At least two-thirds of the people in the barn were shape-shifters. Probably, they weren't all werewolves. I couldn't tell what animal they might be by looking, but I knew they were all shapeshifters. Their energy burned through the air like a hint of lightning. Even with the Uzi, if things went wrong, I was in trouble. I was suddenly angry with Richard. We shouldn't have come alone like this. It was too careless for words.
A woman stepped out of the group. She had what looked like an industrial-strength makeup kit on her shoulder. Her dark hair was shaved close to her head, leaving a very pretty face open and clean, without a drop of makeup on it.
She moved uncertainly towards us as if afraid she'd get bitten. The air vibrated around her, a tiny shimmer, as though reality was just a little less firm than it should be around her. Lycanthrope. I wasn't sure what flavor, but that really didn't matter. Whatever the flavor, they were dangerous.
"Richard," she said. She stepped away from the watching crowd, small hands running up and down the strap of her bag. "What are you doing here?"
"You know why I'm here, Heidi," he said. "Where's Stephen?"
"They aren't going to hurt him," she said. "I mean, his brother's here. His own brother wouldn't let him get hurt, would he?"
"Sounds like you're trying to convince yourself, not us," I said.
Her eyes flicked to me. "You must be Anita Blake." She glanced behind at the watchers at her back. "Please, Richard, just go." The aura of energy around her was vibrating harder, almost a visible shimmer in the air. It prickled along my skin like ants.
Richard reached out towards her.
Heidi flinched but stood her ground.
Richard smoothed his hand just above her face, not quite touching her skin. As he moved his hand, the energy around her quieted, like water calming. "It's all right, Heidi. I know the situation Marcus has put you in. You want to join another pack, but he has to give permission. To get his permission, you do what he says, or you're trapped. Whatever happens, I won't hold it against you."
The anxiety seeped away. Her otherworldly energy quieted until it was barely there at all. She might have passed for human.
"Very impressive." A man stepped forward. He was at least six foot four, maybe an inch taller, his head bald as an egg, only his eyebrows showing dark above pale eyes. His black T-shirt strained over the muscles in his arms and chest, as if the shirt was the skin of an insect about to split and let loose the monster. Energy boiled off him like summer heat. He moved with the confident strut of a bully, and the power crawling over my skin said he might be able to back it up.
"He's new," I said.
"This is Sebastian," Richard said. "He joined us after Alfred died."
"He's Marcus's new enforcer," Heidi whispered. She stepped back, halfway between the two men, her back to the curtain we'd entered through.
"I challenge you, Richard. I want to be Freki."
Just like that, the trap was sprung.
"We are both alpha, Sebastian. We don't have to do anything to prove that."
"I want to be Freki, and I need to beat you to do it."
"I'm Fenrir now, Sebastian. You can be Marcus's Freki without fighting me."
"Marcus says no, says I have to go through you."
Richard took a step forward.
"Don't fight him," I said.
"I have to answer challenge."
I stared at Sebastian. Richard is not a small man, but he looked small beside Sebastian. Richard wouldn't back down to save himself. But for someone else . . . "And if you get killed, where does that leave me?" I asked.
He looked at me then, really looked at me. He turned back to Sebastian. "I want safe passage for Anita."
Sebastian grinned and shook his head. "She's dominant. No safe passage. She takes her chances like the rest of us."
"She can't accept challenge, she's human."
"When you're dead, we'll make her one of us," Sebastian said.