fal like a block of glacial ice behind him and sent the gale of his rage ahead of him, knowing we had our own ways of dealing with his fal out.
The Luureken didn’t. They froze in their seats, the spittle from their furious shrieks beading like pearls on their cheeks. Their Weres, whose wounds had taken on the pink of new tissue from the outside, evidently stil hadn’t ful y pul ed together on the inside. Because I could hear those torn and shattered tissues crackle and break like thin ice.
Their mouths opened, fearsome howls cut off instantly by the rime building inside their throats. And that was al the time we needed.
I hauled Grief out of its holster like a gunfighter in a ten-step standoff. Pumped every bit of ammo I had left into the bodies of those two wolves. And watched them fal with about as much satisfaction as I felt when I witnessed my towels spinning in the dryer.
Cole shot a single round into the leader’s Luureken, sending it tumbling out of the doorway in a shower of destroyed wood and blood splatter.
The female berserker just sat where she’d rol ed when her mount had gone down, stil paralyzed by Vayl’s attack.
We gathered around it. Kyphas nudged it with her toe. It blinked so slowly we could hear the frost on its eyelids crackle.
“Now what?” asked Cole.
We al jumped as the other Luureken came flying back through the door and slammed into a huge gong that Ahmed had erected, making such a racket that everybody with the exception of Vayl covered their ears. I wanted to assume the body-thrower was an al y, but the crouch I took reminded me not to hesitate too long because bad guys had ways of putting you off your guard too. Then Raoul fol owed the body through the door, his face such a dark shade of red I’d have suspected imminent heart attack if he hadn’t already, you know, gone over.
“Pick up your trash!” he thundered as he glared at the five of us, giving the rest of the dead only a brief glance. He slammed his fist against the doorframe and al the shattered door pieces pul ed back together, closing the shop behind him. “And while you’re at it, dump this in the garbage too!” He shoved Astral into my arms.
She looked up at me, her eyes crossing slightly as they met mine. “Hel o!”
met mine. “Hel o!”
“Hey, kittybot.” I gave her a brief inspection, did the same for Raoul, and took a wild guess at the problem.
“Astral, tel me you didn’t freak out Raoul’s girl.” Raoul waved me off. “Astral was fine,” he snapped, his accent thicker than I’d ever heard it. “Better than that. She was so charming I was surprised little birds didn’t appear and start singing as they flew tiny circles around her head.” I felt the knot in my chest loosen. If my cat had ruined Raoul’s chance at romance I wasn’t sure I could forgive her.
Cole decided to be daring and ask, “What happened?”
“Nia spent our entire date cooing over that dratted half animal.” He threw up his arms. “How was I supposed to know she was a cat lady?”
I holstered Grief and tried desperately to make the transition from Were-kil er to Spirit Guide confidant.
“
“She told me she had twenty-four cats when she was human. Liked them better than people!” He nodded to assure me I hadn’t heard him wrong. “How can you like a cat better than a person? They don’t even talk!”
“Hel o.” Was it my imagination, or did Astral sound offended?
I looked at Cole and shrugged. “I got nothing.” Cole murmured, “I could tel him there are other fish in the sea, but he’s not going to want to hear that for at least a couple of weeks.”
Vayl stepped forward. “Raoul, I have just remembered that you and I barely get along. Would you agree?”
“I suppose so,” Raoul said careful y.
“I think, in this case, that is to your advantage. As is the fact that I am older and, therefore, a great deal more experienced in these matters than you.”
Raoul’s mouth dropped slightly, but he nodded like he was wil ing to hear Vayl out.
“You wil feel better if you kil something evil. And we seem to have happened on a generous supply.” He motioned to the wolves, al of which would recover to attack us again. Unless Raoul wanted to send them into the next world—which he could pretty much do with a word and a tap on the head.
I knew he was giving the idea serious consideration when he took a look around the place, his eyes resting on broken displays, the casualties, our diverse array of weaponry.
“You people need your own cleanup crew, you know that?”
I said, “Does that mean you’re staying?”
“What’s the upside for you?” my Spirit Guide asked.
I pointed at the surviving Luureken. “They seem to have some Rocenz-related information.”
Vayl asked, “Do you recognize this breed?” Raoul nodded, suddenly sober. “How do you intend to get them to talk? I’ve never seen a berserker articulate enough to get past a scream.”
We al looked at Sterling as Vayl said, “You have never seen the greatest warlock on earth in action either.”
“Then I’l dispatch these Weres for you, shal I?” Raoul asked.
We nodded, except for Sterling, who pointed to the frozen female and said, “Leave her to me.” CHAPTER NINETEEN
Are you sure you want to do this?” asked Raoul.
