safety on and holstered my gun.

I pulled one of my daggers free and flung it at the monster, hitting it in the chest.

Its’ tough hide prevented the blade from digging in, so I’m not certain it even felt the dagger as it bellowed its anger.

Juggernaut tried his lightning bolt again. He hit it this time—square in the head, an excellent shot—but the boar just shook it off nailing Juggernaut with one of his tusks and tossing him backwards.

I held my breath until Juggernaut popped upright, his expression angry but not hurt.

“Juggernaut, try aiming for the chest!” I shouted.

Juggernaut threw up another shield, trying to stop the boar from charging a parked car. “That’s kind of a hard target.”

The shield shattered when the boar smacked into it, but it made the monster stop, spin around, and come racing back at us, so the car was spared.

“Don’t worry!” Grove winked at us. “I got this.” He held the tiny vial that always hung from his neck, then glanced over at the fallen, splintered tree.

The severed tree abruptly stood upright, then tipped over falling directly on top of the boar entrapping it within its branches.

“Revenge of the tree!” Grove shouted.

Juggernaut scowled in concentration. “I’m taking my shot!” He announced before a massive purple bolt of thunder erupted from the sky, striking the boar and the tree.

The boar died with a squeal, and the tree lit up on fire like a massive torch.

Juggernaut swore and used his magic to create purple water which he dropped on the flaming tree, extinguishing it.

“I don’t know what caused more damage, you or the boar,” Grove said.

I checked to make sure both monsters were dead before I turned down the street. “Come on, we’ve gotta go.”

“Go where?” Grove asked.

“After the last boar,” I called, already about a block down.

“We’re running?” Juggernaut yelled after me.

“We don’t have a car!” I pointed back at the crunched mess of metal we’d arrived in.