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

into view as solid figures were in the seconds after trading blows. They moved so fast the only thing that could be seen was a streaking trail of fire in midair and a faint afterimage of their bodies.
    CJ wanted to help, to take aim of Ulric and lodge another bullet in his head. Even with his level of mastery he could not take aim of the man or distinguish one from the other. This battle was more like a delicate dance between two deadly monsters. Human beings had no place on the devil’s dance floor.
    So CJ watched as their movements slowed. Soon he was able to see both combatants as their stamina dropped. Ulric was clutching his side, his face twisted in pain. Aster had a bloody gash across the top of his head, but didn’t seem concerned about it. His face looked etched in stone, more fierce than CJ had ever seen. They continued to flash-dance around each other in circles, each slow down revealing a new wound.
    At last they moved into a rotation where CJ was behind Aster and in the line of sight for Ulric. The outlaw stole a single glance at CJ that took him by surprise. It only took a second but in that time Aster rushed forward like a blur. The lost second put Ulric at a disadvantage. He wasn’t able to dodge this time and Aster’s palms connected with his gut.
    “ You lost the moment you took your eyes off of me, ” said Aster.
    Ulric had the wind knocked out of him as he flew ten feet backwards. He recovered in time to open his eyes and see Aster summoning a giant ball of flame.
    Ulric tried to flee. He released his wings to seek safe haven in the sky. He simply wasn’t ready for Aster’s full power. He wasn’t even off the ground yet when Aster attacked. The Commander didn’t just throw the wagon wheel-sized fireball he held above his head. He blasted it forth from his hands just like a bullet from a barrel, colliding with Ulric’s cowardly backside and engulfing the fool in the flames of justice.
     

Part Seven: The Devils Depart
     
    Aster dropped the disappearing act at once and fell to his knees panting heavily, now fully visible to CJ. Ulric rolled around on the ground screaming in torment. His body on fire, he thrashed around trying to put himself out. He extended his wings and beat them furiously, hoping to relieve the pain. He stopped moving after a little while as the fire consuming his body eventually died out.
    He was down and out and not going anywhere. CJ hopped down off his horse and joined Aster at his side. He kneeled to help the man up, but Aster extended an arm to wave him away.
    “You’re injured, aren’t you?” CJ asked.
    “Yes but I’ll be fine,” said Aster. What CJ could not see was the cloud of soul power billowing off Aster’s body working to heal his various scrapes and bruises. He’d be good as new in ten minutes. “You’re a brave man coming here. You could have gotten yourself killed.”
    “ Dangers in my line of work,” said CJ with a wink. “Anyway, are you finally going to tell me exactly what you guys are and where you came from?”
    Aster rose to his feet. “I suppose we’ve been through enough together by now that I can tell you,” he said. “As you can probably tell, Ulric and I are creatures not of this wor ld. We may look like you humans but we’re really devils.”
    “ Devils ,” CJ repeated with a nervous laugh. “As in from Hell ?”
    “That’s correct,” said Aster. “I’m taking Ulric back to Hell to pay for his crimes.”
    “Wow,” CJ said, stumbling back. “To tell you the truth, I was never a very religious man. This is all a little difficult for me to accept.”
    “What’s religion got to do with it?” asked Aster.
    “It’s just hard to believe that out of all the religions in the world, the Christian version turns out to be true. I suppose this means that angels exist too, huh?”
    “Angels exist,” replied Aster. “But I still don’t understand this concept you people call Christ-ian .”
    “You know, followers of Christ