7

There was a loud metallic shriek of impact, but no pain. The van slammed to a stop three feet from my face. In a matter of seconds, Kerath had grown a foot taller and two feet wider. The front end of the vehicle collapsed against his oversized ham-hock fists. The van’s momentum stopped completely, but the troll didn’t even budge.

“What the hell? I knew all those luck...”

Before I could finish my sentence, Devereaux was yanking me up to my feet. My shoulder, still tender from my last dance with the wendigo, protested. “Run,” she said, echoing my subconscious.

My feet obeyed, though I didn’t understand. My hearing was ripped away by a massive explosion. After sound left, my connection to Earth was broken: the force of the blast flung me ragdoll style. For a moment, I hurtled effortlessly through space, before a sudden and harsh reintroduction to the ground.

I wanted to pass out, rather than feel the pain, but my body refused to cooperate. Instead, I lay there wishing the ringing would leave my ears alone. When it had died down to a loud roar, I rolled over to find Devereaux. “You okay?”

She nodded a little, but didn’t try to stand up.

“Thanks…how did you know it would blow?”

With effort, she forced herself to sit up. “Explosives wired to the undercarriage. Got a pretty good look at them after you tripped me.” Devereaux grunted as her hands explored her ribs. “Are people always trying to kill you or is it just when you’re within shouting distance of an FBI agent?”

I shook my head gingerly, still not wanting to stand. “Just feds and faeries, I guess…oh crap.” I forced myself to stand then, as I remembered Sir Kerath. His body lay fifty feet off, full troll now. What little of his clothing hadn’t been torn apart by the sudden growth had been burnt off by the blast.

I rushed over to him and knelt, feeling for a pulse. Mercifully, troll wrist anatomy was not vastly different and I soon found his weak, but present, heartbeat. I heard Devereaux’s footsteps behind me. “What on Earth…” Her voice trailed off.

“Troll,” I answered. “Unseelie Court ambassador, he just saved our lives, and I don’t have time to explain right now.” I patted Kerath’s cheek. “Kerath, come on, wake up. I don’t know what to do here.”

His wounds were extensive. He may have stopped the runaway vehicle with little effort, but the fiery explosion had caught him at ground zero. I heard Devereaux behind me, pushing buttons on what I could only pray wasn’t a cellphone.”

I glanced back, saw that it was, and yelled, “Devereaux! Put that damn thing down and help me get him back inside…or do you want to explain to the Boston PD what a troll is?”

That caught her and she pulled the phone down from her face. “But I don’t even know what a troll is.”

“My point exactly. Now help me get him inside and I’ll explain it to you. Leave him out here and you can handle explanations to all the first responders.”

“But they’d want to talk to you…you’d have to explain,” she stammered.

I grinned. “Can’t talk to a Valente employee without a warrant.”

Her look was thunderous, but she bent over and hooked her arms under Kerath’s knees.