Ransom For Hire - Appointment In Hell Read Online Free PDF

Troll’s face and he lifted a hand to count on his fingers.
    Ransom threw Romock at the Troll, and the Imp landed against his face with a wet splat of black blood. At the same time Ransom pulled out his knife and smoothly threw it at the first Troll on his left. His aim was true and it went through the Troll’s eye, into his tiny brain.
    A Troll’s skin is incredibly thick. Ransom’s knife might have scratched one of them with a well placed cut, but it wouldn’t have been enough to bring death. Had the Troll moved just an inch as Ransom threw, the knife would have missed the eye, and the Troll would still be alive. But instead he fell now with a heavy thump to the floor, dead.
    “Carish-lae-nok!” he yelled.
    The knife pulled itself out of the Troll’s eye and flew back toward Ransom. He redirected it before it reached his hand and to fly through the air at the Troll to his far right. This Troll learned from his friend’s mistake and raised a hand to cover his eyes. Ransom’s knife barely stuck into the hand but Ransom knew it wasn’t enough to hurt the thing.
    He spun away as the Troll rushed him, letting the huge creature barrel past. At the last moment he stuck his leg out and tripped the thing, causing the beast to pitch forward.
    The Troll landed with his hand still in front of his eyes. The butt of the dagger slammed into the floor, pushing the sharp tip upward as the heavy head fell down. It was enough to force the dagger into this one’s eye too and, Ransom hoped, kill the Troll.
    But now the dagger was stuck, out of Ransom’s reach even with his magics.
    “And that is why you earned your name, little Harbinger,” Yulwavi growled.
    Ransom turned. Yulwavi and the last Troll stood there side by side. Yulwavi’s friend had Romock dangling from one huge fist.
    Ransom blew out a breath through the handkerchief tied around his face. “I don’t have time for this, Yulwavi. My wife is here in Hell, still alive. I need to get to her and get her out.”
    Yulwavi knit his brows together. “Who did that to you, little Harbinger?”
    Ransom shook his head. “Haven’t had time to figure it out yet. But they’re dead when I do.”
    The Troll nodded his massive head once. “And will you be killing me too, little Harbinger?”
    “Do I need to?” Ransom put on his best game face and stood his ground. He just had to hope the bluff would work. He’d almost died killing Yulwavi once. He wasn’t sure he’d survive doing it twice.
    Yulwavi clenched and unclenched his thick hands. “No,” he said at last. “No, you don’t. Give him back his Imp, Blogereth. I don’t plan on dying again, if I can help it.”
    The other Troll, Blogereth, tossed a limp Romock at Ransom’s feet. The little Imp squirmed and scratched at the floor of the building weakly, trying to dig itself away. Ransom grabbed its neck before it could get anywhere.
    He stepped over to the Troll that had his knife buried under the face. He tried to roll the head gently but it wouldn’t budge. Ransom kept a wary eye on Yulwavi and his friend, expecting them to jump him at any time. “Clootho,” he whispered.
    The Troll’s head cracked and split down the middle. Reaching into the mush that remained inside, Ransom plucked his knife out. He cleaned it on the dead-again Troll’s sleeve and slipped it back into his coat.
    Backing his way out of the building Ransom tipped his fedora at Yulwavi. “I don’t want to see you again. Ever.”
    “Or you either, little Harbinger.”
    The two trolls walked away into the shadows, leaving their dead companions where they lay.

Chapter 6
    Back outside of the building Ransom walked a good distance down the street of dead bodies before he stopped. Romock was clawing limply at his hand, trying to get enough release to breathe again.
    Ransom took a hard grip on the Imp’s left arm and twisted it backward. The bones in Romock’s arm snapped loudly. Ransom twisted it around a full rotation and with a hard pull