them.
Helena ignored him, moving to go around him. And he made the mistake of touching her. “I said—”
She grabbed his wrist, twisting and bending it, levering his arm, forcing him to his knees. She leaned down, getting close enough to say in a low tone, laced with magick, “I don’t give a fuck what you said other than,
He began to grab for a weapon and she bent his wrist harder. Just a bit more and she’d break something.
“I wouldn’t recommend that.”
“Get off me, bitch.”
Helena kept his wrist, though other security had begun to gather around. Harsh, whispered orders were being given all around her but she put all her focus on this asshole at her feet.
One thing she noticed more than anything else was the presence of a handgun at his back. She’d had to go through a full-body pat-down and a metal detector. So how was it this asshole had a gun?
“Why does this man have a weapon?” Straightening, still keeping her tight hold on him, she managed to ask this calmly, feeling anything but.
“You need to let him go. Now.” A police officer approached.
She remained exactly where she was, keeping her body between the approaching cop and Senator Sato. “My name is Helena Jaansen and I am part of Senator Sato’s security detail. This man accosted me as I attempted to enter the hearing room. I’m going to need one of you to come and take his weapon before I let him go. For the safety of myself and the people I’m guarding.”
“You don’t give the orders here, witch.” The cop’s lip curled and she narrowed her gaze at him for a moment.
Helena centered herself, connecting with her magick, spooling more up from the earth beneath her feet. “This isn’t going to end well, Officer. Now. You can do your job, or I will break this man’s wrist, and even if you shoot me, my people will take out every last one of you in this hallway. And for what? I’m not letting this man go. He’s got a weapon and I’m protecting a United States senator. Once you have taken his weapon, I will happily let him go.”
She caught Gage’s attention and he had the same readiness about him.
It was Tosh who spoke next. Pulling all his authority around himself, but keeping himself behind her, which was very smart.
“Officer, you’re going to need to help Ms. Jaansen immediately. Remove the weapon from the gentleman on the ground, pat him down and then you may take him into custody.”
The cop sighed, but moved to obey, removing the gun. Helena let go of the wrist of the guy on the ground and he tried to lunge at her. But she was prepared and far more than a prison thug in the pay of asshole bigots.
Feet solidly planted, her balance braced for trouble, she cocked her fist and gave him a solid right to his mouth, sending him sprawling as she neatly stepped back.
“I’ll give you another if you move even a tiny bit.” She didn’t take her attention from the guy on the ground but she addressed the cop as more streamed into the hallway. “If I were your boss, you’d be sitting out the next few weeks on administrative leave as you went through the process of getting fired. You’re sloppy. Sloppy gets people killed.”
“I don’t need any advice from you.”
“Please.” She rolled her eyes as the cop got the other guy in cuffs and hauled him to his feet. “Of the two of us, only one is good at their job. And it’s not you. I hope you think your stupidity can protect you, because your piss-poor training sure won’t.”
She glanced back at her people and then headed into the room where it was already standing-room only.
THE following day, Tosh smiled at the sight of Helena coming back into the room. “Thank you for all your help this trip. I hope DC will be calmer.”
Delilah laughed. “I doubt that. But, Helena, I believe you scared a few years’ life from that one cop in the hallway earlier. Nicely done.”
The sound of that laugh did things to him. He’d been working closely with Delilah Sperry for months now. Even before he knew she was a werewolf he’d been attracted to her. She was long and lean with keen eyes that missed absolutely nothing. Her hair was a tawny gold and she often had it back from a face that managed to be delicate and bold all at once.
They’d danced around each other for a few months now. Tosh had been so busy at what felt like every single moment of his waking day, he’d told himself it wasn’t the time.
But the heightened danger had only sharpened his hunger for the delightfully sexy, canny and powerful Senator Delilah Sperry.
“He should have been scared. If he’d have been one of my people I’d have busted him back to cleaning toilets. We did meet with his boss later while you two were in another meeting with Molly. He apologized for the past two days’ worth of unpleasantness from his officers.” Helena took the glass of water his assistant handed her. “They’re short-staffed like everyone else. But he was a good man and I accepted his apology. They’ve got their own problems in the ranks, I suppose.”
Helena was distracted. And exhausted. Tosh saw it around her edges and hoped the way Faine stared at her meant the wolf—whatever he was—would see to it she got some rest.
“I appreciate you handling that. Ben was just singing your praises earlier today.” Delilah spoke of Ben Stoner of the Great Lakes Pack and her own Alpha, as she hailed from Chicago. “We appreciate all the effort the witches are putting into this. You’re smart and strong and we’re proud to be protected by you all.”
Helena tipped her chin slightly and Toshio knew it was a sign of thanks and respect. “That’s a nice thing to hear. His and Tegan’s Enforcer team is something I admire a great deal. We should get moving to the airport now. I’ve received several reports that Others can get hassled quite a bit going through security so we should build in the extra time. I’m spoiled in that I’ve been flying privately of late, so I’ve been able to avoid most of that nonsense.”
Delilah’s mouth hardened. “The last time I flew I was chosen for an enhanced pat-down. They held me up for an entire hour. Everything was fine until they ran my ticket through. I’ve asked about whether or not there’s some sort of TSA tracking system for Others, but I can’t get any answers. Which only says there is one.”
Helena nodded. “Oh yes, you know there’s a list.”
That turned Tosh’s stomach. Lists of Others got very close to what had happened over and over throughout history. Keeping track of people because they were different—and not in a way that protects society like lists of sex offenders or violent felons—wasn’t the America he believed in.
“I’m sorry.” He sighed.
Helena shrugged. “You’re trying to stop it. That’s what counts. In the meantime, we can’t make a huge deal of it or we get picked on even worse. They’ve got so much power these days that even raising this treatment as an issue while it’s occurring is cause for them to not let someone fly. So for now, we plan ahead and document everything.”
“Doesn’t mean we have to like it.” Delilah stood, brushing the front of her skirt down. “But she’s right. Let’s get moving. I’d like to sleep in my own bed tonight and we all need the rest before we deal with Marlon tomorrow.”
Tosh nearly snarled at his fellow senator’s name. Marlon Hayes had become a legislative mouthpiece for the PURITY movement and it turned his stomach every time he had to deal with the man. There’d be a hearing first thing in the morning on the companion bill to House Bill 877, the Domestic Security Act. A fine-sounding name for a bill that would strip Others of their civil and human rights along with their property and citizenship.
At least they got to move through security in a shorter line, but Helena was pulled aside for an enhanced check, which took an extra half hour. She was far more patient than he was, and it wasn’t until he started making calls and taking down names that things moved more quickly. They still checked her, but the overt slowing down of the process stopped and they got on with it.
The unfairness of it deeply bothered him. No one should be treated this way and yet it was happening. It
