“You’re not Acca any more, Connolly,” the woman in front of me turned to glare at my sister-in-law as she spoke.
“I am. You can’t tell me what to do.”
I felt my jaw drop, and I shut it with a snap. That was news. Mary wasn’t their leader anymore? What in the hell had happened?
“Fine,” Mary sounded more than a little bitter. “You wanted the job and now it’s yours.” She gave a vicious little smile. “But I don’t know how well you’ll be able to rule from a Homeland Security kennel.”
“They wouldn’t dare,” gasped the woman called Betty.
The hell they wouldn’t. And she was an idiot if she couldn’t see that. “Every security officer in this place is armed with a tranq gun and trained in how to use it.” I spoke with confidence. I’d learned all about it talking with my friend Leroy, a security officer at DIA. “They’d have you all down and out before you even knew what hit you.”
I watched the information sink in, watched as Janine swallowed all that rage, forced herself to control both her temper and the beast that was so very close to coming out. She clenched and unclenched her fists again and again through long seconds of tense silence during which I never once moved or took my eyes off of her. When she’d finally mastered herself, she said “Fine, we’ll go outside. But this isn’t over.”
I gestured toward the doors, letting her take the lead. As she stormed past one of the five armed security guards who had stationed themselves around us he gave me a curt nod of acknowledgment. I don’t generally carry cargo out of Vegas, so I hadn’t been to the airport since they rebuilt it. I didn’t know him personally, but he’d figured out that mine was the voice of reason getting us out of his hair. Me, the voice of reason. Who’d have thought?
“Be careful, Katie. Janine—” Mary leaned in close, the words a mere breath of sound. She didn’t say more, because Janine whirled and growled when she saw our image reflected in the glass doors.
Our happy little group tripped out of the terminal and across the busy drop-off lanes to the relative privacy of the concrete parking garage. Honestly, I didn’t want a fight with the werewolf. There was too much chance I’d lose. But I also wasn’t about to back down. As far as I was concerned I’d done nothing wrong. I’d been nice. I’d been helpful. Janine didn’t slow until we reached the open space in the shadowed lower level of the parking garage. Only then, when there were limited witnesses and as much privacy as we could reasonably expect, did she whirl around and open her mouth.
“Let me be really clear on this, Reilly. I’m not married to your brother. I didn’t go to high school with you. I couldn’t care less that you’re a ‘big bad vampire killer.’ I think you’re a liability to us and Tom has no business dating you let alone thinking about marriage. It’s nothing personal, but your relationship with him is over as of now.”
“Bullshit.” My answer wasn’t politic, but it was succinct. “Tom and I dealt with this months ago. Tom will leave the pack if he has to, but we’re not breaking up.”
“It’s not just the pack.” Betty’s voice had a sly satisfaction that made me want to slap the smug look from her face.
“Mom’s in charge of the International Conclave. She’s scheduled a meeting and it’s on the agenda.”
“So?”
The collected group caught their breath as though I’d just announced that the sky was green and werewolves didn’t exist.
I turned to the one Acca I knew for help. Mary’s expression was troubled, but she kept her mouth shut. No, the person who interrupted the tense silence amid all that cold concrete was the last one I would’ve expected: Ruby.
“You bitch.” The tiny blonde with her hugely distended belly stepped from behind me and faced Janine full on. She looked ridiculous, her bleached white hair teased into spikes, maternity top stretched taut across her abdomen, and her silly looking flip-flops with their pink feathered flowers. But she was angry enough that it didn’t matter. There are people in this world who won’t stand up for themselves, but will fight to the death defending others. Apparently Ruby was one of them.
“You fucking bitch. You’re not doing this ‘for the good of the pack.’ You want him, and if you can’t have him back, you’ll make damned sure nobody else can have him either.”
Um… excuse me? I was suddenly missing big chunks of this conversation that everybody else seemed to know. Ruby was shouting loud enough that her voice was echoing off of the concrete walls. Out of the corner of my eye I could see people who had been taking this route to the terminal moving nervously away from the scene. In the distance, Annie was hurrying toward us. One man pulled out his cell phone. I hoped he wasn’t dialing 9-1-1, but I wouldn’t be surprised if he did. Hell, it’s what I’d have done in his place.
Janine’s face purpled and twisted into a mask of pure rage, her breathing harsh.
Ruby should have been frightened—the look on Janine’s face wasn’t sane, and werewolves are dangerous as hell at the best of times. But she continued inexorably on. “Tom won’t be coming back to you. Ever. He doesn’t love you. He loves Kate.”
Oh, crap. That had never occurred to me, but it should have. Now I suddenly understood the hostility. Tom had mentioned he once had a werewolf girlfriend in another pack, and that it had ended badly. But he’d never mentioned names.
There was one of those odd, frozen moments that seem to happen sometimes in high-adrenaline situations. I felt what Janine was going to do, or I’d never have been fast enough to stop it. Those last words went that one step too far. Something inside Janine snapped. Her fist swung out in a blur of speed, and at the same time her power surged and her body began to shift and change.
Mary was opening her mouth to shout a warning, and then the magic hit her and she began to shift. She lunged toward Janine while her body was still changing shape.
Instinct and training took over. I pivoted, bringing the bulk of my body between Janine and Ruby, raising my left arm in a standard block.
The pain was instant and intense. I actually heard the bones in my arm scrape against her teeth, felt the rip of razor claws tearing through the skin and muscle. Blood rained in a long arc following the path of my arm as the power of her blow forced movement.
I staggered, letting out a cry of both rage and pain. I kicked out and caught her in the jaw, rolling her backward for a brief moment. Ruby was screaming, long and loud, her voice echoing hollowly. In the distance I could hear the crackle of radio static, the sound of running feet. Help was coming. I only hoped that they got here in time. Because both Janine and her sister were fully wolf now. Pony sized, their fur was silver gray—the thick neck ruff fading into white belly fur. Whenever Mary closed with one sister, the other tried to get me. I had no weapons, and my death was in those flashing golden eyes.
I was starting to get woozy from loss of blood and I didn’t dare extend any limbs toward them that they could get teeth into. So, I concentrated on feinting to stay out of their way, and getting in a judo throw when I could. Mostly, I was worried about Ruby because she couldn’t move fast, so I tried to stay between them and her. Annie and the cavalry arrived after what felt like hours, but was probably only a few minutes. The uniformed airport security officers all held tranq guns to dart the wolves. I would’ve argued, but I couldn’t. Not really. The fighting between the wolves was too intense to separate friend from foe. Each movement was a blur, almost too fast for the eye to follow. The wolves held nothing back, fighting not to wound, but to kill. Blood was everywhere, staining the concrete floor and supports. It’s a good thing lycanthropy isn’t contagious.
Shots rang out in rapid succession. The noise was deafening. I watched the darts strike home, burying themselves deep in the wolves’ thick fur.
It wasn’t like the nature programs on television, where the drugs slowly take effect, and the animal staggers around a few minutes before settling down to sleep. No, whatever was in those darts was potent stuff. Each wolf yelped in pain as the dart hit home. In a matter of seconds eyes glazed and they fell, barely breathing, to the floor. A moment or two after that eyes closed on the sisters.
My eyes sought and found Mary. She was hurt. Hell, they all were hurt. Wicked damage from teeth and claws that had torn through the thick fur protecting their skin. Blood matted her thick black fur, but it wasn’t spurting like arterial blood, or flowing steady as if they’d caught a vein. I wanted to go to her, but I couldn’t. A bearded redhead the size of a professional linebacker was holding me back. My ears rang. I could hear, but not clearly.
“We need an ambulance, and a wagon for the animals.” A whipcord thin black man with close-cropped hair called. He was squatting next to the wolf I thought was Janine. Of course, it could’ve been the sister. I wasn’t sure. I only knew it wasn’t Mary.
“Where are you planning on taking them?” I heard myself say the words, but I was having a hard time focusing. I’ve been hurt before, badly hurt. But I’d never felt quite like this. I was light-headed and more than a little bit nauseous. Shock. It had to be. Thing was, I couldn’t afford shock. Not with a friend on the ground with hostile officers who really weren’t paying a whole lot of attention to what either Ruby or I had to say. I shook my head, trying to clear it. “One of the wolves was protecting us. Please.” I looked directly at the redhead, speaking with every ounce of persuasion I could muster.
His expression darkened. “Did you hear that, Rog?”
A frustrated snort and then he looked from wolf to wolf. “Yeah, I heard. Can you tell us which one?”
I nodded toward Mary and our eyes met just before her lids closed. “The black female.”
He sighed. I could tell he wasn’t happy, but I wasn’t sure why. “Fine. We’ll take the black female to holding and have the on-duty vet monitor her until the drugs wear off.”
There was something in his voice, a hint of something I didn’t like. “How long will that be?”
“Two hours for the tranquilizer. Four for the paralytic.”
“Paralytic?” I thought I knew what he meant, but I was hoping that either I was wrong or he was joking. No such luck.
A young blond man came up. “Inhibits muscle movement. Makes them totally helpless. Piece of cake to transport them.”
He sounded almost obscenely happy about it. Personally I found the thought horrifying. So Janine wasn’t asleep but paralyzed? Shit. To be completely alert and utterly incapable of movement. I shuddered at the possibilities. There’s a lot of people who hate and fear werewolves and don’t consider them humans, or people at all. And the vampires, God, what would happen if the vampires found out about the drug?
I couldn’t expose Mary to that. Hell, much as I disliked Janine, I couldn’t even wish that on her. Shit.
“I want to go with them.”
The redhead shook his head no as he slid an inflatable pressure bandage around my arm and hit the button to activate it. It hurt, a lot. I felt the air rush out of my lungs and it was all I could do not to pull the arm away from him. Not that it would’ve done any good. He’d been expecting it and had a good, solid grip.
“Not a chance, Ms. Reilly. Not with that arm you don’t. You need to get a shitload of stitches. Plus, that bone might be broken. Won’t know until after an X-ray.”
“How do you know who I am?”
He snorted in derision. “I do read the papers. Please! Your face is on half the magazines they stock in this place.” He sighed. “How are the wolves connected to you?”
I nodded toward Mary. “The black female is my sister-in-law.”
A look of disgust flickered over the face of the younger man. He stifled it, but not quickly enough for me not to notice. I felt my face flush, not with embarrassment but with good, old-fashioned anger. It was enough to burn off a few of the cobwebs in my head.
I could hear an ambulance siren in the distance. We needed to make a decision now.
“Send them to the hospital with me.”
“No.”
I tilted my head to meet the redhead’s eyes. There was no hint of compromise there. None. I had to do something. The problem was, there wasn’t much I could do. Security Agent Evans (I just now noticed the neat brass nameplate on the breast pocket of his gray uniform shirt) held all the cards.
“I can’t leave them like this. They’re completely helpless.” I hadn’t meant to glance at the blond, but I couldn’t help myself. Evans’s eyes narrowed, his lips tightening into a hostile line as he followed my glance.
“You and the surrogate go to the hospital. I’ll stay here and stand guard.” I jumped at the sound of Annie’s voice. I was just that unused to hearing her speak.
“Miss,” Evans turned to face her, his expression stern. “Under the circumstances, I can’t—”
“No.” She interrupted him, her voice firm. “Kate’s right. Somebody needs to be here to make sure no one hurts them while they’re helpless.” She gave him a nasty, saccharine smile. “After all, we wouldn’t want the press to start poking their noses into what really goes on in those holding cells, now would we?”
I didn’t like the sound of that one bit. What had been going on in the holding cells? My eyes narrowed and I glared at the guards. I’d protested on instinct, not based on any knowledge. But Annie’s words had definitely hit a nerve. I wouldn’t have thought Evans’s expression could sour more, but he managed it. All the other agents were looking to him to make the decision. It would be his head on the block if something went wrong and he knew it. If he refused us and something happened to the wolves, he’d be in a world of trouble with the law, his superiors, me, and the wolves. If he didn’t refuse, and something went wrong, he’d be in just as much trouble. I almost felt sorry for him. Annie turned to me, her eyes dark with meaning. “We have an attorney on retainer. I’ll have the Acca send him here to deal with whatever charges are brought once they’ve reviewed the security tapes.” She gave me a grim look that finally held some hint of respect before turning to the surrogate. “Ruby, stay with Kate until they take her to surgery. She’ll protect you until we can get somebody to the hospital.”
“Thank-you,” I sighed. “Somebody needs to meet Tom’s plane, let him know what happened.”