The wind was whipping the decorative flags at the archway to the parking lot, and I blinked at them, fascinated. I had the remains of a burger in one hand, and a fizzy drink in the other. Jenks had insisted I get some iron-rich protein in me to chase down the Brimstone, but I suspected it had only been an excuse to get the drink, which he then spiked with even more Brimstone. Why else would I be feeling this great when my life was in the crapper? And I was feeling pretty damn good, like a weight had lifted and the sun was starting to shine.
Ivy would return soon, and though I had been all tough-girl by coming out here, it seemed prudent to get back before she found out I was gone. If Jenks and she were to be believed, I structured my life to be as horrific as possible to have fun in bed, but having Ivy mad at me might be too much for even me right now.
"What time is it?" I asked, squinting in the stiffer breeze and looking for the car. People bothered at our slow pace hustled past us, but I was enjoying the wind and the view of the straits.
Jenks snickered, clearly guessing where my thoughts were. He had slammed his twenty-ounce Dew and shook for a good thirty seconds, jittery and bright eyed, making me wonder which one of us was the better bet to drive home. Juggling his bags, he checked his wrist, beaming. "Four forty-six," he said. "Only a minute off that time."
"By the time you get acclimated, we'll be heading home," I said, then pushed into motion. "When did you get a watch?"
"Yesterday with Jax," he said, stretching to see the parking lot over the heads of the surrounding people. "I got you a camera too, and my knife. I don't like being this big."
I wasn't going to tell him it was illegal to carry a concealed knife. Besides, he was a pixy. The law didn't apply to him. I smiled at the way the sunlight glittered on his hair, even if it was black. "Big bad wolfs," I said, then sucked down another swig of pop, stumbling on the curb as we found the street. "We're going to blow their damned house down."
His motions seamless, Jenks took my drink away and dropped it into the nearest trash container. "You okay?"
"Oh yeah," I said enthusiastically. I handed him the last of my burger, which he threw away for me too. "You ought to know. You're the one who keeps spiking my food."
Giving me a wry look, Jenks gallantly took my arm. A giggle slipped from me at the show of support, appalling me. Damn it, this wasn't fair. If they got me hooked on Brimstone, I was going to be majorly pissed - if I could remember why I was mad at them, that is.
Still laughing, I pulled my head up, going cold with a pulse of fear. Leaning against Kisten's Corvette were Brett and Walter Vincent, the first one scanning the faces of the people leaving the mall, the second doing the same but with a murderous intensity. Immediately I realized what had happened, and I thanked God we weren't at the motel, trapped in a little box of a room. Jenks and I were under a disguise, and though they hadn't known about Kisten's car, it probably smelled like the pixy, seeing as he drove it yesterday. They had found us.
"Oh, fudge," I whispered, leaning heavily on Jenks's arm. Just that fast, I had gone from exuberant to panic, the Brimstone taking over my moods. "You got anything more lethal than that knife on you?" I asked.
"No. Why?" His forward momentum barely hesitated as he looked up from watching my feet. "Oh," he said softly, his fingers tightening on my arm for an instant. "Okay."
I wasn't surprised when he did an abrupt turn-about and wheeled us back into the mall. Bending close, Jenks sent the aroma of dry meadow over me. "Your disguises are working," he whispered. "Pretend we just forgot something and have to go pick it up."
I found myself nodding, scanning the contented faces around me, searching for anger in the vacationing people. My pulse was fast and my skin tingling. Pam was dead; they would be after me for that if nothing else. Weres were timid, apart from the alpha and the first few down, and since the round was broken, they would stay in the background and keep our squabble private. We'd be okay unless we got ourselves in a blind alley. And there weren't many of those in Mackinaw City.
"I'm going to call Ivy," I said, pulling my bag around and opening it.
Body tense, Jenks drew me to a stop to put my back to a brick wall and stand partially in front of me. It was a candy shop - big surprise there - and my stomach growled as I hit speed dial. "Come on, come on," I crabbed, waiting for it to go through.
The circuit clicked open and Ivy's voice filtered out. "Rachel?"
"Yeah, it's me," I said, shoulders easing in relief. "Where are you?"
"On the bridge back. Why?" She hesitated, and I could hear the distinctive sound of Nick's truck. "Why do I hear people?" she added suspiciously.
Jenks winced, and I squinted in the sun, backing up until the overhang put me in the shade. "Uh, Jenks and I went on a procurement run."
"Shopping?" she yelped. "Rachel! Damn it, can't you just sit still for a couple of hours?"
I thought of the Brimstone running rampant through me, deciding that no, I couldn't.
Jenks tossed his head, and I followed his grim gaze to a pair of elegantly dressed tourists. They had shopping bags, but they were a little too attentive. Turning his back to them, Jenks angled to block their view of me. Damn it, this was getting dicey. My pulse quickened and I hunched into the phone. "Look, I did some thinking, and you're right." I peeked around Jenks, then rocked back. "How long will it take for you to get to that open-air mall?"
"You did some thinking?" Ivy said softly, sounding vulnerable.
Jenks scanned the plaza. "Tick-tock, Rache."
Anxious, I turned to the phone. "Yeah. I need to start making smarter decisions. But we're at that mall and Brett and Walter are sitting on the car." The good feeling the Brimstone had instilled in me had sifted to fear, and I clamped down on my rising panic. At its heart, Brimstone was an intensifier. If you were happy, you were really happy. If you were sad, you were suicidal. Right now I was scared out of my mind. Until it wore off, I was going to be a roller coaster of emotions. Damn it, I didn't have time for this!
Ivy snarled something at Nick, and I heard a horn blast. "How many?" she asked tightly.
I looked past Jenks, seeing sunlit flowers and cheerful storefronts. "Four so far, but they have phones. We're wearing disguises, so they probably don't know it's us." Calm down, Rachel, I told myself, trying to use the drug to my advantage. Think.
"I knew this was going to happen. I knew it!" Ivy shouted.
"Well, I'd rather meet them here than the motel," I said, doggedly trying to pull my emotions from fear back to invincibility. It wasn't working. I was still scared.
"The bridge is still one lane either way," Ivy snarled. "I can't get around this guy. Give the phone to Jenks. I want to talk to him."
Jenks paled and shook his head.
"Jenks!" she exclaimed, "I know you can hear me. I can't believe you let her talk you into this. I told you she needed at least another course of Brimstone before she could work in the kitchen, much less go out!"
"I'm not that weak," I said indignantly, but Jenks was way ahead of me, and he took the phone, holding it so we could both hear.
"She ate that last cookie, Ivy," he said, clearly offended. "And I just gave her another dose of the stuff. She's running on full. I'm not stupid."
"I knew it!" I said, glancing past Jenks at the drifting people. "You slipped me some!"
There was a short silence, and Ivy said softly, "You picked up more Brimstone?"
Jenks met my eyes. "Yeah. And don't worry. I paid cash. It's not on the card."
"Where did you get the money, Jenks?" Ivy asked, the threat clear in her voice.
"It wasn't that expensive," he said, but I could tell he thought he'd done something wrong by his suddenly worried look.
"You ass!" Ivy said. "Get her the hell out of there! You bought street-grade, you stupid pixy! She's higher than a kite!"
Jenks's mouth worked but nothing was coming out.
"Uh, Ivy?" he squeaked. "We gotta go."
"Don't hang up!" Ivy yelled. "Give me to Rachel. Jenks, give the phone to Rachel!"
Jenks went to end the call, and I snatched the phone. I was on street-grade Brimstone? Swell. Just swell. I thought it was hitting me a little hard. I could hear Ivy telling Nick what had happened, catching the word "invincible" and "get herself killed." Jenks turned to scan the area, his posture tense and guilty looking.
"Hey, Ivy," I said, my mood having done a quick shift to anger. "The next time you and Jenks want to play doctor, just shove the Brimstone up your ass, okay? Both of you. I'm not your freaking play-doll."
"I'm on my way," Ivy said, ignoring me. "Rachel, just...sit somewhere. Can you do that? I'll get you out."
I leaned against the brick wall, feeling every little projection dig into me through my shirt. "Take your time," I said flippantly, ticked and nerved-up all at the same time. The adrenaline was flowing, and Brimstone had my skin tingling. "Jenks and I are going to plan B."
"Plan B?" Ivy said. "What is plan B?"
Jenks reddened. "Grab the fish and run like hell," he muttered, and I almost giggled.
"I'm going to walk out of here," I said, deciding I'd rather be invincible than scared, "and catch the trolley back to the motel. And if anyone stops me, I'm going to kick - their - ass."
"Rachel," Ivy said slowly, "it's the Brimstone. You aren't thinking. Just sit tight!"
My eyes narrowed. "I can take care of myself," I said, starting to feel really good. It wasn't the Brimstone. No, I lived for excitement! I made decisions based on what would screw my life up the most! I was a messed-up, screwed-up stupid witch who had to mix danger with her sex life in order to get turned on, and I was going to live a very short, exciting life. I went to end the call, then hesitated. "Hey, you want me to keep the phone line open?"
"Yes," she said softly. "No. Yes."
I sobered at the worry in her voice. "Okay."
My blood tingled through me, and I tucked the phone into my waistband, upside down so the mike was exposed and not muffled by my jeans. Ivy would be able to hear everything that happened. I looked at Jenks, seeing his worry and tension. "Well?" I said, pushing myself off the wall. "What do you think?"
"I think Ivy's going to kill me," he whispered. "Rachel. I'm sorry. I didn't know."
I took a breath, exhaling long and slow. It was done. If anything, I ought to thank him; I was up and walking, able to run even if I was going to pay for it later. "Don't worry about it," I said, touching his shoulder. "Just stop making my decisions for me, okay?"
My roving eyes fell upon the bench he and I had been sitting on. My mouth went dry and I tried to swallow. Brett was standing by it, his arms crossed and his eyes fixed on me. He was smiling. At me. "Shit," I breathed. "Jenks, they know it's us."
He nodded, his youthful face going serious. "He showed up a few minutes ago. We have six at the exit behind us and four at the bend the other way."
"And you just let me keep talking to Ivy?" I said, not believing it.
A shrug lifted his shoulders. "They're Weres. They aren't going to make a scene."
Normally I would have agreed with him. Heart pounding, I snuck a look at the six Weres at the exit. They had scads of jewelry and were in bright colors, making them from the street pack. Bringing up my second sight, I felt the last of my bravado wash out of me. Their auras were rimmed in brown again. How had Walter managed to pull them back together like that?
"Ah, Jenks?" I said, knowing Ivy was listening. "They're in a round. They aren't going to just sit there. We have to leave before the rest arrive."
Jenks looked at me, looked at the Weres, then looked at me again. His gaze went to the roof, and he was probably wishing he could fly. "There's only one layer of shops," he said suddenly. "Let's go."
Grabbing my arm, he pulled me into the fudge store. Feet stumbling, I followed him in, breathing deeply of the rich scent of chocolate. There was a small line at the counter, but Jenks plowed to the front of it amid a chorus of indignant protest. "Pardon, me. 'Scuse us," he said, flipping the barrier up between the front and the back.
"Hey!" a large woman called out, her apron tied with the smartness of a uniform. "You can't come back here!"
"Just passing through!" Jenks called cheerfully. The bags he held rattled, and letting go of my arm for a moment, he dipped a finger into the puddle of fudge cooling on a marble table. "Needs more almond," he said, tasting it. "And you're cooking it half a degree too long."
The woman's mouth opened in surprise, and he pushed past her and into the kitchen.
"There," I said, and Jenks's eyes shot to the back door, outlined by the boxes stacked around it. The security door was open to let the hot air of the kitchen escape through a normal-looking screen door. Beyond that were the employees' cars in a nasty-looking alley, and beyond that, the main road. In the distance, the straits sparkled, looking as big as a lake.
"Ready?" Jenks asked.
I jerked my splat ball gun out of my bag. "Yup. Let's go."
"What the hell are you doing back here?" a masculine voice called.
I turned, and the man's eyes went wide at my cherry-red gun, then he got nasty. "This is my place of business!" he shouted. "Not a paint ball stadium! Get out! Get out!"
"Sorry," I mumbled, then bolted for the door when he shambled forward, hands reaching. Jenks and I dove through it, skittering into the alley in a surge of adrenaline. The bang of the heavy door slamming shut shot through me.
"Oh look, Jenks," I said, as we slowed to get our bearings. "A dead-end alley."
The wind was brisk, blowing up and against the back of the store, and with my blood humming and my steps quick, I started for the street and the cracked sidewalk beside it. It would take the Weres some time to work their way out and around to the back of the store unless they trashed the fudge shop. But I didn't think they would. Like their supposedly distant wild brethren, Weres weren't aggressive unless defending their own. But they were in a round, so who knew what they would do.
"Ivy," I said breathlessly as we jogged to the road, knowing she could hear. "We're outside between the mall and the - Shit!" I exploded, skittering to a halt when, in a sliding sound of gravel on pavement, a trio of Weres skidded around the corner.
They were wearing khaki pants and matching polo shirts to make them look like they were in uniform. Even worse, one of them dropped a duffel bag, and after unzipping it, started tossing nasty looking weapons to his buddies. I stood there, frozen. Were they nuts? This went way beyond a public show of strength. Hell, even vamps never did this! Not in broad daylight and on the street where any passing human could see, anyway.
Someone cocked their weapon, and Jenks jerked me back. My mouth was still hanging open when we landed against a salt-rusted four-door, the front full of crumpled fast food sacks.
Brett came around the corner, his pace fast and his eyes darting everywhere. Seeing me, he smiled. "We have them, sir," he said into the phone at his ear, slowing to a stop behind the three Weres with aggressive stances. "Behind the fudge shop. It's all over but the howling."
Heart pounding, I looked at the road and the sporadic traffic. The memory of finding Nick tied to the wall swam up from my subconscious. A chill purged everything from me but a fierce determination. I wasn't strong enough to survive that. I couldn't let them take me.
"You want me to make a circle and wait for Ivy, or you want to fight our way out, Jenks?" I said, my grip on my splat gun going sweaty.
In a sliding sound of metal, Jenks pulled a dull metal bar from the nearby recycling bin, swinging it a couple of times. The three Weres with guns took a more aggressive stance. "You think we need Ivy?" he asked.
"Just checking," I answered, then turned to the Weres, my arms shaking. "Right. Like you're going to shoot us?" I taunted. "If we're dead, you can't beat Nick's location out of us."
Brett's jaw clenched. From the other side, three more Weres loped into view, to make seven men. I had fourteen sleepy-time potions. I had to act, and act now.
"Subdue them," Brett said, squinting from the sun. Annoyed, he snatched the weapon from the nearest man. "Use your fists. You outnumber them, and I don't want the I.S. out here because of weapon discharges."
Adrenaline surged, making me feel weak, not strong. From beside me, Jenks shouted, then leapt forward. Half the Weres came to meet him, their speed and ferocity shocking.
Panic struck. Taking aim, I downed one with a charm. Then another. I wanted to help Jenks, but they were coming too fast. One slipped past him, and I gasped, falling to one knee.
"Not today, you son of a bitch!" I exclaimed, plugging him. He slid to within three feet of me. I leveled my gun for the next one. He got three steps closer than the first.
"Jenks! Fall back!" I shouted, retreating with my gun going puff-puff-puff.
Three more went down. Frantic, I tossed the hair from my face. There were a lot more then seven Weres. I had downed at least that many. Where in hell was Ivy?
"Rache!" Jenks shouted in warning. "Behind you!"
I spun. A Were in leather was running for me. Behind him, the door to the kitchen was wide-open and full of rough-looking Weres in street clothes.
I stumbled backward. They had come through the shop? Damn it! I had been afraid they would. They were not acting normal!
"Rachel!" Jenks shouted again as the Were smiled to show his beautiful, beautiful teeth and closed his grease-stained fingers about my wrist. Big mistake.
Grunting, I twisted my arm to grip his own thick wrist. My right foot came up and my sneaker smacked him in the kidneys. Wrenching around, I used his own weight to yank him down, falling to kneel so his elbow hit my upraised knee, bending it backward and snapping. He grunted as his elbow shattered.
Puffing in satisfaction, I let him go and got to my feet. Where in hell was my splat gun?
Spotting it alone on the pavement, I darted for it.
"Hey!" I shouted, my foot pulled out from under me. Arms flailing to get between my face and the uprushing pavement, I hit the cement. Shocked, I twisted to find the Were I had downed wasn't withering in pain and holding his broken arm, but using it!
"You bloody bastard!" I shouted, kicking at his face. "Let me go!"
But he didn't, grimily holding on. Panic slid through me as I realized they were using the full potential of the round and someone was muting his pain. He utterly ignored the broken nose I gave him with my heel, and I smacked him again. Blood gushed and he finally let go, but not before he fastened one of those damned zip-strips on my foot.
"You freaking bastard!" I shouted, scrabbling for my gun and plugging him right in the face. Furious, I turned to the two Weres following him and shot them too.
The three collapsed, and shuddering, I got to my feet, holding three more at bay, my arms shaking as I shifted the aim from one to the other.
"Jenks!" I shouted, and he was suddenly at my back. Stupid, stupid witch. Until I got the thing off, I wouldn't be able to make a circle. All I had were the four charms in my gun and Jenks, his back now pressing lightly against mine.
I could smell the sweat on him, reminding me of a meadow somehow. He had lost his disguise amulet at some point and his blond curls were tousled. The cut on his forehead was bleeding again, and red streaked his hands. My face went ashen when I realized it wasn't his but from the five Weres he had beaten into unconsciousness with that pipe.
Brett stood with Walter behind two military Weres, their weapons cocked and ready to gun us down if they couldn't subdue us any other way. Past them, traffic passed, and curious onlookers were being soothed by professional-looking Weres in suits and ties, probably explaining this away as being a movie shoot or something. Behind us, the street Weres waited, hanging back but ready to descend when someone gave the order.
I swallowed hard. With the strength of four alphas at his fingertips, Walter had driven them into a higher pitch of aggression, and with the lack of pain, there was nothing to stop them. Just the thought of gaining the focus had been enough to get them back together.
Incredible, I mused, grip shifting on my splat gun as I tried to figure out how four charms would be of much help. What would happen if they actually got the focus was a nightmare in waiting. Every single Were would want a piece of it. The alphas would come flocking, and soon the major cities would be fighting their own little turf wars as vampires started taking them out, having decided they didn't like aggressive Weres who felt no pain and could Were as fast as witch magic. And with the focus binding them, the round wouldn't break apart. No wonder the vampires had hidden the ugly thing.
"Jenks," I panted, knowing Ivy could hear. "They tagged me with one of those zip-strips. I can't make a circle to hold them off anymore. We can't let them get the focus. And I'm not strong enough to keep my mouth shut if they capture me."
Jenks glanced at me and away. His grip tightened on the bloody pipe. "Any ideas?"
"Nope." I panted, shifting my feet. "Unless you can hold them off long enough for me to get this damned strip off my foot."
He jiggled out his knife, handing it to me. It was smeared with blood, and I felt sick. "I'll keep them off you," he said, his face going grim.
I handed it back, knowing he was more effective with it than I was. "They're designed to be tamper resistant. It's going to take a pair of bolt cutters."
Jenks shifted his balance to his toes. "Then we fight until Ivy gets here."
"Yep," I agreed, fear settling firmly in me. This was bad. This was really bad.
My gaze darted to Brett as he scuffed his feet. Walter had joined him, the savage glint in his eyes born from his grief. From behind me came the sound of the street Weres pulling chains from around their waist and the snick of knives being opened.
Damn it all and shit on it. I did not want to die like this.
"Ma'am?" Brett drawled, drawing my attention to him. "It would save everyone a good deal of trouble if you would surrender your weapon and come with us."
"Trouble?" I shouted back, releasing some pent-up frustration. "For who?" My gaze traveled over the Weres. They kept filing in, surrounding us. There were five alphas now. The street Weres at our backs, military Weres at the front, and the credit card Weres at the outskirts, keeping everything nice and quiet and the pedestrian traffic moving.
My stomach clenched when I realized three of the street Weres behind the Dumpster weren't injured, but shifting. They were shifting in broad daylight. In a public street. With the intent to tear me to pieces. And they were doing it really fast.
"Ma'am," Brett tried again, playing the good cop or simply buying time for the turning Weres. "Put down your weapon and kick it to me."
"Go to hell, Brett," I said darkly. "I've seen how you treat your guests. I know what it is now, and you aren't getting it. And this isn't a weapon, it's a gun!"
Angry and frightened, I took aim and shot him.
A blur dove between us. One of his men took it instead. The Were hit the ground and skidded to a stop, out cold before his face ground into the pavement. Brett seemed shocked I'd actually shot at him, and I shrugged. At the outskirts, stupid people clapped in appreciation. I could not believe this. I was going to be hacked to shreds to the accompaniment of applause.
Brett glanced at them, then frowned. "Shoot her," he said softly. "Just shoot her in the leg."
"Good going, Rache," Jenks muttered.
Safeties clicked off. I spun. I had three charms left, and I wanted those four-legged bastards asleep before they finished putting on their wolf's clothing. Ignoring the chaos, I calmly plugged them both.
The street Weres surrounding them exploded in anger. I backpedaled as they rushed me.
"No!" Brett shouted, red-faced as he gestured. "Get out of the way!"
Jenks was a blur of motion, the thuds of the bar meeting flesh sickening. The occasional chime of metal on metal rang out as someone threw a chain into the mix. My first thought, that we were going to die, turned into an ironic relief. As long as the street Weres were surrounding us, the military faction couldn't shoot.
One of the Weres broke through Jenks's defenses, and I sprang forward. Grabbing the hairy arm someone conveniently gave me, I twisted and shoved. The Were stumbled away, howling in pain as I dislocated his shoulder. A nasty grin came over me. He had felt that. The bond was breaking. They were acting independently, and the round was falling apart!
A sharp crack shocked through me and I jumped. They were shooting anyway!
A closer burst of gunfire brought me spinning around. The Weres fell back, their aggression flaking to nothing as the packs divided. Heart in my throat, I found Jenks, weapon aimed at the sky and a savage expression on his face. The more disciplined military faction held their ground, but the street Weres panicked. In an instant they were gone, streaking past Jenks and me and dragging their downed companions, whether in fur, leather, or polyester.
"Hold together!" Walter shouted from behind a row of men, but it was too late. "Damn you!" he swore. "Hold together! He's not going to shoot you!"
Faint on the cool spring air was the sound of sirens.
"Tink's diaphragm, it's about time," Jenks swore. The Weres who were left heard it too, and they began to exchange looks as they panted. The crowd watching started to break up, their steps fast and their faces pale as they realized that was real blood on the pavement.
"You know who I am?" Jenks shouted, bloody but un-bowed. "I'm Jenks!" He took a breath, grinning. "Boo!"
Several of the well-dressed Weres jumped, and a few of the military Weres touched their tattoos as if for luck or strength.
Walter shoved himself to the front. "Hold together!" he shouted as his control over the second pack slipped away. "You swore an oath to me. You swore, damn it!"
The alpha male in a suit gave him an ugly look. Saying nothing more, he turned and walked away. His wife slipped an arm in his, seamlessly snagging a store bag and heading for the top of the wide alley. There were no more bystanders watching now, and they melted seamlessly into the tourist traffic.
Hunched and panting, I watched unbelieving as the ring of business Weres dispersed. I smiled sweetly at Walter, hefting my splat gun. It was empty, but he didn't know that. The sirens grew closer. If they had held together for five minutes more, they would have had us. It hadn't been the sirens, it had been their inability to stay together. Without the focus, they couldn't hold together when things got sticky.
Choleric, Walter gestured to Brett.
"Rache!" Jenks shouted.
At least a dozen weapons turned to us. There was only one thing to do, and I did it.
Grunting, I leapt at Brett. It surprised him, and though he was by far the better military person, I got him down, attacking not like a professional, but like a sissy girl with my arms around his knees. We hit the pavement together and I scrambled for a better hold.
My arm went around his neck and I wrenched an arm painfully. And while he would have felt no pain had they still been in a round, he certainly felt it now. "Tell them to back off!" I shouted.
Brett started to laugh, the sound choking off when I pulled.
"Ow," he said, as if I was simply bending back a finger, not ready to dislocate his shoulder. "Ms. Morgan. What the hell do you think you're doing, ma'am?"
I could hear Nick's truck. "Getting the hell out of here," I said, stumbling as Jenks helped me stand upright without losing my grip. It was as awkward as all get-out, but we managed. A ring of weapons pointed at us. Jenks took my place, his face ugly as he bent his arm and pressed a knife to Brett's throat.
"You ever see a pixy battlefield?" he whispered in the Were's ear, and Brett lost the vestiges of humor. White-faced, he went passive. Which was really scary in itself.
The flash of a blue truck sped past.
"Too far, Ivy!" Jenks shouted, and there was the squeal of brakes quickly followed by the horns and the gunning of an engine.
I looked at my waistband and the phone. An insane need to giggle rose through me. I sure hoped we weren't roaming.
Another squeal of tires, and Nick's blue truck rocked to a stop at the end of the alley.
"Mom's here to pick us up, Jenks," I quipped, limping to the curb. "I'll get the bags."
I scooped up one of our bags, seeing as it was on the way and it sort of added to the travesty. My empty splat gun never shifted from Walter, though he was behind two rows of men. Coward.
"Hi, Ivy," I said tiredly, tossing the bag into the truck bed and lurching in after it. Yeah, it was illegal to ride in the back, but seeing that we had just somehow beaten up three Were packs, I wasn't going to worry about it. "Thanks for the ride."
Nick was in the front seat, and pale. He handed a pair of bolt cutters through the window.
"Hey, thanks!" I said, then started when Brett came thumping in beside me like a sack of potatoes. The Were was unconscious, and I looked at Jenks in question when he followed him in, admittedly a hell of a lot more gracefully. "I don't want a hostage," I said. Then wondered when Jenks had knocked him out. He wasn't dead, was he?
Grim-faced, Jenks shouted, "What are you waiting for, Ivy? God to say go?"
The truck lurched, and I steadied myself against the long silver locker Nick had bolted to the truck bed. My sweat went cold in the new breeze, and thinking we had done it, I pulled the hair from my eyes and smiled at Jenks. My smile faded.
As we jostled into traffic, he was using a plastic cord to truss Brett up with a painful savagery. I thought back to seeing his kids tearing apart the fairy nest in his garden. This was a side to him I'd never truly seen before, since the difference of our sizes had insulated me from it.
From inside the truck came Nick's petrified voice, "Go faster, Ivy! They're behind us!"
Wedging myself into the corner, I held my hair out of the way and blinked. I had expected to see Jeeps or Hummers. What I found were three Weres in wolf skin, tearing down the street after us. And they were fast. Really fast. And they didn't stop for red lights either.
"Son of a Disney whore," Jenks swore. "Rache, you got any more charms in that gun?"
I shook my head, scrambling for a way out of this. My eyes darted to my ankle. "Jenks, get this thing off me."
Brett was coming around, and when he tried to get upright, Jenks lashed out, savagely connecting with his head right behind his ear. Brett's eyes rolled back and he passed out.
"Hold on!" Nick shouted. "Right turn!"
Tossing my splat gun into the front, I gripped the side of the truck. The wheels skittered and hopped, but Ivy kept it on the road. Nick yelled an obscenity, and a motor home flashed by, tires squealing. I didn't want to know how close we had come to becoming a hood ornament.
My heart pounded and my gaze shot to my foot at the feel of cold steel against my skin. Jenks's shoulder muscles bunched, and as we hit a pothole, the charmed silver band snapped.
Frantic, I sent my gaze behind us. Holy crap, they were right there!
"Ivy!" I shouted, stomach clenching. "When I say, hit the breaks."
"Are you crazy!" she shouted, glancing back at me, her short black hair framing her face and getting into her eyes.
"Just do it!" I demanded, tapping a line. Line energy filled me, warm and golden. I didn't care that it was tainted black, it was mine. I took a breath. This was going to hurt if I didn't do it right. Big circle. Big circle. "Now!" I shouted.
The breaks screamed. I lurched, shocked to find Jenks's arm between my head and the metal cabinet. Brett slid forward and groaned.
"Rhombus!" I shouted, the word raging from me hard enough to hurt my throat.
Heady and strong, the line energy flashed through me, expanding upward from the circle I had imagined painted on the pavement. It wasn't strong enough to hold a demon, but it would hold together long enough for what I wanted. I hoped.
I tossed my hair from my eyes even before the truck stopped rocking. Elation filled me as the pursing Weres slammed right into my circle.
"Yes!" I shouted, then spun at the sound of crunching metal and screams. It wasn't us. We were stopped! I sucked in my breath when I realized an oncoming car had smacked into the other side of my circle, amber and black in the sun. Aw, shit. I'd forgotten about the other lane.
Horns blew, and the car that had hit my circle was rear-ended.
"Oh, that was just beautiful!" Jenks said in admiration. His eyes were on the Weres making painful splurges of motion on the pavement. Apparently running into a wall hurt if you didn't have a round of alphas taking away your pain.
People were starting to get out of their cars, dazed and excited. "Sorry!" I called out, wincing. Breaking my connection with the line, I took down the circle.
In the distance were sirens, and I could see flashing lights. Jenks tapped the window, and Ivy slowly accelerated, taking the first left she could and doubling back a street over, trying to put as much distance between us and the sirens as she could. I exhaled, falling to slump against the tool locker. I put a hand through the window, finding Ivy's shoulder. She jumped, and I whispered, "Thanks," before I pulled my hand out. We had made it. We were alive and together. And we had a hostage.
"Damn it all back to the Turn!" Jenks swore.
Nick turned to look at us, and I nudged Jenks's foot. He was messing about in his bag and he looked ticked. "What is it, Jenks?" I breathed as we jostled along, tired, so tired.
"I lost my fudge!" he swore. "That woman took my fudge!"
