Maggie Get Your Gun by Kate Danley Page B

of anger.  I pulled
myself up, clawing my fingertips along the side of the wall.  I propped my
elbows on the window ledge and peered out.
    Killian and the vampire were scrapping on the ground, the
vampire trying to hold the stake away from his heart and push it into Killian’s
chest.  The vampire's skin hissed every time it hit the ground.  Too bad about
that silver allergy.  Still, Killian had his work cut out for him just trying
to stay alive.  It was a down and dirty street brawl.  The elf wasn’t half
bad.  You know.  For an elf.
    But Killian got him.  He flipped the vampire over and
nailed him through his back.  I was impressed.  Score one for the living.
    Killian turned and looked at me, standing over the
vampire's corpse with the stake in his hand.  He was all wild and manly and
sweating and out of breath with the moonlight spilling on him.  Under different
circumstances, a girl might have been talked into playing a round of some Texas
Hold ‘Em.  Git along little doggie.
    Killian grinned, I’m pretty sure reading my tells like a
champion poker player, but he just came in, swung his head under my arm and
said, “Come on, Maggie.  We should get to the car before something eats us.”
    The reminder that we had some baddies out there waiting to
rip our throats out and only one neckguard between us killed the mood.  I
grunted as I accidentally put too much weight on my foot.  Slowly, we inched
our way down to the parking lot.
    “This fucking sucks,” I said.
    “I am the one who defeated a vampire,” said Killian.
    “I wore him down for you,” I replied.
    Killian shook his head, “I would pay any price for a cool
cup of ambrosia and a hot spring to soak in…”
    “You and me both.  I might trade the ambrosia for a couple
shots, though.”
    We were halfway down the hill.  The cross at the top of Boot
Hill stood starkly against the bright night sky.
    Killian leaned me up against the car and opened the door
for me.  We both were looking at those graves in the cemetery, hoping none of
them decided to spring forth with new undead life... again…
    The moment we were in the car, I pounded the locks closed
and Killian revved the engine.
    “Gentle, Killian,” I said.  “Breaking down over here would
be a very, very bad idea.”
    We slowly crunched our way across the parking lot, over the
huge pointed rocks and out onto the highway.  I waved goodbye to the entrance
as we drove away.
    I think I officially had my fill of the wild, wild west.

 
     
    Chapter 16
    “Okay, Mr. Smith,” I said as Killian and I walked into
MacKay & MacKay Tracking Other Side HQ.
    I had been psyching myself up for the drive out to Ghost
Town, but my voicemail was blinking at me from the moment we crossed over from
Earth.  There was a message from Mr. Smith to meet him at the office first
thing.  I guess there was no way of him knowing that we had already found the
comb.
    I made a quick trip to the local witch doctor, who fixed me
up good as new, and Killian and I headed over to the office.  I was bone weary
from the all-nighter and didn't mind one bit not having to drive the comb out
to Ghost Town.  I tried calling my dad to get him up to speed on the 4-1-1, but
he didn't pick up, as per usual.
    The office was open.  Seemed a little rude to come in while
the door was locked, not to mention illegal, but the more I learned about Mr.
Smith, the more I got the idea he didn’t wait around much for anything.
    “Listen, we got it, Mr. Smith.  Now, I’d like to give this
to you to crush beneath something heavy, but I got this note from Vaclav…”
    Mr. Smith was lying on the ground next to my desk, beat to
hell, his little mouth opening and closing like a guppy gasping for air.
    “Killian, call the police!” I said as I crouched down next
to the old dude and started checking his vitals.  “Come on, Mr. Smith.  You’re
not allowed to die before I kill you.”
    “Maggie?  Is that you?” he asked, his eyes