You either adapt to the new world or you won’t survive it,” Gina said.
“So what do we do?” the same suit asked.
“Rather than aggressively interrogate students like Mack and Jetta here, you should be learning from them. Their parents were brutally killed by weres, yet here they are living, eating, and studying with a whole pack. Jetta, who is finishing high school, knows more about werewolf psychology than any professional in this room, myself included. You should be recruiting her, not bullying her. But when Krupp showed aggression, what happened?”
“The rest of them deflected for her,” Mazar said, a slight accent buried in her voice.
“They took deflection to a team sport. And they told Krupp in a humorous way that she was pretty much helpless against them. Give me your Taser,” Gina demanded, holding out her hand.
“You already destroyed my cuffs. No way I’m giving you my weapon,” Krupp said.
“You can use mine,” the big guy offered. He stood up and pulled an M26 Taser from under one arm. I took the opportunity to put the bracelets of the handcuffs together and requested the broken link rejoin itself. Then I tossed them to Krupp as Gina took the Taser from the other agent. Krupp looked at her repaired cuffs, her poker face twitching a little.
I picked up my soda and started to drink it down as Gina aimed the Taser at me and pulled the trigger. A slight burst of magic to the glyphs in my left arm let me get it up in time to catch the barbs in my palm.
I can pull electricity from any source: wall outlet, power line, even a car battery, but the phased pulse of a Taser, specifically engineered to disrupt the human nervous system, is like a drug rush for me. I drank it down.
The straw slurped in the glass and the Taser crackled for moment. They both went dry.
“That’s what happens when you tase the wrong supe. Sorry Caeco, I know his aunt will be mad, but I needed to prove a point,” Gina said.
“Not helping him, Gina,” Caeco said without heat.
“You gonna dump that?” Gina asked me.
I stood up and walked across the room, sliding between tables. Outstretched legs pulled out of my way as I approached the far wall, where a steel beam was exposed in the red brick. It was a foot too high for my hand to reach, but that was close enough. A sharp arc of electricity snapped out of my fingers and blackened the beam. When I turned back around, I felt the eyes of the whole room press on me.
“Declan is another kind of supernatural. He’s a witch. In this school, we have people with telekinetic power, telepathic abilities, clairvoyance, remote viewing capabilities, psychometric ability, and we have witches, who can do even more. Consider them the generalists of the psychic world. As you can see, he has an affinity for electricity and steel. Think your locks and alarms can slow him down?”
“Witches? Like Blair witch and Hansel and Gretel?” another fed asked.
“There is usually some fact buried in all legend. Take the moon and werewolf thing. They need to Change during the full moon, but can Change at will any other time.”
“So you’re saying we won’t be able to handle a crazed werewolf who’s holed up in a house or office with hostages?” another federal officer asked.
“Are they male or female?” Jetta asked.
“Does it matter?” he asked back.
“Would it matter in a regular hostage situation?” she clarified.
“Of course,” Krupp answered.
“Well, same thing here. Males are mostly obsessed with status, followed by being obsessed with females. Female werewolves, in my experience, are also concerned with status, but focus more on protecting the young and protecting the pack. Then there are Alphas, which is a whole ‘nother matter,” Jetta said.
“So what does all that mean?” the same guy asked.
“It means you negotiate with different werewolves differently,” Krupp said. Jetta nodded.
“What if they’re crazed and just killing everyone?” another agent asked.
“You probably can’t get in there in time to make a difference. Werewolves are very fast. Also, trying to take on a Changed wolf inside a building structure is a death sentence. They are super tough, require silver to kill, and are fast and so strong, you can’t really understand it. I would probably set up a perimeter of officers, armed with shotguns and heavy caliber rifles, all loaded with silver, and wait. Chances are the wolf will Change back and you can bind him or her