Chapter 4

“It’s just not my day, apparently.” Lily stared at the clouds above and sighed. She turned her head to the side and spat out the bullet, then stood. After fingering the hole in her head, she decided to leave it. If James was going to insist on shooting her, she may as well scare the shit out of him, too.

She dropped the fake doll, which turned into smoke that reeked of sulfur upon impact with the ground. Taking two steps forward, her large, bat-like wings ripped free of her back in a gory display as she launched herself into the sky. Expecting gunfire this time, Lily chased after James, cackling maniacally as he turned to open fire on her once again.

To his credit, he didn’t scream. By the time she caught up with him, she actually had to stop him from putting the barrel of the pistol into his mouth.

“Now, now,” she said, yanking the gun away. “Nobody gets off that—gimme that.” Lily snatched away a grenade, then broke his wrist to keep him from pulling the pin on an