Steve's fighting him? With his leg in a cast? Oh, this is bad. This is really, really bad!
"I'm safe in my bedroom," Delfina assured her.
"And is Tina there?” Maggie asked. "I thought I saw her drive by a couple of minutes ago."
"Oh, I hope not…"Delfina's voice trailed off. "Just a moment."
There was a long pause, during which Maggie jittered with anxiety.
Then Delfina came back on the line. "She's here! She just pulled up outside my house." Steve's abuelita suddenly sounded fearful. "What am I going to do?"
"Let me help you," Maggie pleaded.
"And you're nearby?" Delfina asked.
"Yes. I’m parked in a visitor spot, right outside the front gate of your neighborhood."
"Oh, thank goodness. Give me a moment to inform the guard that I'm expecting you, and then I'll buzz you in. What kind of car are you driving?"
"A black Toyota Corolla," Maggie replied.
"I'll inform the guard. Please hurry!"
* * *
When Maggie pulled up to Delfina's house a few minutes later, she saw a silver Tesla sitting next to a golf cart in front of the garage, and a familiar white Land Rover parked along the curb in front.
More ominously, the front door was standing open. Maggie scrambled out of her rental car and sprinted up the walkway leading to the house, which was a big single-story ranch style home with a red tile roof.
She burst through the front door in time to see Tina directly ahead of her, with a large, gray stone statue lifted high over her head.
She was advancing on a pair of bloodied, battered-looking jaguars who lay locked in combat in a large living room, amid overturned side tables, a scattering of magazines and books, and sofas knocked askew.
One of the big cats had its jaws clamped around the throat of the other, which writhed and flailed wildly with all four limbs, clearly struggling to free itself.
The victorious jaguar had its golden gaze fixed on Tina, and it was growling a loud warning.
Maggie took in everything in a flash as she entered the house. Without slowing, she targeted Tina.
She tackled the other woman from behind. The statue went flying out of Tina's grasp and shattered against the nearest wall in an explosion of gray stone fragments.
Tina hit the hardwood floor face-first but recovered almost instantly, rolling over and regaining her feet in a flash.
"What the fuck!" Her pretty face twisted in rage and her eyes burning gold as her jaguar spirit rose inside her, she started towards Maggie. "You're going to be sorry for that, whoever the fuck you are."
Maggie dropped into a defensive stance.
She didn't like fighting, but she was willing to make an exception for Tina Lopez.
"I'm Maggie Ornelas," she told Tina. "And I'm here to kick your ass and get some payback for all the bad shit you've done to your grandmother, to Steve, and to me."
Tina's eyes widened. "Wait a minute—you weren't faking that engagement, after all? You actually care about my pathetic loser of a brother?"
She smiled, a feral expression that bared all of her teeth.
But before the two of them could close in on each other, the giant, bloodied male jaguar released his prey.
With a single leap, he closed the distance between Tina and himself and knocked her back down. Maggie caught his scent, so similar to Steve's, and realized that this must be the Aarón in his beast form.
Snarling, he pinned his sister to the floor.
The other jaguar rose, limped to Maggie’s side on three legs, and turned to face the others, clearly standing guard.
"Steve! You're hurt!" she exclaimed and knelt to run her hands over him, checking for injuries.
To her relief, the patches of blood on his fur turned out to be from superficial wounds. Even his neck had only been scratched.
She'd feared the worst after seeing Aarón seemingly on the verge of tearing his brother's throat out.
But other than his injured hind leg, Steve seemed to be okay.
She released the breath that she'd been holding and wrapped her arms around him, inhaling his scent. He leaned into her with a soft rumble of affection.
Aarón and Steve traded a long look, then Aarón's fur began to ripple as he began to shift back to human.
Steve made a deep huffing sound. Maggie took the hint and released him. Then he began his shift as well.
Maggie walked over to where Aarón had Tina pinned down.
She put her knee between Tina's shoulders and pulled her wrists down to her sides, immobilizing the other woman until the men could complete their shifts.