Vas glanced at me and I narrowed my eyes at him. “I owe Bobby a punch in the face. Don’t get in my way with this.”

“Fine. But if he kicks your ass, I’m going to spread your humiliation far and wide.”

“That’s just mean.”

After a few minutes, it was obvious everyone else had arrived. Vas elbowed me gently. “Don’t let him kill you. I’ll take the back exit.”

“I won’t. Thanks.”

I crossed the street, and Bob took a step toward me warningly. Then he froze.

“Oh hey, Bob. You fucked up when you targeted the people I care about.”

Bob cast a glance over his shoulder and I let out a chuckle. “Gonna get your little friends to back you up? Can’t even take me with the belt of Thor holding your pants up?”

His face flushed but he turned back to me. “I don’t need their help,” he said, his eyes wild.

I took one step closer to him, taking him in. Bob was taller than me, much wider than me, and if he hit me while he was wearing that belt, I was screwed.

Good thing I had a lot of rage to work out.

Bob bared his teeth and ran at me. I stepped to the side and tripped him, but he managed to keep his feet, stumbling wildly.

So I kicked him in the ass and sent him sprawling.

“That’s for threatening the kids, Bob.”

He jumped up, his face flushing purple-red.

Then he lunged, his meaty fist swinging toward my head. But while the belt may have made Bob strong, it hadn’t improved his speed.

I slid out of the way and shoved my knee into his gut. He roared, throwing another punch. The punch threw him off balance and I dodged, grabbed his right arm and introduced his face to my fist.

Bob roared, and I followed the punch up with a slap across his face. His mouth fell open and I took the opportunity to smash the side of my hand into his throat.

The knife-edge made his eyes bulge, and he choked, falling to his knees.

“Yeah, that can’t be comfortable. Try and take deep breaths, Bob.”

My power caressed my shields, craving more violence. It would be so easy to shove my knife in his heart right now. Or I could slit his throat. The satisfaction would almost be worth it.

No. I needed him to tell me what he knew.

A flap of wings, and I jumped about a foot in the air as Samael appeared beside me.

“I hate when you guys do that. What are you doing here?”

He gave me a look. Oh right, I’d invited him to help me take down the bad guys and then hung up on him.