Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Ah . . . Trent?” I said, then whistled for Jenks.

            Trent spun at a shout cutting through the live music. “That was Lee,” he said, and then we both jumped at the abrupt and sure tug on the ley line.

            We stepped forward together. “Jenks!” I shouted, then flinched at a sudden bang. The floor trembled and the music cut out. Everyone looked up at the disco ball in the ceiling, now pulsating a gentle warning red.

            I pushed in front of Trent. The room was suddenly full of a nervous mutter as vendors began pulling their wares and parents with strollers turned to the main exit. “Trent, stay here. Jenks and I will take care of this.”

            But Trent was already gone, running to the rear as everyone else pushed to the front.

            “Jenks!” I called again, shoving past someone when I felt another tug on the line.

            Jenks darted up, sword pulled, wings a tight hum. “It’s Parker.”

            “She’s here?” I jumped at an angry shout from behind the partition. “Trent?” Lurching forward, I finally caught up with him as he swung around the partition.

            Together we slid to a halt, and I felt my expression empty. A threatening wall of scruffy, tattooed Weres stood before us. Lee was behind them, under a protection circle and on the floor. Two plainclothes sprawled before him, unmoving. Pulse fast, I filled my hand with raw power, fist tightening to squeeze gold and red from me. “Move.”

            “Lee!” Trent called, and the downed witch shuddered. He was alive.

            “I said, move!” I shouted, recognizing the lead Were’s attitude, if not the Were himself. It was Walter’s alpha pack.

            The heavily tattooed man shook his head, gold chains jingling.

            He reached for me, and I shoved the raw energy in my hand right at him.

            It hit with a sodden thump. Arms pinwheeling, the Were rocked back to be caught by the man beside him. The tiny opening was all I needed. Trent and I pushed through as he whispered a word in Latin and a sudden pop of energy widened the hole.

            “Trent, help Lee!” I yelled as I dropped to check the two downed officers. They were breathing. Relieved, I looked up, blanching at a low, rumbling growl.

            Trent was facing a snarling wolf. Torn ear, ripped eye: Parker had gone to fur.

            “Stabils!” I shouted, and the enormous wolf darted clear. My magic slammed into the woman behind her instead, and she collapsed, crying out in fear.

            Parker’s malevolent eyes fastened on me. Again a low growl rose—until Trent’s spell hit her and she skittered sideways, fur smoldering.

            “Behind you!” Jenks shouted from the ceiling, and I dropped.

            Rhombus! I thought, my palms finding the matted carpet as a thunderous boom shook the dust from the ceiling.

            It had been Lee. He was down but conscious, and Parker slammed into the wall, thrown by Lee’s spell. Stunned, she staggered to all fours and shook, clearly trying to see straight. Her pack was scattering, and I rose, pulse quickening as I hit my circle and its energy flowed into me.

            “We good?” I called. Trent had finally reached Lee, and the witch lifted a hand in acknowledgment as Trent helped him sit up against the wall. Lee had clamped a hand to his shoulder, the blood turning his black jacket shiny. Parker had bitten him. Savagely.

            “Dust won’t hold that together for long,” Jenks said, and I noticed the odd matte dust coating Lee’s fingers.

            “Get back here!” Parker shouted, and my head whipped around. She’d returned to her human shift, utterly naked as she gestured for her pack. “I’m not leaving without him!”

            Trent? I wondered in a pulse of fear. Did she think that I had given the ring to Trent? No wonder Lee had intervened. “Both of you stay down,” I said as a siren’s wail rose in the street below. Standing, I settled before them both, feet spread wide, the power of the ley line snarling my lifting hair. Jenks hovered beside me, making me feel invincible. “You got a problem with me, Parker? Deal with me, not my friends.”

            “Back off,” Parker intoned as the few remaining pack members filed in beside her. “That mangy cur of a bastard is mine.”