ChaPter 2 - Carnival of Souls by Melissa Marr

12
that required reaction and focus. Admittedly, it was easier with
the 9mm in her hand, but she still felt tense.
She switched guns, sliding the 9mm into an under-thearm
holster and transitioning to the .357 that she wore in a
thigh holster. The familiar weight of it was all she needed to
summon that meditative space where the world was reduced
to hand-gun-target. She had learned hand-to-hand skills, but
her father insisted that most daimons had superior training
and more physical strength than a human could counter. She
had to be proficient with weapons too. Witches had magic;
daimons had physicality; and humans had guns.
She emptied the last chamber in the revolver and glanced
at her father. The furrow in his brow said what he didn’t: he
wasn’t happy about her switching guns.
“I’m more comfortable with this.” She lowered the barrel
so it aimed at the ground.
Adam said nothing as she opened the cylinder and
discharged the empty casings. He remained quiet as she pulled
six bullets from her jeans pocket and reloaded. When Mallory
closed the cylinder, he said, “I should never have bought you
that gun. If I’d started you with the nine mil, you wouldn’t use
this as a crutch. The revolver was to be a starter, like training
wheels.”
She gestured at the targets. “I’m capable with both guns. I
just like this one better.”
When he didn’t reply, she walked over to the targets. Using
the barrel as a pointer, she tapped the first target. “Not one