to show the set of feeding fangs that drooped lazily from his gums.
“You know the rules.”
“Sure I do,” Daniels assured her. “The maid at the hotel even came back a few times while you were gone because she—”
“Don’t need the details,” Paige cut in. “Just get what you need and don’t be messy about it. If you don’t hear back from us, find your way back to Chicago and call that number I gave you to tell them we’re gone.”
“Miss Sunshine means we’ll pick you up when we’re through cleanin’ up this town,” Cole said in a drawl that would have offended any true cowboy. “I’ll leave you with something you can use in case you get in trouble. That shotgun’s still in the trunk, right, Paige?”
She nodded, told him to hurry, and got out so she could circle around to take her seat behind the steering wheel.
Once Cole had dragged Daniels around to the back of the car and opened the trunk, he asked, “Is Paige really all right?”
“That ink didn’t work like she thought it would, but I
“I just wanna know if she’s all right.”
Although Daniels was clearly rattled, he forced himself to reply, “She’s in pain, but seems to be handling it. The muscles in that arm are thicker, but appear to be hardening as well. While the shapeshifting properties are present, the ink has also bonded the metallic elements to her living tissue more than I thought it would.”
“So…her arm’s turning into metal?”
“No, nothing so dramatic. I need to test some tissue samples, but I know she’s losing feeling in that arm and is having trouble moving it. There may be other effects, but I can’t just guess as to what they may be.”
Having seen Paige’s trouble in getting her weapon to change shape, Cole already knew of one more effect. That didn’t need to be spread around, though. “Is she in any immediate danger?”
“She didn’t use that much ink, and while the effects don’t seem to be going away, they’re not spreading either.”
“I don’t have a lot of time here,” Cole pressed. “She won’t tell me anything until this is over except that she’s fine. Is she or isn’t she?”
“There could be prolonged, possibly permanent damage to those muscle groups, but there really isn’t anything I can do for her at the moment.”
“And if she was poisoned, she would have died already,” Cole said. “Right?”
Daniels winced and started to shrug. “Not…necessarily.”
Slamming the trunk shut, Cole walked around the back of the car toward the passenger side. “Thanks. Big help. Go get somebody to drink.”
“Hey! What about my shotgun? I still need to protect myself, you know.”
“You think I’m really giving you my shotgun? Are you nuts? You’re a vampire. If something comes close, flash them the fangs.”
Daniels had a few choice words for that, but Cole didn’t listen. The Nymar was still gesturing after Cole was in the car and being driven away.
“What’s that about?” she asked.
Cole looked in the side mirror and waved at Daniels. “Looks like he’s wishing us luck. He wouldn’t take the shotgun. Real noble guy.”
“Sure. Whatever.” She drove slowly for a few seconds, which was all the time she needed to spot the cop cars racing down an adjacent street.
Cole watched carefully as she gripped the wheel in her left hand and allowed her right to lie across her lap. She seemed able to move a little better than a few minutes ago, but continued to flex her fingers as if they’d been asleep. The tattooed lines had faded to a few traces, and the muscles beneath the incisions were losing the gray hue they’d had earlier that night. “So,” he said, “was all that worth losing the Blood Blade?”
Paige ground her teeth and snarled, “Ask me later.”
“What’s the plan now? Just follow the cops?”
She sucked in a breath and seemed ready to clam up for good. When she exhaled, it was more of a reluctant sigh. Judging by the look on her face, the pain she felt cut deeper than any set of claws. “We took a gamble on a lot of things lately. I should have known better about this one.”
“We were caught by surprise, Paige. There’s no shame in admitting it. We’re doing all we can. It’s not like there are policies for werewolves tearing through an entire city.” He paused and then asked, “Skinners
“No,” she said with a tired laugh. “But if we get ripped apart on some video that winds up on the Internet, at least other Skinners will know what not to do.”
Cole shifted in his seat and looked out his window. The squat buildings on the outer edges of the city had given way to the thicker and taller ones of the downtown area. Depending on where he looked at any given moment, Kansas City either seemed alive and kicking or dead and buried. Streetlights were on, but most businesses were closed. Offices were empty, while bars and clubs were still attracting crowds. Cops swarmed in packs, leaving empty pavement in their wake. People gathered on some corners, leaving others alone. Sometimes there was a giant rat running alongside the car and sometimes there wasn’t.
“Wait, whoa!” he yelped as he grabbed onto the door frame with both hands.
“What is it?”
Of course, now that he was looking for it, the creature he’d spotted wasn’t there. “I saw something, but I’m not sure what.” Cole kept his eyes on the pavement flowing past his side of the car until the creature came into view again. Its body might have had the mass of a Half Breed, but was stretched out to something much longer and lankier. It ran like a ferret, with its body rippling from front to back in a constant wave. When it looked up at his passenger-side window, the creature knocked the side of its head against the door to make a sound that he realized he’d been hearing in the background for the last few blocks.
“Pull over, Paige.” As soon as those words were out of his mouth, Cole quickly added, “But not to the right!”
“I’m not pulling over. We’re too close and I don’t wanna lose sight of these cops.”
The burning under Cole’s skin grew with every second. Rather than argue with her, he rolled his window down and stuck his head out. The creature outside kept up with the car as if it had barely found its stride. Its beak was even with the front tire of the Cav, and its thick, segmented tail stuck out straight behind its body to a spot well past the rear bumper. The last time Cole had seen the face that now looked up at him, it was poking halfway out from a dirt wall.
“What took you guys so long?” Ben asked. When he glanced back and forth between Cole and the road ahead of him, flaps on either side of the Mongrel’s neck became visible. Every breath he took caused the flaps to open and shut like a set of gills.
“You guys beat us here?” Cole asked.
“By quite a while, unless you’ve been laying low!”
“Who the hell are you talking to?” Paige asked.
“One of the diggers from MEG’s backyard.” It wasn’t exactly an accurate description, but was enough to get his point across.
Paige nodded and asked, “Is he alone?”
“I hope not.” Leaning outside, Cole asked, “You bring anyone else with you?”
Ben spoke as if he was walking briskly next to Cole instead of keeping pace with a speeding car. “We’re all here. Kayla wanted to hang back and make sure you two were going to get your hands dirty. Seeing you charge into the thick of it like this is enough for me.”
“Do you know what we’re charging into?”
Ben hopped over a pothole and then darted to one side while lowering his head to scramble beneath the car Paige was passing. He emerged from under the other vehicle’s front bumper and fell into step where he’d been before. “You mean you don’t know what’s up there? I hate to admit it, but I admire you Skinners. Just crazy enough to get the job done.”
“Thanks. I think.”
