Demons of Good and Evil by Kim Harrison

            Alarmed, I cleaved to Al’s thoughts to hide. I groaned as his pain redoubled, and in reality, I felt someone catch me as my knees gave way. Al’s thoughts were burning. It was too soon for him to be here, and, teeth clenched, I reached for handfuls of his pain, pulling them to me so he could better search as he rifled through the whispers and hints, disregarding the memory of agony and the hint of rising screams.

            Do you see? Al’s thoughts lifted through me as if they were my own. Lupis seculo seculorum. Res ispa loquitur. It is not a curse to Were. It’s to transform another into a wolf. She will have no memories. She will be a true animal. It cannot be untwisted.

            I balked. An animal? But she would be alive and free. To forget might be her only relief of the pain her life was. What waited for her at the I.S. would be hell.

            You have it? he asked, and before I could answer, he shoved me out of his mind and the collective both.

            I gasped, my eyes flashing open as the pain vanished. “Al?” I called, blinking at Jenks hovering inches from me. It had been David who caught me, and I was coated in pixy dust. I had dropped my bag, and I pulled it to me before my books could spill out onto the cold cement.

            Jenks exhaled as he flew backward. “She’s all right.”

            I lurched upright and out of David’s arms, books tight to me. The park had all but emptied, leaving only the I.S. at the curb and the paramedics waiting at the parking lot. “Al!” I exclaimed when I saw him passed out on the ground. Cassie knelt worriedly beside him, her small frame lost in David’s coat. Crap on toast. I think I killed Al!

            I fell to my knees on his other side and patted his cheek. I’d never seen him so slack and empty of emotion, and it scared me. If Al was anything, it was exuberantly alive. “It was too soon,” I said, more to myself than anyone else. “He took me into the vault, and it was too soon.”

            “Should I get some water?” Cassie said, and then she yelped, jerking back when Al’s eyes opened.

            Unmoving, he looked at us staring down at him, his red, goat-slitted eyes flicking from face to face. “Did you see the curse?” he said, and I nodded. “Good. If any of you ever speak of this, I will turn you inside out.”

            Cassie’s smile was tight with relief as I extended a hand to help him rise. Decidedly sheepish, he let me take his weight and pull him up. “He’s not kidding,” I said.

            The werefox’s expression faltered, and, nervous, I turned to study Parker’s misery. The bloodied woman was beginning to feel the pain through the amulets, head down and shaking as she sat naked under her gray blanket.

            Al tugged his frock coat straight. “Do not tarry,” he said, his attention on the I.S. cars at the curb. “The fear of demon justice won’t keep them there much longer.”

            My worry for Trent loomed. Pushing it down, I pulled my bag up higher on my shoulder and focused on Parker. “You will be a true wolf if I do this. Your alternative is to be human. Tell me again what you want.”

            She lifted her head. “I want you dead,” she rasped, clenching in on herself to keep from moaning in pain. “But being a wolf will do.”

            David shifted from foot to foot, his grip on Cassie tightening. That was enough for me, and I took a stronger hold of the ley line. We were practically standing in it, and I felt a twinge of guilt as it poured through me without pain. My hands began to glow with its strength, and the tips of my hair began to float.

            Reserare, Jariathjackjunisjumoke, I thought to open the vault, my eyes closing as I felt myself fall into it again, my awareness brushing past the whispers of anger and hate, finding what I needed. It would make Parker a wolf. A real wolf. Only that would grant both of us peace.

            “Lupis seculo seculorum.” I whispered the words, drawing the curse through me and settling it into the haze in my hands. “Res ispa loquitur.”

            “A wolf, forever and ever,” Al said, and I blew the magic to her. “You are judged.”

            Parker stiffened as the glowing haze settled over her. “Wait. No!” she cried out, lurching as if to stand, only to fall prostrate, a white leg showing from under the blanket now covering her. “Oh, God . . .” she gasped, shaking.

            “Don’t touch her,” David said, catching Cassie’s arm and drawing her back.