Mindee Arnett - Proxy

“Oh!” Lizzie said, catching on. A few seconds later she pointed to the left. “It’s there.”

Jeth steered the truck up onto the sidewalk. The anticollision alarms began to sound, filling the truck with a piercing wail. “Celeste, grab me a stunner,” Jeth called over his shoulder.

By the time he brought the truck to a stop, blocking the alley as well as he could, Celeste was handing one to him. “Take over,” he said, standing up.

Celeste stepped into the cab, assuming his place in the pilot’s seat as he exited the truck. Jeth primed the stunner and headed into the alley.

Within seconds he saw Danforth running his way. He looked crazed, his eyes wide and his mouth open in a silent scream.

“Stop, Danforth,” someone shouted from down the alley. “It was an accident. We aren’t going to hurt you, I swear!”

So they did try to kill him , Jeth thought. And the slimy bastard had gotten away.

Danforth slowed when he saw Jeth, stumbling over the litter-strewn alley floor. Behind Danforth, Aileen was closing in with the Luke 357 in her hand. So much for not hurting him .

“Duck,” Jeth said, raising the stunner. As Danforth did so, Jeth took aim. The stunner was small, meant for short range, but Jeth was a good shot. He exhaled, a calm spreading over him. Time seemed to stretch as he watched Aileen’s eyes register his presence and her hands raise the gun in response. It didn’t matter. Jeth was in his element. He pulled the trigger, and the stunner bolt burst out from the end of the gun in a flash of brilliant blue light.

Aileen tried to dodge it, but it struck her in the chest, and she crumpled to the ground. A thrill of triumph rose up in Jeth but died at once as Danforth barreled past him, heading toward the end of the alley. Jeth turned and followed after him, aiming the stunner at his back.

Shady stepped around the corner just as Danforth reached it and, with one vicious swipe of his arm, caught Danforth across the neck and sent him flying backward. Danforth’s head cracked against the pavement as he landed.

Jeth reached them, and together he and Shady hauled Danforth up and shoved him into the truck.

“Let’s go,” Jeth said when they were all inside.

Celeste punched the controls, and the truck launched forward. Jeth turned away from the front window and headed into the cargo hold, where they’d dumped Danforth in the aisle between the barrels. Jeth set the stunner on one of the barrels, and then he stooped over Danforth and began to search his pockets. The ruby had to be on him. Why else would Aileen have pursued him down the alley? Danforth had traded his Wellforth uniform for a footman’s long black jacket. A hard bulge in the right front pocket drew Jeth’s focus.

As Jeth pulled the ruby out, Danforth’s eyes flashed open. He reached for the ruby, trying to snatch it from Jeth’s hand. Jeth pulled back and then struck Danforth in the temple with the back of his fist. Danforth cried out and tried to roll away, but there was nowhere to go in the cramped space.

Jeth raised his hand, ready to hit him again, ready to leave him bloody and unconscious. But he held back as an inhuman howl issued from Danforth’s throat.

“Please,” he said, pushing himself into a sitting position. “Please, Jeth. Please don’t tell Hammer.” Danforth reached toward him, the gesture one of supplication instead of threat. “Please don’t tell him.”

Jeth took a step back, his stomach churning as he watched a tendril of black liquid slip from Danforth’s nose and into his mouth.

“Please, Jeth, please.” Danforth slowly got to his feet, his whole body trembling from something more than fear.

“It’s too late.” Pity and revulsion twisted inside Jeth’s chest like snakes. “He already knows.”

Danforth shrieked, the sound a piercing strike against Jeth’s eardrums. Then, with surprising speed, Danforth leaped forward, crashing into him. Jeth stumbled and went down, Danforth on top of him, his stinking, rotted breath hot on his face, choking him.

Danforth was a thing possessed, not man but force —desperation and madness made flesh. He clawed at Jeth’s face, trying to gouge out his eyes. Jeth fought back, dropping the ruby as he moved to protect his face. Danforth reared up, his mouth open and teeth bared.

He’s going to bite me , Jeth thought, horrified.

“Get him off!”

But Shady was already there, trying to grab hold of Danforth’s thrashing limbs. Danforth struck Shady in the nose with one wild punch, and Jeth heard the crack as it broke. Shady bellowed in pain and stumbled backward.

Flynn came at him next, but he stood little chance, still weakened from the stunner blow. Danforth struck him in the temple and he went down.

Jeth managed to get his hands on Danforth’s shoulder, holding him off but just barely. He was bigger than Danforth, but the fervor of Danforth’s addiction-fueled madness lent him unnatural strength. A wet heat slid down Jeth’s face, blood from where Danforth’s nails had cut him.

Danforth continued to thrash, his strength unrelenting. Jeth tilted his head back as far as he could, trying to keep it out of danger. Above and behind him, he saw Lizzie standing with the stunner gripped in her shaking hands, fear etched across her face.

“Shoot him!” Jeth screamed.

Lizzie hesitated a moment longer. Danforth’s mouth brushed Jeth’s arm as the man changed the focus of his attack.

“Shoot him!” Jeth felt teeth clench down on his forearm, and the skin, so soft and vulnerable, tore in a blaze of white heat.

“Shoot him, Liz! Shoot him!”

Jeth saw her expression harden. A second later a loud crack and a burst of blue light filled the cargo hold. Jeth felt the heat of the stunner shot warm his face, and then he slipped into darkness.

JETH DIDN’T REGAIN CONSCIOUSNESS UNTIL THEY WERE almost back to the Debonair . He sat up and looked around, spying Lizzie sitting on top of a barrel across from him. She looked guilt-stricken.

“Are you okay?” she asked, her voice far too quiet for his normally boisterous sister.

Jeth rubbed his aching head. It hurt, but not nearly as much as it would have if the stunner had hit him directly instead of just grazing him. There was that to be grateful for, at least. He slid his hand over his face, inspecting the damage with his fingers. Blood crusted the cuts on his cheeks where Danforth had clawed him. He needed to disinfect them soon. The bite on his arm was worse. He hoped one of the barrels was still full so he could douse it in alcohol.

“I’m fine,” Jeth said at last, looking up. He smiled, hiding the wince as the gesture pulled at his cuts. “You did good.”

She nodded, her expression unchanged.

Jeth frowned. “What’s wrong? Why are you so upset?”

“She thinks she killed him,” Shady said from where he stood in the opposite corner from Lizzie. He was casually tossing the Heart of the Universe from hand to hand like a baseball. Celeste and Flynn were in the cab of the truck. Shady pointed toward the back. Jeth turned and saw Danforth in a heap of tangled limbs.

“That’s nonsense,” Jeth said, getting to his feet. “He’ll be fine. It was just a stunner.” He walked over to Danforth and examined his face. Burner blood flowed freely from his nostrils, as well as his eyes and ears. Jeth swallowed. Maybe he wasn’t going to be all right. He bent over and felt for a pulse in Danforth’s neck. He found it after a few seconds. It was weak, but his Odyssey-ravaged heart was still beating.

Jeth turned back to Lizzie. “He’ll survive. The worst of it he did to himself.”

Lizzie didn’t say anything, and Jeth recoiled from the onslaught of guilt. Please don’t die . He didn’t want Lizzie shouldering that kind of burden.