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

needed to get with the program already.
    Jacob stepped aside, and three more people entered the room. More stood out in the hall, but the room was too small to accommodate them. I was expecting police uniforms, maybe the welcoming committee from earlier, but they all wore civilian gear, including the lone female among them.
    Their presence itself wasn’t alarming so much as what they were carrying – curved daggers made of blackened metal. I’d seen similar weapons before, had felt their sting. My fear of guns was purely in my head, trauma that my subconscious refused to let go of. These things, however, were cold, hard reality. They could somehow cut through my aura like butter.
    They could kill me.
    Sadly, I wasn’t the only one in danger. The newcomers had come prepared. The two on either side of the woman, the apparent ringleader here, produced handguns in addition to their blades. I didn’t need to be psychic to assume the ones still in the hall were all likewise armed.
    “Cuff them,” the woman, Cynthia presumably, said.
    Two of them stepped forward, and my aura instinctively flared to life. The glow, however, washed harmlessly over them. They were human.
    “Cut that out before we have to start cutting you,” Cynthia said. She smiled, but her grin was far more predatory than humorous.
    “Why are you doing this?” I asked.
    “Because the glory of Ib commands us.”
     

CHAPTER 15
    With little room to maneuver, outnumbered, and against foes I wasn’t even certain I wanted to hurt, we had little choice.
    We’d come up here expecting to fight vampires and God knows what else. We’d assumed the people of Boston needed saving, that they were victims. I had little doubt most were, but this added a new twist to things. Who knew how many had somehow been convinced, compelled, or otherwise twisted into serving the darkness that ruled this city?
    “Stand down,” I said to my friends. However, it didn’t seem to be necessary with at least one of them. Kelly averted her eyes from my gaze. She hadn’t even attempted to use her magic. What the hell was her game?
    Cynthia turned to her father. “You did well.” He seemed pleased to hear it, but that was the extent of her praise. I got no sense of her returning the fatherly love practically beaming in his eyes. You’d have thought she was a stranger in off the street for all the affection she showed him back.
    “Was it worth it?” I asked while one of the men cuffed my hands in manacles made of that same blackened metal.
    “Food, medicine, protection, and my daughter,” Jacob said. “When you reach my age, there isn’t much more you want out of life. What can you offer in return?” He laughed and then tossed the pipe bomb into the air, letting it flip end over end before he caught it.
    He must’ve seen my eyes widen because he added, “You should have called my bluff. All I’m gonna do with this is finish fixing the sink after you’re gone.”
    * * *
    They picked up Vincent’s radio then searched the three of us thoroughly. Degrading as it was, though, there didn’t appear to be anything salacious about it. Even when rough hands slipped beneath my bra, there was no hint of anything other than business-like focus on the faces around us. Either these guys were professionals or full-on thralls. I was beginning to get an idea which.
    After that was done, Vincent and Kelly were handcuffed behind their backs like me, except theirs were more the mundane – although equally inescapable – variety.
    Cynthia, followed by Jacob, led us outside. We were marched out front where the first rays of the morning sun shone down upon us. “Stop here,” Cynthia commanded once we’d reached the edge of the road. She turned to face me. “We were told to expect you.”
    “That much is apparent,” I remarked. “Your master would have to know I’d come looking for him eventually.”
    “Our master doesn’t care about your silly prophecy. The eyes of Ib see further