Witches for Hire (Odd Jobs #1)(50)
There was a pause, and Jeremy muttered, “This should be fun.”
“Have at it,” Clive said.
Large creatures jumped from treetop to treetop in furry flashes. Edarra pressed her foot harder on the gas pedal. It wouldn’t make a difference. Werewolves could keep pace with a car, and they were going to catch up soon.
“Since this is your wish, try not to get me killed,” Jeremy said grumpily. A tiny bit of light shimmered in front of them in a crosshatch of squares, and he shouted, “Brakes!”
Edarra slammed her foot down just as Jeremy thrust his hand toward the windshield. Usually the power that witches summoned left the wand in a thin stream of concentrated magic. Bursts of magic from their hands when surprised looked like clear balls of energy that, while weaker, could hit more surface area. But the magic streaming from Jeremy’s wand was unlike anything Edarra had ever seen. It was a cone of opaque green light that was thickest where it left the wand’s tip but spread out in a fan that blew out the windshield and the net of the magic trap where it impacted. For an instant, lines of the same color magic appeared on Jeremy’s skin wherever it was uncovered and then vanished. The bumper crashed into the remnants of the ward, crumpling the engine and then stopping just as the dashboard began to bend. Burnt magic filled her nostrils, and dimly she thought she heard the sound of screams from somewhere far away. Whoever erected the trap had received blowback from Jeremy’s attack. She looked at him, but he was leaning forward, gasping for breath. “Are you all right?”
Jeremy nodded but continued taking in deep gulps of air.
Edarra slammed her palm into the door, breaking it open with little time to spare as werewolves leaped off the buildings and landed on nearby parked cars. She whistled like a dog owner calling its pet to chow. “If you want the body, come and get it, Lassie.” She hoped Simone was correct that this was a greater insult than “hellhound spawn.”
In unison, the werewolves jumped. I guess she was right, Edarra thought as she dodged the first wolf and scrambled away from the claws of a second one. “Too slow.” The third wolf lunged at her. She clutched her open door and yanked it off its hinges when the wolf was inches from her face. Pain crackled through her fingers, the net’s magic and Jeremy’s warring inside the metal. Edarra slammed the door into the muzzle snapping closer, and then she sliced the door’s jagged edge across the wolf’s throat. The werewolf spun with the force of her attack, and Edarra jumped above the wolf with her elbow raised. She came down on the back of its neck with a loud crunch as neck and shoulder bones broke. Edarra grabbed the werewolf’s other arm and used it for momentum as she swung her leg hard into the creature’s back. The werewolf howled and frantically waved his furry arms from the pain of having its spine snapped. Edarra turned in time to catch another wolf by its neck and knee it under its chest. She threw the wolf into the first attacker, stunning them as their heads knocked against each other. The wolf whose back she had broken lay still. An unconscious wolf was less likely to wake up soon, so she dragged it to the back of her SUV and threw it on top of the dead body.
“Is that a great idea?” Jeremy asked rather squeakily.
“Only if you can get it together and get my car running soon.” She got back in her seat and drummed her fingers on her steering wheel as Jeremy pulled out his phone and called Clive to give them a magical boost.
AT THE office, Simone wheeled the body to the wide-open space of the lobby after Edarra arrived with a big smile on her face. The woman deserved to be proud after whooping that much ass.
Rudy shook his head in awe as he received communications with his pack through an earpiece. He was looking pretty snazzy in all black werewolf battle gear. Snuggling up to him would have been nice if she knew where he wore his emergency grenades. “She broke a werewolf in half,” he whispered after contacting the pack to pick up their prisoner. Unsurprisingly, the captured wolf’s companions had disappeared when another wolf arrived to scout the scene.
“Tell me later,” Simone said. I guess he’s not upset since these wolves aren’t local. “Jeremy, you got my stuff?” she asked without looking over her shoulder.
“No, those wheels you hear belong to a dinner trolley.” Jeremy rolled the cart next to the body as if he was going to slump over it and sleep. “This weighs a ton. Do you really need all of this?”
“Probably not, but it’s easier to perform the ritual without heading to my desk or your office every five minutes. Is Gorgeous here yet?”
“Fashionably late, as only assholes can be.”
“He actually called to say he was ten minutes away,” Clive said.
“If my part is done, I’ll wait outside in case someone wants to attack the office directly.” Edarra yawned. “Have fun with the corpse.”
When the door closed behind her, Rudy opened his arms wide. “She took a dude this big and broke him in half,” he said while miming breaking a stick. “I thought only large shit that shift into humans could do that.”
Simone pointed outside. “Honey, go fangirl out of my way.” And then I am so jumping you when I get home.
Rudy walked to the entrance and stopped just outside the door. His hips shimmied slightly so his butt popped from side to side like some Special Forces stripper. “I saw you checking this out.”