Lupi 06 - Blood Magic

forced to proceed at a walking pace behind them. And the Buick behind it. And the VW behind the Buick.
    Four or five slots ahead was a red pickup; she couldn't see the tags from this angle. "That your man's truck?" she asked.
    "Think so."
    A flicker of motion in the corner of her eye was all the warning she had. In that split second - before she even knew what she'd seen - she cried out, "Duck!" and stepped to the left, pivoting.
    The heavy steel chain whipped through the space where Cody's head had been. He'd dropped - and was rolling into the legs of the Hispanic tough who'd sent the chain whirling at him.
    That one fell. The two behind him didn't. One had a knife, the other a baseball bat. They charged Cody, who was scuffling with the one he'd knocked down. "Police!" Lily snapped, drawing her gun. "Drop your weapons!"
    The boom - crack of a shotgun answered her - from behind. Glass shattered as Lily dropped to a crouch, looking around frantically.
    "You drop yours, bitch!" a male voice called from inside the Buick. No doubt it belonged to whoever was poking the shotgun barrel out the tinted rear window. Lily sighted quickly. She could barely make out a form behind the shotgun.
    The girls screamed and scattered - one of them running right between Lily and her shot, dammit. The Mustang, no longer blocked, floored it, and the VW rocked into reverse.
    "Drop it!" the one in the car yelled. "You are so dead, bitch, if you don't put that gun down!"
    Lily felt pretty attached to her weapon just then, so she replied by squeezing off a quick shot. It missed, but gave her a second's cover to turn and - oh, shit.
    She'd been about to dive between the van and the Honda on the other side of it, but the space was occupied - by three more gangbangers, advancing on her single file. And grinning. One had a gun - a Glock, maybe. She couldn't see about the other two.
    The black wolf seemed to come from nowhere, moving at top speed. She dropped. He leaped over her, right at the gangbangers. Two shots rang out - one from the shotgun, one from the other side of the van, and she hoped like hell that meant Cody had been able to get his weapon out.
    Screaming - from the other side of the van, from behind her. She let the wolf take her back, rising to one knee to sight again on the shadowy form in the Buick. She squeezed the trigger.
    Glass shattered. A choked noise, not hearty enough to call a scream. She kept her weapon steady, swinging it slightly to sight on the driver. "Don't do it. Don't think you can get away. Open the door and get out real slow."
    "Get him off," someone was screaming. "Get him off, get him off!" Someone else was cursing and sobbing. And someone was growling, deep in his chest.
    No, two someones. One on each side of the van.
    "Cody!" she called, not taking her attention off the Buick, where the driver's door was opening slowly. "You okay?"
    "Battered and bloody, but operational. Your boyfriend's got one of them pinned and I've got the others covered. One's shot, but not bad."
    "On the ground. Now, dammit!" she snarled at the driver - a lanky youth, maybe nineteen, maybe less, with dirty black hair and whites showing all around his pupils. He dropped to the concrete.
    "That's it," she said, standing slowly. "Arms out. Hold real still now. I'm feeling nervous. You don't want to get me excited." She advanced on the car cautiously. The driver had left the door open, and the dome light glowed brightly. The car looked empty. Was the one she'd shot dead, unconscious, or hunkered down and waiting for her to get close?
    The driver was holding still like a good boy. She eased close enough to peer in the shattered window.
    No, he wasn't hunkered down waiting. He was either passed out or dead - out of play for now. She took a chance by glancing over her shoulder quickly.
    The black wolf was faced off against two gangbangers, snarling. They stood frozen, not even twitching. The third lay on his stomach, unmoving. In the failing light she couldn't see if he lived, but there was a lot of shiny liquid puddling around him.
    A siren sounded suddenly, and fairly close. Wouldn't be long.
    "Cody, can you get your perps to join us out here? And, uh, Jacob - I think that's you, right? Let your prey up now."
    "All right, you heard her. Move slow and easy. Oh, look, the poor boy peed himself." Cody had an evil chuckle. "Didn't like it when the big bad wolf knocked you down, huh? Come on, you, don't whine. You're not hurt much. I used my