Only Human

Very low, she said, "You watch the ones on your side, let me know if they budge."
    His whisper barely reached her. "They aren't moving. Yet."
    She recognized the ones with Biff. They'd been at the bar. The other two hadn't. Where had they come from so fast? "Any of you idiots done time before? Assaulting an officer, that will get you three to five years' hard time. That's if I don't shoot you," she added casually.
    It almost worked: One of them muttered, another took a step back.
    Then two more men came running up from the right—a Hispanic man with a knife, and a second Biff. Same little head, bland features, and outsized body. Except this one's cap was blue, and he was holding a tire iron instead of a baseball bat.
    Twin Biffs? Sometimes, Lily thought, God had a lousy sense of humor.
    The first Biff grinned a mean, gloating grin. "Hey, bro. Knew you wouldn't want to miss the fun."
    "Sent Pete and Baker to flank them, didn't I? Needed to get my iron." The second Biff slapped it against his palm. "Gonna see if a were's brains look all pink and gray like a real person's."
    "Were bitch," one of them spat.
    Lily was intensely aware of Rule beside her, fairly vibrating with needs she didn't understand but could feel shimmering out from him the way heat radiates from hot concrete. He was very, very angry.
    She reached out without looking and touched him lightly, hoping he could hold on a little longer. Wondering just how stupid you had to be to push a lupus prince to the edge of control. "If all of you scatter real quick, I won't charge you with assaulting an officer. Or shoot you. Lots of paperwork for me either way."
    "Hell we aren't going to mess with you," Biff said, that mean grin fixed tight to his face. He swung the bat back and forth. "All you have to do is walk away."
    Oh, yeah, they'd like it fine if she and Rule separated. She shook her head. "You don't understand about the paperwork. If you make a move, Turner here is going to smear pieces of the lot of you all over the street. You would not believe how many reports I have to fill out about that sort of thing."
    The second Biff gave an ugly laugh. "Seven of us, two of you. The odds work for me." Some of the others yelled agreement or insults involving weres, were-lovers, and how they ought to all be exterminated.
    They were working themselves up. They were almost ready to move. She could see it in the way they stood, the restless movements of their feet and hands. If they attacked, there would be a bloodbath. "Well, now, I guess you don't read the papers? Or maybe you don't have a good picture of what a lupus can do, Me, I've seen what's left afterwards. This one
    guy had a knife. The lupus bit his hand off, knife and all, and spat it out. Then he took off the guy's face. Then he killed him."
    "We've read about the killings!" one of the men on Rule's side shouted. "Lousy, filthy weres. We take this one out, we ought to get a medal."
    "That's right," her second admirer from the bar said loudly. "And taking out a were's whore, that ought to be worth a couple of beers."
    "I'm a cop," she said patiently over the jeering laughter while her stomach tied itself in queasy knots. "You really think you can beat me up, maybe kill me, and the other cops are going to say, 'Oh, well, I guess she had it coming'? You can't be that dumb. They'll take this neighborhood apart to find you, not because they give a shit about me personally. Because no one is allowed to make war on cops."
    That worried them, but it didn't convince them. She sighed. "Rule, I think they need to see to believe. Maybe you could show them how fast you can move."
    "If I move, I'm going to kill someone." His voice was really rough now and hoarse, close to a beast's growl. "I want to kill them."
    "Jesus," someone whispered. Then the Hispanic one said, "This is stupid. This is just stupid. No one said anything about killing or getting killed."
    Biff sneered. "You chickening out, Bobby? Fine, you go on home, let the little woman tuck you up safe in bed."
    Bobby muttered something under his breath and turned to walk away. Another man hesitated, then hurried after him.
    "Hey! The rest of you gonna turn chickenshit, too?" Biff Number Two cried out. "I came to kick some butt, clean this city of at least one were-slime. You with me, Pete? Baker? Let's get with the program!" He smacked the tire iron against his palm again and started forward. Two others followed.
    Lily took aim. Her head was clear, but her