Cowboys & Devils (Devil Aster Days Book 3) by Mitchell Olson Read Free Book Online

when I had the chance. Sloppy on my part, I know, but I didn’t think you’d put so much effort into tracking me down.”
    The two devils prepared for battle by taking offensive stances. The ceiling of the car they were standing on started to burn and thick plumes of smoke rose up all around them. One such eruption of smoke blocked Ulric from Aster’s sight, and in that one moment the fight began. Ulric maneuvered stealthily around the smoke plume to the left, coming at Aster with speed that matched his own.
    The two traded blows, seeming to be evenly matched. Aster landed a few blows to his foe’s face and stomach, but that wasn’t enough to stop him. As they continued taking jabs at each other, Aster found his foot sinking into the burning roof of the train. The surprise caught him off-guard and Ulric took advantage of his moment of hesitance. He clocked Aster in the cheek so hard the punch dropped Aster to the ground, the roof crumbling around him and depositing him into the inferno below.
    The last thing Aster heard was Ulric’s maniacal laughter, then the fire. Above him he saw Ulric leap over the gap and onto the roof of the next car, where the fire was already spreading. The flaming wreckage that fell on top of him wasn’t too heavy to lift, but it was painful and covered Aster’s arms and torso in searing burns. He tossed the smoldering pieces of wood aside and clambered to his feet.
    At what remained of the doorway to the car, he saw the same woman in white he met earlier. She was bent over examining something on the ground between the two cars, and when she stood up holding a piece of metal Aster realized what she had done. The cars came disconnected, the lead engine and the burning car now moving on without the rest of the passenger cars.
    Aster made his way over to the woman in white who smiled a sly, sexy grin and pointed towards the roof of the next car.
    “He’s up there,” she said.
    “Thanks,” Aster replied, and without wasting any more time he leapt the quickly increasing gap between the cars and grabbed a hold of the ladder to the roof. “You should get out of here,” he called to her. She replied with a simple nod and disappeared into the car. Aster ascended the ladder to the roof.
    There he found Ulric, twin fireballs in hand, grinning like a fool. Aster managed to extend an arm and shout a command, but Ulric would not wait. He fired the balls of flame at the next two cars in line, giving birth to a brand new chaotic scenario for the defenseless humans inside. Aster charged, but Ulric was a powerfu l coward adept at running away.
    The outlaw fled again, turning to face Aster as he retreated crafting even more fireballs. He dropped smaller flames as he hopped backward, avoiding Aster’s wild punches and kicks. The Commander lost his temper and struck out wildly, caring little for accuracy anymore. Ulric would only back away, hopping over the gaps between the cars without so much as a glance down. He dropped more and more small fireballs as went, detonating them like bombs.
    At last they reached the final car, the one Aster presumed most of the humans must have been gathered in by now. The train was still moving too fast for any of the people to brave jumping off yet, although a few courageous souls tried. Their landings on the rocky landscape looked painful, making the other passengers hesitate and wait longer hoping the train might slow a little before they were all engulfed in flames.
    Ulric gathered one last enormous fireball in his hands, holding it above his head threatening to engulf the final car in a wicked firestorm from which there’d be no escape. He waited until the last possible moment, reveling in the tormented look on Aster’s face. That was his mistake.
    A gunshot rang out across the land and Ulric was knocked off the train car. His fireball spilled over the edge as well, sputtering to death on the rocky ground below. Aster was confused at the fortunate turn of events and