Ocean Avenue was a shadow of its former glory. No lights came from the buildings making them look abandoned. The few people hurried down the street with heads lowered. I couldn’t help marvel that for all the destruction the gods caused, they rarely destroyed buildings. The street was like some sort of movie set.

Brad, Shadow and I were bait, walking down the street trying to attract attention. Toni figured if the Peacock recognized me so would the Blade. Mercy refused to be a moving target, big surprise.

The rest were hiding to give them the element of surprise.

I wasn’t thrilled with the plan, nearly dying at the hands of one god was enough for a lifetime.

“How did you kill the Peacock?” Brad whispered, his fear well masked but a rapid heartbeat and excessive sweating gave him away.

“Cut off his head…I think,” I was still fuzzy about the details.

They both turned to me, “You think?”

“It’s hard to explain, but after becoming a Worshipper your instincts change, I don’t remember much after the survival instincts take over.” I could hear both of their heartbeats elevate slightly. I hoped they were too disciplined to let that mess with their heads.

It wasn’t long before a black motorcycle drove up to us. A petite Asian woman in her twenties got off it, the only thing to distinguish her as a Worshipper were her eyes--her eyeballs were completely black.

Katana wore a black leather jumper and a katana strapped to her back. The latter remained sheathed as she walked up to us.

The lack of violence had Brad and Shadow confused whether they should reach for their weapons. But she was studying me, wondering what the Prince gave me, how high in his favor I was.

“You are not like his other Worshipper,” she spoke with a lilt in her voice like she was younger or maybe more innocent than she appeared.

I wasn’t sure what to say; hi, nice to meet you too? Can we get on with killing each other?

“Runaways get killed, that’s how it works but he hasn’t issued a kill order, if you do not fight, Blade will not kill you, he will take you back.”

Go back? I wanted to laugh, that was worse than death. “I’m not going back.” Now I was confused, Worshippers only cared about the thrill of the next kill, and gods didn’t wait for orders.

She cocked her head, “But he made you, how can you walk away?”

I wasn’t expecting a rational conversation, neither did Brad or Shadow. The three of us stood dumbfounded, staring at her.

She was waiting for a response. I sure as hell wasn’t about to share my life story with her, “What happened between me and the Prince is between us. Now why don’t you call the Blade and we can get this over with.”

“But he’s already here,” she pointed as the Blade walked out of an alley dragging Toni, Heala, Lightning, and Mercy behind him.

Great! “Are they dead?”

“No,” Blade said, he looked like a six foot Asian man, his hair in the style of a Samurai, “These belong to a god who still claims them.”

Out of the corner of my eye I saw Shadow take out two guns and point them at Blade but before he could shoot Katana was in front of him, her sword making an arc in the air. The gun barrels fell to the ground and the guns misfired.

She lifted the sword again, if she succeeded, the whole thing would have been too fast for Shadow to realize what was happening. But some instinct I hadn’t figured out yet had me there, wresting the blade from her hands. Before I could turn it around on her, the Blade pulled me away, shattering the bones in my hand in the process.

Brad pulled out a shotgun, not that it mattered, Katana was too quick.

“Do not fight me,” Blade looked down on me. I ignored my hand and tackled him, landing on the ground as he moved away from me.

Flashes of the fight with the Peacock came back to me. It was a suicide attack that killed him. He blasted me with the full force of whatever it was that came out of his feathers as I rushed him. I didn’t feel my nerves die, I counted on that as I pulled his head off. I had the element of surprise.

I also thought I’d die with him.

I shook off the thought as I looked at the Blade. How do I get close to him?

“Will you let them go if I go with you?”

Katana’s sword stopped inches from Brad’s neck.

“Even Katana wishes it so, we have--” Blade looked down, my eyes followed, six metal spikes protruded from his chest, black blood spattered the floor.

“Now Heala,” Toni yelled, I realized it was spikes from her metal body as electricity coursed through the metal, electrocuting the Blade.

Katana moved, I intercepted, knocking aside her sword at the expense of my arm, grabbing her ponytail and twisting her head. Shadow helped with a machete through her neck.

When we turned the Blade was walking off the spikes even as he was being electrocuted. I took Katana’s sword and chopped his head off.

A long silence descended as we watched both bodies for signs of movement.

“That…wasn’t so bad,” Toni said looking up, her metal curling back into the shape of her torso.

“If he hadn’t wanted to chat, or didn’t care that you were made by gods, we would all be dead,” Brad said disgusted.

“So…we got lucky,” Toni looked at me.

I reattached my arm, trying not to think of how disturbing that action really was. Heala revived Mercy and Lightning with smelling salts. Mercy rejoiced like she decapitated the two herself.

Brad and Shadow hung up posters that read, “The Warriors were here and they slew the demons.” A Polaroid was taken of the bodies and attached to the posters. The buried the bodies in Miami, in a cemetery. The heads we buried by the compound.

Mercy wanted to go out and celebrate. For the rest, the brush with death was just sinking in. It made me wonder what kind of contact with gods and Worshippers they actually had up till then.

The next day I finally found the door to the outside on my own. I almost did a little jig on the grass. The sun warmed my skin and I wished I had some clothing of my own--this was perfect weather for tanning.

I walked to the barn/garage, the door opened with a loud screech. I winced. The cars didn’t look old or cheap--not that I was a good judge of either. I peeked inside a blue sedan, the keys hung from the ignition. Thoughts of stealing one and running again floated through my mind.

Then I really would have every god looking for me.

Two gods dead, who else could manage that. I didn’t acknowledge that it was mostly an accident both times.

“Tempted?” Brad managed to sneak up on me.

“Aren’t you?” I turned around.

“Since my sister was taken by the monsters and I found what was left of her hanging from the roof of her office building…No I haven’t wanted to run away.”

“Oh,” I looked down at my feet feeling small.

“Everyone has a story, everyone has a reason for doing this. If you ask me, I don’t think you, of all people, have a choice. No matter where you go, they’ll actively look for you--so you might as well take a stand here, with us, where you have a chance.”

A chance? A chance for what? Kill them all? But I remained silent. After two victories they were allowed to be hopeful. “I’m sorry about your sister.”

Brad shrugged, “I was in the military, stationed in Hawaii. But after that happened, I realized that it was all for show--the military is insignificant. Here they barely show their face when the gods show up.”

We sat on the grass, backs to the barn, the silence lengthening.

“What about the others?” I thought of Shadow’s silence and that neither he nor Lightning used their real names.

Brad shrugged again, “Toni, I’m not sure, I met her after,” he swept his hands over his torso, “I don’t now what would make a person choose that kind of life,” he glanced at me, “No offense.”

I shrugged too, “None taken, I didn’t choose this.”

He opened his mouth as if to ask, then shut it, “Mercy was a cop, one of the good ones, after her superiors told her nothing was to be done about god-crimes she quit. Shadow had his whole family annihilated, back when the gods first showed up.”

“Is he mute?”

Brad nodded, “As far as we know, he’s never spoken--he only talks to Ethel,” he touched his head, “telepathically, I guess.”

I thought any more questions would be pushing it so we just sat in silence till the sun went down and our stomachs grumbled.