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I like the fire Can I co lunch when the lightning hit The bolt sla brilliant light through the s, shaking the floor beneath us I grabbed the table and looked up to see Molly questing with her senses to discern if the lightning had har and wards don&039;t play ith each other, but even a quiescent ward can be structurally daave me an "it&039;s fine" look, but I could tell she was uneasy Without the wards, the house where I lived while I fulfilled my current contract with the New Orleans vamp council was unprotected

Molly - a powerful earth witch and my best friend - and I are used to the suh they can be violent and intense, they had nothing on thisNew Orleans, the category-two storh none of the e of Katrina and Rita, and e Human memory is short; most of the natives had elected to ride out the storm, depend on the new levies to hold, and trust in the improvements to the city&039;s infrastructure, courtesy of Uncle Sam

The only unanticipated aspect of the stor and two tornados that had set down in thein the loss of power

The wind died for a iant fist, the walls quaking A fresh burst of rain druainst the s

Without power for the air-conditioning units, it was growing as stove, and the city&039;s water supply hadn&039;t been impacted So the kids had sandwiches and hot canned soup and Mol and I had prih to still have a moo or two in it, Mol&039;s daintier and cooked medium I had even made spinach salads to placate health-conscious Molly

Wind swirled against the front of the old house, and the noise went up a notch for a long h a hurricane, and even a category tas pretty intense I couldn&039;t ie It was no wonder Katrina and Rita had devastated the Gulf Coast, despite the efforts of New Orleans&039;s witches to ward against landfall

I finished off the steak, ate a spinach leaf, and took a tour to check for dae The old house in the middle of the French Quarter wasn&039;tas I was under contract - but I intended to keep it in the saot it in Not that the va that easy

I studied the twelve-foot-tall ceilings on both stories looking for leaks,up any rain that had blown in, and checked to see that the ere secure So far, so good - no leaks, no da strike hadn&039;t hit the house No s odor of ozone It had been close

On the side porch on the first floor, my old, rebuilt, one-of-a-kind Harley, Bitsa, was safe and sound under a heavy tarp I&039;d bought to protect her Out back, the granite boulders ht in for the rock garden I&039;d needed installed were rain-slick and broken Those were not going to survive my stay here Already the stones were cracked and split, and one had been ground to sharp shards and piles of grit I exchanged enetic structure and size were vastly different froe to the boulders Quite a lot of dahts flickered The fountain in the back garden stuttered, sending water into the air, the naked va etness The vale spurt as the power flickered and died again

I walked fro the wind and rain attack the subtropical vegetation and arden, probably the only one in the entire French Quarter It was beautiful, even in its current condition

"You&039;re pacing"

I looked at Molly, and then down at my feet

"You need to shift You&039;ve been in human form all week The kids and I will not fall into the sinister hands of the evil va off" She curled on the sofa and wrapped her ar in frizzy curls froelina raced up and threw herself on the leather cushion with a gust of trapped air Molly rolled her daughter over, keeping an eye on Little Evan, who had found his ball under a chair and was bent over, butt in the air, trying to get to it "I&039;ll set onna turn into Big Cat tonight? Can I watch? Please, please, please?"

Angie asked She was only six, but already the little girl was co

"No That&039;s private for Aunt Jane And we do not talk about that, reie dropped her voice into a whisper and put a ser over her lips "It&039;s a secret Shhhhh" And then she giggled, a sound that always brought a smile to my face

"Leo&039;s not hi that took over his son He&039;s still grieving, and ue, but unstable

I don&039;t trust hi I could feel Beast&039;s pelt rubbing under uard kits, Beast thought atteeth I shushed her with a calht

"Leo won&039;t violate your contract with the vahed up at me and added, "Of course, when you fulfill the contract, all bets are off"

"Thanks That ht," Molly said "Go running End up at the Cherokee shaman&039;s place and let her sweat you You&039;ve been proie&039;s curls In sunlight, the baby-fine hair alhts, but in the diie smiled and closed her eyes, soothed by her mother&039;s hand It was nap tiainst the sleep coht learn so new about your past," she added "About skinwalkers"

"Yeah, like that they were all a bunch of crazed killers, and it&039;s only afor hu of worry in my oords

"You are not a killer, nor are you crazed You are my best friend in the whole world"

The faith on Molly&039;s face when she looked up was absolute "I&039;d trust with you with my life and with my children&039;s lives any day of the week, Jane"

My heart turned over I&039;d never had a best friend growing up, but I&039;d lucked out when I met Molly She&039;d welcoer fale qualuine aboutme for several weeks, despite the possible threat of trouble from Leo Pellissier, Blood Master of Clan Pellissier, the Blood Master of the City and head of the va," I pro

I looked over at Evan and found hiy hands

I scooped up the baby and Molly gathered up Angelina, and we carried them both upstairs to their room With the stor the baby into his bed, placing the ball in the curve of his arms I wasn&039;t maternal, not at all, but I loved Molly&039;s children

Beast reared up in me, fierce and violent, her maternal instincts vastly different from any human onesWill protect kits

"I know," I said too softly for Molly to hear Louder, I said, "Cards? Or a nap?"

Molly yawned "Nap forCat"

I nodded, and as the stor drew in, I went back to prowling the house and worrying I didn&039;t know e or ie One Feather was teachingwhat I was: a skinwalker The only other skinwalker I had ever seen was dead now, at my hand He had killed, and taken the place of, Leo Pellissier&039;s son Ione even further to the dark side, killing and eating humans and vamps I still didn&039;t knohy I worried that it was the nature of skinwalkers that we all went crazy eventually I&039;d killed Iottenon the hate list of Leo Pellissier

I&039;ue-va, and occasionally ht, how to protect myself, and how to use the array of weapons that were currently under lock and key in my bedrooood at understanding humans or witches or va in New Orleans was giving me a chance to learn a lot about all that And about myself

My contract had been extended by the council, to hunt down and kill - true-dead - athee to be "cured" The sire was releasing the young rogues on the populace with empty minds and unchecked desire for blood that ht and killed two only a feeeks before The council had asked ned on the dotted line And, thoughstrea to like it here in the city that was

Here, where vaht even discover another skinwalker I was co to understand that it wasn&039;t likely, as not even the oldest of the va quite like me, but I could hope

As I filled the kettle tos

Between storainst the ground, er, but as the sky had cleared, the air had seein the scent, sharp and biting It was vay And more than one Above the vamp-scent rode the stink of kerosene And smoke

Beast rose insped I looked up Outside the kitchen , light flickered It all ca, Molly hadn&039;t woken the wards back up yet Leo Pellissier was out to get me The hurricane had knocked out electricity, phone, and cell towers for most of the city I couldn&039;t call for help

Crap

Flalass, visible through the sheer covering Ito the door overlooking the back and side yards A chair clattered to the floor behind me I pulled a silver cross and chain over my head and two stakes from my hair Ripped open the door Raced out to the covered porch As Imy vision I counted four torches, widely spaced

Fear shot through uns

I slid to a stop on the wet porch Va - that dead-body irowing thick and viscous, the night taking on richness and depth I absorbed the scene through my senses all at once

There were four vas descended, fully vaallon containers, hazard signs painted on the sides The scent of severala container The sht of Ada coiled in its currents, but aimless now that the stor clouds It was still drizzling; misty drops hit the flah ht were absolute No cars, nothey could srow Bravado was ht into the presence of vamps But they didn&039;t recoil They held their places, which meant they were old vamps, every one The hipped once and went still Shadows and torchlight flickered over the on their skin, pale no inal race My heart rate sped What were they waiting -

A black silhouette stepped out of the shadows, lithe and elegant Leonard Pellissier In evening attire Here tovisit The most powerful vampire in the city had dressed to kill A titter started in the back of h right nowWould not

Beast rose in ht Ready to rush away, back inside to save uests If I couldKits , Beast et loose I held her down, but close to the surface I needed her strength and speed

A floorboard creaked from upstairs Thank God Mollyup the wards, so defensive that would burn vamp flesh, maybe I could hope But it would take time Maybe too roup that circled s were snapped dohite in the early night; his pupils bled black in bloodred sclera The silver cross and capering flames reflected in his pupils

"You killed my son," he said, eyes fixed on me

"No I killed the creature that took his body"

His lips pulled back, exposing his teeth, a killing grimace "You," he whispered Vamps didn&039;t need to breathe much except to talk, but he took a breath, deep and slow

"Killed" Anger built in hi and sour "Myson !" he roared into the night

Beast lifted e , she demanded

But it was too late A dozen possible reactions and scenarios buffeted me I could attack, but they&039;d set fire to the house I could run inside, but they&039;d set fire to the house I could -

"Hi My naelina"

The va fla slowly, Leo looked up, from me to the veranda above

"I like the fire Can I co child and witch His body tensed Held

The eyes of Leo&039;s scions flickered to their blood-master, then to ned on for killing a child Two vas with littlesnick s The one with the open kerosene container looked at it, then back up at the little girl, deliberate and measured His pupils contracted and he swiveled his head to Leo Waiting