by Anne Bishop
“Yes.” Virgil studied the weapons that filled the top of her desk. He pointed at the boxes of ammunition. “These are the danger. Without them, this”—he pointed at the shotgun—“is a metal club. It can hurt, even kill, but the enemy has to be close enough to hit with it or throw it. And if the enemy is that close, he’s close enough for fangs and claws to kill him.” He considered the weapons for another minute. “You should have a knife.”
She reached down, pulled the switchblade out of her boot, and held it up for him to see. “I’ve got one.”
She couldn’t tell what he was thinking, but she could guess. “I know this is my first fight, but I won’t let you down. I’m not going to choke or freeze or . . . whatever.”
Virgil smiled. “I don’t care what Tolya says, I still think one of your ancestors mated with a Wolverine and somehow had some young.”
She wasn’t sure if that was meant as an insult or a compliment.
His smile faded. “Once John and I shift to Wolf form, we won’t be able to talk to you.”
She nodded. The Wolves would be able to communicate with each other and the rest of the terra indigene, reporting the enemies’ positions. None of them would be carrying mobile phones—and none of them would be able to afford the seconds needed to shift into a form that could talk to her.
A sudden breeze ruffled Virgil’s hair.
“I can deliver messages to Deputy Jana,” Air said, taking shape near the office door. “The Elementals agreed to help if we’re asked.”
“Then I’m asking.” Virgil turned to Jana. “If you need to tell us anything, you call for Air. And if I need you to go somewhere, she’ll tell you. Understood?”
As soon as Jana nodded, Air disappeared—or was no longer visible.
“We need to hide the ammunition,” Jana said. “You’re right that, without bullets, the long guns are nothing more than metal clubs and the handguns can’t do any more damage than a rock.”
Virgil started to say something, then shook his head. “No time. The Blackstone humans are gathering in the square to challenge Tolya.” He stripped out of his clothes and shifted so fast she had a weird flash image of his naked human body that left her unsure of having actually seen him.
She tucked two of the speed loaders in the special pouch on her duty belt, picked up the shotgun and a handful of shells, then followed Virgil out the door.
* * *
* * *
“Mom, I’ll say it again. I don’t feel easy about you being in a gunfight.”
Jesse glanced at Tobias, who had been driving at a recklessly high speed ever since he picked her up at her house. “Son, I’m not easy about you being in this fight either, but we have just as much at stake as the people living in Bennett.” And you’re not driving this fast to protect the Sanguinati or the Wolves.
“You think our two guns will make a difference?”
Not their guns, but their presence, would alter the fight. She could feel it.
Jesse closed her eyes as her right hand closed over her left wrist. “Yes. We’ll make a difference.”
* * *
* * *
Parlan settled the two revolvers into their holsters before he loaded the derringer with its single round. It might carry only one bullet, but that bullet could bring down a horse or blow the leg off a man—or a Wolf. Of course, all the weapons were for show, but he couldn’t issue the challenge without them.
He studied Judd McCall, who seemed oddly elated.
He’d had to tell Judd and Lawry about the deal he’d made with Tolya Sanguinati. Lawry had fretted about what would happen down the road if other associates heard that Parlan had double-crossed the men who had come to Bennett to help him secure the town. And Judd? It was like Judd had expected it, had been waiting for the day when Parlan’s luck ran out and he’d betray everyone to save his own skin.
Still, Judd slid a look at Durango Jones as he loaded his guns—silent confirmation that he would take care of Durango if Parlan kept the deal with the vampire and got the clan safely out of Bennett. Parlan and Lawry would handle the Parkers if required.
“Where is Sleight-of-Hand Slim?” he asked.
“He’ll take up a position inside the saloon doors to ambush whoever tries to use the place for cover,” Judd said.
Of course, in order to do that, Slim would need to kill the thing that ran the saloon. And that would queer the deal—assuming Slim got off a shot before the thing killed him.
Why hadn’t Judd killed Slim quick and quiet? Or had he, and this was just a way to explain the other man’s absence? No way to tell, and no time to ask.
“My men will take over the train station and shoot any of the Others who are still in there,” Durango said.
Parlan’s hands went cold. Taking over the station wasn’t part of the plan. Not his plan, anyway. “And the Bonney boys?”
The other men looked at each other and shrugged.
“Taking care of their own business, I guess,” William Parker said.
“We’ve got enough men, whether Frank and Eli show up or not.” Judd gave Parlan a cold smile, as if he’d already set payback in motion for the anticipated double-cross.
Parlan remembered the one other person who wasn’t in the room. “Where’s Dalton?”
“Probably going round to have a talk with his bitch sister,” Judd replied. “I found out she was in town and where she lived.”
“And you told him?” He’d told no one that he’d seen Abigail in town because he hadn’t wanted anyone in the family distracted by that news.
Judd smiled. “I did. Figured she owed him more than she owed me.”
Parlan bit back his anger. “It could have waited until after the fight.”
Judd’s smile turned mocking. “We’ve got enough men for this fight. We’ll win it without him.”
Durango Jones and the Parkers were watching this byplay with growing suspicion. If Judd McCall was turning on Parlan Blackstone just before a fight, something was very wrong.
Trying to regain the upper hand, Parlan said, “You have a feeling we’re going to win?”
Judd’s smile sharpened. “Don’t you?”
* * *
* * *
Even Rusty’s wild barking couldn’t compete with the pounding on the screen door’s frame.
Running to the front of the house, Barb grabbed the pup’s collar and stared at Kenneth Stone, who stood there wringing his hands.
“Maddie?” she asked, hoping he said no. She was still putting together emergency supplies. She wasn’t ready to flee if that’s what Kenneth had come to tell her.
“No.” Kenneth hesitated. “I have a feeling the doctors need to be at the hospital today. It’s a very strong feeling.”
“We’ve barely got the hospital open and only for emergencies,” Barb protested.
“There’s going to be an emergency.” His eyes pleaded with her. “Evan says you should call because Jana is your housemate. The doc will think I’m overreacting, but he’ll listen to you. Please.”
Intuits were sure there was going to be an emergency. Oh gods.
“I’ll call. Are you packed in case . . . ?”
“Almost, but Kane is uneasy about something and keeps getting in the way. Almost bit me when I came over to talk to you. Didn’t want me leaving the house.”
“Go home. Stay inside. I’ll make the call.”
* * *
* * *
Looking out the door of the land agent’s office, Jana couldn’t see the other side of the square, didn’t know when the men would walk out and do the posturing that, hopefully, wouldn’t end in a real fight.
“Anything we should do?” Dawn Werner asked as she cuddled her puppy to keep it quiet.
“Stay inside and stay away from the windows until you get the all clear,” Jana replied.
&
nbsp; She felt a puff of air against her neck a moment before Dawn gasped.
“Deputy Jana, a Hawk says there is a stranger sniffing around the Maddie’s house,” Air said. “The stranger has a gun. Kane is staying inside to protect the sweet blood.”
Which left everyone else on the street unprotected. “Tell Virgil I’m heading to Maddie’s house to back up Kane.”
Jana went out the back door of the land agent’s office and ran to her vehicle. She’d parked on the street instead of in the parking lot behind the sheriff’s office. Now she was glad of the extra precaution since she could drive away without anyone in the town square being the wiser.
“I’m coming, Kane,” she whispered. “Hold on.”
* * *
* * *
Abigail stuffed a dress and two sets of underwear into a small carryall. She added her prosperity and protection stones and all the money she could find around the house—including the stash she’d found in an envelope taped to the underside of the drawer in her bedside table.
She had the feeling that she had to get out, had to get away, had to leave now.
She stuffed a large bottle of water, a jar of peanut butter, a sleeve of crackers, and a spoon into the carryall.
She dashed out the front door—and froze when a voice said, “You bitch. You’re the reason my name is on a Wanted poster.”
* * *
* * *
Barb listened to the doctor tell her with growing impatience that he wasn’t going to the hospital today, that he had office hours today, that there was no reason . . .
“Doc, are you an Intuit?” Barb interrupted.
A weighted silence. “Yes. I am.”
“Then you understand that some things shouldn’t be dismissed.”
“You’re not an Intuit, Ms. Debany.”
“No, but I was asked to tell you that it was important—vital—that you work at the hospital today.” She swallowed hard, remembering little Maddie’s hand pointing at all of them like a gun. “Something bad is going to happen. You need to go to the hospital now or you won’t be able to get there and help the people who need you.”
Heavy breathing. Then the doctor said, “I’ll make some calls and get to the hospital as soon as I can.”
“Thank you.”
She hung up and started to call Jana. Before she finished dialing, she heard someone outside say in a loud voice, “You bitch. You’re the reason my name is on a Wanted poster.”
* * *
* * *
Tolya walked out of the government building, Yuri beside him. Virgil, in Wolf form, was waiting for him in the square. John was also in the square near the spring, keeping watch for any humans who might be doing something sneaky. The other Sanguinati were in position, as was Scythe.
That either took Jana out of the fight or put her in a confrontation on her own, since Kane would protect Maddie.
Parlan Blackstone walked out of the hotel, flanked by two men and followed by three more.
Virgil focused on the man standing to Parlan’s left.
A flurry of reports from the terra indigene who were keeping watch. Humans sneaking around the back of the bank and saloon. Humans sneaking up to the train station. More humans sneaking toward the Universal Temple and the community center.
Too many humans sneaking around if Parlan Blackstone had intended to keep his word.
Ravens gathered in the trees from one end of the square to the other, acting as sentries and reporting on the humans’ movements. Hawks and Eagles flew overhead, circling the square, ready to attack. Coyotes were keeping watch at the side streets. Saul was somewhere in the square, in his true form, moving silently toward Blackstone’s pack.
Tolya smiled, showing a hint of fang. “Mr. Blackstone. Is there something you want to say to me?”
* * *
* * *
Their footsteps filled the land with an odd and terrible silence as they moved along the wide, flat trails the humans had built. It didn’t matter if these Outlaw humans hid inside the dens or tried to run away in the metal boxes that rolled on these flat trails. The enemy would be hunted down and destroyed.
They quickened their steps, salivating at the thought of the coming feast.
* * *
* * *
Parlan studied the Sanguinati. Did the vampire want him to look like a fool? How was he supposed to yield to a stronger force when Tolya had brought one other vampire and a Wolf and was so clearly outnumbered?
He didn’t like Judd being on his left, didn’t like the knife hand being in position for a strike to the back or ribs. He didn’t like a lot of things about this deal, and he wondered exactly when this game had gotten away from him.
And he wondered if Judd McCall was working for himself these days or had gone into business with someone else.
For now he had to play this hand and do his best to win.
“I think this town would be better served by having a human mayor and a human sheriff,” Parlan said, raising his voice to be heard by any people listening at the hotel doorway or hiding in the other nearby stores. “In frontier parlance, I’m calling you out, Mr. Mayor, but I’m doing so in the manner you said was required for a change in government. I’m challenging you for dominance, and the human residents of Bennett are behind me.”
Tolya looked at the men with Parlan. “I don’t see any residents, Mr. Blackstone. I see strangers who have come into town over the past couple of days. Drifters. Outlaws.”
“Humans looking for a fresh start,” Parlan countered.
“Humans who have made no effort to come to my office and ask about available jobs.”
Call and raise, Parlan thought. “Humans who will take their place in Bennett society as soon as there is a human government.”
“There will not be a human government,” Tolya said. “This town exists with the Elders’ permission, and it will continue to exist only as long as it is ruled by the terra indigene. If you manage to form a human government, you condemn all the humans living here—including you and your delegation.”
What to do? Parlan felt the tension in Lawry, had a feeling the men behind him no longer had his back.
Tolya studied him. “You can’t win. Your only choice is—”
* * *
* * *
Hearing a familiar female voice coming from the direction of the bank’s back entrance, Stazia Sanguinati flowed over the counter and shifted to human form from the waist up.
“I don’t think they’re open.” The woman sounded breathless—and frightened. “I don’t think . . . Oh. Hello.”
One of the cleaners who worked with Abigail Burch. A timid woman who came in every Firesday to cash her paycheck and put a small amount in a savings account. Usually she came in alone. Today, when she shouldn’t be here, she came in with two men. The taller one had a hand wrapped around the woman’s skinny arm.
“The bank is closed today,” Stazia said—and wondered how they’d gotten in when she was certain she’d locked the front and back doors.
“That’s all right,” the taller one said. “We’re not customers.”
As the shorter one raised his weapon and fired, Stazia shifted her upper body to her smoke form. That shift could be done in moments.
But this time, she wasn’t quite fast enough.
* * *
* * *
Gunshot. Across the street. One shot.
The humans looked toward the bank.
That moment when the Knife looked away instead of watching him, Virgil shifted to his true
form and ran. A bullet whizzed under his tail, but the Knife couldn’t see him, no longer had any idea of his size or his speed.
Blackstone and the other enemies shooting now at anything. Everything.
Virgil hit one of the men at full speed, knocking the enemy to the ground. He tore at the hand, the wrist. Tore at the face and throat. Then he leaped away as other enemies shot their own companions while trying to shoot him. But he was gone again, running, charging, slashing.
More enemies entered the square, shooting at everything. Blood and feathers on the ground as other terra indigene entered the fight. A Coyote screamed in pain.
He didn’t think about Tolya or Yuri. He didn’t think about Kane or the wolverine. Couldn’t. Too many enemies now, and he was fighting alone, separated from his pack.
But he would keep on fighting, keeping on killing, until the enemy took his last breath.
* * *
* * *
“They tricked me!” Abby cried. “They tricked me into telling them your name.”
Barb dropped the phone and ran to the front door, forgetting what her brother had told her about finding cover in dangerous situations—only thinking about helping a friend who was in trouble.
As she reached the screen door, she hesitated and saw the next few moments as a nightmarish montage.
Bang! Abby falling, a bloom of red spreading over the front of her dress.
Kane bursting through of the screen door of Maddie’s house so fast the man didn’t have time to turn and fire before the Wolf’s teeth closed on an arm and pulled the man down.
