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She walked wide around him as Kelly had done. She didn’t move like a fighter, but she still had that grace that all the shapeshifters could have. She moved cautiously, and well.

“I didn’t stop you when you were hurting Noel, because I was afraid of you. Then Travis put himself between you and Noel. Travis isn’t a fighter either, but he did it. He did it knowing you’d hurt him. But I think if he hadn’t done it you’d have beaten Noel to death right then.”

“Do you want me to hurt you?” he asked.

“No, I don’t, I really don’t, but I can’t stand by a second time and let you hurt them. I didn’t like myself very much last night, watching you beat them.” She made her carefully manicured nails into fists. “But our Regina is standing against you, and I’ll stand with her.”

“She is not my Regina,” Haven said.

“She helped me heal two of our lions with the power of her lion,” Kelly said. “Any werelion can hurt and maim, but healing is rare. My mother could do it, and I’ll take a Regina who can raise power and share it to heal us over one who can beat us to death. We can always bring over more werelions for muscle, Haven, but healing and magic, that’s hard to find.”

“She can’t even free her beast. It’s trapped inside her human body,” Haven said.

“Her beast is real. It rose above us like a bonfire of magic and power.”

“I smelled her lioness last night,” Rosamond said, and I understood enough about wereanimals to know that meant that something was real. If they could smell it, it was real. She came to stand beside Kelly.

“A pride is supposed to be a family,” Kelly said. “You’ve made it into an armed camp.”

“Do you really think I can’t defeat you all?”

“I don’t know,” she said, “but I’m willing to find out.”

I didn’t know what to say. I’d never had anyone come to my side of the fence like this; I was always the only girl with all the men, with rare exceptions like Claudia. What did I say to the two women who I barely knew?

“It’s good not to be the only girl in the fight for once,” I said.

Kelly gave me a fierce grin, more a baring of teeth, and it reminded me of a snarl, but that was okay; it was what we needed right now.

“This is Kelly’s idea of female bonding,” Rosamond said.

Kelly nodded and shrugged, but the shrug turned into her loosening her shoulders. I readjusted my stance because you couldn’t hold any one stance forever, and besides, I had to make room for her being next to me. It was a different kind of fighting, knowing there were people on your side who would help.

“Is this a private fight, or can anyone join?” Claudia walked out of the hallway dressed in a black T-shirt and jeans. She lived here part time, so she had clothes. Her long black hair was back in a wet ponytail. She was taller than Haven by inches, and broader through the shoulders. I realized that even her biceps were bigger, as they strained against the T-shirt.

“This is lion business,” Haven growled, but he made sure to keep an eye on her as she moved around him. It meant that he saw her as a more of a threat individually than any of the rest of us. I think I was insulted.

“I’m Anita’s bodyguard. I wouldn’t be very good at my job if I let you hurt her, would I?” Just the tone of her voice let me know that she liked Haven even less than she liked Richard.

“You think together you can beat me?” he asked.

I’d never seen Kelly fight, and Rosamond was going to be less than useful, but Claudia I knew. I said, “I think we can.”

“Maybe, but I’ll fuck you up before I go down.”

“Knock your bad self out.”

“What?” he said.

I felt myself smile, and it wasn’t a nice smile. It was a cold, anticipatory smile. It went with what I said next. “You think you can win this fight, then come over here and prove it.”

One moment he was just standing there, and the next he was a blur of movement. I had time for one thought—He’s too fast!—and then the fight was on.

22

ROSAMOND WENT DOWN in the first few blows. She lay on the ground bleeding and dazed. I sliced Haven twice before one of his long legs swept