One Grave at a Time (Night Huntress 6)

"Don't hit me, that really hurts right now!"

My voice was hoarse to the point of being unrecognizable. Breathing in a lungful of fire will do that to a person, even if that person is a vampire. Lisa stopped fighting me, but she still had fear reeking from her pores even over the stench of gasoline.

"Cat?" she managed, sounding like she didn't believe it.

"Who the hell else would it be?"

To make up for my sharp words, I tried to smile, but then stopped when that made her recoil. A glance at my arm showed I had a layer of soot over mostly healed skin, but there were still some grisly patches of charred flesh. Okay, so I looked like a crispy demon fresh from the pit, but it was still me.

A fresh river of tears spilled onto her cheeks. "B-but I saw you burn."

"As Bones would say, right you are," I told her with a shudder of remembrance. "I healed. Mostly."

She still looked too shocked to believe me. "But . . . but . . ."

"No time for chatting, we need to get you out of here, and I have to find Francine," I muttered, grasping her again. This time, she didn't try to fight me off, but she did yelp when I lifted her and ran toward where my last aerial glimpse showed me the nearest stretch of road was. She'd be safer in the street, away from the fire that might start to spread even more if it wasn't put out soon.

As soon as I saw pavement, I let her go, dashing back into the cornfield. The pain was almost gone now, to my vast relief. That allowed me to run faster, trying to listen for any sounds that would lead me to Francine. But just like when I walked in here with Sarah, the natural sounds of the drying husks rubbing together combined with the crackles from the nearby fire and the confusion in the other section of the fields as people started to notice the orange lights, my senses were effectively blanketed.

I was about to propel myself over the field and try flying again when a sharp crack rang out, and the stalk next to me exploded. I whirled in time to avoid the next bullet aimed at me, charging toward Kramer with vicious intentness. He'd landed those shots before because I was walking very slowly with Sarah bracing herself on my shoulder, but he wouldn't get that lucky again.

I wrenched the gun away from him, taking ruthless pleasure in sending it sailing off as far as I could throw it. Silver bullets wouldn't hurt him, so the gun was useless to me. He snarled as he tried to force me to the ground, but I used his wide stance against him by ramming my knee into his groin with enough force to pulverize his parts.

"Who's crying now, motherfucker?" I spat, using that same knee to blast into his face when he doubled over. Those impacts hurt me, but not as much as they did him, and knowing that made my pain sweet. I sent another brutal hammer into his side, then another one, and another one.

Kramer fell back, unable to protect himself against the blows that came faster than he could react. The ghost had spent centuries dishing out punishment, but from his ineffective counterattacks, he hadn't spent enough time learning how to defend against it. Battle lust surged through my veins, fueled by the rage I'd held back while Kramer was pawing at me and the knowledge of all the people who'd been unable to fight back due to the superstition and unfairness of the age they lived in. My blows rained down harder and quicker, every nasty, effective trick Bones taught me bearing glorious fruit in the hoarse grunts of pain coming from Kramer as he tried to shield himself.

No, you don't get away! I thought, increasing my attack when he attempted to crawl out of range of my fists and feet. Especially not tonight.

Just when I was at the height of the euphoric high from delivering a well-deserved beat down, calamity struck.

. . . light over there . . . that's fire! . . . got to get out of here . . . where are the kids? . . . oh my God, the crops! . . . help, someone help me!

A hundred different voices assailed my mind at the same instant, as debilitating as a karate kick to the face. I clutched my head before I could stop myself, backing away from Kramer in a blind attempt to run before he noticed that I'd stopped beating the shit out of him. But that merciless cascade of voices chased me as I went, growing in volume as if fueled by my agitation.

Kramer launched himself at me with the same single-minded determination I'd showed with him. This time, it was me who couldn't field the blows fast enough as those voices hammered away in my mind, taking my focus away during the critical split seconds between ducking a kick or punch and having one land with devastating effect. His tackle brought me to my knees, and then a sharp crack to my back had me bent over with pain shooting up my spine. Kramer drew back his foot to kick me again-and his leg was yanked upward. He fell back and was pounced upon by a beautiful brunette who, at the moment, was as solid as he was.

"Run, Cat!" Elisabeth urged me, pounding away at her murderer.

I didn't run. I waited with overflowing gratitude while Elisabeth gave me the precious moments needed to force the voices down to levels where they didn't cripple me with distraction. By the time Kramer had regained the upper hand, throwing her to the ground and landing punishing blows to her midsection, I was on my feet, a fresh surge of determination cascading through me. If Elisabeth was here, then Bones couldn't be far behind.

I launched myself onto the Inquisitor, ripping my fangs through the back of his neck hard enough to sever every tendon. The foulest taste filled my mouth-not blood, but something damp and moldy like it had come from the ground. I spat it out but kept ripping at his neck because it made him scream with pain and stop punching Elisabeth. She vanished underneath in the next moment, appearing beside me in her usual vaporous, hazy state.

"I can't help you any more!" she said in anguish. "I don't have the strength to remain solid."

Kramer tried to get up, but I rammed my knee into his back hard enough to cripple a normal person and tore a larger hunk out of his neck, spitting it out before answering her.

"You already gave me the help I needed."

Kramer said something to her in German, unbelievably able to talk despite what I'd done to his neck. I caught the word "hure" amidst the others and snaked an elbow around his throat, pulling up with all my might.

I felt an abrupt lessening of tension, fell backward from my momentum and not having anything to grasp anymore, but when I sprang to my feet, Kramer was also on his. Not only did he still have a head, but the damage I'd done to his neck looked completely healed.

"You can't kill me, Hexe," Kramer said, poison dripping off each word. "I am beyond your powers."

"I'm going to show you that you're not," I snarled.