“Enough!”
The guy being attacked by the Wozniak women gave Mrs. Wozniak a shove, sending her flying into her husband. A shot rang out as they fell to the floor, but fortunately it hit the ceiling, sending a shower of plaster over them. The goon tried to dislodge Ruby and when he couldn’t, he bent at the waist to try to flip her over his head.
I was in front of him in an instant, catching her as she flew off him.
Alexei went into full-on bear mode, shifting and killing the guy closest to the Wozniaks, but before I could get to the other guy I saw a flash of gray fur. Eleanor’s wolf knocked him down, snarling as she bravely tried to hold him in place. He bucked her off, sending her flying much like he’d done with Ruby, and I flew forward to take over, sinking my teeth in his neck and ending his life.
I also got a few mouthfuls of fresh human blood, which was nice. I didn’t get that very often. It was okay for us to take a few sips if we were killing in self-defense. Human blood was much tastier than the synthetic or animal blood we usually drank. Not that I planned to share that tidbit with the people in this room.
“Is everyone okay?” I asked, resisting the urge to slurp up a little more blood and instead moving to my feet.
“Your mouth,” Ruby whispered shakily.
I wiped my lips with the back of my hand, and my fingers came back bloody.
“Oops.”
She looked a little pasty, but she didn’t pass out, so that was progress. After wiping my mouth on my shirt, I held out my arms and despite the fact that the entire front of my body was covered in blood she came right away, throwing herself into my arms.
“I can’t believe you killed that guy,” she said softly.
“I’d kill anyone to keep you and your family safe.”
I heard someone clearing their throat and when I looked over Ruby’s shoulder, her parents were watching us closely, April sporting a sweet little smile.
“You have proven yourself worthy of our daughter and you have our blessing,” Stanislaus said. “But you will have a proper wedding. I won’t have my wife disappointed.”
“Yes sir,” I said.
I felt the strangest sensation, a warmth in my chest that I’d never felt before. It was happiness, I realized. Being accepted by Ruby’s parents meant more than I thought it would. Now we just needed to end this vendetta with the Romanian mob.
For the second time today, it was like I’d manifested something. There was another crash, and suddenly three guys were perp-walked into the office, Lois, Marilee, Wanda, and Bella behind them. All three men had their hands zip tied behind their backs, and judging by their appearance, they’d put up a fight before my teammates took them down. I looked them over. One was an older man, bulky and mean looking, with an unmistakable air of authority. The other two were younger wolf shifters.
“Status report,” Lois barked.
Every person in the room stiffened at the command in her voice, including all the shifters.
“Two humans in the kitchen, dead. Two humans in here, dead,” I said plainly. “Mr. Wozniak needs medical attention for a GSV to the left shoulder. Everyone else is okay.”
“The bullet went right through,” Ruby’s father said. “I’ll be fine.”
“We still need to get you checked out, Dad,” Ruby said firmly.
We heard the wail of sirens approaching the house.
“Looks like the feds are finally here,” Lois said. “Took them assholes long enough. I called them half an hour ago when we saw these guys approaching the property like a damned invading army.”
Even though Sapphic Security worked closely with – and sometimes did contract assignments for – the federal crime agencies, Lois hated them with a passion. There was probably a story there, but none of us had the guts to ask.
“What do we have here?” an officious guy in a cheap suit he’d probably bought on sale at the mall asked like he thought he was in charge.
Lois looked at him like he was some dog shit she’d stepped on in the street.
“Christ on a cracker Murphy, we already briefed you on this investigation. Use your head for something more than a damnedhat rack and search your memory. These are the Romanian mobsters we told you about.”
Murphy glared. Lois glared back, and within seconds he lowered his eyes, making Lois chuckle.
“Search them,” Murphy instructed.
