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- "Okay," I said. I knelt down by the wounded businessman and said, "Come on, buddy; this is no place to be sitting around." I grabbed him underneath the arms and started backpedaling down the counter. "There's a doorway back here somewhere, goes to the rear area."
- "Perfect," Michael said. "I can hold that for as long as you need."
- The wounded man struggled to help me, but mostly all he did was make it harder to move him. He was making continuous sounds of terror and pain. I was glad that we had the barrier of the counter between us and the encroaching hobs. I didn't particularly care to find out what getting hit with a sharp stone ax felt like.
- We reached the door behind the ticketing counter, which was closed. I jiggled the handle, but it was apparently locked. I didn't have time for this crap. I lifted my right hand and focused on one of the energy rings I wore. There was one of them on each finger, a band made of three rings woven into a braid. The rings stored energy, saving back a little every time I moved my arm, and allowing me to unleash that stored energy all in one spot.
- I brought my will to bear on the door as I lifted my hand in a closed fist, focusing the energy of the rings into as small an area as I could. I hadn't designed them for this kind of work. They'd been made to shove things roughly away from me before they could rip my face off. But I didn't have a lot of time to waste putting together something neater.
- So I aimed as best I could, triggered the ring, and watched it rip the doorknob, the lock, and the plate they were all mounted in right out of the door, to send them tumbling into the room beyond. Unimpeded by any of those pesky metal security fittings, the door swung inward.
- "Come on!" I said to Michael, seizing the wounded man again. "Mouse, lead the way."
- My dog padded through the doorway, crouched low and with his teeth bared. I practically walked on his tail as I came in behind him, and Michael was all but treading on the wounded man's bloodied leg.
- As the light from Amoracchius illuminated the room we entered, it revealed the harried customer-service rep we'd seen a few minutes before. She knelt on the floor, crucifix in hand, her head bowed as she frantically recited a prayer. As the light fell over her she blinked and looked up. The white fire of the holy sword painted the tear streaks on her face silver as her mouth dropped open in an expression of shock and stunned joy. She looked down at her crucifix, and back up at him again.
- Michael took a quick glance around the room, smiled at the woman, and said, "Of course He's there. Of course He listens." He paused, then admitted, "Granted, He doesn't always answer quite this quickly."
- There were other people in the room-the customers she'd been trying to find a hotel room for. When things had gone dark and scary she had somehow rounded them up and gotten them into the room. That took a lot more moxie than most people had. I also noted that she had been kneeling between the customers and the doorway. I liked her already.
- "Carol," I said, sharply enough to make her tug her gaze from Michael, who now stood in the doorway, holy Sword in hand. "Carol, I need you to give me a hand here."
- She blinked and then nodded jerkily and rose. She helped me drag the wounded man over to where the others were seated against the wall. "H-how did you know my name?" she stammered. "Are y-you two angels?"
- I sighed and tapped a fingernail on the name tag she wore. "I'm sure as hell not," I said. I jerked my head at Michael. "Though he's about as close to one as you're ever likely to see."
- "Don't be ridiculous, Harry," Michael said. "I'm just a-" He broke off and ducked. Something solid whizzed past him and slammed a hole the size of my head into the drywall above us. Bits of dust rained down, and frightened people cried out.
- Small Favor Chapter 23, Page 187-189
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