New Olympus Saga (Book 1): Armageddon Girl Read Online Free

knees
and realized my suit jacket was no longer singed; it was on fire. I hadn’t
dodged quite fast enough.
    Some people think Neos are impervious to
pain. Don’t believe that for a second. Pain is too useful a warning system. We
may be hard to kill, but we feel everything that happens to us, from a paper
cut on up. I’ve been shot, stabbed, blown up, dipped in acid (don’t try that at
home, kids) and once had an icepick shoved into my temple and then swirled
around inside my brain for good measure, and man did I ever feel that. All of
which means I was quite aware that my right arm and back were burning merrily
while I dodged a couple more lightning bolts the fucker sent my way. That guy
was beginning to piss me off.
    I’d dropped my gun sometime during the
festivities. I tried to close in on the Lightning King, but he was pretty fast
on his feet. He kept his distance and forced me to keep mine by throwing a
steady barrage of lightning bolts and flying energy balls. In between dancing
around the electrical attacks, I managed to rip off the burning jacket before I
got more than a few first and second-degree burns. The burns would be gone in a
few seconds – we hurt, but we heal quickly – but I wasn’t going to be around in
a few seconds if I didn’t finish this fight quickly.
    A weapon would be nice just about now. I
looked around and spotted the little guy’s big gun where it must have fallen
after he went down. I leaped for the gun as a pretty impressive forked
lightning bolt barely missed me and destroyed several boxes of restaurant
supplies. I grabbed the gun and rolled on the ground, getting singed by a
near-miss. As I leveled the gun at him, the Lightning King created another
sphere of energy to protect himself. The shots were swallowed by the crackling
energy ball. My guess was the shield was vaporizing the bullets before they
could get through, even the big .500 caliber ones I sent his way. Two shots
emptied the revolver anyway.
    I got an idea even as the revolver made a
harmless click on my third trigger pull. I flipped the gun so I had it by the
barrel and flung it at the Haitian with all my strength. It hit the sphere, but
the energy that will vaporize a seven hundred-grain lead bullet will only
partially melt a three-pound chunk of high quality steel. The oversized
revolver was still mostly in one piece when it emerged on the other side of the
energy sphere and smacked the Lightning King right in the mouth.
    Like I said, Neos feel pain just fine,
and nothing will ruin your concentration like having a red-hot three pound
piece of metal hitting your face at fastball speeds. A human would have been
killed instantly by the impact, but the Lightning King was only stunned for a
few seconds. Unfortunately for him, that was more than enough time for me to
get into hand to hand range. I was in a piss-poor mood; second degree burns
will do that to you. I didn’t hold back as I punched and kicked him. You can’t
when it’s a fight for your life and the other guy is as hard to kill as you
are. The Haitian tried to fire more electrical blasts my way, but he couldn't
aim for shit after I broke both of his arms. By the time I was done, I’d
cracked several knuckles in my hands and my feet were sore, but the King was
dead, long live the King. He wasn’t a pretty sight anymore.
    That was the entire crew, unless they’d
kept a tactical reserve somewhere. I looked around, but neither saw nor heard any signs
of life. Several hundred pounds of assorted goods were smoldering, but no major
fires had started. I headed back to the office, hoping I’d find the kidnap
victim there.
    And there she was, lying on a couch,
wearing nothing but one of those embarrassing hospital gowns that lace in the
back, plus several dozen feet of duct tape. Somebody had used
the better part of a roll of silver duct tape and wrapped her wrists, ankles,
arms and legs with it. And also covered her mouth and eyes under even more
tape, all wrapped