Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            “Try it,” Lee rasped, pale as he sat against the wall and held his shoulder.

            “Ma’am,” someone said, touching me, and I jumped, landing a spinning kick in his gut before I realized it was building security.

            “Oh, crap on toast. I’m so sorry,” I said as I helped him up, and he glared at me.

            “Ma’am, leave the area. Let us do our job,” he said.

            “You bet. Give me a second to wrap things up,” I said as I looked from the emergency exit to Trent and Lee. They’d be safe once past it, but for how long? Parker knew who the mage was. She wasn’t leaving here unless it was in cuffs, and my gaze caught Trent’s. “In three,” I said, and Trent nodded.

            “Two!” I continued, and Trent’s wicked smile turned him into an elven warlord.

            “One!” I shouted, yanking the building’s security behind me.

            “Dilatare!” I called, flinging an exuberant hand out as the energy flowing through me found direction, exploding in a wave of red-tinted force to spin the remaining Weres into the walls.

            “Elerodic!” Trent shouted, and the overhead lights burst in a blinding flash. The building’s security cowered with a yelp, but Lee watched, slumped against the wall with an odd expression of pain and satisfaction on his face. I thought it wonderful that even though we argued and messed with one another, if you hurt one, you hurt us all. Lee tried to protect us, I thought, all the more determined to bring Parker down.

            “Parker!” I shouted across the narrow expanse as the last of her pack began to flee before the sound of I.S. sirens. Parker turned at my voice, hunched and angry.

            Trent moved forward to stand beside me, unmoved and unafraid. Energy flicked about his fingers, sparks of it rubbing against my aura like a dangerous caress. His lips pressed into a line, and his green eyes fixed on her; he was clearly capable of defending himself.

            “You sure you want to do this, Parker?” I said, power dripping from my hands to smolder against the matted carpet. It needs to be replaced anyway. But I wasn’t going to throw the first punch. The building’s security was watching, and I’d learned the hard way to take my licks before dishing them out. It kept me relatively free of lawsuits, and Trent appreciated that.

            “Hands up!” an authoritative voice thundered. “You too, Morgan. Drop the ley line!”

            Crap on toast, it’s the I.S. I never took my gaze from Parker as the I.S. agents spilled in the fire exit and around the partition from the front room.

            “Tink’s a Disney whore,” Jenks swore. “How did they get here so fast?”

            “Grab her!” I yelped when Parker made a dive for the exit, and three I.S. agents scrambled to catch her, their motions too gentle because she was naked.

            “Don’t let her get away!” I exclaimed as she fought them off, her intent obvious: the rear balcony and its three-story drop. My breath caught as she wiggled free, and I threw myself at her, catching a heel as the naked woman found the balcony.

            Outraged, Parker hit the floor and kicked at me. “Who gave you that ring? Who is the mage?!” I shouted as I struggled to get a hold on her.

            “Stand down, Morgan!” someone bellowed as a heavy grip found my shoulder, and I let loose a blast of unfocused energy. The hand fell away, and Parker lurched to her feet.

            “You are so stupid,” Parker said with a sneer, and then she was gone, vaulting over the railing as if a soft pillow waited for her, not a three-story drop to the pavement.

            “No!” Teeth clenched, I scrambled up as a metallic thump sounded, followed by a loud screech of a bus’s brakes and hiss of air. Breathless, I lurched outside and to the railing.

            “You think she meant to do that?” Jenks said as he hovered at my ear and gazed down.

            Parker was flat on the pavement, a bus beside her. There was a telling dent in the roof where she’d hit, and the driver was getting out, clearly upset as he raced to her. Cars had stopped, and a few I.S. personnel were running over.

            “Don’t let her go!” I shouted, elbowing someone as they tried to drag me inside. “Cuff her!”