by Michael Todd
“You are always full of damn riddles,” Korbin grumped. “At least tell me who these choices will involve.”
“I think you know.” Damian smiled.
“Katie,” Korbin said with a sigh. “Six ways an angel, six ways a devil, and one complete enigma wrapped up in a riddle.”
“True enough. When you have to make hard decisions, know that my vote—based on my experiences—will be for Katie, and that has nothing to do with anything other than the fact that I believe in her and what she can do for people and for souls.”
“You always make this so fucking hard.” Korbin laughed. “For as long as I have known you, you have always been the one engrossed in the secrets. The dark side of things.”
“Not the dark side.” He smiled. “Just the side that holds reality in a delicate balance. I can see both sides of the fence here.”
“Yeah, when one side is entrenched in turmoil and darkness, and the other side is fake butterflies and happiness,” Korbin replied.
“I’m sorry the reality of it is not covered in rose petals. I damn sure wish that it was,” Damian said. “Things would be a lot easier to take if they smelled and felt good all the time.”
Korbin shook his head and laughed. “You never did want to make things easier.”
Damian put his hand up and tilted it side to side. “I think sometimes you forget that our missions are a little bit different,” he admitted. “My job is first and foremost to save souls, and while the souls need to be alive for that to happen, it isn’t the same as making it easy on you to save lives. That being said, in this instance I need you to trust me when I tell you we are both working toward the same goal.”
Korbin wasn’t convinced, but it wasn’t a lack of trust in Damian. It was everything they had been through lately, and the fact that there were two new people sitting in the base. It was because he had lost two of his old team.
One was an exorcism. He knew that, but he also knew if that hadn’t been done he would have buried him too.
He chewed a moment on what Damian had told him. He didn’t want anything else to happen on his watch, so the topic of Katie made him nervous.
She was a rock in the group and fast becoming the rock of the group. Though he knew she was different, he hadn’t quite figured out all the little details that made her that way.
Then again, maybe it wasn’t his job to know it. Maybe it was just his job to control it enough to where things got done but didn’t get completely out of control.
For some reason he felt Damian was more comfortable with chaos during the process.
After about five minutes of silence Korbin nodded his head in acceptance, figuring there wasn’t really another choice.
He was going to respect Damian, and he was going to trust in what he was telling him and his reasons for leaving something big out right now. If the secret was important enough, it would show itself in time.
Korbin just hoped that when it did—if it was something dangerous or negative in nature—it wasn’t too late to fix or stop it.
Taking chances in their line of work led to death more often than not, and he was determined to protect his team.
Chapter Eight
The next day, Korbin announced a free day to give the new team some time to bond before launching into training.
Derek and Katie trained for a little bit downstairs in the pit, but by dinner time they were all ready to go out to the bar.
Korbin and Damian led the team, old and new, through the back alleys of Vegas into the large grassy courtyard where their favorite dive bar sat. It catered to a rough, tough, and wild crowd, and had the perfect atmosphere for them.
Eric and Jeremy looked around in wonder as they entered, staring at all the roughnecks arguing, laughing, and fighting around them.
They looked like they were in fucking heaven.
Korbin grabbed one of the tables in the center and pulled over an extra chair. The guys sat down and perused a surprisingly good menu, and everyone ordered.
The new guys didn’t say a thing at first, just took in the sights and sounds around them. When the drinks had reached the table and the food was sitting in front of them, Eric wiggled slightly in his chair.
“Okay, I have to ask.” Eric was looking down at the chair legs. “What is up with this furniture? It is literally taped together” He reached down and played with a piece of duct tape.
Damian, Korbin, Derek, Calvin, and Katie looked at each other for a moment before breaking out in laughter.
Katie looked at Eric and smirked, figuring it wasn’t really something that could be explained. Experience would teach the answer better. Sure enough, about twenty minutes later two women started to argue loudly just two tables over.
“You bitch!” one of the women screamed, jumping up from her chair.
“Me?” The other woman stood up, pointing a finger at the first. “You’re the one who can’t keep a man. I’m a good enough friend to point out you are being a bitch. That doesn’t mean I don’t care!”
Katie glanced at Damian and immediately picked up her basket of fries and grilled cheese.
She leaned back in her chair as Calvin and Damian followed suit. This was going to be her favorite part of the evening. She was excited not to feel like the newbie anymore.
There were two very green recruits there to take that place, and it was time for them to start figuring out just how green they really were.
It was one thing to be new at a job, and another to be new at a job no one knew anything about.
Jeremy, who was sitting to the right of Katie, put a French fry in his mouth, but he didn’t even bite down. Instead his mouth dropped open as he stared at the women throwing martial arts-style kicks at each other’s heads.
A few of the nearby tables moved back.
The smaller of the two women, Faleena, ducked a punch and kicked the other women in the stomach. “I got your ‘can’t keep a man’ right here!”
“I have to admit,” Jeremy said aloud, “I was expecting a girl fight. Hair-pulling, slapping—you know, the whole nine.”
“Not these ladies.” Calvin chuckled, holding up his basket. “These ladies could show any one of us tough men right to the motherfuckin’ door. It’s sexy.”
Katie sat there waiting for the grand finale.
She looked over at Eric, who suspiciously stared at the others. They were still holding their food up in the air.
Slowly he raised his as well, catching onto the fact that the whole thing might end in a way that he might not have expected.
Jeremy, on the other hand, was still completely oblivious to what everyone else was doing. As the women grew closer, the baskets were held higher and farther back. Jeremy’s eyes grew large as the women bumped into others, toppled over pitchers of beer, and threw punches that would knock down a grown man.
When they reached their table, the larger woman grabbed Faleena by the shoulders, hoisted her into the air, and slammed her down on top of the table, smashing it to the ground. Down went the duct tape-welded table and Jeremy’s food right along with it.
“Olé!” the group shouted, laughing loudly as everyone in the bar began to clap at the resolution to the argument.
It never failed. Anytime they were there, it was their table that ended up coming down. It was almost as if it was planned like that, but then again, Korbin did always choose the table in the center of the floor.
Like clockwork the bartender Robert, or “Bob” to his friends, jogged out from behind the bar with another table over his head and placed it on top of the mess.
He smiled at Jeremy, realizing that he had obviously not gotten the memo.
“Ugh.” A groan came from under the table.
“Ouch.” Jeremy pushed back his chair and pulling his eyebrows together as he looked under the table.
Faleena’s drunk ass came crawling out with ketchup and smashed fries on her back. Everyone at the table held their laughter in, breathing deeply, giving Faleena time to gather herself a
nd move on. She stopped and bent down, grabbing what was left of Jeremy’s food.
“Uh, sorry,” she said, shoving it into his hands with a small smile before she turned to leave.
Everyone at the table burst into laughter as they stared at Jeremy’s very confused face. He watched as she walked back to the same table as the woman who had kicked her ass. Jeremy turned back to the team with his hands out and his mouth open.
“What the hell?” he asked. “Where did you people bring me?”
“The finest establishment on the sandy coast,” Calvin answered, raising his glass. “Welcome to Torn Asunder!”
“Here, here,” everyone else agreed, lifting their drinks. “Torn Asunder!”
Jeremy shook his head, tossing the smashed basket to the table. He watched as the two women hugged and went back to eating their non-smashed food.
“I’m pissed,” Jeremy said, half-angry and half-amused. “And I’m hungry,” he finished as he grabbed napkins to wipe off the ketchup. “Fucking hell.”
“I’ll take care of it.” Calvin chuckled, signaling to Bob and indicating the smashed basket.
“The first time we brought Damian here…” Korbin started laughing.
“Oh God,” Damian said, shaking his head.
Korbin continued, “We bet him that everyone would watch if he, as a priest, picked a fight.” Korbin grabbed a French fry and ate it. “So instead of just picking any old fight, he chose the biggest motherfucker in the place. I don’t think I’ve ever seen someone’s body fly through the air like that. Well, not without wings.” His eyes glinted with amusement. “I mean he really grabbed some air.”
“That guy still shows up at Sunday in the City every week,” Damian said. “I’m pretty sure he thinks he is going straight to hell for punching a man of the cloth.”
“So you did your job, in a way,” Katie said, nodding. “I am seriously impressed with your willingness to use your face to stop punches in an effort to save souls.”
“Thank you,” Damian said, shaking his head and taking a sip of his beer. “It was one of my more interesting priestly achievements.”
Calvin raised his beer. “And that, guys, is how you sum up Korbin’s Killers.”
The next morning they all gathered in the training pit.
“All right,” Calvin said, clapping his hands. “I hope everyone had a great time last night at the bar and I hope you got some good sleep, because training is back in session. Every day we have a new duo sparring in the center of the pit. Today we have decided to throw Jeremy in with Katie. That will give us an idea what Jeremy is capable of.”
“And how much pain he can withstand,” Derek said under his breath to Katie.
“I won’t be too hard on him.” She smiled, and when Derek looked at her sideways she shoved him. “No, I’m serious!”
“Uh huh,” Derek allowed. “Good intentions pave the road to hell.”
“All right, you two, come on up here,” Calvin called. “Rules are simple: we use technique rather than street style, but know that when you are fighting demons, you use whatever will help you win. We fight until one player taps out.” He looked at Katie. “Let’s try to keep each other conscious, ok?” He turned to Jeremy. “This is a learning activity, not a chance to beat the shit out of each other. Understood?”
“Got it, boss,” Katie said, cracking her neck back and forth.
“Yep,” Jeremy said, shaking out his legs.
Katie could feel Jeremy’s nerves, and it made her confident about what she was doing in the pit and about their sparring.
Calvin walked up to them and looked at Katie, who was smaller than Jeremy, and back to Jeremy with an eyebrow raised.
Jeremy could tell that Calvin was not at all impressed by his body, and it made him slightly uncomfortable.
He looked down. He was in shape, and had been working out. He just wasn’t a gym rat like the rest of them—at least not yet.
Jeremy had always taken care of himself; they had kept in shape in the FBI. Fighting demons was new, though, and from the way he had seen Katie sparring, he had a feeling that she had the moves down.
Still, how hard could it be? She was small, and not very muscular at all. He had quite a bit of weight on her, and they had done their own workouts in the Bureau.
Katie pulled off her sweat jacket and tossed it to Derek, then raised her hands over her head and stretched her arms. She smiled at Jeremy, trying not to chuckle out loud. She had to take it easy on him; it was his first time in the sparring ring.
Who the hell is this chump? Pandora chuckled.
New guy, Katie replied. We are going to take it easy on him. We don’t want to hurt his ego too much.
Right. Pandora sighed.
“New meat needs to be tenderized.” Calvin patted Jeremy on the shoulder.
Jeremy’s eyes got big as Calvin chuckled and walked off the mat.
Katie looked at him and smirked, shaking her head at Calvin.
He was being an ass, and it was hilarious.
Katie walked onto the mat and squared off with Jeremy, who was still looking at Calvin. She narrowed her eyes—class was in session.
This was going to be way too easy.
Calvin’s arm jerked up. “Go,” he yelled, starting the match.
Katie stood there for a few seconds with raised eyebrows, wondering if the guy was going to turn back around to her and start fighting.
After about three seconds she shrugged her shoulders and crouched. Jeremy continued to stare at Calvin until he realized it was time to start.
He nodded and started to turn back, but her foot was already arcing around and slammed right into his head.
Calvin winced and groaned as Jeremy’s head snapped back, the power of Katie’s kick almost taking him right out of the round. Calvin could tell she was holding back, and he was actually pretty happy about that.
Jeremy groaned as he dropped to all fours and shook the blurriness from his vision.
He swallowed hard and pulled himself back up.
“Good one. Good one...,” he said in a muffled voice, rubbing his face. “I guess you got to teach the new guy that there is no mer—”
Katie didn’t wait for him to catch his breath, just took his feet right out from underneath him. She could have taken him down to the tap-out point while he struggled to even get off the mat, but she was trying to make a point.
This guy would have been demon food in three seconds, not to mention that he never stopped talking enough to focus on his next move.
“Get up,” Katie said, standing over him. “If I were a demon you would be dead, and your guts would have been spilled all over the mat.”
“Right, right.” He groaned and pulled himself to his feet, trying to catch his balance.
Katie took a step back for a moment, waiting on him. He groaned again, shaking his head and eyeing Katie.
She stepped back farther, no smile on her face but a bit of amusement in her eyes as she watched him. She was trying to help train him, but she couldn’t say no to crushing his ego a little. The new guys had been eyeballing her since they got here, and she had gotten the vibe that they didn’t understand how a woman could be the rock of their team.
She wanted to make sure she taught them something, but at the same time let them know exactly why she was important to the team. Maybe it was her ego stepping in or maybe it was Pandora’s, but she couldn’t help it.
Katie glanced at Calvin, who was taking notes, and he looked up at her and shrugged his shoulders. The guys were nervous, and it was his first time in the ring—Katie understood that. There was a very good chance he was actually a decent fighter under all the nerves and testosterone. He was doing the typical initial dick measurements, only Katie didn’t have one to measure.
Jeremy stood up and rolled his shoulders, then bent into an attacking pose. He lunged forward to grab onto Katie but she dodged and pushed her hand into the back of his head. He gritted his teeth and lunged again, but the sam
e thing happened.
“You are leading with your legs,” she told him.
“What?” Jeremy replied.
“I can tell which way you’ll go and what you’ll do because you move your legs first and then the rest of your body,” she said.
He lunged forward again and she stepped to the side, grabbing his arm as he passed and pulling it behind his back. She kicked him hard in the back of the knees and moved with him as he fell onto them, then simulated cutting his throat with her hand.
“Like this,” she said, stepping back and letting him up. “I knew exactly where you were going, and I took you exactly where I wanted you to go. If you do that the demons will notice, and you will be their next meal in a heartbeat. The bigger demons don’t care and you won’t stand a chance, especially the ones with intelligence and trained moves.”
“Intelligence?” Jeremy grunted and turned around. “They don’t have intelligence. They are big sacks of fucking meat.”
“Yeah, until they plan an attack on you and force your inner demon to fight,” she said, glancing at Damian, who was watching from a distance. “Anyway, you can’t let them know what your plans are.”
Jeremy looked at Katie for a moment, tired of the back-and-forth and her condescending tone.
He was going to take her down, and if he couldn’t do it with smarts he would use his superior size and weight to wrap her up. He dug his back foot in and leapt toward her, but everything went black.
When Jeremy woke up he blinked his eyes a few times, looking up at Calvin and Katie. The trainer was smirking, and Katie looked worried. He pulled his hand up to his chin and rubbed it, feeling the stream of pain that was going through it. He reached his hand up, and Calvin pulled him to his feet and raised his eyebrows.
“So, would you tell me how the FBI uses the strategy of blocking a front snap-kick with your chin?” Calvin asked. “To be honest, it didn’t really look like it worked out too well for you.”
Chapter Nine
Katie laid down on the bench and looked at the bar overhead. She took a deep breath and lifted the weights up and off the hold, beginning to pump them up and down.
