Free Into the Shadows by Gavin Green Page B

and my old TV. I wasn't expecting an attack, let alone one
from a girl who was strong enough to launch me halfway through my
living room. I was stunned, more from her strength than anything
else.
    As I was trying to sit up, Macie stepped
inside. Immediately after her were two guys in black coats with the
Realm logo on them; they moved past her and moved to either side of
the room. Both had taser guns. My attention was brought back to my
front door, where another guy in slacks and a sweater came in like
he was an honored guest. It was the pissed off pretty boy from the
upscale bar, except he didn't look very pretty anymore. One side of
his face looked like it was pressed against an electric stove
burner while it was hot; there was a pattern of charred,
half-circle burns from cheek to forehead. Ouch.
    Macie shut the front door behind her and
leaned against it. The taser guys stayed where they were. The
formerly-pretty boy took a few steps toward me, looking royally
pissed. My little Ruger was on the end table behind me and to my
right, next to my phone and the only lit lamp in the room. My other
guns were back in my bedroom. The only other weapons were knives in
the kitchen back behind me. The tasers pointed at me would've lit
me up before I could get off my ass anyway, so I was screwed.

    ABDUCTION
    "You interfered with my hunt," the guy with
the ugly burns growled at me. "I'm going to have some retribution
before we move on."
    "Don't have too much fun, Evan," Macie said
as she checked her painted nails. "I'm quite sure that the
Doyenne's orders specified that Mr. Beck be delivered in good
condition."
    Evan turned his head back to her and said,
"You're just concerned that your debt to her won't be considered
paid if he isn't." He half-turned her way and pointed a finger at
her. "You're not one of us, so I don't care -"
    My leg sweep interrupted Evan, and the heel
of my other foot that caught him in the hip was enough to send him
sprawling into my bookshelf. I jumped to my feet, aware that I was
about to be tasered. But I'd be damned if I was going out without
giving a douche like Evan a good whack.
    No tasers, no mind-numbing shock like I
expected. Macie was holding a hand up, palm forward, signaling the
men not to shoot. I glanced between her and Evan; he was glaring
daggers at me while he slowly got up, and she was giggling. "I told
you to be careful, didn't I?"
    "Shut up, Macie," Evan said with a petulant
snarl.
    "In fact, I told you to just let the mortals
take care of it. That's why I charmed them on the way over; I knew
you'd do something impulsive, selfish and stupid."
    I had no clue what they were talking about,
and didn't care. The only things I wondered was how much of a
conspiracy was going on to bring two vaguely familiar faces to my
door, and why they planned on abducting me. "Hey, Evan," I said,
getting his attention, "you were on the hunt for a middle-aged
woman? Is that the best you can do? Can't keep up with the younger
gals, eh, pal? The reason I cut in was because you were grinding on
her like she was your mom." Yeah, I wanted to piss him off.
    It worked. Evan was in front of me before I
could put my hands up. I caught a punch in the gut, but it wasn't a
good shot because his stance was off and he didn't have much of a
physique to back it up. He was quick, though. On the other hand, he
was cocky, and probably thought his punch would drop me.
    I slapped him with an open palm right on his
facial burns. Yeah, you could say it was a bitch-slap, but I was
simply trying to hit as much of his wound as I could. Evan flinched
and yelled in pain. I wanted more distance between us, so I put my
weight into a front kick that caught him in the chest and sent him
stumbling back to the front wall. The impact knocked the picture of
my brother Al off its nail.
    Macie laughed. Evan glared at her before he
turned his bright eyes to me. Yes, bright; his eyes were nearly
glowing. Two other things I noticed real quick: one, he