Free Tome of Bill (Companion): Shining Fury by Rick Gualtieri Page A

Vincent’s fate. My aura flared out and melted the slug mid-air – a sizzling flash of vapor appeared roughly halfway between Vincent and Kelly. Either Jacob was a crap shot, or he hadn’t been aiming to kill.
    Nevertheless, I heard the Templar cry out, albeit seemingly more in anger than pain.
    For a moment, the roar of the gun continued to echo before I was finally able to hear the breath that had caught in my throat. I quickly turned my head, but Vincent appeared unhurt. The radio, however, was lying on the hardwood floor.
    “Damn me,” Vincent whispered.
    Kelly was slightly less magnanimous with her words. “What the ever-flying fuck, asshole?!” she shouted at our less than gracious host.
    Jacob, for his part, coolly worked the lever on his rifle, chambering another round. “I’d ask you to mind your manners in my house.” He then turned to me. “I knew it. You’re her. The second I shined my light on you and saw them freaky white eyes, I said to myself ‘you done caught yourself a prize trout tonight, old man.’”
    “You know who I am?” It was a stupid question, but I needed a moment to process things ... not to mention steady myself. Now that the split second action was over, my mind again registered the weapon pointed our way, the barrel still smoking, and looking so much larger in my mind’s eye.
    How fate had chosen me for this burden I would never know, but if such an abstract concept could feel disappointment, I was certain it was feeling that now.
    Steeling myself, I stepped in front of Vincent and Kelly. “Pick up that radio and call the others.”
    “You do and you’ll regret it,” Jacob said. “I didn’t have to miss. Don’t go thinking I’ll do it again.”
    “Kelly, blast out the wall behind us. We’re leaving.” That last part was perhaps unnecessary. Jacob was alone. My powers could render his weapon useless, and I had little doubt I could disarm him once I was close enough. My aura couldn’t harm him, but combat skills could easily take over where powers failed.
    Or so I tried to tell myself.
    He’s not Remington. Remington is dead. That won’t happen again – ever again!
    A smile crossed Jacob’s face. I got the impression he could read the indecision on mine. “Maybe not as powerful as all that, are you? I’m beginning to wonder what all the kerfuffle was about.”
    “Try me.”
    “If it’s all the same to you, I think I’ll try your friends instead. I said don’t even think about that goddamned radio!” Jacob let go of the stock of his gun and reached a wrinkled arm behind him to extract something from the back pocket of the overalls he wore. He produced what looked like a metal tube.
    “That’s it? What makes you think that’s going to scare us?”
    “For all that light that came shining out of you, you’re none too bright. I assume you’ve never seen a pipe bomb up close before, have you?”
    * * *
    That was unexpected, but thankfully didn’t produce the same Pavlovian response in me that his gun had. “I can protect my friends from that.”
    “Maybe you can, and maybe you can’t. But can you protect them from the floor being blown out from beneath you, the walls caving in?”
    I gritted my teeth behind my closed lips. What the hell was Kelly doing behind me? We should have been out of here by now.
    “Blessed one?” Vincent asked uncertainly.
    “Do it. He’s bluffing.”
    “Think so, eh? I did three tours of ‘Nam. Learned to make these beauties there. Something I picked up from the locals. Oh, and don’t go worrying about me. I’ve lived a long life. Got no regrets. Only thing I care about is my daughter.”
    “What will she think of you doing this?”
    “I imagine she’ll be right fine with it considering she’s been spreading the word to keep an eye out for people like you.”
    There came a noise from down the hall, a door opening and footsteps heading our way.
    “Ah, that sounds like her now.”
    “Kelly,” I warned. She really