Outside, I could hear Prue checking on Kanesha.
Mike and Seb were facing down several of the hunters. The hunters were armed. There were bullet holes in the walls.
“Your cleansing isn’t going to happen. I stopped it.”
One of them…tried to shoot me. Predictable, perhaps. I dodged further into the room. “Don’t waste your ammunition. On second thoughts, do waste your ammunition.”
If they ran out, they’d be easier to deal with.
One of them was making frantic phone calls. “Oh, I’m sure she’ll answer. She’s just looking for her detonator.” I grinned.
“Here’s the deal. You’re going to leave. Every one of you. If not, I’ll start hunting you down.” A pause. “If she dies I’ll hunt you down anyway. Every one of you. The furthest corners of Midgard won’t be far enough.”
The one who’d tried to shoot me pulled the trigger again. It clicked on an empty chamber. Good.
Mike was looking at me. “They…let off a bomb.”
“I know. I can kind of smell it. They don’t seem to have any more.” Except the hidden ones that we’d no doubt be weeks finding. That they had to think had been dealt with.
“We don’t. But if you’d left us…”
I raised a hand. “You intended to kill me anyway. Don’t give me that crap.”
“You’re the one who will be leaving this city. I respect you enough to give you that chance.”
That voice came from outside.
I turned. “You stopped looking for your detonator?”
“Leave. I’ll build another one. Take your partner, take your friends, leave and don’t come back. This city’s ours now.”
“I don’t think so.”
The apartment was fairly spacious. The far side of the room, the outer wall, was practically all window, but the blinds had been closed, cutting out the sunlight, leaving the place somewhat dimly lit.
“Why so stubborn? I’m letting you get away instead of sending you back to hell where you belong.”
“It’s a character flaw,” I admitted. “Besides…you have no clue who I am.” I was stalling. I wasn’t even sure what I was stalling for.
Then, the window exploded violently inwards.