Brett stood with Walter behind two military Weres, their weapons cocked and ready to gun us down if they couldn’t subdue us any other way. Past them, traffic passed, and curious onlookers were being soothed by professional-looking Weres in suits and ties, probably explaining this away as being a movie shoot or something. Behind us, the street Weres waited, hanging back but ready to descend when someone gave the order.

I swallowed hard. With the strength of four alphas at his fingertips, Walter had driven them into a higher pitch of aggression, and with the lack of pain, there was nothing to stop them. Just the thought of gaining the focus had been enough to get them back together.

Incredible, I mused, grip shifting on my splat gun as I tried to figure out how four charms would be of much help. What would happen if they actually got the focus was a nightmare in waiting. Every single Were would want a piece of it. The alphas would come flocking, and soon the major cities would be fighting their own little turf wars as vampires started taking them out, having decided they didn’t like aggressive Weres who felt no pain and could Were as fast as witch magic. And with the focus binding them, the round wouldn’t break apart. No wonder the vampires had hidden the ugly thing.

“Jenks,” I panted, knowing Ivy could hear. “They tagged me with one of those zip-strips. I can’t make a circle to hold them off anymore. We can’t let them get the focus. And I’m not strong enough to keep my mouth shut if they capture me.”

Jenks glanced at me and away. His grip tightened on the bloody pipe. “Any ideas?”

“Nope.” I panted, shifting my feet. “Unless you can hold them off long enough for me to get this damned strip off my foot.”

He jiggled out his knife, handing it to me. It was smeared with blood, and I felt sick. “I’ll keep them off you,” he said, his face going grim.

I handed it back, knowing he was more effective with it than I was. “They’re designed to be tamper resistant. It’s going to take a pair of bolt cutters.”

Jenks shifted his balance to his toes. “Then we fight until Ivy gets here.”

“Yep,” I agreed, fear settling firmly in me. This was bad. This was really bad.

My gaze darted to Brett as he scuffed his feet. Walter had joined him, the savage glint in his eyes born from his grief. From behind me came the sound of the street Weres pulling chains from around their waist and the snick of knives being opened.

Damn it all and shit on it. I did not want to die like this.

“Ma’am?” Brett drawled, drawing my attention to him. “It would save everyone a good deal of trouble if you would surrender your weapon and come with us.”