It wasn’t a voluntary entrance – that much was clear. She landed on the front table and slid off it to arrive in a heap.

I turned to Monica’s friend. “Back door. Run.”
She nodded, eyes widening, then did as I said. The hunter picked herself up. I prayed she didn’t have a bomb.

Actually, other than the jacket, she didn’t seem to have anything. And I recognized her attackers.
The same werewolves who’d roughed Mike up after he mistook one of them for a stray dog and tried to put a collar on her.

I moved to the hunter and pulled her to her feet. She winced at my touch. “Come on. I know them. They won’t actually eat you, but they won’t be averse to hurting you if you hurt them.”
“They’re werewolves!”

She sounded on the verge of panic and I realized she wasn’t any older than I was. I pretty much dragged her out of the back door. “And they’re decent people.”

“That’s not possible.”

“What did you do?”

“I tried to…I tried using holy water on them. It didn’t work.”

I laughed. “And they tossed you through the window. Haven’t you ever thought that holy water doesn’t work on things that aren’t evil?”

“They’re all…”

I knew this was no time to lecture her. Instead, I gently but firmly held her against the wall. “You’re coming with me.”

She squeaked.

“To a safehouse. We’re going to talk.”

Thea’s safehouse was the best place to take her. It wasn’t even far away…I’d walked there.

I frogmarched her, trying not to be too obvious, through the streets, then took her through the back door.

“Oh, nice. This is…”

“This is a safehouse and training place and I will kill you, literally, if you compromise it. The gear’s a pain to move.”

She managed a weak laugh. “I…”

“Right now, your people are being dealt with by my people. Right now. Because I won’t have this in my city. But I’m trying to do it with as few casualties as possible.”

I kept my eyes on her. “But I won’t have it either. You people killed a being that was basically a dog. An animal. Innocent.”
She squeaked again.

“Not everything’s black and white and one way or another you will learn that. Now. Sit down. I’m going to order pizza.”