Blood and Bone: A Smattering of Unease by Shannon Rae Noble Read Free Book Online

knockoff or something? And those thangs must weigh a ton each. Why the hell hasn’t your deck splintered?”
    “Yeah. K9 bots. But they’re kind of allergic to water. Never thought I would have to defend myself from a sea creature this high in the air. The deck has been fortified, just like the rest of my house. My place only blew into pieces twice . . .”
    “Just to let y’all know,” Tommy hissed, “I’m not after my Mama’s material possessions because I need her money. She left me comfortable, but I haven’t had to live off of her legacy. Ah make a successful living doing what I do. I’ve come to take back the things of hers y’all took because y’all are slime and y’all don’t deserve them, and to finish the job.”
    Troy held the eyes of the mermonster before him. He slowly raised his gun, still cocked, and aimed it steadily at the creature. “You did wrong, Tommy. You framed your mother. And you know that’s the reason she’s dead, now. And me? I never would have hurt her. I loved her. She loved me. Why would I do that?”
    “Good question. Because you’re sick?”
    The mermonster on the deck opened its gaping maw. The triple rows of lethally sharp teeth glinted a dull yellow in the floodlights. My entire head would fit inside that thing’s mouth, Troy thought.
    The thing shrieked.
    Its fellows shrieked in answer. The headphones and earplugs did very little to protect Troy’s ears at this close range. The pitch rose shrilly, higher and higher until it passed out of comprehension and Troy was ready to pass out.
    At first, he thought he pulled the trigger on his Colt .47, because a spot appeared in his shatter resistant glass. Then he found that he had lowered the weapon and it now rested safely in his lap.
    He reversed his chair as more spots appeared in the glass. Cracks broke free from the spots and ran like spider webs across the glass, which then splintered and fell like rain, too heavy to float on the water that now poured into the room.
    The biggest creature lunged, crashing through the bare frames of the French doors. The frames crumpled to the floor, taking the sixteen stainless steel sliding bolts with them.
    It screamed again, and Troy smelled its rancid breath, feeling the heat of it on his face. He thought his eardrums would burst.
    “AAAaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Tommy screamed, his hands to his ears. He rushed toward Troy. “Take him! Take him!” He grabbed the handles on the back of Troy’s chair and tried to push the old man toward the monsters, but Troy had his fingers on the “Reverse” button, fighting him. With his free hand, Troy cocked his gun again, and, aiming backward and upside down over his shoulder, he pulled the trigger. The kick from the discharge pushed Troy’s arm up and forward, and he dropped the weapon. He hit the “Brake” button on his remote, but that was a mistake. The sudden stop combined with the gun’s kick, as well as Tommy’s shoving, made the chair flip forward, dumping Troy into the ocean water that flooded his floor.
    He gasped at the sudden cold and splashed around, trying to keep his head above the quickly rising water. He dragged himself on his elbows to his chair and attempted to push it upright. Desperate tears streamed down his face as he fumbled around, attempting to get the chair to sit upright. He held himself up with one hand and wrangled the chair with the other until he somehow managed to push it at the right angle and it landed firmly on its wheels.
    He grabbed the armrests and started pulling himself up. As he did so, he glanced up and saw that he had missed his target. Tommy stood there, frozen in terror, staring into the face of the sea monster, who paid Troy no attention, but stared back at Tommy and screamed.
    Troy redoubled his efforts. He had just maneuvered himself into his seat when the beast lunged.
    Tommy screamed and threw his arms up protectively in front of his face. The monster grabbed at him with its claws.
    Troy made