Tome of Bill (Companion): Shining Fury by Rick Gualtieri Read Free Book Online Page B

idea. We really couldn’t afford to start the day waiting to post bail.
    “We do not harm humans, especially fellow brothers in peace keeping.”
    At that moment, I almost wouldn’t have minded Meg unloading that spell in Bernadette’s direction. However, as the police drew nearer, I was able to make out their number in more detail. I counted what looked to be five cruisers and, if my eyes weren’t deceiving me in the darkness, an armored SWAT van. “Um, I think we’re going to need more than a few stun spells.”
    Kelly whistled appreciatively. “I guess we made an impression.”
    “Swords, zombies, and magical flames ... go figure,” I replied before quickly switching gears and taking stock of the situation.
    The fires were out, thankfully, although smoke was still rising from several spots. The smoldering piles that had been zombie parts were no longer recognizable. Though they didn’t turn to dust like vampires, once they started burning, their bodies seemed to break down pretty quickly. That was a small plus in our favor.
    Thankfully, Brent’s body had likewise been removed from the scene.
    Now all that was left to do was somehow hide the fact that we were essentially an armed mob.
    “Weapons away!” I shouted, quickly unstrapping the sword from my side and tossing it into a pile of trash along the side of the road. Not the most respectful way to treat the weapon, but desperate times and all that.
    Though the cruisers’ flashers were on, their sirens weren’t. I didn’t know what that meant. If it were a lone police car, I wouldn’t have worried much, but what was rapidly approaching us was more what I’d expect to see at a hostage crisis or maybe a standoff against a riot. Maybe they’d been headed elsewhere when they turned onto this block and we were simply the victims of bad circumstance.
    Hah, that was a good one. It seemed my life had become nothing but one big uncanny coincidence after another.
    A voice spoke up behind me. “Everyone act natural. Let me handle this.”
    I spun to find Vincent approaching. “What are you talking about?”
    “My father and siblings were all troopers. I was going to become one, too, but then I got my ... higher calling.”
    “Really?” Kelly asked. “And here I thought you just graduated straight from altar boy.”
    I shot her a glare that could have melted steel, but Vincent ignored her. “With any luck it’s just a case of us being in the wrong place at the wrong time.”
    “No doubt about that,” Kelly groused.
    “If they pass us by, good. If not, let me do the talking.” This time, he fixed Kelly with his gaze. “Is that clear, witch?”
    “Crystal as my ball,” she replied icily.
    It looked like maybe we wouldn’t need to rely on lying our way out of this, because as the cars approached, they didn’t slow down. Even if they noted our presence, we’d be long gone by the time they got back.
    Then, just as I was about to conclude that maybe they were headed elsewhere, came the squeal of multiple sets of brakes. The cars in front swerved to block the road, length-wise, as the rest skidded to a halt right behind them.
    “Oh, this is not good,” Vincent said. “This is not good at all.”
    That was perhaps the understatement of the year.
    Vincent immediately raised his hands. “Everyone, hands behind your heads and on your knees!”
    He was trying to avoid any chance of this situation escalating. According to everything we’d heard, Boston had fallen under dark times as of late. If that was truly the case, then the local authorities were bound to be on edge. Even if the so-called Destroyer had kept a low profile, the weirdness affecting the rest of the world had to be noticed here.
    Still, we did not need this right now. We had people counting on us. I glanced around to find confusion evident on many faces. Some were following Vincent’s lead, while others appeared to be waiting for either myself or Bernadette to make the call.
    I quickly