Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            Cassie yipped, and in a sudden rush, the Weres of Cincinnati closed in to make a protective circle about us. Cassie was at the front, her tiny form bristled with her ears pinned and black paws dancing. David slumped behind her. She was wolf chow. Because of me.

            “Keep David safe,” I said. “That witch is mine.”

            With a hard purpose, I wove past the assembled wolves to confront the magic user now calmly walking away. “Hey!” I shouted, my face warming when he didn’t stop, didn’t even slow down. “I said, hey!” I exclaimed again, each foot placed with care as I pulled on the ley line until my entire body tingled and my hair snarled in the magic static I was giving off.

            That, he felt, and he turned as if surprised. “Really,” he said as he saw me following, free of the pack. This was going to be between him and me. He had hurt David, and until that moment, I hadn’t known the depth to which I considered him my family.

            “You will not make it from here without leaving something behind,” I intoned, my thoughts light in the demon collective as I picked my poison. This would be over fast. So much for not hurting anyone.

            He halted, his heavily embordered robes furling as he yanked hard on the ley line. Energy coated him, hissing and bubbling as if in affront. “Ta na shay, palurm!” he shouted, his disguised voice hollow as he threw a glowing ball of purple and gold at me.

            He invoked the Goddess? I thought as his curse crackled through the night air. I didn’t move, my lips curling up in an ugly smile. “Pacta sunt servanda!” I said to bounce it back, and the man’s curse jerked as if on a string, keening as it reversed and headed right for him.

            He dove to the ground, spelling robes tangling as he rolled to evade it. Clearly alarmed, he staggered to a stand.

            “Implicare!” I shouted to tangle his feet, and he lurched, going down again. “Uncurse David, you whining cur!” I exclaimed as I strode forward, eager to end this.

            The man rolled, his robe hiding him. “Fuck this,” he whispered, and the line twanged through me. “Visio deli!” he shouted.

            I jerked to the side, but I was too close, and with a soundless flash of light, my vision went red.

            Gasping, I flung myself back, arm over my face. I could not see. I could not see! “Rhombus!” I exclaimed, a breath of relief escaping me as my protection circle went up. I cringed, blind as I waited for the thump of a spell hitting my barrier, but there was nothing. My eyes teared and smarted, and my gut began to unclench as I realized the faint haze darting in and out of my vision was Cincy’s lights. My vision was returning.

            Thank you, God. Cowering under my circle, I blinked furiously, listening to the barks and snarls of the packs behind me turn into howls of success.

            “Rachel, he’s gone. Let me in!” Bis shouted, and I dropped my circle, sure he wouldn’t ask if I was in danger. A twinge of heartache found me. Once, he could have passed right through. And he will again, I vowed.

            “Where’s David?” I asked when Bis’s feet found my shoulder.

            “Cassie has him,” the little guy said, and I staggered upright. I couldn’t see well, but Cassie’s yip of anger kept me wobbling forward.

            “Cassie?” I called when the scuffle of wolves and their panting breaths surrounded me. Slowly the night became clearer. Walter and his pack of alpha Weres were fleeing fast, and a ring of bloodied but triumphant wolves circled David and Cassie with more Weres arriving in twos and threes. Bis’s tail tightened about me at the sudden roar of an engine, and I tensed.

            “It’s them,” Bis said as a big-ass SUV bumped over the curb and rocked over the grass, its aim unclear but not headed our way. Weres dove in through the open windows when they could, leaving the rest to dodge the incoming I.S. agents and scatter into the night.

            We had won?

            I jumped when an eerie howl rose from a single throat. In twos and threes, the rest joined it, reasserting their right to live as they would, a warning as old as the moon that they claimed the ground they walked on. Wings shivering, Bis joined in, his low, rough howl bringing everyone to a momentary standstill that dissolved into a nervous dog chuckle. Walter might have nullified the focus by downing David in a curse, but clearly the city was still his.

            But any thought of success vanished when I saw Cassie huddled over David. She had shifted. Not a stitch of clothing covered her, and her Black Dandelion pack tattoo stood out on her shoulder, still red and peeling. Her brown skin was shiny with blood, and tears spilled from the small woman as she tugged David’s head onto her lap, not a hint of embarrassment or self-consciousness showing. But it was her tattoos that drew my attention, and I stared at the body-encompassing peacock spreading its feathers across her back, the bright turquoise, green, and orangey red making a stunning show of art and detail.