twice cursed mage 05 - claimed by j a cipriano Read Free Book Online Page B

tried to dodge, Jack came flying out of the truck like a vampire bat out of Hell.
    His huge wings spread out behind him like a demonic cape as he crashed into Sargent. The two men rolled into the street. Sargent came up on top and decked the vampire in his horned face. Jack’s head smacked into the pavement with a sickening thud that cracked the street beneath him. To make matters worse, Jack was bleeding from what looking like a zillion bullet holes. I had no doubt the vampire was tough, but then again, he’d just taken who knew how many rounds of .50 caliber bullets. That’d put a hitch in anyone’s step.
    I brought the Walther up, intent on blasting a hole in Sargent’s smug face, but as I did, tentacles of darkness exploded from the truck, knocking me to the ground. A steel nunchuck cut through the space my head had been selfishly occupying. I hit the ground hard, and as I tried to twist to see what was going on, the tentacles wrapped around my ankles and dragged me underneath the F250. It was a good thing too because that same nunchuck smashed through the asphalt next to me like it was tissue paper.
    Sparks flew as I rolled out from under the Ford in time to see Maya standing on the hood of the truck with a lit, black as coal candle in one hand. Her other hand was outstretched in front of her, controlling a massive shadow squid that was doing its damnedest to fight off a sixty-year-old Bruce Lee looking motherfucker complete with yellow jumpsuit and nunchucks.
    “You forget who trained you,” Bruce said as his nunchucks slashed through the air in a blur of steel, beating back tentacles as he took a step toward me, not completely focused on Maya, who had a look of horror and concentration on her face. That look told me a story I didn’t understand entirely because I didn’t know the whos and whats of her circumstance. It was a look reserved for someone who had known this day was coming but at the same time hadn’t actually expected it to happen. It was weird because I’d literally seen her disembowel a demon without batting an eye before.
    Either way, I could see where this was going. Between Yosemite Sam beating the tar out of Jack and Bruce Lee’s wicked nunchuck skills, we had precious little time before things got really bad. So what did I do? The only thing I could.
    I pointed the Walther at Bruce and pulled the trigger as quickly as I could, emptying the gun at the nunchuck-wielding psycho’s face, knees, and heart. He did exactly as I expected him to do. He whirled toward me swinging his nunchucks around to deflect the bullets, and as he did, I tackled him.
    A grunt of pain tore from his lips as the fire surrounding me, crawled over his clothing and melted it against his body armor. Unfortunately, that was about all it did. I wasn’t sure why, but my Hellfire was about as effective as spit wads and bubblegum against that armor.
    As we landed in a heap on the ground, I reared back and brought my fist down in a haymaker that shattered his nose in a spray of blood.
    “Maya, help Jack,” I called as Bruce curled his hand into a fist and let loose with a one-inch punch that nearly shattered my ribs through the magic shield of fire covering my body. I flew upward into the air, and as I hit the ground a few feet away, my vision hazy, I watched him hop to his feet, patting out the fire on his clothing with less concern than I’d have swatting away a dust mote.
    He eyed me coolly and rubbed his nose with one burned fist before reaching out and making a “bring it” gesture. As he did, it felt like someone had doused me in cold water. My shield winked out, but thankfully, I could feel the spark of my power beneath the surface, ready to go. Whatever he’d done had brought down my defenses, but it was only temporary.
    “Oh, it’ll get brought, motherfucker!” I cried, scrambling to my feet and calling upon my magic, but before I could restart my shield, Maya’s tentacles lashed out toward Bruce, wrapping