Shit. He had seen me do magic. Or he was wondering where I had hidden forearm length cattle prods under my dress. But I knew better. He knew.

I couldn’t think of a reliable way to deter a Regular from what he had seen from only a pace away. An animalistic roar erupted on the other side of the room, and I saw a body fly from that direction, clipping the chandelier with its head on the way, and then crashing limply on top of the piano. Everyone was screaming now. Claire was dancing from foot to foot, terrified of the madness, but fearing to leave my side, trusting I could keep her safe. But I was distracted by the green-eyed man. He looked… anticipatory as he stared after the roar.

He shot me a withering look. “Hope you know how to handle those foot-longs,” he muttered, and then he turned, bumping right into the reporter, who looked shocked at the carnage. “Run, woman!” he gripped her by the shoulders, gently shoving her towards the exit. She complied, glancing over her shoulder one last time before fleeing. Then the green-eyed man was running. But not with the crowd and the reporter. He was running towards the echoing roar, and the sudden shrieks and heavy thumps of flesh striking flesh that accompanied it.

My nightmare began to whisper in my ears, but I squashed it with effort. I didn’t have time to be scared. Claire was in danger. Hell, I was in danger. So were all these innocents.

The crowd was almost entirely gone now, bounding up the steps that led back outside, leaving me clear to finally see the source of the roaring sound. I blinked, brain short-circuiting.

A fucking ten-foot-tall brown grizzly bear was fighting one of the werewolf-like creatures I had encountered with Roland. The wolf yelped as the massive bear claw sliced into his shoulder, sending him sliding into the discarded pile of instruments that had been abandoned when the musicians fled.

Out of nowhere, a pale man flew from a shadowed hallway to land on the bear’s back, biting down into the thick fur of his neck. And then I saw the green-eyed man, and I stilled, speechless. He was holding twin coils in his fist, like ropes, but made of pure energy. Magic. Just like my sticks. One looked to be fire, the other ice, and he was… laughing. He was a wizard, too?

Claire was urgently tugging at my sleeve, trying to drag me away from the chaos. I met her terrified eyes and pointed behind the bar. “Hide.” Whatever was going on might give me an opportunity. An opportune distraction.

“What? Let’s get out of—Callie, wait!” she hissed as I jogged closer to the green-eyed man. He was a wizard. Like me. And whatever was going on, there was only two of our kind and three other flavors of Freak. And that wizard had won the piece of the spear. I needed to keep him alive.

So that I could steal it from him later.

The bear casually threw off the creature worrying at his neck, sending him clear across the room towards the piano, and then locked eyes on the green-eyed Indiana Jones wizard. “Nate Temple…” it snarled, looking as if it had bitten something unpleasant. “This is not your concern.”

Nate Temple… Master Temple? That was who the green-eyed man was? Although I recognized the name, I still couldn’t place where I had heard it before.

Temple shrugged. “Sometimes an animal just needs to be put down.” I could hear amusement in his tone, as if he were back in the auction room, not facing a giant talking werebear. In the middle of Kansas City. In an old theater.

I calmly stepped up beside him, and the bear shifted his eyes to me in surprise. “And who are you, little girl?”

I swallowed nervously, trying to bite down my fear. “I hear bear jerky is all the rage. Never had the chance to try it, though. Must be my lucky night.” I was surprised to hear my voice had no tremor.

Temple chuckled, as if hearing a small child make an impressively ridiculous boast. Then he took a step to stand between us. “Probably not the best practice dummy to learn on,” he said to me. “I’ve got this.”

My nightmare pressed against me, forcing its way to the forefront of my mind, and I struggled against it. The bear snarled at the two of us, but more so at Temple. “I will suck the marrow—”

“Suck on this, ass-clown.” And Temple lashed out with his whips, scouring the bear across both cheeks with them. The bear howled as he shook his snout, blood and burnt fur marring his face, but he managed to lunge towards Temple. And me.

I brought up my sticks, but they were suddenly longer, like spears — as if my subconscious mind realized that I didn’t want to get too close to the killing machine. Making my sticks longer didn’t increase the weight. They still felt feather-light in my palms.

But I remained frozen in place, battling the nightmare, hands shaking with terror. Rain. Darkness. A massive door slowly opening before me…

Temple flicked his gaze my way, frowned, and then I was suddenly sliding across the floor on my ass, my dress tearing at the sudden motion. Even though I squawked in surprise, I noticed that it hadn’t been an attack, because his blast had gently knocked me on my rear, and then scooted me across the marble floor. I slowed to a stop near the bar, and was cursing under my breath. The swift maneuver had shocked me so much that my nightmare shifted to a faint hum, overclouded by anger. I scrambled to return to the fight when I heard a shriek behind me.

I whirled, bringing up my spears, ignoring the roars, crashing, and sounds of destruction behind me. I came face to face with the pale man the bear had tossed across the room, the one who had been gnawing on his neck. He was standing behind Claire, somehow none the worse for wear, and gripping her by the throat. Long black claws extended from his fingers to press against her thin flesh, an ounce of pressure away from opening a vein. I slowly lowered my spears, not wanting to startle him. His resulting smile was chilly, revealing a long set of canines. Vampire.

I had never actually seen one up close before. I had seen a lot of shifters, but vampires had never really been a topic with Roland. Either because they weren’t a big problem here or because he dealt with them before they had a chance to cross my studies. He had told me that someone had come to town a few months ago to shut down the ruling faction, but he hadn’t spared many details beyond that. It had been the same time that a concert had caused much attention in the news. Some kind of terrorist attack or something. For some reason, something about that event tugged at me, but I forcefully banished the thought.

“There’s a good girl,” the vampire cooed, as if to calm a nervous dog.

I carefully controlled my breathing, unsure if I was fast enough to stop him before he opened Claire’s neck. I was quickly coming to the realization that I would have to kill someone for the first time in my life. The fact that he was a monster didn’t make a difference to me. I would still be taking a life. Or Claire would lose hers. Or I would lose mine. But someone was likely going to die, no matter how much it made me want to empty my stomach. I had practiced for many years, and was very good at fighting, but that had been practice. No real danger. One wrong move here could get someone killed. Would get someone killed.

“Get rid of them,” the vampire warned, careful to keep himself hidden behind Claire. Her eyes were wide with horror, and she was panting, standing on her toes as if that would save her. She wasn’t wearing her shoes any longer. The vampire was much taller than her, so he had to crouch down to stay protected. I released my spears, not able to force myself to do anything heroic. Because if I didn’t move fast enough, Claire would die. And I didn’t have the mentality to just take a life. I would hesitate. Falter at the last second. I just knew it. Or I would miss with my attack and accidentally kill her myself. Why did I agree to come here? I’m not ready!

Just then, I noticed a pair of eyes skulking up behind the unsuspecting vampire, staring from me to his back, licking his lips. He was still a good distance away, but he was stealthy, and drawing closer. I risked a closer look as the vampire averted his eyes from me for a moment. The wolf was the same shifter I had seen last night. He had the same notch in his right ear, and scar on his muzzle. The one that got away. The one who had likely returned to the storage unit to take the piece of the spear. An enemy. He snarled silently as he settled eyes on me, and his intent shot towards the unsuspecting vampire, as if granting me a silent truce. Even though he obviously hated to make the choice. He didn’t want a taste of my sticks, especially with me forewarned. He had seen what they could do with his friend. He would go after the easier meat, his gaze said.

All this happened in the blink of an eye. I could still hear the sounds of battle behind me, but it sounded distant, as if they had moved into a different room, or one of them was fleeing.

Either way, I was alone, and Claire was hostage, and I couldn’t be certain the wolf wouldn’t exact his revenge on me, or kill all three of us.