Shattered: The Iron Druid Chronicles, Book Seven Read Online Free PDF Page B

lad’s temple and then kept spinning around, taking the charge of the next guy inthe back and stunning him with a right elbow to his guts. The punk stopped, bent over, and Owen raised his right arm again, still cocked, and completed his turn, this time giving the man an elbow to the jaw. He lost some teeth on the way down to the floor.
    The third bloke slowed down, deciding to search for a weakness, and the fourth chose to have a go at me, even though I had a sword plainly slung across my back. He came at me from my left side, fist cocked, and I waited for him to throw it at me. Once he did, I caught it in my left hand and took my cue from Owen: I head-butted him, using his own momentum against him. I smashed his nose and let him go down cradling his face.
    The last guy rarely behaves as tough as he had with his mates still standing around him. Morale evaporates rapidly when you encounter something that’s able to take out your friends in a few seconds.
    He held up his hands and backed off. “Hey, our mistake. Sorry.”
    “What happened to all his piss, Siodhachan? He charged me and now he’s thinking better of it?” Owen said.
    “Wouldn’t you, in his position?”
    “I might think about fighting another day, sure. But only after I learned how to fight. These were hardly any fun.”
    “Fun’s on its way,” I said, pointing past him at the approaching bouncer. He was the tall hulking sort who could take a lot of punishment and patiently pound you on the head until you dropped. “It’s that man’s job to throw you out of here.”
    “Is he any good at his job?”
    “You’re about to find out.” I pulled some money out of my pocket and switched to English to talk to the bartender. “Sorry about the mess. I’ll leave enough for our drinks and then some.” I didn’t have anything but American dollars, but they could exchange those easily enough. There wasn’t a lot of damage yet beyond some blood to mop up, but I figured that would change in a moment. Unlike the punks, the bouncer knew how to fight. He looked ex-military and at some point had been trained inKrav Maga. He introduced Owen to its finer points. The archdruid was down and under control, gasping for breath with his arm twisted behind him, in about twenty seconds. The bouncer was breathing heavily too, for Owen had gotten a couple of licks in, but both men were smiling bloody smiles.
    “Grandpa’s got some moves,” he said, and spat blood on the floor before looking over at me. “You going to give me trouble too? You pull that sword on me and you’ll have an issue with the law, not just me.”
    “Nah, I don’t need my attitude adjusted. Thanks very much for adjusting his.”
    “Right. Out you go, then.” He jerked his head toward the door. “I’ll be right behind you with Grandpa.”
    I passed by, keeping my distance, and preceded them toward the inn’s front door. Owen was laughing as the bouncer pulled him to his feet. “Siodhachan, tell this giant oaf I like him.”
    “What did he just say?” the bouncer asked, pushing Owen along. “He’ll kick my arse later?”
    “No, he said he likes you.”
    “Oh. Well, that’s different.”
    “I’ll kick his arse later, of course,” Owen said, and I laughed.
    “There it was.”
    The bouncer chuckled. “They always say that. Look, I’m kind of glad you came in here and laid those wankers out, because they’re tosspots, but don’t come back here again, guys, or I won’t be so nice.”
    “No worries,” I said, walking outside. He pushed Owen out behind me and closed the door.
    “What was with all the elbows in there?” I asked.
    “Oh. That. Fecking aches in me knuckles.” He stretched, held his lower back, and winced. “Abuse my hands now and they won’t open in the morning. Getting old is about as much fun as swimming in shite.”
    “I know; I tried it once.”
    “That so? How old were ye before ye started aging backward?”
    “I was seventy-five when I met Airmid and she