rod when he did, the heavy wood serving admirably as a baton. The second or third blow stunned him, and I got the blasting rod across his neck in a choke, locked one of his arms behind him with a move Murphy had taught me, and pinned his face against the fence with my full weight.
"Hold still," I snarled. Bits of molten wire slithered down the chain link fence toward the ground. "Hold still or I'll hold your face there until it melts off."
He tried to struggle free. He was strong, but I had all the leverage, so that didn't mean much. Thank you, Murphy. I wrenched his trapped arm up until he gasped with pain. I snarled, "Hold. Still."
"Jesus Christ," Thomas stammered, his voice pained. He ceased struggling and lifted his other hand in surrender. Recognizing the voice, I could place his profile too. "Harry, it's me."
I scowled at him and pulled harder on his arm.
"Ow," he gasped. "Dresden, what are you doing? Let go. It's me."
I growled at him and did, shoving him hard against the fence and standing up.
Thomas rose slowly, turning to me with his hands lifted. "Thanks, man. I didn't mean to surprise you like—"
I hit him solidly in the nose with my right fist.
I think it was the surprise as much as the blow that knocked him onto his ass. He sat there with his hands covering his face and stared up at me.
I drew up my blasting rod and readied another lash of flame. The tip of the rod glowed with a cinder-red glow of light barely a foot from Thomas's face. His normally pale face was ashen, his expression was startled, and his mouth was stained with blood. "Harry—" he began.
"Shut up," I said. I used a very quiet voice. Quiet voices are more frightening than screams. "You're using me, Thomas."
"I don't know what you're talking abou—"
I leaned forward, the blazing end of the blasting rod making him squirm backward. "I told you to shut up," I said in the same quiet voice. "There's someone I think you know on the set, and you didn't tell me about that. I think you've lied to me about other things too, and it's put me in mortal peril at least one and a half times today already. Now give me one good reason I shouldn't blast your lying mouth off your face right now."
The hair on the back of my neck suddenly tried to crawl away from my skin. I heard two distinct clicks behind me, the hammers being drawn back on a pair of guns, and Lara's maddeningly alluring voice murmured, "I'll give you two."
Chapter Fifteen
The first thought that went through my mind was something like, Wow her voice is hot. The second was, How the hell did she catch up to us so quickly?
Oh, and somewhere in there the practical side of me chimed in with, It would be bad to get shot.
What came out of my mouth was, "Is your last name really Romany?"
I didn't hear any footsteps, but her voice came from closer when she answered. "It was my married name. Briefly. Now please step away from my little brother."
Hell's bells, she was his sister! Familial dementia. She might not react rationally to a threat. I took a deep breath and reminded myself that under the circumstances, I'd be an idiot to push Lara Raith. "I assume that when I do, you'll lower the guns?"
"Assume instead that if you don't, I'll shoot you dead."
"Oh, for the love of God." Thomas sighed. "Lara, would you relax? We were just talking."
She clucked her teeth, a sound of almost maternal disapproval. "Tommy, Tommy. When you say ridiculous things like that, I have to keep reminding myself that my baby brother isn't as large an idiot as you would like us all to believe."
"Oh, come on," Thomas said. "This is a waste of time."
"Shut up," I said with an ungracious waggle of the blasting rod. I looked over my shoulder at Lara. She was wearing black lacy things with stockings and heels—
(How the hell had she caught up to us in the freaking heels? Even for a wizard, some things are simply beyond belief.)
—and she held a pair of pretty little guns in her hands. They probably weren't packing the high-caliber ammunition of heavier weapons, but even baby bullets could kill me just fine. She held them like she knew what she was doing, and sauntered closer through the heavy shadows, her skin luminous.