My surroundings blurred. I landed in Arlington Cemetery, in the Civil War section. The graveyard was empty. I collapsed to the ground. Icy stone froze my cheek. My mouth opened wide, and black smoke spewed from my throat. Samael materialized, splayed on the ground beside me, a skeleton in black robes.
"Where's your skin?" I struggled to say.
He wheezed. "Too weak. Can't hold that form."
I rolled onto my stomach, blood pooling beneath me. "Crap, it hurts."
He crawled over to me. Samael put his hand on my back and choked out demonic words. I felt the bullet rise from my flesh. It exited the wound and fell to the ground. The hole in my back healed.
"Better?" Samael said, his voice hoarse.
"Yeah." I sat up, dazed. "Why the graveyard?"
Samael lay on his back, eye-hollows looking at the stars. "I'm more powerful here." He clutched at his chest. "You're good at dissecting things, right?" he rasped. "There's a bullet, behind my sternum."
