Lycan Legacy - Paladin: Tales of Luna White - Werewolf Veronica Singer (children's ebooks online txt) 📖

over your explosives and weapons before you can be allowed entry.”

Both Mike and Manny looked to me, ignoring Lady Birdsong. Those sneaky bastards had managed to keep some C-4 and detonators from our rescue attempt.

“We’ll give up the explosives,” I said, “but my personal guards will maintain control of their weapons. I give you my assurance, they will not use them except to protect me or our team.”

“I must insist,” she said primly. The smell of ozone and magic increased.

“And I must refuse. You are in no danger from my team.”

“I can force the issue.” She turned her eyes to Mike and said, “Give me your weapon.” Her voice was infused with magic and command.

Mike’s face blanked and he pulled out his silver dagger. His forehead emitted a golden glow, as if a light had turned on underneath the skin.

“I don’t think so,” he said. “That ‘command voice’ crap might work on regular grunts, but SEALs are a bit harder.”

“Give me your weapon!” she commanded more forcefully.

Mike showed teeth, but it wasn’t a smile. “I’ve been told these runes make this an effective weapon against magicians,” he said as he stroked the blade.

“Give me your—” Her voice cut off as Mike lunged across the intervening space and put the blade to her throat.

I slid to my right, giving myself a clear shot at Lady Birdsong in case she used magic against Mike.

“The only problem is that I haven’t had the chance to test it on a magician,” he said. “Until today.”

The bulletproof glass barrier that separated the driver from the passenger compartment dropped swiftly. The magician-driver poked a wand through and aimed it at Mike’s back.

A bolt of magical force blasted from the wand, but was stopped by the cupped palm I placed in front of the weapon. The energy dissipated harmlessly against my werewolf essence.

I grabbed the wand from the man’s hand and cracked him across the knuckles with it. “Try that again and I’ll shove this up your ass.”

I turned my attention to Lady Birdsong. The tip of Mike’s dagger touched her throat. Three of the seven glyphs glowed brightly, casting strange shadows around the interior of the limo.

Lady Birdsong grabbed Manny’s hand, tugging on it as if she expected him to defend her. Her hopes were dashed when Manny peeled her hand from his like it was infected.

“Ladybird, you’re on your own here. I’m not going to fight my boss for you.”

Manny scooted back and took a sip of beer. “This reminds me of that time we got held up in Bangkok.”

Then he pulled out his .45 and aimed it at Lady Birdsong’s head. “That got messy. Let’s not get messy, okay?” He tilted his head and added, “You seem like a nice girl, you got us a ride, and you gave me a drink. I would really hate to shoot you.”

The scent of fear came off her in waves, and she raised both hands with fingers spread. A magician’s sign that they wouldn’t attack.

At her nod, the driver pulled back. He gazed hungrily at the wand I still held. I shook my head and he raised the divider.

“Mike, please let her go.”

Mike moved back to our seat, now occupying the center position, but kept the knife in hand. He stared menacingly at Lady Birdsong, almost daring her to try to entrance him again.

Manny waited for me to nod, then clicked on the safety and holstered his weapon.

“Did you offer sanctuary or imprisonment?” I mused. “Not very welcoming. I won’t stand for my pack or guards to be disarmed. So we’ll just hop out here and be on our way.”

I pulled the door handle, only to find it locked. I gave Lady Birdsong a reproving look and extruded a claw. I scored a circle in the glass, just as I had done to Zippy’s bulletproof window, only this circle was much larger.

Lady Birdsong had a smug look on her face as glyphs appeared on the glass, glyphs that made it stronger than diamond. No wonder she hadn’t worried about driving between two armies.

Her expression soured as the glyphs flashed brightly and then expired, leaving simple bulletproof glass behind. Still tough stuff, but no match for my claws.

The groove was about half an inch deep when Mike tapped me on the shoulder. “Luna, why don’t you use this? No need to ruin your manicure on that.” He proffered his dagger, handle first.

“Great idea, Mike,” I said. I took the dagger carefully. The silver tang would burn my hand, but the enchanted blade would make short work of this glass.

“But that’s silver!” protested Lady Birdsong.

“Enchanted silver,” I said. “This dagger has interesting properties.” I continued carving away at the glass. “It’s a lot tougher than it looks.”

“Kinda like Luna,” said Logan.

There was a long silence while I worked, then Lady Birdsong asked, “You trust this man at your back with a weapon deadly to werewolves?”

“Of course.”

Lady Birdsong was holding Manny’s hand again.

I had the groove cut over two inches deep into the three-inch-deep glass. I handed the blade back to Mike, pulled my left fist back and punched with werewolf strength. With a satisfying pop! the disk of glass and plastic popped out of the window. It rolled around for a minute, like a tossed coin the size of a manhole cover, before finally dropping flat.

Hot desert air flowed into the limo through the new porthole, dissipating the stench of magic.

“Thanks for the ride from the embassy,” I said. “We’ll take it from here.”

I reached through the portal and flipped the outer door handle to open the door.

“Please don’t go,” she whispered as if it hurt to talk.

I arched an eyebrow and shook my head. “We really can’t trust you. I think we’ll be better off on our own.”

“Sanctuary, not imprisonment. I give you my word as a lady.”

“Your word as a lady isn’t worth much,” I said.

“What assurance can I give you?”

I stared at her right hand, joined to Manny’s left, then flashed the sign magicians used to