She snarled, turning her head back to try to sink her teeth in me even as she scrabbled against the asphalt.
I let her struggle for a moment more, my human sympathies still ascendant, before I allowed my serpent nature to rise to the surface. I felt everything go cold and still, and then I tightened that coil in one quick, convulsive motion. Her back snapped and she yelped once, then lay panting.
I stared at her dispassionately, considering whether to kill her.
I knew, somewhere in the back of my mind, that I would regret it, no matter what I did—if I let her live, I would have to deal with her later, and my serpent brain would be angry with me for not dealing with the problem more efficiently. If I killed her now, I would probably feel human guilt for not giving her a chance at redemption.
I didn’t have to decide right then, though, because another werewolf, this one in wolf-man shape, leaped at me from above. I whipped out of his way, tripping him with my tail. Jeremiah, still in human form, jumped in to hold him down, and Shadow sliced his throat in one quick, decisive motion.
No hesitation there.
I couldn’t decide if I was envious or horrified.
I HAD DECIDED TO FINISH shifting entirely in order to take advantage of more constrictor strength, despite the fact that I knew it would drop me down to the size of a large python without the benefit of additional earth magic, when all the wolves, and also the hyena and mongoose on our side stopped, their ears perking up as they turned toward that field stretching away.
I couldn’t hear anything, but when I concentrated, I felt the vibration of it through the ground—something high-pitched.
Shadow and I looked at each other, and in a single glance communicated our intention to keep fighting. I swung about and wrapped myself around one of the wolf-men, twining and coiling around him until he was captured in my serpent embrace, and I came face-to-face with him—my human upper body pressed against his, leaning back just far enough to stay out of the range of his snapping lupine teeth.
I began squeezing, holding him still as he thrashed, but more importantly, keeping him from noticing when Shadow moved in behind him and sliced his Achilles tendons with those brutal, sharp knives of hers.
All of this happened in mere seconds, while the other wolves were distracted by whatever they were hearing from the field. This wolf’s screeching howl broke the tableau, and the wolves began loping away, out into the field, leaving the wounded and dead behind.
I lowered the injured wolfman to the ground and slid my lower body away from him, leaving him whimpering.
More than half of their attacking number had been wounded or killed. The wounded ones worked to try to shift past their pain. Usually, a single shift was enough to heal minor wounds. Some of the more major ones might take a few days.
“What do we do with them now?” I asked.
Shadow looked as if she wanted to answer that with a definitive “kill them” but Jeremiah shook his head at her, and apparently his silent veto won.
Kade reached into his pants pocket and pulled out his cell phone. “I’m going to call Keeya. I think it’s time for a more open meeting than we’ve had so far.”
I caught a flash of terror crossing Shadow’s face—not the sort of thing she would show openly, but she was definitely anxious about moving into the open among shifters.
Jeremiah was nodding, however. “I’m concerned by the continuing attacks,” he said. “I worry that they will not stop unless Shadow is adequately protected.”
“I can protect myself,” Shadow said.
“But you can’t be expected to protect yourself and me and anyone who comes into contact with you.” Jeremiah’s normally musical voice echoed with the ring of steel underneath it. He wasn’t going to back down on this one.
“I agree,” I said. “If you are formally recognized by the Council, then you have the right to Shifter Shield protection, and we can make sure that all situations are dealt with.”
“Absolutely.” Kade raised one arm and waved two fingers in the air in a quick vote. “If you’re going to have to deal with asshole werewolves, then it’s best not to deal with them alone.” Without looking down, he gave a swift kick to the ribs of the werewolf whose Achilles tendons Shadow had severed. “And you’re not allowed to shift back to human,” he said to the wolfman at his feet. “Not until the Shield officers come to gather you up and take you off to await whatever they’ve got planned for you.”
Kade began dialing, and Shadow moved closer to stand over the injured werewolves, her sharp knives twirling around her hands, apparently effortlessly.
I stared off into the distance, watching the field where the other werewolves had disappeared. Had there really been some kind of high-pitched whistle? Clearly a prearranged signal. But why stop attacking us? They still had enough wolves standing to put up a pretty good fight—I don’t know that we would have come out of it as entirely unscathed as we had if the werewolves hadn’t flipped, simply turned and run away.
Something about this was not right. I wandered through and among the downed werewolves, pacing as I thought. As I walked by Kade’s truck, I noticed through the window that my own cell phone was lighting up with a call. Glancing around to make sure none of the injured were attempting to shift and heal themselves, I opened the door and pulled the phone out of the center console, where I usually kept it when I rode with Kade.
The screen showed a missed call from Kindred Hospital. I frowned, certain that this could not mean anything good. Most of my calls from Kindred came from Kade, and he was right here.
That just left Serena. My stomach clenched as I swiped over to
