Prophecy: Tome of Embers

14. With or Without

Cliff hadn't been waiting long when he saw the car coming down the road. He lied to himself when he said he wasn't worried, and he wiped his sweaty palms on the back of his jeans as he the vehicle came to a stop. Larry got out and shot him a bored look, no doubt wondering why he had been summoned out of the blue. Cliff did his best to avoid looking suspicion, and he cleared his throat as he stood tall and took a step forward. His attempt made the mindless goon scoff, but he carried on onto they were standing side by side.

"I thought I made it clear that we were done, it's not my problem you're beat to hell." It was perfectly within character for Larry to be so nonchalant about the way the beefy cop's face looked. After all, he was usually the one to dole out the beatings.

"Actually it is," without missing a beat, Cliff pulled his gun from the holster and pointed it at him, stopping him just as he was about to do the same. Even before he'd made the trip, Larry was a little suspicious about the intentions, though he'd come anyway because he needed to make sure nothing would mess things up for Monica now. She didn't like surprises.

"What is this? Some kind of revenge for what I did to your pretty little girlfriend? Come on tough guy, you know you're not going to shoot me." Larry's taunt distracted Cliff for a second, but it was long enough for him to knock the weapon out of his hand. Once the gun had clattered to the ground he lunged forward, tackling the cop to the pavement. At first Larry did well, on top of him, landing a couple of blows to places on his face where a fist had already been, but the training that Cliff had received years ago was enough to help him overpower the mindless goon.

Once Cliff had gotten a good grip on Larry's neck he pulled him down and rolled over, switching spots in a matter of seconds. Only, Larry had undergone his own type of training, and it wasn't as respectable. He grabbed Cliff's shirt and pulled hard, bringing him forward as he bashed his head into his nose. Cliff fell away and Larry was back on his feet, taking advantage of the hesitation and swinging his foot heavily. Yet Cliff was ready for him, grabbing him and twisting his ankle until he was back face first on the ground.

That was all the opportunity the beefy cop needed, and he pinned Larry to the cement with his knee so that he couldn't escape while he pulled his hands behind his back and cuffed them there. With a grunt Cliff pushed himself up, dragging his captive with him. Larry said nothing then, a vow of silence in the wake of his defeat. He would focus instead on planning an escape, and when the time was right he would strike again. Time was not on his side though, and Cliff shoved him the back of the cruiser, knowing that he would be safe in there until they got to where they were going.

To make sure that they were truly alone, as he had requested of Larry, he swept his eyes around the perimeter. It was true, Larry's hubris-his thinking that nothing could best him-had led him right into the trap without any backup, and now no one knew where he was. That was Cliff's gain, and he got into the driver's seat and pulled away from their clandestine meeting place, having retrieved what he had come for. Now he just wanted to put what came next far behind him.

The same held true for the Anchoress too. Yes, over in her new headquarters she was also focused on moving forward and leaving what was in the past behind. She embraced what she could feel coming, longed for it, and finally she was going to make it happen. Especially now when there was no time to be wasted. Every demon that she had brought to this world through one of her portals had been destroyed-at first by the do-gooders that harbored her sacred one, and then by the demon woman who wished to put her back in her cage. Yet the Anchoress refused to go without her sacred one. This was not a world she had longed to visit, and she would gladly return home once she had what was hers. That proved difficult though.