Second Time is a Charm

Jack barely had a chance to feel proud of defending Khaat, as she usually knew that one strategic hit usually had some backlash that punished everyone. Debris and rubble had been thrown about, and dust hung in the air ominously, blocking her vision and the sight of the newest trouble. She approached carefully, picking her way, eyes on the dark space that was surely the pit caused by her destructive spell. Where was Khaat, she wondered. Oh boy... Where [i]was[i] Khaat?

She was on the opposite side of the pit. Jack stared at the two figures - this was a werewolf. A bad man, but a werewolf. And a being. Jack did not kill. She had only aimed to kill once. She would maim. She would beat. But she could not kill if she did not have too. She first pointed her wand at Khaat, aiming a quick levitation spell at her, hoping to guide her out of the pit. Then she could help James out, bind him, and they could move on.

Marcus had been immensely grateful for Jack's arrival and actually, even more, for the bombarda. He glanced up at her.

"Stay back from him," Marcus warned Jack. He didn't have time to go into detail, but this werewolf was a notch beyond. He reached up one hand to hit the two small tie tacks pinned to his lapel. One was a duplicate of the Minister's own security alarm and would summon the aurors. The other was an emerald, rimmed in gold, would summon every private fighter Robert knew--if they could come. And with his ordering Khaat to fire her patronus, Marcus had, effectively, set off every distress call the Lupin family had.

He felt Khaat's hold on his hand weakening, as if she were simply giving up. He tightened his grip on her and then he felt Jack's spell take hold on her.

He heard more apparating sounds and glanced up to see Michael Tremaine arriving, and he had Edward Donohue with him. If they were lucky, Blood would be fooled into a sense of security by the arrival of two old men.

"Oh, give it up!" James rolled his eyes, annoyed. "She's mine. I caught her fair and square...."  The thick, heady smell of the fresh blood in the air was starting to get to his animal side.  It was making him hungry and desperate.   He wanted this done with--now. He saw the arrival of the old men. The one didn't bother him. That old fart was just tiresome. But the other--the other caused a surge of fear in James, one he tried hard to hide in his eyes. Who the hell dug Edward Donohue out of retirement? That was one old human worthy of being afraid of because, in James's circles, Donohue had become legendary for werewolf slaying.

He felt the pull of the levitation spell against his prey, and looked up and saw the young woman. She intrigued him. She didn't run from him like other humans usually did. He grinned at her like he'd seen a new entrée on the buffet.

"Oh, look! A ginger!" he grinned.  "Gingers are usually a bit more spicy.  How nice!  Let me see... sassy blond....or a spicy ginger....such choices on the menu tonight...."

Michael was angry.  He cared about both women. Neither of them were going to be entrees tonight. He looked beside him and saw a large remnant of a wood beam. He picked it up, apparated to behind Blood and promptly slammed the beam into the side of Blood's thick skull.

"You big, dumb ox," Michael said angrily. "This isn't hunting season.  They're not yours!"  

He tapped the flap of the backpack he perpetually carried.  "Hiss! Go! Give Jack a hand!"  The rope peeked out of the backpack and slithered out of the pack and down to the hole in the alley to wrap around Khaat, the other end, wrapping tightly around Michael's waist. From where he was, Michael could see Belby was wounded, and the fact that he was hearing nothing from the pit didn't bode well for his goddaughter. That, and the fact that James was acting weirder than usual.

Edward had immediately seen how dire this situation was. And he had also seen the fear in the eyes of the enormous werewolf in front of him.

Edward's wand was leveled squarely at the beast, and he knew he didn't need to think twice about killing him if necessary. Edward recognized the signs of a beast about to become drunken with hunger and the smell of fresh blood. If that happened, all the normal rules about trying to control a beast that size would be off.

There was only one person present that Edward did not know already. He turned to the red headed woman and sized her up quickly. She was far from stupid. A fighter. And she seemed to be knowledgeable about werewolves at least to some extent. He was hoping she knew at enough to know that, at this point, distracting the beast with some sort of food would get him off the idea of blood. And with the kitchen door just a couple steps away, there was a really good chance of perhaps luring him away with a substantial amount of fresh beef or lamb. The redhaired woman was closer to the kitchen door than he was, and Edward knew he could cover her, if she understood what he was trying to do.

"Get her out," Edward told Marcus and Michael. He looked at the red haired woman and then back at the beast. "I'll give you one chance, James. You give me the girl, and we'll make sure you eat."

Marcus saw that between Jack's levitation spell and the magical rope that Khaat was finally reappearing from the pit.  Marcus clutched her and dragged her back from the edge. He barely recognized her from the blood that she was covered with. He didn't see how she was going to survive.  

He laid her on the ground beside him and took off her cloak. Her shoulder and her throat had taken huge hits, large bleeding wounds.  He checked her for a pulse.  It was there--faint and irregular--but it was there.  He tapped her cheek to see if she was still conscious. Her eyes fluttered at him, and he saw her fingertips move, motioning to him.

"We're not going to lose you," he told her, his voice calm and steady.  He saw she wanted to speak to him. He bent closer to hear her.  He heard her whisper one soft word into his ear.  He frowned. The word made no sense to him, not in this context, anyway.  He didn't understand, but when he looked into her eyes, he saw that the word, just as it was, had been very intentional.  A code word, perhaps?  It was his best guess.

"I'm not going to need it," he said, trying to reassure her before she faded into unconsciousness completely.

Jack heard Marcus Belby's warning, but she was out of Blood's way - still, to let Belby she had heard and did not seek to disobey, she took a small step back, still focused on the task of lifting Khaat out of the pit. Blood seemed to have taken notice of her, finally, and began tossing out threats and comments. Jack smirked ever so slightly, paying him no mind. Please. Did he know who she was, and who she had dealt with? Those threats were pleasant talk to her, conversational even. She was not shaken nor rattled. "We'll plan on tea first," she called to him, her eyes still on Khaat as the woman began to reach the top.

She heard pops behind her and glanced back, noticing two new men approach the fray - first, and foremost, being Michael Tremaine. It had been awhile since she had seen Michael, and it was unfortunate that she had to see him in these circumstances. The other man was sizing her up and caught her eye. His comment was not lost on her and she cast out a quick glance around, spotting a small cafe kitchen. She ensured that Belby hadKhaat before she backed towards the cafe.

As she grew closer, she summoned a flank to her. A lamp shank found her and she hefted it along, moving away from Khaat. If she could just get Blood out of the pit and away from Khaat, she was sure the men would cut the werewolf off from his prey. And she could deal with him in the meantime. She swung the meat, helping the scent catch on the breeze.

"Go," Michael told Marcus softly. "Brian will be waiting. We'll cover you. Hiss--return." The rope slithered back and coiled around Michael in a crossbody style as Marcus picked up the limp and bloody form of his client.

Michael himself felt torn. He wanted Belby to get out with Khaat before she bled out, but, on the same hand, this wasn't his first run in with Blood. This was the first that Michael had known of Blood to come so boldly into London, and Michael believed that meant there was an entirely new game afoot.

And then there was an additional concern. He cared about Jack, and if Blood thought for one moment that he was going to ignore the proffered lamb shank in favor of a more sacrificial ginger colored one, then Michael believed Blood was sadly mistaken.

His grip on his wand tightened and he leveled it right at Blood's heart--which Michael was convinced was merely empty space in Blood's body.

"Hold," Edward's calm voice said to Michael. Edward was impressed with how quick the young woman had retrieved the lamb shank and the skill that she was using to offer it to the enormous beast. He knew enough to offer the shank without putting herself within the beast's reach. Well done, Edward thought.

"Its the best offer you'll get tonight," Edward told James.

James had been far more interested originally in the Lupins but she had lost blood much faster than even James had intended. He had originally only wanted the stone. He hated her, though, and he hated the stone more. The chain it hung from had not yielded to even his strength. He hat tried to tear it off of her, and then the smell of the blood had been so intoxicating.

And now there was another choice they offered. The ginger or the lamb shank. It was almost impossible to resist one or the other now.

He swiped the lamb shank away from the woman. Then he grinned at her. "I never promised I would surrender both of you," he said. "I gave them one. Perhaps I won't give them two. I'll take both little lambs. This one--and you."

Edward felt very sure that Blood was going to move to take the woman now as a consolation prize of sorts. He and Michael still had their wands trained on the heart of the beast.  And Tremaine was feeling very overprotective of the woman. Edward could see it.  

Edward was betting on the woman. He was figuring Blood to miscalculate and judge her more youthful than competent.  

And, then there was the other small business of Blood's references to his pack.  Edward wanted Blood alive if possible.  He needed to know where the pack was and just how murderous they were.  Edward was figuring the woman to know how to derail Blood.  Perhaps get him to retreat to the pack.  Edward could track him, he guessed, but Blood was now apparently attracted to the woman. She needed time to make her move, whatever it would be.

So, Edward held his position, hoping Tremaine would do the same.