Save the world or destroy it. But right now, I was worried about something far more mundane – my own survival. I was crouched behind a dumpster, both hands on the gun. And a bullet had just whizzed past me.

It was, of course, the cultists again. I suppose I should have been grateful for the respite I’d had from them. Instead, I was pissed. I was trying to sustain the moral high ground and not actually kill any of them.

That was proving to be extremely hard. I knew I’d hit one of them and I wasn’t sure how bad it was.

A second bullet, and I snapped a shot off in return. Thea was circling somewhere to try and get behind them. I was wishing we had certain less legal non-lethals. Tear gas grenades would be completely awesome right now.

I wasn’t sure how to get any of them, though. My breathing slowed a little as the firing stopped. They were probably just reloading, but then one of them jumped onto the dumpster.

I didn’t shoot. At that range I would hit him easily, but that wasn’t my goal. Instead, I reached up and grabbed his legs, unbalancing him so he fell on my side of it, my knee went into his groin.

He oofed and went down. Still no shots from his buddies. Thea had put the fear of the gods (I was sure plural) into them.

“I’m really getting quite tired of you guys. Why don’t you go home and watch the game?”

“It’s not football season.”

That he had the presence of mind to zing me caused both of my eyebrows to elevate a little. He wasn’t bad looking, either.

He was also trying to kill me. As he tried to get up I pushed him back down with my foot. “You’re not going anywhere right now.”

“What are you going to do? Kill me? Call the cops?”

What could we say to the cops? Not much…although the fact that I hadn’t killed him worked in my favor.

“Send you home.” I shifted position, dropping next to him quickly, exchanging a hand for the foot as I relieved him of his gun. And three knives. And a set of handcuffs, of all things. “These for your girlfriend?”

He swore at me.

“You’re here to kill me, why the restraints?”

“Don’t want to kill…anyone else.”

He meant Thea. “That’s a point in your favor. Now, go home.”

I kept the knives. And the handcuffs.