“Leetha says this is typical play between that Clarence and the Frances,” Vlad said.

“That isn’t play,” Merri Lee snapped, rounding on Vlad. “That is wrong. Damn it, Eve, pick up.”

Not play. Wrong.

The light was green, so traffic moved in both directions on Crowfield Avenue, cars bunched together and going too fast for him to safely dash between them. It would be like leaping into a bison stampede, with much the same result for anything that wasn’t just as big. He’d wait until the light turned red and the cars stopped moving before going over and showing his teeth. Besides, there was no real urgency to cross the street since Leetha was already there and that Clarence wasn’t doing anything except yelling things that upset the female puppies.

Except something about this reminded him of the mock battle Montgomery and that Cyrus had last week.

<Nathan?> Simon called, feeling uneasy.

<Here.> Nathan stepped onto the sidewalk in front of the customer parking lot.

<Where is Meg?>

<In the office with Skippy. She locked the door until O’Sullivan returns with food.>

Still watching the ruckus across the street, Simon started moving toward the intersection. It was daylight, not the time Meg saw in the prophecy dream, but he still wanted to stand at the corner where he could see the entrance to the delivery area—and see anyone heading for the Liaison’s Office.

“Girls!” Leetha shouted. “Over here.”

Perhaps because she was more familiar with the Sanguinati who lived in her building, Lizzy was the first to obey, dragging Grr Bear by one arm. The Frances, dodging a swipe of the Clarence’s hand, raced after Lizzy. But Sarah had been standing closest to the sidewalk and was now farthest away from protection—and was the most innocent fawn among the three girls. In her effort to escape, she ran too close to the predator, and that Clarence grabbed her. He locked one arm around her, bending her at the waist, and pulled her shorts and underpants down, shouting, “Show ’em your bald pussy, bitch!”

In that moment, annoying behavior turned into a real threat.

Vlad turned to smoke and raced over the cars, startling some drivers into hitting the brakes.

Robert screamed, “Sarah!” and leaped off the porch to defend his sister, with Sam right there with him.

Changing direction, Simon grabbed Merri Lee to keep her from leaping between a car that had stopped and the one behind it that didn’t stop in time, adding the crunch of metal to the shouts and snarls of a fight—and the sound of horns honking and tires squealing on Main Street. Despite Merri Lee’s swearing at him and digging her short nails into his arms as he hauled her away from the curb, he noticed how Sam and Robert moved as a team to harass the somewhat larger predator. That Clarence flung Sarah to the ground and turned his attention to the other young males.

“Gonna stick you, Wolf,” that Clarence shouted, pulling a small knife from his pocket. “Gonna stick you good.”

Sam didn’t respond. The puppy pack had been learning this lesson as play: harry a larger predator away from weaker members of the pack while avoiding teeth or claws that could injure or kill. Snap and retreat, snap and retreat. Work as a pack to push, push, push the predator away from the den.

Vlad shifted to human as soon as he reached the other side of the street. He scooped up Sarah and rushed to the spot where the other girls stood. Then he and Leetha turned toward the boys to break up the fight. Realizing the Sanguinati would deal with the trouble, Merri Lee stopped fighting Simon.

Then the Sandee came out of the apartment building. She screamed as she ran toward the boys and raised something thin and pointed as if she intended to drive it into Sam’s back.

Leetha grabbed the Sandee and scraped her fangs over the skin between neck and shoulder. Then Leetha stumbled away, screaming in pain. Distracted, Robert didn’t react fast enough when that Clarence jabbed at him. He went down, leaving Sam facing that Clarence.

Releasing Merri Lee, Simon ran to the space in front of the crunched cars and prepared to leap into the other lane of traffic. The damn light hadn’t changed yet and the drivers on that side had sped up, trying to flee. Then two ponies galloped out of the customer parking lot and a small tornado made of snow slammed into some of the cars, knocking them sideways and turning them into a barricade that stopped all hope of fleeing. Within moments, the tornado expanded, burying several car lengths of the street under a furious snowfall.

With all the traffic stopped, Nathan bolted across the street and headed straight for the Sandee. He didn’t try to bite. Leetha was still on the ground, wounded somehow, and Vlad was guarding the girls and calling to Sam. No, Nathan hit the Sandee from behind. She flipped over his back and landed on her belly. Nathan spun and jumped on her back, his nails digging into her bare skin as she screamed and bucked.

Simon leaped into the whiteout to reach the other side of the street, bumping into trapped cars and pushing through snow already up to his thighs. He heard Merri Lee shouting, “There’s a snow tornado blocking Crowfield Avenue. You’ll have to come another way.”

Sirens. Smart human. Blocked from getting across herself, she had called the police pack.

<Sam!> he shouted as soon as he stumbled into the sunshine and heat of a morning in late Messis.

Sam leaped out of reach of that Clarence’s knife. Simon would have dealt with the enemy, but that was the moment Eve Denby rounded the back of the house and came running to protect her young. Not sure what she intended to do with the big wrench in her hand, Simon rushed to block her before she crushed someone’s head. As he wrestled with Eve, Marie Hawkgard dove and hit that Clarence in the back, driving the boy to his hands and knees. Her talons left deep furrows in his shoulders as she launched herself toward the porch railing of the apartment above Lieutenant Montgomery’s.