Heroes of Falledge Book One: Black Hellebore (31 page)

That can't be good.

The skeleton weighed a great deal more than a normal skeleton would, and his heaviness, combined with Nicholas' own body weight, made it hard for Nicholas to keep his grip. One finger let go.

Skull Krusher climbed up and wrapped his arms around Nicholas' chest in a death squeeze.

Nicholas gasped, breathing in through his nose and out his mouth, but the air had a hard time fitting through the narrowed passageways to his lungs. His vision spotted for a moment, and another finger let go.

Skull Krusher released his pressure, and Nicholas sucked down air. The skeleton continued climbing and forcibly stepped on Nicholas' head. Now he was back on the roof. He looked down at Nicholas, holding on by only one finger now.

The skeleton bent down, his boney face inches from Nicholas'. "Poor hero. Foolish hero." He grabbed Nicholas' pinky finger and lifted him up with ease. With a flick of his wrist, he broke the finger and threw Nicholas over his shoulder.

He landed on his back on the roof. Staring up at the sky, he saw a few stars making an early appearance. Or maybe his vision was playing tricks on him.

Where the hell was Gavina? That witch was going to get him killed!

Nicholas tried to bend his finger. It wouldn't move. He yanked it back into place. A moment later, the pain disappeared. His ankles and chest still ached, but a quick feel of his chest verified none of his ribs were broken, or at least none had punctured a lung.

He jumped to his feet and looked around. Skull Krusher was no longer on the roof.

The roof access to the mayor's house stood open, and Nicholas crept toward it. He heard little but the normal hum of electricity in the house and...

Drip. Drip. Drop.

What was that? Nicholas ran down into the house and quickly located the source of the sound: someone's severed arm, leaking blood onto the kitchen floor from its precarious position on the counter.

Next to the kitchen, Nicholas entered the garage and wasted precious seconds finding what he was looking for. Using his super speed like never before, he poured the contents of the container throughout the entire house and raced back to the roof.

Skull Krusher still wasn't there, or on any of the nearby roofs.
He wouldn't have left. He fancies himself a cat, and I'm the mouse.

After taking a running start, Nicholas leapt off the roof. Before his feet touched the ground, a huge mass slammed into his side. His breath knocked out of him, and he landed awkwardly. Skull Krusher sat astride his chest.

"Time to die." Skull Krusher revealed his fangs, and the stench of metal and decay seared Nicholas' nostrils.

"For you." Nicholas brought his legs up and wrapped them around Skull Krusher's neck, forcing the skeleton back. A cracking sound ripped through the silent twilight as the skeleton's back snapped in half.

His chest aching, his heart pumping violently, Nicholas stood. He spat out blood and wiped his mouth with his coat sleeve.

Skull Krusher lay in a heap of bones.
Crack. Snap. Pop.
Nicholas watched with horrified amazement as Skull Krusher stood, his bones back in place, seemingly not affected by his broken spine.

Nicholas zipped around the skeleton and planted his boot firmly into the same spot on Skull Krusher's back. But the back didn't move. It had completely healed in the span of seconds.

Without that cortisone, we're doomed.

He glanced around for Gavina, not finding her or the mayor's body. Sniffing, he could feel a slight change in the air around him. Before he could figure out what it meant, something soft, warm, and dripping wet slammed into his chest.

The bloodied arm.

Skull Krusher was on him instantly, using the arm as a bat. Nicholas blocked the blows with his own arms and managed to trip the skeleton. His boney feet righted themselves first, then his legs, his back, his torso and head. An eerie, skeletal accordion.

Now that had been a chilling sight.

Nicholas held his arms out wide. "Come and get me."

Skull Krusher shook his head and crooked a boney finger toward him. "Come here,
mouse."

The clouds above them ripped open, and within seconds, they were drenched. They stared each other down before going at it again, kicking, punching, throwing, biting. Skull Krusher's fangs buried deep into Nicholas' shoulder, and he bit down on his tongue to keep from screaming, not wanting to give the monster the satisfaction of knowing he had wounded him.

Lightning struck, blinding Nicholas. His vision was intermittent. He was pushing himself too hard.

One of them was going to die tonight.

Nicholas was damned if it was going to be him.

Chapter Forty-Seven

It started to pour before Julianna reached the foreclosures. One of her windshield wipers was torn, and it screeched every half a second against the pane. She pressed down on the gas, not willing to slow down. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only one in a rush. Someone else tore down the street and hydroplaned into her lane.

Julianna slammed on the brakes and jerked the wheel. She drove off the street, onto the wet grass, and lost control. Her car hit a telephone pole. Wires snapped, and sparks of electricity flew everywhere.

She closed her eyes and counted to ten. Why hadn't she taken yoga instead of weight training? She needed to calm down.

Tires squealed, and she watched in her rearview mirror as the other driver continued his reckless pace down the street and out of sight.

Moron.
Should have gotten his plate number.

She reached into the back seat for her umbrella, but it wasn't there.

The sparks were still going, but at even enough intervals that she risked opening her car door and running for it. Her hair plastered to her cheeks, forehead, and the back of her neck. She shoved it back and darted into the development. At least she didn't have far to go.

Mud coated her sneakers and the lower half of her jeans. She kept going despite sinking into the ground with each step. Lightning flashed, and still she hurried.
Nicholas would have saved Karl already.
The thought made her smile even as her heart pounded with worry.

What if she was right about where Skull Krusher was keeping the mobster's son? What if the monster was there instead of fighting Falledge's heroes?

Don't think. Don't feel. Just keep moving.

Down a street, up another, take a left and there was the house.

She tried the front door. Locked. Not bothering to try the back door, she used her elbow to break through a window. Before climbing inside, she pulled out her gun. "Karl?" she called. "It's Sheriff Paige. I'm coming inside."

The storm behind her was so loud it swallowed up her voice, but she didn't bother to repeat herself. She carefully climbed through the broken window, glass shattering into even smaller pieces as she stepped on them. Her grip on the gun was poor -- her hands were too wet. She tried to wipe them dry on her pants, but like everything else on her body, they were soaked too.

Her sneakers squeaked and squished as she slowly walked through the house, her gun raised, looking into each room and flicking on the lights before entering it. "Karl?" she tried again.

Not in the kitchen. Or the dining room. Or living room. Not in any of the bedrooms.

Maybe she had been wrong.

She returned to the kitchen and saw a light shining beneath a door she had assumed was to a pantry. Readjusting her hands on the gun, she opened the door an inch and used her foot to kick it open.

"Karl?"

The brightness of the garage compared to the relative darkness of the house when she had first entered it forced her to blink several times. When her eyes adjusted, she saw her target.

Tied up. To a chair. With a bomb across the room.

*****

Thunder roared. Lightning flashed in the distance. The storm neared with every passing second.

Before Nicholas could move, Gavina finally appeared. She threw a firebomb at Skull Krusher. The skeleton opened his mouth and swallowed it, smoke coming out the side of his head where ears normally were.

"Ah, so the witch returns." Skull Krusher bowed deeply as Gavina approached him, flying over his head.

"You're an abomination!" she shrieked, whirling around on her broomstick.

"Some think witches are. Remember the Salem Witch Trials." The skeleton shrugged. Raindrops dripped down the sides of his face, like tears. "Who are you to say what's normal and acceptable, and what isn't?"

"You killed the mayor." Her voice shook slightly. Was she lying? Nicholas had seen the mayor -- he'd already been dead.

He gulped. Had Gavina disappeared to heal him? Bring him back?

I hope he's not a fan of plants.

"You want to kill us all," Gavina continued. Another roar of thunder sounded. She circled around Skull Krusher's head.

He ripped the broom from beneath her. Holding it with both hands, he snapped it over his knee and whipped the broken pieces at Nicholas, who ducked. The pieces fell somewhere behind him.

Gavina hovered in the air, flying without her broom. Her hair didn't look wet at all. It floated around her head, like a purple halo, her floral eye tattoo sparkling through the raindrops. With a primal scream, she rained down magical attacks of all kinds -- fiery, watery, earthen, even her ruined broomstick.

None of the attacks phased Skull Krusher. Most he deflected. Others he merely took.

"Done yet?" he asked.

Lightning flashed.

Thunder roared.

Even closer now.

Gavina was visibly breathing hard now. Skull Krusher stood between the two heroes. Nicholas darted forward and grabbed Skull Krusher's arms.

"Now!"

Gavina didn't waste any time. She jammed the huge needle into Skull Krusher's chest. "Um..."

"What's wrong?" He moved Skull Krusher's arm slightly so he could see.

The point of the needle had bent.

Crap.

Nicholas moved superfast. He yanked the needle from her, straightened it, and forced the needle deep within the chest plate of Skull Krusher's ribs. The plunger moved too slowly for his liking, but somehow, he injected all of the cortisone into the ribs before Skull Krusher's backhand flung him into the front door of the mayor's house.

He slowly stood, his hand on his chest. His heart beat irregularly now. Every breath shot pain throughout his body.

Gavina fired another blast at Skull Krusher. He swatted her away, and her head connected with a nearby tree. She slumped over, blood covering her tattoo.

"No!" Nicholas shot forward. Blinded by rage, he couldn't see, only feel. He grabbed Skull Krusher from behind and felt his ribs. They were already slightly softer than the rest of his body. With grunts and groans and much exertion, he forced the ribs apart.
Crack crack craaack.

He whirled around to see a heart. Twisted and malformed, and black.

Like Skull Krusher.

Nicholas watched it beat once, twice, then yanked it free. He crushed it in his hand. Black liquid oozed out, burning his hand and arm where it splattered onto him, singeing his clothes with a
hiss.

Skull Krusher stared at him. Instead of collapsing dead, he threw back his head and let out a roar of laughter.

Chapter Forty-Eight

Julianna stared at the bomb with horror. She was way out of her element here. She knew nothing about bombs. Well, next to nothing. She knew the timer, showing five minutes left, was not good. Not good at all.

She ripped the tape from Karl's mouth. "Did Skull Krusher do this to you?"

He stared at her, the fright in his eyes dying into confusion.

"A skeleton."

He nodded.

Despite her shaking hands and trembling fingers, she tucked her gun away and removed her phone from her pocket. "I have to call for backup."

"No." Karl's voice was so raspy she hardly understood him. He cleared his throat. "No. They'll never get here in time."

"So what do you suggest I do? Let you die?"

He shook his head. "My father's a mob boss. You think I've never taken part in father-son activities?"

"You know how to disable this?"

Karl shook his head. "Not for certain, but I'd feel better if I try, versus you." He nodded to her still shaking hands.

She managed to untie him from the chair. Only then did she see he only had one arm. The other had been ripped off. His shirt was soaked in blood, and his face was white. The stump wasn't bleeding any longer, not that she could stomach looking at it long. It seemed Skull Krusher wanted Karl to die, but not from blood loss.

"Are you okay?"

He glared at her. "What do you think?" Karl shifted his weight in the seat and the rope attaching his chair to the bomb gave a little. He froze. "You'll have to do it."

"I... I don't have to disarm it, right? I can just disconnect the timer."

"You could."

She walked over to the timer. Three minutes and forty-seven seconds. "What do I do first?"

"Don't drip water on it!"

He was more infuriating than his father. Barking at her as if she knew little more than the color of the grass and the sky.

She whipped her head around to him, her nerves forgotten. "Do you want me to leave you here to blow up?" she snapped.

"No." He sounded a smidge contrite. "Now listen closely. First you have to find a... are you listening to me?"

"Hmm?" Julianna was busy looking around the garage. It was full of clutter, items left behind by the previous owners, she was sure. Didn't think Skull Krusher cared for bikes or air pumps or weights.

Weights.

"How much do you weigh?"

"What?"

Julianna ran over to the weights and started to carry them over near Karl's feet. "How much do you weigh?"

"Two twenty. Why?"

She glanced at the clock. Just under two minutes. "It'll take way too long for you to walk me through diffusing the bomb."

He followed her gaze and gulped. "We're doomed."