Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            And then two big men spun me around.

            “Get down there. Retain her for questioning,” I said, ticked when neither of them moved. “I need to talk to her.”

            “Ma’am,” one said, and my jaw clenched. One was a Were, the other a living vamp.

            “He called you ma’am.” Jenks snickered, then dropped into the street in case Parker regained consciousness before the I.S. could reach her.

            “Don’t ma’am me,” I said in a huff. “I am Rachel Morgan. Get someone down there to apprehend Parker or get out of my way so I can.”

            Then I jumped when the vamp slapped a band of charmed silver on me and every ounce of ley line energy tingling through me vanished. “Hey!” I yelped, ticked. “Son of a troll turd, did you hear me identify myself?” I said, my bitchy hat firmly on my head. “I am Mr. Kalamack’s security, and as such, I have not only the legal right, but the corresponding paperwork to do what I deem appropriate in a security situation. Take this off.” I held out my arm. “Now.”

            “Yes, ma’am,” the vamp said, and I stumbled when he shoved me inside and into an informal corral of detainees. It held mostly unhappy Weres, and I looked for Trent and Lee, finding them on the other side of the long lobby amid the paramedics and flustered staff.

            “Excuse me,” I said as I tried to get around the man barring my way, and he showed me his teeth, thinking it would cow me, but after having lived with Ivy, I was unimpressed. “Find someone who knows who I am. Is Doyle here?” Exasperated, I rose to my tiptoes. “Trent!” I shouted, then added, “You need to move,” as I used one finger to try to push the I.S. agent out of my way. It didn’t work.

            Crap on toast, I had to trust that the I.S. was not going to let Parker get away, regardless if she was naked and knocked out. But Trent had heard me, and after giving Lee’s shoulder a pat, he left him with the paramedics and went to talk to the I.S. agent in charge. Trent at least was being recognized, and after a word, the agent with him gave me a toothy grin.

            “Hey! Mr. Kalamack says that’s his security. Let her out of the pen.”

            I dropped down to my heels in relief. “I would have had her if not for you,” I muttered as I held out my wrist and the I.S. agent before me clipped the zip strip off, but realistically? I wasn’t about to jump three stories down.

            “They got her,” Trent said as he joined me, and I fought the urge to run downstairs and make sure of it. Jenks, too, seemed to think everything was under control, his dust a contented gold as he rose up to the ceiling to keep an eye on everything.

            “Thanks. Are you okay?” I said as Trent’s fingers laced in mine, stilling their tremors. “How is Lee?” I added, suddenly feeling as if I were twelve and had accidentally gone too far. Again.

            “She bit me,” Lee said in disgust as I knelt beside him. But he went pale when the tech cut his shirt free and the blood gushed.

            “Okay, we’re taking this one in,” the man said to his partner, and they eased Lee down before one left to get the stretcher.

            “Where’s my bag?” I said, a sick feeling in the pit of my stomach. Lee was staring at the ceiling, breathing slow. “Where is my bag!”

            “Ma’am?”

            It was that same I.S. agent, and I took my bag, head down as I searched for a pain amulet.

            “Lee?” I extended the already invoked amulet, and the tech tending him frowned. “It’s just a pain amulet,” I encouraged, more for the tech than him. “They won’t give you anything stronger than an aspirin until you get to the hospital.”

            Ignoring the tech’s grimace, Lee took it, fingers shaking. “Thank you,” he said, his expression easing immediately. “You carry invoked pain amulets around with you?”

            “Carry them?” Trent’s light voice did a poor job of hiding his worry. “She makes them by the gross.”

            “Laugh it up,” I said, my anxiety growing as the two paramedics loaded Lee onto the stretcher and raised it in an ugly, familiar sound. He was leaving, and I touched Lee’s arm. “Lee, thank you. There aren’t many people who would step between me and danger.”