The Night Beat

alerted our enemies, kept them several steps ahead of us. How do I know that wasn’t you?”
    “Don’t talk to Ken like that,” Ralph said quietly.
    I spun on him. “Could be you, too, Ralph.”
    His lips pulled up over his teeth and he bared his fangs. I’d seen Ralph growl this way before, but it had never been directed towards me. Now, twice in one day, meaning Ralph was seriously angry. “You get one for being upset. But that’s it. Before you accuse anyone else who’s spent decades working with you, caring about you, and being friends with you of being a spy, you’d better consider all the options, including what it’ll be like if we all kick you out of the pack.”
    Before I was able to come back with any kind of retort, suitable, stupid, soothing or not, Jack jerked in my arms. “I need food,” he gasped. “What’s happening to me?”
    Merc tossed a ham over and Jack grabbed it -- with paws. His transformation was fully complete. I almost asked Merc if the Tour Bus was stocked with unlimited hams, but then decided I had more pressing concerns.
    I looked Jack over as he ate. He showed no signs of injury, but then that was common when a being was turned undead. Frankly, it was part of the point -- the eternal cure for what was about to ail you on a permanent basis.
    Jack was a pretty good-looking wolf. I noted that he was about Ralph’s size, so bigger than me, but that was to be expected. Ralph had a better coat, but that might have more to do with transition than anything else. In wolf form, just as in human, Jack radiated masculinity. I was still definitely willing to be his puppy-mamma, heroic save or not, though the save was a definite turn-on.
    “Let’s regroup,” Freddy suggested. “Everyone’s tired, hurt, on edge and frightened. Let’s go back to Headquarters and try to figure out what’s going on. Without any more recriminations or accusations.”
    That sounded like a sane idea, and I had just enough self-control left to recognize it as such. “Good plan.” I nudged Jack, who was toying with the hambone. “You able to move on?”
    “Yeah, I think so.” He got to his paws and fell on his face. “I think.”
    “You’re trying to walk like a human, not like a wolf. Four feet. Just think canine thoughts.”
    “How do I do that?”
    “Most of us manage it without a lesson,” Ralph muttered.
    This was true, but I wasn’t in the mood to hear it. “You could help, instead of offering criticisms.”
    “I wouldn’t want to presume,” Ralph snapped. “Since I might be trying to lead him straight to Hell.”
    Sexy Cindy cleared her throat. “Ah, I thought we were going to go with not yelling at each other.”
    Ralph ruffled his fur, nodded, turned around, and trotted off. Ken was still with us, though he didn’t look any more appeased. However, his dominant emotion was written on his face -- worry.
    I decided I’d better get myself and the situation under a semblance of control. “Ken, I’m sorry. Let’s do what Freddy suggested and get back to Headquarters. You can run any tests there, okay?”
    He nodded, but the worry didn’t go away. “They aren’t definitive, once the change has happened,” he said, but under his breath. I chose to pretend I didn’t hear it.
    “I think it might be a good idea to take as many as possible back in the Tour Bus,” L.K. suggested. “We have the wounded loaded in already, but there’s plenty of room for more.”
    “Is all our equipment out of the S-Class?”
    “Yes,” Merc said. “And loaded into the bus.”
    “Any sign of Nero or the other minions?”
    “None,” one of the nearby angels confirmed. “Whatever they wanted, they either got it or we messed them up enough that they’re going to have to try again another time.”
    We headed out of the Little Church. It looked much the worse for wear. I heard the angels discussing what they were going to do with the humans who, as I’d guessed, were all in their homes, acting like they couldn’t see or hear anything that was going on outside. Maybe they couldn’t.
    Our team climbed into the Bus, L.K. shielding Ken from the sun with what looked like a huge rain poncho. Ralph was already in there, curled up between the driver’s seat and the passenger’s. I decided now wasn’t the time to try to sniff and make up. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to, anyway.
    The Tour Bus was alter-dimensional, meaning it could hold a lot more than it looked like it should. Common enough,