Read Cowboys & Devils (Devil Aster Days Book 3) for Free Online Page B

Aster had seen, and quite beautiful even.
    “Hello,” she said, seemingly unaffected by the strange man’s arrival.
    Aster turned to go, to move onto the next room to check.
    “Looking for someone?” she asked, giving Aster pause.
    “Yes,” he replied. “But you’re not him.”
    “I should suppose not,” the woman replied. “Best of luck, then.” Aster closed the door to her room and moved on.
    Aster busted into the rest of the rooms. The terrified folks inside reminded him of the Nobles of Hell, very prim and proper and annoying . When he banged down all doors but one, he held his breath. Ulric must be behind that one remaining door. He knew he wouldn’t come quietly, that there would be a fight. And a fight between two devils in such a cramped space would not be good for any surrounding humans.
    The group of frightened and suspicious men following him finally made their way into the first-class car. Seeing the strange man tearing through the doors of the private rooms, instinct told them he was up to no good. One of the men drew a concealed gun, pointing it straight at Aster.
    “Hold it right there!” said the human.
    Aster paused momentarily and sighed a deeply disappointed sigh.
    “What are you doing on this train? We know you’re no passenger!”
    “That’s right,” said Aster. “I’m not a passenger. To tell you the truth, a dangerous outlaw named Ulric is aboard this train, maybe even in this car. I’m here to capture him, that’s all.”
    “You a lawman?” an older man asked, huddling behind the one man’s gun.
    “Something like that,” Aster replied. He gripped the door handles and prepared to bust into the last private room.
    “You got a badge?” one of the men asked, still not convinced enough to go away.
    Aster ignored them and threw open the door expecting to see Ulric sitting there twiddling his thumbs. Instead he found a confusing and bright shape that was nearly the size of the entire room. He realized what it was a second too late, slamming the door shut and turning towards the group of frightened humans.
    “Get out of here now!” he screamed as the fireball in the room exploded. Aster was tossed to the floor but otherwise undamaged. The rest of the humans didn’t do as well. After falling over and dropping the only gun they had, the men all scurried to their feet in terror and abandoned the car. The passengers riding in the other private rooms all abandoned ship as well, except for those in the rooms right next to the explosion. Aster didn’t dare look at the mess he knew he was sure to find in those rooms.
    When the panic-stricken humans were all gone, Aster examined the flaming wreckage of the car. There was a giant flaming hole blasted through the side of the car where an open window used to be. He knew at once Ulric had laid a trap for him and bailed. Before he got too far ahead, Aster dove through the inferno and out the hole in the side of the car. Before he collided with the ground outside, Aster released his wings and got airborne.
    From the sky he saw a vague Ulric-shaped man sitting on top of the smoking train car he was just in. The man laughed to himself like the explosion was the funniest thing he’d ever seen, pointing and waving at Aster to grab his attention. Aster flew in fast and low to tackle the man but he quickly rolled out of the way. Aster looped back around and landed.
    “Enough of this madness! You’re coming back to Hell to pay for your crimes Ulric!”
    “I’d really rather not,” Ulric replied. “I’m having way too much fun here, why don’t you head back without me? Just tell everyone I’m dead.”
    “I can’t go back without at least bringing them your head,” replied Aster. “Or you could surrender and I could take you back alive. It’s your call, but I will not allow you to terrorize the humans here any longer!”
    “How boring,” Ulric said as he climbed to his feet. “I guess this is what I get for not finishing you off