She spun. The man standing there was a little taller than she was. He wore old jeans and dirty boots. No shirt. He was wiry, his muscles tight. His grey hair was long. Messy. He had a grinning mouth tattooed across the lower half of his jaw. Other tattoos decorated his torso and arms. He was painted like his skin was peeling back, revealing an army of swarming demons beneath the surface.

“Don’t suppose it matters,” he continued. His accent was New York. “You were asking about the gay guys, which automatically means you get put on the list. Which means I have to kill you.” He shrugged. “Hope you don’t take it personal.” He reached into his waistband, and frowned. “Aw dammit,” he muttered, and looked up. “Don’t suppose you’d have the loan of a knife or a gun, would you?”

Valkyrie’s hand lit up, but the tattooed man skipped forward and slapped her so hard she nearly blacked out. She stumbled sideways instead, went down on one knee, but forced herself up again, keeping distance between them, backing off as he closed in.

“Guess I’ll just have to beat you to death,” he said, and smiled.

She raised her hand, tried blasting him, but her body wasn’t co-operating. By the time her fingertips finally started to tingle, he’d vanished. Teleporter.

She whirled, whirled again, then heard a boot stepping on dried twigs and she turned back to the spot where he’d vanished and there was no one there, but pain exploded across her face and her head snapped back and she staggered, both hands over her face while blood streamed through her fingers. Her nose was broken. The pain was excruciating. Through tear-filled eyes she watched his image solidify in front of her.

Not a Teleporter, then.

“I should have brought a gun,” he said. “For the first month or two, I always had a gun on me. But they’re pretty heavy, you know? And uncomfortable. So I stopped bringing it. Not very professional, I know, but this isn’t a full-time gig for me. I’m being paid to keep an eye on that patch of land and, if anyone comes snooping, I have to kill them. To be honest, you’re the first to come snooping. Until now, this has been the easiest money I ever made. Course, it’s still pretty easy.”

Never teleported in and his eyes widened immediately.

“Omen!” Valkyrie shouted, pointing.

Never ran to Omen’s side, crouching beside him as he tried to sit up, and Valkyrie bolted towards them. The tattooed man ran to intercept, but Valkyrie’s head start was more than enough to keep her out of his reach.

Never looked around, looked right at her with panic in his eyes, and just before Valkyrie could touch him he teleported, taking Omen with him.

Goddammit.

Valkyrie veered away and the tattooed man slammed into her.