Page 53 of One Bad Knight

But I’d bleed myself dry before I let a drop of hers fall.

Blood gushed from the wound in my shoulder, as the piercing white hot pain of its teeth ripped my flesh to shreds.

I punched it in the face, but that only increased the hound’s aggressiveness.

“Close your eyes,” Kat yelled.

I instantly obeyed and felt the fallout from some kind of spray that hissed into the night air. The hound whimpered and released me. Sharp particles of pepper caught in my throat, causing me to cough uncontrollably. I got to my hands and knees, coughing the rest of whatever that crap was out of my lungs. Angry whines came from the hellhound as it alternatively sneezed and growled.

“It’s just pepper spray,” Kat said with a slur. She blinked in astonishment. “Demon No-No is just pepper spray?”

“You low-rent fuck,” Jimi snarled, getting up from the ground where I’d pounded him into a pulp. He bled from his nose and mouth, his left arm dangling awkwardly. I’d broken it. Hair rumpled and suit torn, I could almost see red flash in his dilated, bloodshot eyes. A glint of metal came out from his coat. Two things happened at once.

A shot rang out. My body jerked as white-hot pain seared through my already burning shoulder.

And the hellhound leapt onto Jimi. He fell back into the water lily pond below the glass statue.

It’s drooling maw clamped down on Jimi’s neck. Jimi kicked furiously as he thrashed and fought. With a sickening crack, blood spattered up onto the spikes of the glass statue and Jimi’s legs went limp. And the only sounds were the watery, slurping sounds of the hellhound chewing on Jimi’s body in the pond.

The pain in my shoulder was excruciating, so I did what I was taught. Like cutting a string, I disconnected from the pain. My mind floated above my body as I staggered to my feet.

I was shot. But it didn’t matter. Nothing mattered but the mission.

And Kat was my mission. I would do the one thing, the only thing I was good for. Kill.

I raised my good hand at the hellhound that feasted on Jimi’s face. Light flickered from my hand.

The hell hound didn’t even raise its head as I tried to summon my powers.

You are a killing machine. This is what you do.

Still the light only flickered before I lost the small thread of power I’d grasped.

Voices neared. Someone heard the commotion or the gunshot and was coming to see what was happening.

“Fuck.”

Kat was back to sitting on the ground, her eyes blinking slow and strange. Her faculties had been compromised. That fuck bag had given her something. And I had almost gotten here too late.

The hellhound had beaten me to killing Jimi. Right now, the undead canine was entirely preoccupied with using Jimi’s face as a chew toy.

Knowing better than to rely on my powers to finish the job, I unsheathed the sword that hung on my back. The hellhound’s nose was covered in gore and didn’t notice me approach. I chopped its head off. Its skull landed in the water with a plop and a splash, smashing a water lily. The pain in my ripped-up shoulder began to pulsate, demanding to be felt. Blood covered me—mostly mine, some was Jimi’s.

In a second, I was over Kat, helping her to her feet. Her legs buckled so I led her back to the bench.

More voices joined in.

My hands skimmed lightly over her skin. Warmth sparked in my palms, wherever I touched her. What I would do to take away her pain…

Deep scratches from the thorns marred her back and shoulders, but apart from that and her wooziness, she seemed to be okay.

“Princess, are you alright?” I asked, my voice husky from the fight.

She looked up at me, her brows furrowing, mouth turning into a pout. “What are you doing here? I sent you away.”

My heart plummeted straight to my feet. I straightened and backed away.

“I heard it over here,” a voice shouted. I could see the red and blue lights over the hedges. The police were here.