The Golden Age of Death (A CALLIOPE REAPER-JONES NOVEL) by Amber Benson Read Free Book Online Page B

as a human policeman, and then as a detective for the Psychical Bureau of Investigations, kicked in. Slamming his fist into the face of the first man who’d dared to step into his personal space, he watched the man’s nose explode into a Rorschach of blood. The man dropped to his knees, cupping his ruined nose in his hands as if this would stop the blood from flowing out.
    Freezay didn’t have time to feel bad about ruining the man’s face. Someone else was already grasping his shoulders and trying to knock him off his feet. Keeping his weight on the ballsof his toes, he sent a back kick into the guts of the new attacker, his heel connecting solidly with the man’s solar plexus. Instantly the pressure on his shoulders slackened and he turned around to catch the shocked look on the other man’s face as he tried to draw breath, his eyeballs nearly popping out of his eye sockets.
    To his consternation, a third attacker descended on him now—this one bigger and more lethal looking than the first two combined. Freezay tried to fend the larger man off, but his blows only seemed to antagonize the giant. The fight—if you could call the undefended pummeling Freezay gave the giant’s chest—only lasted a moment or two and then Freezay was airborne, the man’s meaty hands gripping him around the middle and hoisting him heavenward.
    The giant began to spin in circles, his feet as nimble as a dancer’s, the forward motion making Freezay’s stomach lurch—and then the giant sent him flying. Unprepared for the abrupt dismount, Freezay’s back and head slammed into the brick wall separating his property from his neighbor’s and he saw black. But his vision cleared pretty quickly when he realized the giant was on the move again. Ignoring the throbbing in his head, he used the wall to drag himself back onto his feet.
    His front doorway was obscured from the road—and his nearest neighbors—so there was no chance someone would see the fight and call the police. Besides, the fog had already begun to roll in, coating the world in a thin film of cloudy gray. Even if the attack had happened farther out on the driveway, the likelihood of anyone noticing them would still be slim.
    Freezay couldn’t count on the kid to help him, either. The boy was merely a ghost without any ability to affect human reality. Which meant Freezay was entirely on his own. With that realization, he quickly decided that, yes, the best defense was really going to have to be a good offense. Rather than waiting for the giant to make his next move, he would have to get the jump on the big man first. And that meant he was going to have to make a full-frontal assault on the giant if he was going to have any chance of taking him down.
    He steeled himself for the pain he knew was about to come, and, head bowed, burst off the wall like a swimmer, crashinginto the big man with enough force to knock them both off their feet. The giant didn’t know what hit him. He landed hard on his back, cracking the brick on the paved walkway. His body was so overgrown with steroid-created muscle he flailed like an upside-down turtle as he tried to right himself.
    Freezay used the pause in action to reassess the situation. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the ghost boy taking off down the driveway.
    Good luck with that, kid,
he thought, then turned his attention back to the fight already in progress.
    The giant was out of commission and the goon with the ruined face had beat a hasty retreat, but Solar Plexus was still lying on the ground trying to catch his breath. Freezay walked over to him and placed his large black boot on the man’s chest. He pressed down, lightly at first, and then with more pressure. The man started wheezing, eyes wide with fear. He had red hair and a weasely face boasting two protruding front teeth that made him
seem
dopey—though Freezay knew looks could be deceiving.
    “Who sent you and what do they want?” Freezay demanded.
    His head was