Tim Marquitz - Armageddon Bound

I felt the rumble of thunder rattle the house as I neared the apex. It was then Veronica pulled away, sitting up on the bed, her eyes narrow.

“Did you feel that?”

I growled as I grabbed her arm, tugging her back down toward my crotch. She resisted. “Of course I felt it, now don’t stop. I was almost there.” Thinking she needed a bit of romance to regain her motivation, I added, “You’re pretty.”

She pushed my frantic, clutching hands away.

“Not that, idiot. The house is shaking.”

Frustrated, I only half heard what she said.

“What are you talking about?” She didn’t need to answer.

I felt the pressure in the room drop suddenly as a sound like a 747 firing its engines roared up right outside my window, vibrating the entire house. My lungs tightened in my chest as I felt a surge of supernatural energy coalesce somewhere nearby. There was a hell of a lot of it. Pants around my ankles, I dove for the floor dragging Veronica with me.

With an explosion of sound, the roof of my house was blown away, frenzied winds whipping above us. Shards of wood and tile flew past, caught up in the fury of the blast. The front walls followed a second later, furniture and household goods were swept along like an Alabama trailer park during twister season. I felt a wave of energy prickle my skin and pulled Veronica tighter against me in anticipation. We were going for a ride.

A gust of wind blew through the house, aimed lower this time, catching up everything in its wake. The bed tumbled over and the mattress landed over top of us with a thump as the magical tornado whirled through the room. Slid across the floor, we were slammed hard into the bedroom wall. The plasterboard shattered and gave way as we struck. The support studs creaked and cracked against my back, but they held. I cried out in pain as I was wedged against the boards, but nothing could be heard above the wail of the winds. I felt a series of heavy impacts against the mattress that lay over us as more of the house rained down. I was suddenly glad of the extra money I’d spent on the quality bed as its padded bulk shielded us from further harm. With it blocking the majority of the wind’s force, and the detritus that came with it, I rolled over and placed Veronica behind me. Her eyes were wide, frantic, looking for a way out. I couldn’t blame her. I wasn’t exactly feeling all that brave myself, but I knew this wasn’t some natural disaster. Someone was trying to kill us. Worse yet, they’d interrupted us during sex. I felt my face heat up as I thought about how close I had been to getting off. I ground my teeth together as I looked down at my limp dick, the moment ruined. Someone was gonna die for this. I pulled my pants up as the wind calmed outside our makeshift fort, the ear-splitting whistle dropping to a quiet whine, then to nothing. With the storm settling, I knew it was only a matter of moments until whoever blew the roof off would come looking to finish the job. Not wasting anymore time, I leaned past Veronica and kicked the remaining plasterboard away, opening a hole big enough for her to crawl through. The bathroom Page 199 beyond was still mostly intact.

I whispered to her, “Go through there and stay low.” I pointed to the hole. “I’m gonna draw our attacker away. Once I do, you get up and run in the opposite direction. Get down the street where it’s safe and I’ll find you when it’s over. Got it?”

Veronica nodded. Her face was a knot of sharp lines and I could tell by the way she was shaking, she was scared. That sure didn’t make me feel any better. Veronica was a tough woman and it took an awful lot to rattle her cage. The fact that she was afraid caused my own fear to well up and worm its way through my confidence. The voices gibbered inside my head, pleading for me to follow Veronica, to hide. I shouted them down as best I could. I didn’t have time to be scared.

She leaned in and kissed me. “Be safe.” With a last apologetic look, she squirmed through the hole and crawled out of sight.

I didn’t waste any time. I slipped from behind the mattress, working my way over to my stash. I was gonna need a pick-me-up. My heart skipped a beat when I saw what was left of it. There, amidst the wreckage of my deflated Jenna doll was a dark, drying puddle. The wind had pushed everything against the back wall, the vials of Lucifer’s blood along with it. Made of glass, the heavy furniture and debris had shattered the tubes, freeing the blood to become inert. I nearly cried.

Frantic, I dug through the mess, but there were no survivors. All of the vials my uncle had given me were destroyed, splattered across the floor and quickly turning to dust. The last trace of Lucifer’s existence had been wiped away. I felt my face burning as I thought about what that meant. There would be no more quick heals for me, no magical advantage. Worse, I had lost my only connection to my heritage, all long dead or gone. Now, Lucifer truly was nothing more than a memory.

Furious, I pulled myself together and stormed out of the ruin of my house. I wanted to know who’d taken my uncle from me. I wanted revenge. Once past the rubble, I came face to face with the destroyer of my house and irreplaceable inheritance. It was Henry McConnell.

My confidence took a dump.

“Howdy.” He waved at me. “Seems you’ve ticked the boss off something fierce.” A cloud of billowing smoke surrounded the area around my house and the street, cutting the view off from the other side.

“Well, ain’t that an unfortunate pile of steaming bull puckey, cowboy.” The rebel in me kicked into high gear, my anxiety spurring it on. “You can tell your boss he just interrupted the best blow job I’ve ever had and I’m not in the mood to give a damn about his feelings.”

I kept my head enough to start circling away from the house. I turned him so the wreckage was out of his field Page 201 of vision to give Veronica a chance to escape unnoticed. He kept pace with me, but he stayed about ten feet away. His eyes remained locked on mine. McConnell chuckled. Even his laugh had an accent. “Sorry to have bothered you, but you know how it is. When the boss man says jump, I ask how high. When he says kill the devil mutt, I ask how dead.”

“Maybe I’m remembering it all wrong, but didn’t we just do this not too long ago? If I recall correctly, it ended with you running off with your tail between your legs. What makes you think it’ll end any differently this time?” Apparently my mouth felt the need to write a check it couldn’t afford to cash. I’m not even sure Donald Trump could afford the bill I was racking up. He shook his head, an amused smile on his lips.

“The last time, I wasn’t expecting you to show up. I was just there to pick up the chains the boys left behind. And besides, I was burnt out from helping the boss light up that angel he’s got all trussed up. This time, I’ve got all my horses saddled up and raring to go.” A tiny spout of fire sprung up from his palm and danced across his fingers as nimbly as a ballerina. He winked at me, the firelight glistening in his blue eyes. I’d realized during our first run-in McConnell wasn’t operating on a full tank, but I’d noticed too late to take advantage of it. I was regretting that failure now. If what he said was true, and he was fully charged, I didn’t stand a chance.

“We can’t discuss this?” I changed gears.

“Tain’t nothin’ to discuss. I got a job to do and I figure I better get on with it. It was nice meeting you, hear?”

I didn’t waste a second. If that cowpoke wanted to put me down, he was gonna have to work for it. I dove forward, closing the distance between us, lashing out with a right. My heart jumped as I felt the satisfying thud of my fist collide with his mouth. He grunted and rolled away, redirecting most of the impact and stumbling back to give himself room. He wasn’t getting off that easy. I stayed on him. I threw a low kick, which nearly buckled his leg, and followed it with a left hook. It caught him alongside the head, just above the ear, and I saw his eyes flutter. His legs gave way a second later and he dropped onto his butt. Thinking I had him and feeling rather optimistic, I moved to put a knee in his face.