"Well, I'll be d.a.m.ned!" I forgot to whisper, but at least I didn't yell. "You're mated." Her honey-gold aura was snaking its way up his black-red, turning it nearly back to the color he was a year ago.

The announcement had a definite effect. She blushed wildly and pulled her arm from his grip. He dropped his hand, boneless, his face draining of blood until he was olive-colored chalk. My head turned toward the doorway, because I should have been listening earlier and Ahmad wouldn't have surprised us. There were distinct footsteps coming down the hall. I pointed at Tuli and made my voice a harsh whisper. "She's Wolven. Working undercover for Jack." Then my finger moved to Ahmad. "He's council, working undercover for Charles." I moved the finger between Sue and I. "We're screwed, not under any cover at all and about to get eaten for lunch. We need to get out of here."

Ahmad can move quickly when he wants to. He barricaded the door with a chair under the k.n.o.b and Tuli leapt onto the table to yank off the vent cover. I offered my bent hands to step on and she used them. She bounced once while Ahmad held his weight against the door. I also noticed his magic was spreading out, making a shield of sorts that would make it more difficult to get through. Once Tuli was in the duct, she reached for Sue's hand. I lifted her up by the hips and handed her over, then stood on the table myself and jumped through the hole. Wolf aim is handy for that. Ahmad was last. He jumped from the table to the ceiling like a gazelle. I had to back up for fear of knocking heads. "The seal will last only moments. We need to move. Tuli knows the way. No more talking until we're there and crawl as silently as possible."

If I thought we were leaving the casino, I was sadly mistaken. At the first intersection, Tuli took a left. We followed and I suddenly realized we were heading down. "We're still going with the plan?"

Ahmad gave me an annoyed look and tried to talk into my head. Wonder of wonders! It worked!

I spoke with Charles when we reached the American border, while Nasil was refueling. When we arrived, I made the excuse of going to pick up food and visited your hotel room. I reviewed the plans and brought the swords here through the sewer grates. I found the inner temple before bringing back food. I told Nasil and Tuli about the plans in your room and that I would recognize you if I saw you. It was always my plan to save you, but I thought I was going to have to kill Tuli to do it.

Wow. He was going to kill her to save us? I guess Sue wasn't kidding about trusting him with her life. It would have killed you too, being as you're mated.

I looked behind to see his reaction and smacked my head on a support for the trouble. His scent went from a cookie spice sort of warmth to annoyance. I didn't know that at the time, but I've nearly died for lesser causes. Charles insists you're valuable, even though I think he's a fool. Now keep your mind on our business.

The next downslope was steeper. It was like going down a water slide with slow people going in front of you. All you can do is grab on with fingernails and heels and pray. It felt like we went down a dozen floors, but it was probably only three. Tuli came to a particular grate and slid her fingers through the expanded metal and shoved hard. The screws weren't meant to withstand Sazi-level pressure and the grate gave way with a sharp pop. It was sudden enough that she nearly fell in, but Sue grabbed her shirt and yanked her back. She turned her head, let out a slow breath, and touched Sue's arm in thanks.

Then she lowered herself slowly into a deserted hallway. This part of the building was still under construction. Open wall studs gave way to rough drywall and then taped and sanded walls, ready for paint. Ahmad opened a doorway next to the stub-out where a water fountain would probably eventually be installed and slipped down a dark flight of stairs.

He returned moments later with the two swords. He took the larger and gave me the smaller. Sue and Tuli looked at us open-mouthed with indignation plain on their faces and in their scents.

I looked at Sue and whispered, "You ever killed anyone with a sword before? It's hard work."

Ahmad nodded. "The blade often gets stuck in the neck joints or between ribs. If you've never done it before, you could easily snap the blade or lose the weapon and leave the attacker alive."

Sue blanched a little and nodded, but not Tuli. She stared Ahmad down, even though I knew he wouldn't budge "Well, I've used one before. Where's mine?"

I shrugged. "Frankly, I prefer guns, but I'm not going weaponless. These are all we have."

Or not. Ahmad pulled a Sig nine millimeter from the back of his pants, tucked under his shirt. "It's loaded with silver. Will this do?"

I reached for the semiauto with one hand and offered Tuli the sword with the other, giving her a little bow as I did. "The blade's yours, ma'am."

Sue and I stepped back as they started swinging the swords, getting the feel of them. Tuli slammed hers into a wood stud and it went nearly clean through. But that wasn't good enough for her apparently. After she jerked it back and forth a few times to get it out of the wood, she handed the sword to Ahmad and reached for the longer one. The snake king just shrugged and let go. Now she went two-handed and swung at a different stud. This time it sliced completely through. Ahmad did the same one-handed with the shorter sword and shrugged again.

She rested it on the tip and leaned on the big thing like a cane. It came nearly to her chest. But she was happy with it.

"Now what?" I looked around, not really sure where we were in the casino, so it was hard to follow the route of the lower area I'd memorized from the blueprints. "I'd sort of planned on doing this stage with C-Four and a lot more firepower. You really think we're going to stand a chance with all the guards they'll have?"

"We have all the firepower we need." Ahmad swung his sword again and did a fine job looking fierce.

But I liked Tuli's response better. "I have C-Four."

All three of us turned to her and spoke in chorus. "You do?"

She shrugged. "I don't have much but I never travel without it." She dropped to her knees and rolled over onto her b.u.t.t and took off her shoes. I didn't realize until that minute that they were at least one size too large. She pulled out the foam insole and underneath was a thick layer of creamy white plastic explosive.

"You're walking on it." Ahmad's voice was flat and expressionless, but the surprise of his scent gave him away.

"It's perfectly stable, and you know it. The detonator isn't anywhere close to it and n.o.body looks at a lady's shoes.

Sue grinned. "Oh, that's just cute!" I agreed. She did the same with the other shoe and then she molded them back together. It was a nice fist-sized chunk that would easily lay waste to a wall.

But it would have to be the right wall.

As she was getting back to her feet, with the help of Ahmad, and putting on her now looser shoes, Sue reached inside the tight waitress top and pulled a piece of paper from inside her bra. She also shrugged.

"Another place n.o.body checks." Tuli grinned at her and she opened the slip to show a series of dots and letters around the outside of a square. "These are the locations of where all the gas and electric lines come in, from the blueprint. I also looked to be sure when we arrived. But I'd hate to blow them with all the people upstairs. The place would burn to the ground if we blew the line and a lot of people would die. There'd be a ton of press."

Ahmad sighed. "A great many more will die if Marduc is allowed to be born. Even if she never gets her wings, she would be a fearsome creature. And Anu only knows what sort of adjustments Father made in her creation."

Tuli was gliding her finger over the paper, memorizing the locations. "Nothing to the egg itself. But her first meal will have a number of adjustments. Sargon planned to feed her a concentrated ma.s.s of Sazi meat, imbued with powerful magic and any number of vitamins and steroids. It wasn't still in the meat locker at the camp, so I presume it's here."

I grimaced and asked the obvious question while Sue tried to stop looking sick. "Do I even want to know how you imbue meat with magic?"

Ahmad raised his brows. "You probably don't. But it's in the preparation. You have to slice the meat off while the Sazi is still alive and lock the power to the meat with ritual magic. One thing we must do is destroy the book my father had been using."

"So, we have three goals then. Kill the egg, destroy the book, and blow the place? Heck, that's only three goals and there are four of us. Quick, someone come up with another." I was being facetious and everybody knew it, but Ahmad answered anyway.

"Very well. Add stay alive to the list. At least one of us should to get word back to the council."

Well, yeah. That was a point.

Sue looked around and asked the question that I had earlier, but out loud. "Where exactly are we?"

"Bas.e.m.e.nt. Southwest corner. The stairs Ahmad went down lead to the entrance to the subbas.e.m.e.nt where the temple is." Tuli answered, stepping behind a half wall of drywall, probably to see if there were any tools left lying around. She came up smiling with a pair of needle-nose pliers and a flat-nose screwdriver. Couldn't beat those for playing with explosives.

She raised her collar and removed a length of det cord. I smirked. "I can't wait to see where you have the cap hidden." It came out of her skirt pocket with a flourish. She let out a low chuckle at my look of surprise and then rolled her eyes. I was expecting something a little more . . . novel. "The idiot guard didn't know what it was. He gave it back to me after he searched me. It had been in my bra. I told him it was an earring."

I turned to Sue. I hated to disappoint her about partic.i.p.ating, but there was good chance we weren't going to be good enough to get through this. "I think you know I'd like you to be the stay alive member of the team, right?"

She shook her head sadly and my heart sank. "Actually, I'm probably going to have to be the C-Four gal first. They're going to be smelling for Sazi, so I can slip through the cracks while they come racing for you guys. So long as I stay to the shadows, I can get to the gas line where I need to plant it, hide it, and get out. But I don't know how to detonate it."

I held up the gun with a smile. "You just get the charge to the spot and leave the cap where I can see it and I'll make it go boom."

It finally occurred to her and she frowned. "But that means you'll have to see it. You won't be able to get out."

I shrugged and reached for her hand. "Like I said, you're the stay alive member of the team."

Ahmad looked at Tuli with an odd expression. He tipped his head and seemed truly puzzled. "I find I would like you to also be a member of the team to stay alive. How very odd."

Tuli smiled and touched his hand and I watched the color crawl up the arm. He noticed the sensation this time and stared at his arm. "It's not odd. It's sweet. But no. I've been on this mission since I first met Colecos, who became Jack Simpson, over a thousand years ago. I have to see it through . . . no matter the price."

So, it was set. We were on a suicide mission. That's actually not a bad thing. You tend to focus better when you don't expect to come out. That's not to say you won't try to come back alive, but pain doesn't bother you as much. You just keep going.

Sue took off the high heels and wiggled her toes. "I can't sneak in heels. I'd rather be barefoot." Tuli looked at her feet for a moment and then kicked off her own shoes. She removed the gel insoles and handed them to Sue.

"I'm fine in heels. Tuck these inside the panty hose. They'll keep you from getting cuts for a little while."

Good idea! I helped Sue out by cutting a hole in her hose about midcalf and sliding them down. She bounced up and down a couple of times after they were both in place and they stayed reasonably well. She might have to adjust them from time to time, but it was better than nothing. They were absolutely silent too. No squeaking or sliding noises. I'd actually have to keep that in mind. I'm not above wearing hose if I can be utterly silent.

We slipped down the staircase, weapons at the ready. I didn't like that Sue wasn't armed, but I suppose in a way she was the most armed. She had the C-Four in one hand and the blasting cap in the other. All she had to do was stick in the cord and slam it with a brick to make it go boom if there wasn't an option of getting out. I could yell her the instructions if it came down to it.

Tuli was leading us with the long sword. When we reached the door to the temple, we came upon the first guard. I was aiming to shoot from the next level of stairs, but Ahmad grabbed my hand and shook his head. He motioned to where Tuli was slipping down the stairs like a high-heeled ghost. The dark-red glowing guard turned just as she reached the last tread and started to pull a gun. But she was faster. She swung that sword like a tennis racket, her long black hair whipping from the wind it created. His head disconnected from his body before he even had time to get the gun from the holster and the glow disappeared. Both halves fell to the floor nearly simultaneously, well before the scent of pain and blood reached my nose.

I pursed my lips and nodded, then whispered under my breath, suitably impressed. "Go, Red Sonja."

"Who?" Ahmad's face was confused. I just shook my head. It would take too long to explain.

Tuli looked out the window of the fire door and after a long moment waved us downstairs. I let the other three go through first. I pocketed the guard's gun and the wide knife from his pants and moved his body under the stairs. It wouldn't hide the blood, but at least they wouldn't know whose blood it was immediately.

Unless they tasted it.

And I suppose they'd probably do that immediately. Like I just did. It was bitter and thick with poison. I spit it out. Oh well. We'll skip the hiding the bodies part in the future. Saves time anyway. But the fact I couldn't keep myself from tasting the blood probably meant the moon was near. And me without a single meal of meat today.

I had to hurry to catch up with them. Actually it was sort of nice that n.o.body waited for me. We all just sort of expected each other to do our jobs. But they'd split up by the time I reached them. Sue was hidden in the shadow of the inner temple, which soared to the ceiling of the two story subbas.e.m.e.nt and was painted bloodred. I touched the wall and then put my finger to my lips. Actually, it was painted with blood, which was really sick, considering the size of the place.

I eased to her side and whispered as she stared at her little map. "Know where you're going?"

She nodded and pointed to the far corner of the room, where I could see a large gas pipe joint, nearly hidden behind the machinery. The ma.s.sive electric pumps holding out the sea were each the size of a jet engine, which must mean there was a bunch of pressure against these walls. Sue started to move, but I held her back with a hand on her shoulder, thinking out loud. "How thick do you suppose these walls are?"

She shrugged. "Why?"

"Because people above could escape a flood."

She stopped and stared at the walls, trying to follow my reasoning. "But would it destroy the temple?"

"Does it have to, so long as it destroys the egg?" Ahmad was halfway across the room, moving between pump shadows with the ease of a thief. I caught his eye and motioned him back to where I was standing with Sue. Instead of moving, he burst into my mind again with an accompanying pain that made me want to deck him.

What?

I motioned to the pumps by moving my hand around in a circle. Can a snake egg drown? Should we skip the gas line and collapse a seawall?

He paused and raised his brows and looked around the room. Yes. An egg can drown. Snake eggs must have oxygen to survive. We might not even need to confront anyone with that method. I've no doubt the gas lines are heavily guarded, at least this near the birth. The ones we see might even be decoys. They'd be expecting sabotage there. But if we disable the electricity and the generator and then damage the wall, that would take care of it. The electricity might not be as closely watched. They wouldn't require it for the birth.

He motioned for Tuli to join him and they had a head-to-head conversation so they could hear over the hammering noise of the pumps. I was betting if they tried, they could do the mental link, but I was also certain that Ahmad would be scared to death of it. He doesn't seem to be the sort for commitments. It was even money in my mind whether they'd wind up staying together, mates or not.

Ahmad started to examine the pump he was standing near and I did the same with mine. Sue followed along behind. "So what are we doing?" Oh, that's right. She hadn't heard the conversation with Ahmad. I wasn't sure why she couldn't access that part of my head simultaneously, but there you go.

"Looking for a way to shut this off." Sue tucked the C-Four in the pocket of the little skirt she was wearing and tried to find a spot for the det cord. The safest place was probably right where the paper had been. I tucked it between her tightly squeezed b.r.e.a.s.t.s and then winked at her. "Can't think of anywhere safer than between two such pretty cushions."

She hit at my arm, but I sidestepped just in time. Then it was back to searching for a shutoff. I heard the slowing whir of another of the machines and looked over toward Ahmad. He pointed up to where Tuli was on top of the machine. She, in turn, pointed to the top of the pump, near the front. She raised her arm and I saw a small white wire that she'd apparently cut. Okay, we could do that. Sue wasn't quite as nimble as the slithering Tuli, but we made do. I tucked the knife from the guard into her ap.r.o.n tie and hoisted her up as far as I could reach. She grabbed onto the edge of a short ladder and pulled herself up. They really had been working with her at Wolven, because a year ago there's no way she would have been able to do the equivalent of a pull-up, combined with a rope climb. She found the wire apparently, because a second pump did the shutdown routine.

Tuli leapt to the top of the next pump but I shook my head at Sue. Let's not push it. She agreed with a nod and dropped down the same way she got up. I caught her and we moved to the next pump. There were eight in total, but when we reached the sixth pump, we heard a voice in the now nearly silent room.

"You really didn't expect to get away with this, did you?" It wasn't Nasil, which is who I expected. It was Paolo who was standing there, surrounded by a dozen guards armed with AKs. I was betting the ammo was silver too.

Ahmad raised a single brow and stared at the group with utter dismissal. "I don't see why not." The four of us looked around at each other and at some unspoken signal . . . scattered.

The guards immediately started spraying bullets in our direction, forcing Paolo to scream at them to stop. Of course, I was really sort of hoping they'd shoot up the rest of the working pumps and save us the effort. But no such luck.

Then it turned into a game of hide-and-seek. I leapt up and grabbed the ladder where Sue had been and waited until I saw legs come around the corner. One arm let loose and I fired two quick shots into one kneecap. He went down screaming but started healing immediately. I was forced to jump down and put a bullet in his brain and another in his heart. Ahmad would probably call me wasteful for making it a four-shot kill.

But now I had an AK, which was even better. I slid along the side of the next pump. If it hadn't been so quiet, I probably never would have heard the next guard pulling back the slide. But I did, so I spun around the corner of the machine and fired a series of shots that took out his face and most of his chest. Oops. I had it set on full auto. Another waste of bullets. I moved the selector switch to semiauto. If I could fire fast enough it would be plenty.

I heard a scream from the next machine over and felt my heart race until I realized it was a man's scream. Sue came out from behind the pump, now carrying a rifle. But how had she killed him to begin with?

I gave her a questioning look and started to contact her head, but she pointed up suddenly, took aim, and fired. Another guard fell, but she's not good with two-shot kills yet, so I helped her along with a second round to the head. But nice heart shot. Then I put another bullet in his heart just to be safe.

I heard a swish and clank from the other side of the room and looked over to see Ahmad just taking the head off yet another guard. Tuli was likewise cleaning the blood from her sword with an olive-green jacket, which I expect used to be on someone. Then a sizzle of sparks came from the room and part of the lights went out. Ahmad was rubbing singed hands, but we suddenly had an advantage.

We were down to either four or five guards, or so I thought. But with a pounding of feet on the concrete, there were suddenly another ten. This could take all night and eventually we were going to wear out. But there was already a satisfying trickle of water seeping through the walls and they were down to two pumps. I called out from behind one of the pumps. "What do you want?"

Paolo snorted, which is exactly what I expected him to do. See if you can make it to that corner of the wall, then set the charge. I pointed to where the water was trickling and Sue nodded. It was part of the room that was without lights, and she slipped carefully into the shadows. Of course, that meant I'd have to try to hit the blast cap with no lights. But hey, I had plenty of bullets. I only needed to have enough time to hit it with one. And that required removing the rest of the guards.

There was a wide open s.p.a.ce right next to the glowing temple mouth-at least fifty yards. She was going to have to make a break for it. I watched her pull the wire out, tuck it into the C-Four slab, and then carefully screw on the blasting cap. Then she pulled something from her pocket and pressed it into the ma.s.s and took a deep breath.

I opened the door wide and felt myself slip into her body. She knew I was there and let go of her mind. The moon was rising now and I could feel the tug of the magic at the same time it pressed me down toward the ground. I focused on nothing but Sue's feet and getting her across the room, fast and unnoticed. "You haven't answered me, Paolo."

"There is nothing to say. I want your death, and I'll have that soon enough." He was keeping hidden just beyond the door of the temple, protecting the egg. It wasn't a very big building, but I was betting it was chock full of the toughest men he had. As it was, the new batch was moving with much more stealth. I couldn't even see shadows move. But I sure as heck could see glowing. "Not as soon as you think." I raised the rifle and squeezed the trigger twice in rapid succession. One guard down. I twisted at the waist and popped two more slugs and another thud sounded. "Oh, did I mention I have second sight?

Darkness doesn't bother me much."

Paolo swore and started to close the heavy stone door to secure himself and his queen. I sailed back into Sue's body and she let me. That's when the moon came calling.

I let out a howl of pain and threw Sue into motion. She jumped out into the open area like an Olympic sprinter off the mark. It was all I could do to keep her moving side to side, ducking bullets that flew. She was almost to the wall and I'd nearly lost my battle of changing forms when a blur cut across Sue's vision. She screamed as she was dragged sideways by her hair and the ball of C-Four fell from her grasp. Thankfully, it didn't explode on impact.

Nasil had Sue's neck stretched backward by her hair, a sharp knife held to her neck. She gasped and I could feel the blade cut her skin, just enough to let a small trickle flow down her neck. "If you surrender now, wolf, I might let her live. Otherwise you can watch her bleed away onto the floor."

I let out a low growl and stepped into the open. A dozen guns raised on me and I stared them all down. He hurt my mate! That wasn't allowed. The glowing snake held up the paw holding the sharp metal.

"Oh, put the guns down, fools. He's of more use alive. She is nearly born and will need a meal, since it's likely the cut power line has ruined her magical treat. And when she's done with the wolf, we will have two snakes to feed her, fat with power."

I advanced another step, lowered my front legs, and raised my hackles. I let out a howl to call the pack. It echoed and sounded like a thousand more wolves. The men with their guns didn't begin to look nervous until the magic of the pack began to fill me. The man holding my mate stared at me curiously.

"How very interesting."

He loosened his grip for a split second and forgot she is pack too. Her eyes glowed green as the pack entered her, held her, and made her strong. In a sudden movement, she pulled a dark sharp thing from her skirt and reached backward. She stabbed the shiny black stone claw into the snake's back and he screamed and dropped. She rolled away after grabbing another metal claw and the white ball. The snake thrashed on the floor, spraying blood from a wound that wouldn't seal. His colored light began to fall off in chunks, cut from him like meat from a bone. Two more snakes leapt out from the shadows and began to slice at the guards pointing at me. I seemed to remember them as pack. The dark-skinned men fell bleeding and stopped glowing. But the ones that were still glowing were mine. I raced forward and slammed into the nearest glowing man and closed my jaws around his neck. He beat at me and stabbed a sharp thing in my side that made me yelp. But I wouldn't let go until he was still. He didn't taste good, though, so I moved away, looking for better food. The other wolves were with me. I could feel my pack leader leading the hunt and when I pounced on another guard my bite felt stronger, my claws raked deeper.

When the last man was down, I moved toward the snake who had hurt my mate. He was still writhing on the floor, trying to reach the claw she'd left in him to pull it out. But she'd dug it in deep, all the way to the bone handle. There was a burst of color and the stink of power in the air and the snake called his true form. But the claw wouldn't fall out. He hissed again and rolled. I could already smell decay and let out a snort of air. The snake was dying. It just didn't know it yet.

Tony! I heard my mate's voice in my head and I turned to her. Can you change back on your own? I need you to shoot the detonator.

I blinked, not understanding what she was saying, even though I knew I should. Concentrate, Tony. I need you back with me.

I shook my head and felt the pack fade from my mind. Nikoli was pulling them back and human thoughts began to flow back into my head. Ahmad and Tuli were at the temple door, using their swords to pry open the stone door, while slamming against the stone to push it even farther open.

"I've never been able to change forms, Sue. I'm not an alpha. You'll have to shoot it." I motioned with my head to the guns on the ground. I didn't know whether she'd ever practiced for distance with a rifle, but she did pretty well on the guard on top of the pump. I turned away from Nasil. He was done for. Even now his hisses were becoming weaker, as was the glow surrounding him.