Read Online Demon Squad 6 The Best of Enemies by Tim Marquitz - Free Book Online Page A

feet. “Who knows?” And that was the truth. As hostile as everyone had been since I returned to Earth, it could be anyone, though I suspected it was retaliation for my roughhousing of the mercenaries. Maybe their mysterious boss had gotten my message. That made him organized and stacked with resources, which are never good things for your enemy to have in conjunction.
    “Where’s Chatterbox?” Rala’s eyes widened as she scanned the ruin.
    “The head?” Scarlett asked. “Seriously?”
    I nodded, but I hadn’t been too concerned with the guy—seeing how he’s dead and all—though I didn’t want to leave him behind when we split. Besides, it was obvious Rala was attached to the old lunk. I started moving debris where he’d been sitting in his basket when I heard a rambling vocal line come from under the wreckage, the sound distorted by the constant ping of gunfire.
    “Here,” I said, dropping to my knees to dig where I’d heard him. Rala came over to help.
    A few seconds later, we yanked CB out of his buried basket. His eyes lit up when he saw us, but he kept singing away. He was a little grayer than I remembered, but it looked like all his maggots were accounted for.
    “We need to get out of here and shut this down before someone innocent gets hurt,” Scarlett rumbled at my back. She was in avenging angel mode, and God help the idiots who’d lobbed a missile at her—even if it was meant for me.
    I nodded in agreement and tossed CB over to Rala, only then catching the rhythm of the song he was singing. A grin split my cheeks as I waved the women in close. He was belting out “Eat Lead” by the thrash band, At War.
    “What are you laughing at?” Scarlett glared at me as I formed the teleportation spell. It was complex, but it was like I had the blueprints to it laid out across the screen of my mind. All I needed was a location. Damn it was good to be powerful.
    “Nothing,” I answered, trying to retrain my amusement. “Hold tight.”
    My magic welled up inside me, chasing my headache away, filling me with power, and choking the life out of me.
    I realized the last bit, however slowly, had nothing to do with magic. My gaze dropped to see an oily tentacle wrapped about my throat, and then I was flying.
    Well, flying might be a generous description for what I was doing. The tentacle snapped me back like a rubber band at the end of its tension. Fortunately, the still solid face of the portal was there to stop that nonsense.
    The back of my skull slammed into the mystical gate, and the Hunchback let loose with a cathedral bell solo. The vertebrae down the length of my back popped in rapid succession as the impact brought a sudden halt to my quite admirable momentum. I’d have cursed or complained, but the tendril remained wrapped tightly around my neck, and for the second time in the same day, I found myself unable to breathe.
    Scarlett remedied that with a silver flash.
    Her blade cleaved the tentacle in two, the back end slithering into the portal while the one around my throat stiffened. I peeled it loose with a gasp, spinning away from the emerald gateway. Streaks of dark blood slid down the portal’s face. Its vibrato hum grew louder, deeper.
    “Uh, Frank…little help here.”
    I spun, cognizant of Rala’s last warning, only then noticing the gunfire hadn’t stopped. Bullets were ripping up what was left of the house while the little alien hunched down with the book under one arm and Chatterbox under the other. Puffs of dust and dirt were bursting from the ground beside her. My shield was gone.
    “Damn it,” I shouted, a little surprised by how rough my voice sounded, my throat raw from being throttled. “Sorry.”
    A tribal drum circle practiced in my head, shooting my concentration to hell. Fortunately though, all it took was a push of will and my defenses returned. Despite how simple it was to resurrect them, it was becoming clear that while I had power to spare, there was a lot more to