Part 13 (2/2)

But then Derek held up his hand and they froze. Gina's stomach clenched, her grip tightening on her weapon as she waited, listening and looking for signs of anything around them.

'Turn your lights out and put your shades on,' he commanded.

She flipped her shoulder lanterns off and put the sungla.s.ses on. Just like the night-vision goggles she'd worn last night, only much lighter, they fit snug around her entire eye, no doubt to s.h.i.+eld them from any UV blasts.

But she still didn't detect any movement or see anything.

'What's up, Derek?' Linc asked.

'Something's coming.'

'Lou hasn't signaled,' Linc came back.

'I know. He will. They're coming. Just north of us. Five of them.'

How the h.e.l.l did he know that?

'I'm tracking five that just entered north of your position, Derek,' Lou commed. 'And they're splitting.'

Gina s.h.i.+vered like someone had just walked over her grave. Okay, that was d.a.m.n spooky.

'Got it, Lou,' he said, turning to them. 'Linc, take Ryder and track west around those trees. See if you can intercept a couple of them. Gina, you're with me.'

She nodded and followed. Apparently they were going to meet the demons head-on. Stepping up her pace, she sidled up next to him. He glanced at her. 'You comfortable on weapons?'

'Yeah.'

'Feel confident?'

Oh, right. She was about to meet up with demons. Creatures from h.e.l.l. Things that weren't human that she was supposed to kill with this futuristic flesh-melting weaponry. She'd never in her life felt less confident. 'I'm fine.'

'It's okay to be nervous.'

She rolled her eyes. 'I can handle this.'

He stopped, looked ahead, then at her. 'I know you can handle this. That's why I wanted you on my team tonight.'

When he turned and walked ahead, it took her a second before she could kick-start her feet into moving.

He couldn't have complimented her more. With a wide grin, she hustled up behind him again, more determined than ever to prove him right.

'They're here,' he whispered, taking a deep breath. 'Pure or half demons, 'cuz I don't smell the stench of hybrids.'

That was good to know. She wasn't sure she was ready yet for the big hulking stinky ones.

Then she saw it. A flicker of movement to her left. Like a flash of white lighting as it breezed by.

'They're fast, Gina. Get ready to run. He'll circle and pop up behind you before you know it, otherwise. Get your vision tracked and follow, but stay sharp. They like to gang up. And stay with me at all times.'

She nodded and drew her weapon up rib high, acknowledging that her hands were shaking, forcing a calm she didn't feel.

It was just adrenaline. Not fear. She was ready for this fight. Prepared. Armed and strong. She could take these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds.

'What scares you, little girl?'

For a split second, her eyes closed, and she was propelled back in time once again, becoming that frightened child all alone. As she gasped back a sob, reality surged and she pivoted.

The sonofab.i.t.c.h was f.u.c.king with her mind, and that she would never, ever allow. She aimed and fired, the UV light surprising the demon. He threw his hands up, but it was too late. An unholy scream emanated from the creature as it boiled and bubbled, smoke pouring from its frying flesh before oozing to the ground in a gelatinous pile.

Gina walked over to it, watching the remains rise and fall as if it was still breathing.

'Don't ever f.u.c.k with me like that again,' she whispered to the darkness around her. 'You can't scare me.'

Blinking back the moisture in her eyes, she turned. Derek was watching her.

'You okay?'

'Yes.'

He focused on her for a second, then nodded. 'Nice shot. Now let's move.'

It didn't take long for another to dart by them. Like ghosts, they flew by, almost as if they were taunting them, playing a game of cat and mouse. Derek took off in a fast run, Gina right on his heels, digging down when she was nearly out of breath. When he increased his speed to nearly inhuman levels, Gina almost lost sight of him. For someone she'd easily kept up with just a few days ago, he'd sure stepped it up all of a sudden. She was wheezing, her lungs were on fire, and if he didn't slow down soon she was going to be left behind.

G.o.d, these things were fast, zooming around trees and through the bushes with lightning speed. Relentless, Derek refused to let go of his target, but finally halted so suddenly Gina almost ran up his back. She dug in her heels and stopped just in time to see him aim at a demon coming right at them. The gun whirred with a low humming sound, but she couldn't see anything coming from the barrel.

Nevertheless, the microwaves had obviously hit their intended target. The demon flew in the air, s.h.i.+mmying and shaking as the waves. .h.i.t it, its eyeb.a.l.l.s protruding from their sockets, white and bulging. When it hit the ground it began to sizzle, b.u.mps popping out on its skin like a bad case of hives. Its skin turned bright red and began to bubble.

'Stand back, Gina,' Derek said.

She did, and he took several steps backward, too.

Gina watched in horror and fascination as the demon began to expand, its skin stretching like a balloon filling with air. Wider and wider it expanded, more than skin should be able to inflate.

'This is where it gets really messy,' Derek said.

Suddenly, the demon blew apart with a loud pop, parts of it flying all over the jungle.

Gina grimaced and looked at Derek. 'Oh, that's so gross.'

Grinning, he said, 'Yeah, isn't it? Now, let's go get the last one.'

Strangely, it seemed that the last demon was hiding. Or maybe it was stalking them, ready to pounce from behind a tree or thicket of bushes.

Gina and Derek combed the area, communicating back and forth with Linc and Ryder, who were engaged with their own set of demons.

'See anything?' Derek asked as he looked left and she looked right.

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