The driver stared with wide eyes. "Who the hell?"
The giant, deciding the answer to that question didn't matter, attacked first, swinging the flaming baton at Spectra's head.
Amused by his courage, Spectra waited until it was almost on her before a crimson tendril snapped up from the road beside her and wrapped around the weapon.
The baton stopped so suddenly that the giant's shoulders jolted, and before he could wrench it free, two more tendrils coiled around his wrist and elbow.
He grunted and planted both feet, forcing his arm back and even stretching the Gloom strands. But Spectra only watched him with mild interest — the other half of her focus was on the driver who had slipped around her other side with the hooked blade already glowing green.
The driver was smart enough not to repeat the giant's mistake. He came low and fast, cutting toward Spectra's ribs while her attention seemed fixed on the larger man.
