Her eyes were bright and her mouth open in awe. She raced forward, completely forgetting the rule that you don't run down-range while there are still guns in hands. I wasn't going to shoot her, but it was still a bad habit we'd have to break.

"My G.o.d!" she exclaimed when she reached the target. "You hit it three times!"

I smiled and holstered the gun as I walked toward her. I could see the quarter from where I was. "Four, sweetheart. Look again. Two went through the same hole."

There wasn't much left of the quarter. Just a frame of twisted metal around the big slug holes. It took pointing out that one hole had a second dip on the top rim for her to believe it. I tucked it in her front pocket. "Keep it as a souvenir of what you'll be able to do in the future if you keep it up. There are plenty of perfectly human exhibition shooters, including women, who can do this same thing-just not as fast. Shooting's all about practice. Keep it up and it won't matter if you're a Sazi or human agent."

Her scent turned to the light, fluffy fragrance of hope and tangerine happiness. "You really think I can?"

"We'll see, but I'm willing to give you a try. I just can't speak for Lucas."

WE UNANIMOUSLY, AND silently, decided that discussing anything with Lucas would be a bad idea today. Apparently, my vision had been right on, but I'd sort of forgotten to mention the blowtorch to the door hinges. Oops.

Nasil had been right in my head that Amber would have a headache. Apparently she was out for almost four hours and Charles was livid. I caught the tail end of an argument between them as I walked down the stairs to the bas.e.m.e.nt.

"I told you someone else should have stayed here with you! Dammit, Amber. What if he'd used poison instead of a tranquilizer?"

Her voice got to a similar shade of red. "Oh, and this is all my fault now? You were with Liz, who absolutely needed to be watched. Holly absolutely needed to hunt and Lucas absolutely needed to sleep. Tony and Sue absolutely needed to not be here in case Ahmad went berserk. Angelique is still unconscious in her room and so is Sarah. Which someone should have stayed to guard me? How exactly was I supposed to have avoided this situation, oh great and wise seer? And by the way-couldn't you have predicted an elephant tranq? I'd think that would stand out in a vision."

"Now look-" Charles's voice became a rumble, and the sting of magic shot up the stairs like a back draft in a house fire. I had to back up just to keep my skin from smoking from the force of it.

Oookay. Probably best to let them sort things out privately. I'd technically already seen the door. If I missed seeing it again, I could live with that. More on point . . . I could live.

Liz was upstairs, learning a valuable lesson about the sting of high-octane magic. Her scent was actually that level of panic where you're too terrified to move-like a deer in the headlights. She was swatting at her arms like there were bugs crawling on them, while Lucas slammed doors and dug through papers on the desk, cell phone to his ear. I couldn't hear what was being said, so either the person was whispering, or he was on hold.

I was pleasantly surprised that Sue wasn't flinching from all the negative energy in the place. She patted Liz on the arm as I walked up to them. "You'll get used to it. Honestly. Most of the old ones really have excellent control. It's the magic you're feeling. I'm happily immune to the crawly skin because I'm human, but I know it's a struggle not to take off like a bat out of h.e.l.l and run."

Liz shook her head and tears threatened. "I don't know if I can do this. I mean, snakes and bears and wolves-"

"Oh, my." I added the last bit, since she seemed at a loss for words. She let out a sad little chuckle. "But don't forget badgers. You've got it all over several species if zoology is any indication." When she looked up at me, her eyes were filled with disbelief, as was her scent. I crossed my arms, settled my stance, and nodded. "I'm serious, kiddo. Animals in the wild are terrified of badgers. Go look it up. There's hardly a species out there that will take one on, even up to the big cats and wolves. Spend some time online. Learn about your animal. What it can do, you can. What it must do, same thing. Heck, you might even find some footage on YouTube of how they fight or hunt. It's handy s.h.i.t to know when the moon comes calling." I motioned with my head toward the doorway to the bas.e.m.e.nt. "Now, before old big, white, and furry comes back upstairs, what's the plan? I've no doubt he told you and remember . . . I'll know if you're lying."

Her eyes darted away for a second, so when the burst of black pepper into the air preceded her mouth opening, I wasn't surprised. I lowered my chin and let out an amused, "Uh, huh. You sure you want to go there?"

She opened her eyes wide and looked at me with an expression of indignation. But her scent was the dry desert heat of embarra.s.sment. "I didn't even say anything!"

It was Sue who responded, with another pat on her knee. "You don't have to. That's the problem with dealing with these guys. Scents happen at the same time as the thought. Most Sazi will give you a chance to change your mind, or think things through. But you have to be really careful of what you say. Everybody will know what you're thinking because of the scent, long before words. .h.i.t the air."

She let out a little huff of air and the pink glow around her swirled and danced in annoyance. "That is really not fair." I couldn't disagree, so I just shrugged and stayed silent, waiting. Finally she let out a sigh when she heard footsteps below our feet. "We've got a ten-thirty flight to Newark." I checked my watch. It was already past eight. With the drive and security and such- "c.r.a.p. That doesn't give us much time. Did you already download the boarding pa.s.ses online?"

She shook her head. "The plane was technically full. We have standby tickets. But Mr. Wingate said you'd know what to do so we can make the flight-whatever that means."

I smiled, and it had a dark edge. "That means a few people need to not want to fly today. Maybe quite a few, depending on how many standbys there are." She looked at me askance, but I just chuckled. "Don't worry, kid. Stick with me and you'll learn the games we play." But with the added time of going to the ticket counter, or logging in at one of the kiosks, plus probably getting extra attention from security for the late purchase, we really needed to get moving. "Where are your bags?"

"Still out in the car. Should I go get 'em?" The question was too abrupt and hurried. I didn't need my nose, or my degree in psychology, to know what she was planning.

It was still amusing, but would get annoying if she kept it up. "Nice try, but you need to stop telegraphing. Can you smell that sweet, cloying scent in the air, with maybe a hint of pineapple?" She stopped and sniffed a few times and then took in a slow, deep breath through her nose.

"Yeah. What is that? It's really faint, but smells like a tropical fruit salad."

I gave her a pointed look. "That would be you-planning your escape when you went out to the car. So no dice."

Now she looked annoyed, and smelled of it too. "You said emotions have scents. What kind of emotion is escape?"

I was getting tired of standing here answering questions, so I started moving. I snapped my fingers and motioned her to stand while I bent down and gave Sue a kiss on the cheek. "Most everything we do has some sort of emotion attached, Liz. I'd guess excitement, antic.i.p.ation, and maybe that sneaky sort of happy when you pull something over on someone. I tend to call it dark glee to myself. You can call it whatever you like. But we have to get moving." I lifted Sue's chin and she smiled. "You going to be okay here?"

A quick nod was all I needed, plus the scent of confidence and the burst of warmth in my head. "I'll be fine. You go and take care of things. But you should probably leave your guns and get new ones there."

Oh. Good point. Instead of pulling them from the holsters, I started to unbuckle my belt. Liz raised her brows but I just rolled my eyes. "Gotta get the holster off somehow, kid. Ease up." The stretch slacks I was wearing had plenty of give, so all I had to do was reach down and unsnap the strap and pull it out from behind my back. Apparently, Liz hadn't noticed it was there, mostly because I tend to keep the grips down low so they don't show even when I'm not wearing a jacket. I rolled the strap around the holster and handed it to Sue. Then I reached for the ankle one. "Feel free to spend some time with them, but don't waste the silver if you can avoid it. Just get some hunting loads at Wal-Mart or somewhere."

Liz had picked up her purse and slung it on her shoulder. Lucas wasn't anywhere to be seen so I walked to the bas.e.m.e.nt door. I hollered down, in case they were in one of the cells in the back. I didn't hear arguing anymore, but that didn't mean anything if the level of magic in the stairwell was any indication.

"Hey, you two! I've got to get Liz to the airport. I'll leave the car in the short-term lot with the key in the wheel well." Rather than track Lucas down, I just yelled to the open air, figuring he'd hear me, his ears being what they were. "I'll call when I get to New Jersey!"

"New . . . Jersey. 'Ave to get-" The words were a screech that made both Liz and Sue cover their ears. I'd heard the voice before so all I did was wince at the tone . . . like fingernails on a chalkboard. Angelique came racing down the hallway, her cotton gown flowing behind her from the wind she was creating. She hit me full force and we toppled to the ground. "New! Jersey! 'Ave to get . . . Atlantic!" She started slamming her head against me, as though she had a beak in human form. Her arms were flapping and her feet were clawing at my pants, but thankfully neither could do much more than bruise.

I grabbed her arms and rolled her over onto her back. Liz and Sue backpedaled hard and fast, and Liz's purse went flying. But there's a reason Angelique's leader of the raptors. Magic flew out of her in a green-gold rush that was like being hit in the face with a blast from an air compressor. It would have thrown me off her if it wasn't for the fact that I'd wrapped my legs around hers. But it didn't do my back muscles any good. "I could use some help here, people!" I made the words even louder than my earlier announcements and I heard feet heading my way.

Angelique shrieked again, the sound of an angry falcon, and she beat at my sides with her fists like a hummingbird on steroids. It hurt. A lot. "New! 'Ave to fly!"

Another burst of magic sent me flying, and she changed forms in a flurry of cotton shreds and feathers. But she didn't get far. Lucas was there and tackled her out of the air before she could take a second flap toward the nearest window. I didn't think the gla.s.s would stop her like it would a normal bird, and I was betting Lucas knew that too.

I could see his blue-white light surround her green-gold, but he was in a battle royale to freeze her, an acid trip of colors tripping over themselves for dominance to my eyes.

Charles and Amber showed up a moment later. He changed to bear form in a flash and sent furniture flying from the sheer ma.s.s of the new furred form. Sue and Liz were plastered against the wall now, just trying to stay out of the way, but still watch. Sue had my Taurus in her hand and it was pointed at the bird on the floor. You go, girl.

She kicked the other holster across the tile toward me. I had to dive to grab it before it slid under the couch, but that was okay. Then there were two guns pointed, but they weren't really needed. Charles simply allowed Lucas to get off her and he froze her in an ice cube of shimmering air. Then he stood on her wings to keep her motionless and released her. That didn't seem bright, because she was quiet when she was frozen. Now she was shrieking again. He turned his head to me while Amber ran down the hallway for points unknown. "What happened here?"

"Good question. I was just telling you guys we were leaving for New Jersey when she came screaming down the hallway."

The words set her off again. "Jersey! Fly! Go!" She was struggling so hard I was afraid she was going to tear off her own arm . . . or wing. Charles actually had to take a moment to get his balance again. But then Amber arrived and she was carrying a syringe. I shuddered. I hate needles. Odd that I don't mind getting sliced and diced, but a little tube of metal makes me insane.

Charles looked at his wife with surprise, and it made her snarly again. "I'm a little too burned out right now to do a trance, okay? This sedative works fast and should keep her down for about four hours. I should know."

The big bear blinked once, at just about the same time as I got it and wisely closed his mouth.

Amber looked around his ma.s.sive paw, either trying to find a vein or trying to find a spot that wasn't covered with paw. Finally she shrugged and muttered, "IM it is." Without further warning, she stabbed the needle to the hilt in Angelique's thigh and pressed the plunger home. I noticed that there was a growing stain of blood creeping across the tile and realized that while he had been holding down her wings, she'd been clawing up his back legs. Amber sighed. "You're bleeding, dear. We should get you cleaned up."

Charles and Lucas both moved their gaze to where she was looking and got panicked expressions. They simultaneously turned toward Sue and said in complimenting harmony, "Don't come any closer."

"I wasn't planning to." Her voice sounded odd enough that Lucas finally noticed the Taurus in her hand, held nice and steady. He raised his brows and his eyes flicked to me, where I had the Ruger in a similar grip.

"Who were you planning to shoot?" He wasn't asking me, even though that's where he was looking.

She didn't take her eyes off the target. I'd have to compliment her teacher. Yeah, you can do two things at once when you're concentrating with a gun. You can see things around you and react when needed. But when it comes to higher brain function, like answering questions, the tone comes out sort of flat and emotionless. "Whoever came any closer."

Lucas was still staring at me, and added folded arms to the c.o.c.ked head and peculiar expression. I was just about ready to lower the gun, because Angelique was finally settling down. But I kept the gun in place until he asked the last question I knew he was going to. "Where are you aiming?"

I knew what Sue's answer was going to be because it was the only one she could give, considering her position. We also responded in chorus, my "heart" to her "head."

Charles finally took his weight off of the bird when her head lolled to the side and her little pointy tongue fell out of her little pointy open mouth. Her talons curled inward like she was grasping a branch and she slept. Charles looked at me again. "Are you quite certain all you did was say New-"

Amber slapped his leg hard enough to make him flinch. "Shhh. She's not quite under yet. Go somewhere else and talk to him. Lucas, give me a hand getting her into bed. She's hard to carry like this. Once she's fully under, you can change her back and we'll chain her down. I've got to do some more blood tests. There's something weird going on. First Ahmad running amuck and now her. That's two too many for my taste."

I lowered the hammer back to locked position and put the Ruger in the holster just as Sue was doing the same on her side of the room. It's when I was spinning the leather band around to secure it that I noticed my watch. Dammit! We'd lost another fifteen minutes. I fished in my pocket for the car keys and shook my head. "I'd love to stay and chat, but we've got a flight to catch. Can we do this by phone?"

Amber and Lucas disappeared down the hallway, half carrying and half dragging Angelique's still form. Her wings were so long they brushed both sides of the hallway and I could hear them spitting out feathers as they pulled.

Charles peered down at my arm in a nearsighted fashion so I held the watch so he could see it way up where his eyes were. "Good lord! You're quite right, m'boy. Nigel is testy enough without being forced to wait. Thank you for keeping me on point." He turned back to human form, a dapper three-piece suit in dove gray covering him.

To everyone but Liz, that was. She let out a little gasp and put a hand up to shield her eyes, staring carefully down at the floor. The room suddenly smelled like a desert again. Charles swore, but tried to maintain his dignity by stepping behind the couch to block his more intimate parts from her superior view. I wasn't surprised he'd forgotten, considering the circ.u.mstances.

Sue bent her head close to the other woman. "You'll have to get used to that too, Liz. Lots of naked people in this group. You'll lose any sense of modesty you ever had a year from now."

Liz removed the hand, relieved, and shook her head-tiny little movements that spoke of both frustration and amazement. "I've always considered myself pretty liberal. I saw some weird stuff in college. But this happens so fast. Blink, animals. Blink, naked people. It's insane. Like Monty Python on crack."

I gave the comment the snort it deserved. "And with that, we gotta go. Ten-thirty is going to be here way too quick."

Charles stopped and turned his head. "Why ten-thirty? Your plane doesn't leave until nearly noon."

I turned my whole body toward Liz with a very disapproving expression and a low growl from deep in my chest. What had she been trying to pull? "Ten-thirty, huh? Planning to ditch me while I was trying to figure out what our real flight was?"

Her expression grew panicked. "No! I swear. I saw it on the screen when Mr. Wingate was ordering the tickets. American Airlines to Newark at ten-thirty."

Now Charles reared back with a startled expression. "Oh! My humblest apologies, m'dear. After you went to bed, I cancelled those. Your grandfather and I talked again and his flight had an hour layover in New York, so I tried to make the flights match as close as possible. You're now on United at, I believe, eleven-forty. It's flight 874. The only seats left were first cla.s.s, but you should get used to that anyway. Your friend Heather will meet you in London. She had to visit her parent's home to pick up her pa.s.sport first. Your grandfather will have yours with him. Your father e-mailed him a recent photo to use." I wasn't going to ask how Nigel would manage to get a pa.s.sport without the person being present. Money talks, even in today's world.

I held my holster out to Sue, who walked the few steps to take it from me and stared at me until I heard her thoughts in my head. I thought of the answer just now, by the way. She continued when she saw my blank expression. In the hallway, about how I knew it was Ahmad?

Oh! Sure. Go ahead.

You move differently. Quick and abrupt normally, but smooth and flowing when . . . well, you know. You use your tongue a lot more too. Um . . . try to keep that part. She blushed but managed to avoid my amused expression by coughing and beating a hasty retreat to get a drink. Like her, I didn't really want to broadcast the whole situation to Charles. He was going to find out soon enough. I'd just prefer it was over the phone, when I was far, far away. I nodded as she left. We could continue the discussion later- and we would, since I'm comfortable with my foreplay skills as they stand now. But that conversation was for when there weren't prying eyes to notice me blank out for long periods . . . like on an airplane.

Uh, huh. We'll talk more about that on the flight.

She didn't respond.

Liz and I both sighed almost simultaneously. But mine was frustrated, while hers was relieved. Still, the timing of the flight was actually better overall. "We'll have time to eat then. Can't afford not to have a full belly of meat on the moon and there's hardly anything in the airport restaurants with meat for breakfast." I didn't need to mention our other stop along the way.

Liz let out a little half belch and went to fish her purse out from underneath the magazine rack. "I don't know if I ever want to see meat again. The beef kebabs last night were awesome. Best I've ever had, but there were a ton of them. I still feel stuffed."

"Not beef, Elizabeth," Charles commented with a chuckle. "Rabbit and ground squirrel. I do try very hard to feed new turns their natural prey so they get accustomed to the taste and smell. The one you tried of mine later was seal. My favorite."

"Seal? Eww-" We left with Charles and Sue still snickering at the grimace on her face as she trailed after me.

Chapter Thirteen.

"OKAY," LIZ SAID as she followed me down the hospital corridor. "I know I've led a really sheltered existence. But there's something really strange about all the men hanging around outside. The staff seems terrified by them, but n.o.body's making them move."

I didn't get a chance to reply because we rounded the corner and saw two more of the men I knew at the end of the hallway. They were standing outside the doorway, blocking the entrance. Marvin was one of Carmine's best bodyguards, big and tough-looking, and fully capable of killing on command. The other was Mike. He was tough too, but he was a real softy underneath for his family . . . and stray dogs. Lots and lots of yippy lapdogs at his place, and always more welcome.

I'd thought about getting Bobby to come with me to use illusion. But there's value in knowing you're being watched. I wanted to see who went squealing where once I was inside. We'd been careful to only go down empty corridors and I hadn't smelled any Sazi of any flavor on the trip upstairs.

"Wow," Liz said under her breath. "They feed better food here than at my school. That Italian dish smells amazing."

"You're looking at the Italian dish right now." I whispered the words from the side of my mouth, just for her. "That's what Mike smells like normally-the man on the left. It's his base scent. Everyone has a base scent. Yours is cotton candy, by the way. Matches your pretty pink aura. You're just a regular ballerina princess without your fur."

Her outrage was immediate, same as my amus.e.m.e.nt. She stopped to stare at me with hands on hips. I ignored her and walked right up to the boys, my highest predator magic pushing ahead of me by five feet. They were too stunned to pull their pieces. After all, not only am I dead, but I was d.a.m.ned close to Carmine's second in command. "I'm going in, and it'll be private. You have any objections?" They looked at each other in confusion but then shook their heads. I pointed to Liz with a flick of my thumb. "Keep an eye on the girl. She doesn't leave, she doesn't ask questions, n.o.body takes her, n.o.body hurts her. Got it?"

Marvin had been reduced to nearly a drooling dolt. His eyes were blinking almost too fast to be real. But Mike swallowed a big gulp of his own spittle and nodded. "Whatever you say, Tony." He picked up the lone chair from near the door and put it next to Liz.

I motioned her toward it. "Sit. This won't take long."

She tried to pull herself together enough to be aloof. She glanced at her little silver watch and adopted a haughty voice, carefully avoiding the chair. "It had better not. We're on a schedule."

That made me chuckle a little. I didn't worry about her skipping. She might be tough, but Marvin and Mike are d.a.m.ned smart. If Marvin couldn't hold her down, Mike would charm her. He's quite a ladies'

man while on the job, even though he's devoted to his Maria on his own time. "You've got it, your ladyship."

I walked through the door and was expecting to wince. But the docs had patched him up pretty good. Oh, he was still a mess, but he was a mess wrapped in clean white bandages. It makes it easier to bear. He still smelled of cigars, whiskey, and s.e.x and there was no telltale glow that said he'd been attacked and turned. So, Mustaf had been right, and Lissell wrong. Maybe. But at least if a snake was present, it hadn't bit him.

There was a lot of equipment present and while I didn't pretend to know what they all did, I did grab his chart and flip through it. Most of it was mumbo-jumbo, a flurry of abbreviations and dosages that didn't help me much. But I did like the new sticker on the metal clip, labeled, STABLE. Much better than how Linda had portrayed it.

It's why I needed to come. Like Sue said, I have to see it.

"Hey, boss man. You awake?" I kept my voice low, but loud enough that if he was just dozing, he'd notice.

He did. His eyes opened and he tried to chuckle past the bandages. His voice was raw and slow, but he could talk. Another good thing. "Told Linda she couldn't keep you away."

I didn't want to keep him. I had no doubt even a few minutes was going to be tiring. "You up to telling me what happened?"

He nodded once and moved his chin slightly toward the chair. It was enough of an invitation that I sat. He could probably see me better this way too. "I'll keep it . . . short. New family out of Jersey . . . hit us. Central-American guys. Word has it they're heavy into the drug trade. Never seem 'em before. We fought 'em off, but they killed Ira."

Aw, man! Ira was just an accountant. He'd never even picked up a gun, and certainly wasn't someone who knew anything important. "Sorry about that. He was a good man. I'd send my regards but . . . well, you know. The whole dead thing."

He nodded, just a little. "It's been a pretty empty poker table for about a year now. Thinking I'll have to give it up if this keeps up." The poker table he was referring to was what had been a monthly tradition for nearly a decade. Me, Carmine, Joey the Snake, Ira, and Louis Perricone had played an all-nighter for high stakes. Now Joey was dead, and Ira and me. No s.h.i.t, an empty table. "Louis says no, we go on no matter what. But we'll see. Not that many guys I trust to take the seats. Sal took your place, but he's not much of a poker player. And half the time we have to spot him part of the buy-in. It sort of defeats the purpose. Trust, y'know?"

I did. "Which is why I'm here. I need it from your lips. What do you want from me?"

He coughed, tried to speak, and coughed again. I motioned toward the water pitcher, a question on my face. He nodded, so I poured some in a gla.s.s and held it so he could sip some from the straw. I knew he didn't like that. He'd rather it was whiskey from cut crystal, held and swirled by his own hand. "It'll be scotch soon enough. You just tell me and I'll leave you to rest."

"Need you to make it right. Ton. See, when they killed Ira, I sent the kid calling." Ah. He must mean Scotty. So, he was giving him freelance work now. That was probably good. Scotty is a killer, no matter how you slice it. He either kills for money, or for fun. Carmine can keep him closer to the straight and narrow with jobs than with Social Services bulls.h.i.t to "change" him. "He was supposed to take out just one guy-the man who killed Ira. He had the name and the address. I think he did it right. We got word back that the guy was dead with no leads. But then he went and took something of theirs. I only know because that's what these b.a.s.t.a.r.ds came looking for. Some sort of ancient artifact. You know Scotty and pointy things, so it was probably an old knife or spear or something. I've tried to work with him, but he's still too impressed with things. n.o.body called, though. Not one word or message asked for the return, which I would've done. No sweat. But they just came stomping in and beat the c.r.a.p out of me, and wouldn't believe when I told them I didn't know what the f.u.c.k they were talking about." He coughed again and the heart machine started to dance enough that a nurse was going to come knocking soon.

I held the gla.s.s back to his face, but he waved it away impatiently. "Water won't cure what they did, Tony. I put the word out for Scotty to come back, but now he's scared. Someone blabbed about me being here and he thinks he'll be killed."