our ideas of fun differed. "I'm serious." I nodded at the mages, who were being attacked by a wave of hissing gargoyles that had apparently not appreciated the destruction of the doors. The mages were practically buried under a sea of thrashing wings and slashing claws, but I knew it wouldn't last. "Enjoy yourself. Just don't kill anybody.”
A big smile broke over Enyo's face, making her look like a kid on Christmas morning, and the next thing I knew she'd picked up the massive prep table and thrown it into the breach left by the missing doors. She and her sisters ran across the room and hopped over it, cackling like the fiends they were as they took the offensive to the second wave of mages trying to get in.
"Bought us some time," I told Pritkin, who was looking conflicted. He might be having problems with the Circle, but he obviously didn't like the idea of them being play toys for the Graeae. Since the mages' idea of justice was to drag me off to a kangaroo court and a quick death, I had no such problem. "Come on!”
Pritkin ignored me and pulled a mage out from under three gargoyles, who'd been introducing the man's face to a cheese grater. Apparently, shields didn't work so well against the Fey-judging by his agonized expression, it was a lesson the guy would probably remember.
Pritkin knocked him unconscious, then grabbed Miranda. She tried to bite him, but he had her around the throat and held her back from his face. That didn't help the rest of him from getting badly clawed, but he grimly hung on. His concentration must have wobbled, however, because the silence bubble suddenly collapsed. He said something, but I couldn't hear it over the klaxons, which drowned out even the gargoyles.
I couldn't believe Pritkin was still fixated on that stupid geis. It seemed harmless to me, especially now that the Circle was finding out about the gargoyles all on their own. But I knew him well enough not to bother arguing.
"Miranda!" I screamed, literally at the top of my lungs. "Remove the geis! Casanova will hide you from the mages!" That got her attention, and she turned those slanted cat eyes on me. She didn't take her claws out of Pritkin, but I didn't really care.
"You promissse? We not go back?" she asked, her voice somehow cutting through the din.
"I promise," I yelled, nudging Casanova, who had waded through the battle to us. He looked alarmed, but I didn't give him a chance to protest. "You know you can do it. Tony has all kinds of bolt holes around here.”
He rolled his eyes. "¡Claro que sí! Just go!”
Miranda smiled, a really odd expression on her furry face, since it flashed a lot of fang. "I remember thisss," she told me, and suddenly Pritkin was holding a spitting, hissing and squirming ball of fur. A set of four deep scratch marks appeared on his face, and I punched him in the shoulder. "Let her go and she'll help!”
Pritkin finally dropped her, and Miranda stood, smoothing her fur and preening for a moment. Then she waved a paw at him in a curiously graceful gesture. I didn't notice any change, but I guess he must have because he grabbed my hand and yanked me after Casanova, looking as irritated as if I'd been the one holding things up.
"I'll show you the tunnel, but we have to hurry. I can't be seen with you," the vamp was saying. I looked around for Billy Joe, but he'd disappeared. I hoped he was on my errand and not off somewhere interfering with a game of craps. He could move small things if he really concentrated, and thought it was funny as hell to rig the casino games.
The golem appeared in front of us, a meat cleaver sticking out of its clay chest, but it didn't seem to notice. We ran for the cool room and Casanova moved a large plastic bin of lettuce. He pointed at what looked like a solid concrete block wall. "Through there. The car is already in place and the driver's going to wait to hand off the keys. Give me whatever you want put in the safe and go!”
"I'll give it to the driver. Look, I really appreciate-”
Casanova cut me off with a gesture. "Just make sure I don't end up putting this place back together for that bidonista," he said grimly.
"You have a deal," I told him. I