Don't Touch My Men - Helen Scott Page 0,72

gone.

“I’m free!” I said, jumping up.

Ellis grinned, then went to the bathroom, no doubt to bind his wound and use his unicorn magic to get the healing started. I opened a hand, and fire flared to life in my palm.

“Well, now we have your powers back and a way to free Grim,” Hunter said. It was a good start.

He grabbed some of our gear and headed for the front door, but when he opened it, a grumpy looking old guy was on the other side.

“Fuck! Billy! I almost used my shadows to tear you open.”

“Damn supernaturals can’t keep their powers in their pants long enough to be useful,” he muttered, then pushed past Hunter. When he spotted me, he froze and took off his baseball hat. “Sorry, didn’t see you there, ma’am.”

Ellis came out of the bathroom, his arm wrapped. “I had no idea Billy could be so fucking sweet.”

“Watch your mouth in front of the lady!” Billy scolded.

I couldn’t help but grin. For a guy so rough around the edges, he certainly seemed to have strong beliefs when it came to women, even if they were maybe a little old-school.

“So, what’s up?” Ellis asked.

Hunter closed the door and set our gear back down.

“You mean other than the end of the f—” Billy stopped talking and glanced in my direction. “The end of the world,” he said, correcting himself.

“What do you mean?” Ellis frowned.

“We have reports of supernaturals across the globe launching into full out attacks. They’re not even trying to be subtle. News stations, the radio, everyone is talking about a possible apocalypse. The humans think it’s a reaction to a new vaccine. The president has ordered a state of emergency and is ordering a curfew, starting, well, now. And you boys are what…stroking your swords?”

“No,” I told him. “We’re trying to save the world.”

I wanted to say more, but I didn’t know how much we could trust this guy. He seemed friendly enough, but I’d been fooled before, so I’d follow the guys’ lead.

“All of this is because the Headless Horseman came back from death. He’s planning to lead the world into an apocalypse, where the most violent supernaturals will rule and humankind will mostly be wiped out.”

Billy’s eyes widened. “So what’s the plan?”

We were all surprised when Alastair spoke. “We figure out what this means, and we use it to kill him.”

“What what means?” I headed over to his table and leaned over the paper he’d been working on. A few lines at the top were bolded.

“These are instructions for how to kill the Horseman,” he said. “But I don’t understand what they mean.”

I read it aloud. “Four elements. One being. Evil and light. Evil and evil. Two paths.” I frowned down at the words. “That’s just gibberish.”

“It’s all we have,” Alastair said, and he sounded frustrated.

Finally Billy spoke, “So if you can take down this one asshole—excuse me, ma’am, legendary monster, all the supernaturals will slink back to the shadows?”

“Yeah,” Ellis said, “but we gotta get across town to the old dirt road.”

Billy’s brows drew together. “The humans have their armies trying to keep us inside, and the monsters are all out. But if this is the solution, I’ll help, and so will the other hunters. We’ll get you there.” He pulled out his phone and started texting.

I didn’t know exactly what he meant, but we loaded up the car and climbed in.

Billy had an old blue beater car with peeling paint. “Follow me,” he shouted.

Hunter was at the wheel and pulled out of the driveway, and then we were off, chasing a car that was faster than I ever thought it could be. As we moved through the city, cars and motorcycles seemed to merge and surround us. In the streets, werewolves and vampires feasted on humans. Ghouls raced around wildly reveling in the chaos. Some of the men in the cars around us shot at the creatures as we passed.

It was carnage. Everywhere. The military had Jeeps. Men shot out at the creatures, but I saw more than a few cars go rolling. I heard the screams of people, and my heart lurched. I could feel it in my men—they wanted to help these people. That was what they were trained to do.

But the best way to help them was to cut off the head of the snake, and we all knew it.

We hit the main road to the Horseman’s battle grounds, and we pulled off the road when we got close enough. The