Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “What are you, an idiot?” Hands on his hips, Jenks dusted an annoyed orange. “She’s trying to fix it. Move so she doesn’t have to make such a big protection circle.”

            But the lead nurse seemed to panic, lurching to the nearest monitor to hit an icon. “Security!” she shouted, as if the new alarm ringing in the hallway wasn’t enough.

            Oh, for God’s sake, I thought as the young nurse totally lost it. At the ceiling, Bis put his hands to his ears, clearly in pain.

            “Rachel, down!” Trent shouted, and I dropped, hands stinging as they met the hard floor. Rolling, I watched the thrown spell whizz through the air where my chest would have been.

            “Hey!” I shouted, still on the floor, and my anger shifted to alarm when the old nurse, clearly a witch, threw another. I rolled again, and it hit the wall with a thump hard enough to shake the air. What the Turn was she packing?

            “You idiot!” Cassie shoved the old woman off-balance, and I rolled to a stand. “She can help them.”

            But the lead nurse made a grab for me, and I danced away. Trent was in a corner with Bis, and Jenks was everywhere, dusting a bright orange I was pretty sure would make anyone it touched itch for a week.

            “What’s going on in here?” a new voice called out, and I clenched my teeth. It was hospital security: blue uniform, spell-laden belt, little badge that looked as if he found it in a box of cereal. Why do they always give the insecure man the spell belt? I wondered as my attention shifted from him to the three nurses and back again.

            “Escort them out,” the head nurse said, pale and shaking. But at least she wasn’t throwing spells anymore. “Better yet, take them to holding.”

            “Are you kidding me?” Jenks said. “We haven’t thrown one spell!”

            Cassie inched her way to Kylie, her face wet with tears. He wasn’t moving anymore, but his pulse monitor said he was still alive. Maybe they had given him something after all. Something to ease his passage.

            “Into the hall. Now,” the man demanded. But his hand was hovering near his spell belt, and it ticked me off.

            “Please, Rachel,” Cassie whispered, and my pulse quickened.

            “Kylie won’t last ten more minutes,” Jenks said. “Stun them.”

            “Good idea,” I said, and Trent smirked, his intake of breath racing through me as I felt him pull on the nearest ley line.

            The nurses felt it, too. Their eyes widened, and they foolishly did nothing, relying on the security guard as I smiled and touched the ley line.

            “Stabils!” I said, throwing the demon’s joke curse right at the guard.

            “Hey!” he shouted, then slowly fell over, crying out in fear as he hit the floor, blood spurting as he broke his nose. Frantic, the young nurse pulled him deeper into the room, the exact opposite of the way I wanted her to go.

            “You killed him!” she exclaimed, terrified.

            Seriously? I thought. The guard was still shouting bloody murder.

            “Stop it! All of you!” Cassie shouted, hunched over Kylie in protection as the free energy in the room began to grow, rocking between the walls like waves in a bathtub. “I’m going to get you all fired for this. I asked Rachel here to help, and you’re actin’ like asses!”

            “Stabils!” I shouted again to drop the young nurse, which it did. Yes, it was a joke curse, but it was effective—until you figured out how to get around it.

            “Incoming!” Jenks called, and then I yelped, shocked when a crapload of ley line energy hit me square on the back. For half an instant, force vibrated through me until I balled it up, forcing it to my hands, where it dripped in shades of gold and red.

            Shoulders hunched, I spun to the old nurse, now pale as I had taken everything she’d thrown at me, a force which had probably downed everyone else she’d used it on. Jenks grinned, knowing what was going to happen next.

            “You. Over there,” I said, pointing to where Trent had dragged the last nurse, out cold with an elven spell on her. “Bis, the door,” I directed, and he shook himself, making the lead nurse, the only one not spelled, gasp. Apparently she hadn’t known he was in the room.