A soft boom thumped against my inner ear, and Chad jiggled on his feet. It was a distant explosion. Lee looked at a wall as if he could see through it. My eyebrows rose. Ivy.
"Just one more signature." David brought out a trifolded paper from a coat pocket.
"Our time is done, Mr. Hue."
David stared at him, and I could almost hear the growl. "It won't take but—a moment. Grace, I need your signature, here. Then Mr. Saladan's…here."
Surprised, I stepped forward, head lowered to the paper David smoothed out on the desk. My eyes widened. It stated that I was a witness to seeing the bomb on the boiler. I thought it wrong that David's company was more worried about the boat than the people who died on it. But that was insurance for you.
I took the pen, glancing up at David. He made a small shrug, a new, hard glint to his eyes. Despite his anger, I think he was enjoying this.
Heart pounding, I signed it as Rachel. I listened for any sound of battle as I handed the pen to David. They had to be close, and there might not be any indication that they were in the house if all went well outside. Lee was tense, and my stomach tightened.
"And you, sir." It was sarcastic, and David turned the paper to him. "Sign, and I can close your file and you'll never have to see me again."
I wondered if that was his standard line as I reached into an inner pocket of my borrowed jacket and pulled out the warrant Edden had brought over that afternoon.
Motions rough and belligerent, Lee signed the paper. Beside me, I heard the softest rumble of satisfaction from David. It was only then that Lee looked at my signature. The man went white under his tan. His thin lips parted. "Son of a bitch," he swore, his eyes rising to me, then Chad in the corner.
Smiling, I gave Lee my warrant. "This one's from me," I said cheerfully. "Thanks, David. Do you have what you need?"
David took a step back, tucking his form away. "He's all yours."
"Son of a bitch!" Lee said again, a disbelieving smile quirking his lips. "You just don't know when to stay dead, do you?"
My breath hissed in and I jerked as I felt him tap a line.
"Get down!" I shouted, shoving David out of the way and lurching back.
Pinwheeling, David hit the floor. I slid almost to the door. The air crackled and a thump reverberated through me. On all fours, I jerked my gaze to the ugly purple stain dripping to the floor. What the Turn was that? I thought, scrambling up and tugging my skirt to my knees.
Lee gestured to Chad, who looked cowed. "Well, get them!" he said, sounding disgusted.
Chad blinked, then strode to David.
"Not him, you idiot!" Lee shouted. "The woman!"
Chad yanked himself to a stop, turned, then reached for me.
Where in hell was Ivy? My demon scar flamed to pleasure, and while it was rather distracting, I nevertheless had no problem jamming the heel of my palm into Chad's nose, jerking back when the cartilage tore. I hated the feel of breaking noses. It gave me the willies.
Chad cried out in pain, hunching over and holding his blood-soaked hands to his face. I followed him down, giving him an elbow on the back of his neck, which he conveniently put in my reach. In three seconds Chad was down.
Rubbing my elbow, I looked up to find David watching in wide-eyed interest. I was between Lee and the door. Smiling, I tossed the hair that had escaped my bun out of my eyes. Lee was a ley line witch; chances were that he was a coward when it came to physical pain. He wouldn't jump out that window unless he had to.
Lee thumbed an intercom. "Candice?" His voice was a mix of anger and threat.
Panting, I licked my thumb and pointed to Lee. "David, you might want to leave. This is going to be dicey."
My good mood grew when Kisten's voice came out of the speaker along with the pained sounds of a catfight. "Candice is busy, old man." I recognized the sound of Ivy's attack, and Kisten made a noise of sympathy. "Sorry, love. You shouldn't have strayed. Oh, that had to hurt." Then he was back, his fake accent heavy and amused. "Perhaps I could help you?"
Lee clicked off the intercom. He adjusted his coat, watching me. He looked confident. Not good. "Lee," I said, "we can do it easy, or hard."
There was a thumping of feet in the hallway, and I fell back to David when five men came spilling in. Ivy wasn't with them. Neither were my charms. They did have a lot of guns, though, all pointed at us. Damn.
Lee smiled and came out from behind his desk. "I'm all for easy," he said, so smug I wanted to slap him.
Chad was starting to move, and Lee nudged him in the ribs. "Get up," he said. "The Were has a paper in his jacket. Get it."
Stomach churning, I backed up as Chad staggered to his feet, blood dripping on his cheap suit. "Just give it to him," I warned when David tensed. "I'll get it back."
"No, I don't think you will," Lee said as David handed it to Chad and the vamp passed the now blood-smeared paper to Lee. White teeth gleaming, he tossed his hair and smiled. "Sorry to hear about your accident."
I glanced at David, hearing our coming death in his words.
Lee wiped the blood off on Chad's coat. Folding it twice, he tucked it in a jacket pocket. Headed for the door, he said casually, "Shoot them. Take out the bullets, then dump them under the ice downriver from the dock. Clean up the room. I'm going out for an early dinner. I'll be back in two hours. Chad, come with me. We need to talk."
My heart pounded and I could smell David's rising tension. His hands were opening and closing as if they hurt. Maybe they did. I gasped at the sound of safeties going off.
"Rhombus!" I shouted, my word lost in the thunder of weapons discharging.
I staggered as my thoughts tapped the nearest line. It was the university's, and it was huge. I smelled gunpowder. Straightening, I patted at myself frantically. Nothing hurt but my ears. David's face was white but there was no pain in his eyes. A shimmer of molecule-thin ever-after shone around us. The four men were straightening from their own crouches. I had gotten the circle up in time and their bullets had ricocheted right back at them.
"What do we do now?" one asked.
"Hell if I know," the tallest said.
From the floor of the vestibule came Lee's shout, "Just fix it."
"You!" came Ivy's faint demand. "Where's Rachel!"
Ivy! Frantic, I looked at my circle. It was a trap. "Can you take two of them?" I asked.
"Give me five minutes to Were, and I can take them all," David all but growled.
The noise of fighting drifted up. It sounded like there were a dozen people down there, and one angry vampire. One of the men looked at the others and ran out. Three left. The pop of a gun downstairs brought me straight. "We don't have five minutes. Ready?"
He nodded.
Face twisting, I broke my link to the line and the circle fell. "Go!" I exclaimed.
David was a blur beside me. I went for the smallest, knocking his weapon aside with a foot as he tried to backpedal. It was my training against his slower magic, and my training won. His gun skittered across the floor, and he dove for it. Idiot. Following him down, I elbowed his kidney. He gasped and turned to face me, far short of the gun. God, he looked young.
Teeth gritted, I picked up his head and slammed it into the ground. His eyes closed and his body went slack. Yeah, it was crude, but I was in kind of a hurry.
The crack of a weapon discharging pulled me around. "I'm fine!" David barked, popping up with a Were's quickness from a crouch and jabbing a small, powerful fist at the last witch standing. Eyes rolling to the back of his head, the witch dropped the gun from slack fingers and toppled to fall on the first man David had downed. Damn, he was fast!