I stumbled to my feet only to see Luna shaking her head from the impact. Tara got up and snarled. Next time, wizard cop, make sure the door isn’t locked. The other werewolves stood up and shook themselves.
“I don’t have time for this. Globus ignis!” I threw a fireball at the door. The door exploded inward. “Ascendit quoque scuta!” A bright blue, translucent shield appeared before us.
We ran right into a giant furball with two large wolves latched onto each other. The bigger wolf, presumably Anthony, held the slightly smaller wolf by the throat and was shaking it. The smaller wolf had to be Michael with the amount of magic in his aura. Two other wolves were busy savaging a screaming smaller wolf.
I sprayed the two fighting wolves with the sleep herbs and they collapsed. Their jaws loosened and they fell asleep. They turned back into their human forms. I’d pay good money to see their expressions when they woke up. They were clenched like lovers in an embrace.
The other three wolves turned on us, seeing a common enemy, and ran toward me. They got a spritz of sleep potion too. They dropped and changed, belly down, on the dirt floor.
“What the fuck?” Red Masterson shook himself. I turned to see him and the other bikers at the other side of the Quonset hut move. They hadn’t changed into wolves, so they were still clothed. “Ironspell! I’m glad to see you. Those fuckers ambushed us with some type of spell.”
“Do you remember anything?”
Jessica walked up and kicked the one I presumed was Anthony in the crotch. “Yeah, I remember. That fucker groped me while I couldn’t do anything.”
“Stasis spell,” I said.
“Let’s kill them,” Lenny shouted and a number of weres agreed. “They were going to kill us.”
“No,” I said. I pointed to the werewolf females. “We’ve got the women, let’s get back to Denver.”
“Well, let’s give them a good beating.” Jessica kicked Anthony in the crotch again.
Red grinned. “We could pose them by the road doing it doggy style.”
We all laughed at that suggestion.
Except Anthony. He stood up and grabbed Jessica, putting her in a headlock. “You aren’t doing anything.”
Jessica dropped down and hit him in the crotch again with her elbow. Anthony screamed and doubled over. The Commerce City pack rushed him, only to bounce off a shield.
A shield?
Anthony looked up, his face half changed. “Oh, you thought Michael was the only mage? I had him do the spell so it wouldn’t take power from me.”
“Oh great.” I threw a fireball at him. “Why didn’t you stay asleep?”
The fireball bounced off his shield and ignited the dry grass. “Caffeine, Moron. Our pack headquarters is at Express Expresso.”
Shit, I forgot about that. “Globus ignis!” Another fireball left my fingers.
“Concussione virtute!” Anthony snarled and a wave of pure force smacked the hell out of my shield, pounded through it, and knocked me backwards. The sleep potion flew out of my hands and sprayed the Commerce City werewolves. They collapsed in slumber immediately. I slammed into the side of the Quonset hut and felt a snap and pain in my side.
Oh great, more broken ribs. I whispered a quick healing spell and felt them start to knit. My shield was gone and I needed time.
Anthony walked toward me, fangs elongating and face becoming hairier. “Well, little wizard, I haven’t had dinner yet and it looks like mage is on the menu.”
Suddenly the five Denver werewolves leapt between me and Anthony. Like hell you’re going to kill my boyfriend! Luna snarled.
“Your boyfriend?” Anthony laughed. “You’d dare muddy your genetics with this low life?”
You’re something he’d scrape off his boots, Tara said. I stared at Tara. She hadn’t thought much of me, so hearing her praise twice in one day was as rare as fresh velociraptor teeth.
The female weres leapt at Anthony. He blasted us with another concussive force and it threw me into the wall again, breaking my healing ribs and pounding my head. I heard several yips from the Denver weres as they thudded against the wall around me. I also saw the proverbial stars with that hit, and I tried to shake my head to stop the darkness from closing in.
I heard whimpering nearby. Someone was really hurt. I had to help her. I also heard maniacal laughter coming from Anthony. It sounded gravelly and almost like a wolf cough. He wasn’t far from a full change.
“Bitches,” he snapped. “Why you bother with inferior beings is beyond me.”
“Probably because we’re nicer to them.” I didn’t mean to say that out loud, but I couldn’t stop myself. “Why don’t you go find a wild wolf pack? I hear they have them in Yellowstone. But they probably would tear you to pieces for being such an asshole.”
“You don’t give up, do you?” He grasped my head with his claws and pulled my head up. I would’ve yelled from the pain, but I was already seeing black spots.
“Apparently neither do you.” Michael’s voice came from somewhere behind Anthony. “Concussione virtute!”
Anthony was in front of me one moment and then shooting through the wall the next. I watched as the werewolf’s body tumbled into the street. He changed into full wolf and for a brief second, he glared at us with total malevolence. Until the eighteen wheeler ran over him at 70 mph.
Chapter None
The eighteen-wheeler kept on going; the driver no doubt thought he had hit a dog.
Asshole. I was torn between trying to track that guy down for speeding and callousness at killing a dog, and thanking him for getting rid of Anthony.
Michael walked up to me. He said some healing words and my head cleared. “Thanks,” I said as he offered his hand. I took it and he pulled me to my feet.
I looked over at what was now the Boulder Four pack. The others were beginning to wake up. They grabbed their clothing and dressed.
