"Good job with the Rooster. How'd everything go with...?"
    "Candi? We had a nice time."
    "Glad to hear it. Um, if I can get anything clearer, I'll let you know."
    "Do you think she might try to come for you?" he asked hesitantly.
    Dawn's eyes were like chips of ice. "No," was all she said, but there was no chance of us doubting her.
    "That's my girl."

    (later)
    Well.
    Phoenix Talon, who is still waiting for his new bokken, got out his katana for the occasion. He doesn't usually carry it because he might hurt someone with it, but that didn't seem likely to be an issue tonight.
    "Dawn, you stay here and man the phones, man the board, if you see anything weird, let us know," her dad told her.
    "Will do." She had either gotten over her fears or was hiding them better. "Oh, Rick's coming over. We were going to go out on a date, but.... We'll just man the board."
    "Okay. If anything happens, if she ends up here, both of you guys just run," he told her. "Don't do anything stupid."
    We split up as planned and settled in to wait. I sometimes think this is my least favorite part of the job. The moments of heart-rending terror tend to be over quickly.
    Watching the streets around the Montesanti house, hardly daring to blink lest we miss some sign of a coming attack, while the three-quarters full moon inched higher... that's the hard part.

[Aside: Others]

    I settled in a shadowy nook of the building's roof, scanning the street below for auras; Thunderbolt was across the street and on the other side of the house. We had a couple of false alarms. The father and his son came home, lights were turned on and later, off.
    "Needle, we got a live one," Thunderbolt murmured suddenly over the phone link. "Climbing up the wall, this side. Sense anything?"
    "I'll check." I darted over to that side of the building and took a glance, and felt my stomach turn over just looking at her aura. "Hit the panic button."
    "Did you hear something upstairs?" a voice drifted up from the house.
    "Yeah, I think so," a male voice replied. "Hang on."
    She was already inside—god, was she fast. We heard an awful, wet sound and a feral roar.
    "Dad?" Pause. "Oh, no...."
    I darted through the window into an empty guest room and saw Sabertooth perched on the banister of the stairs just outside the room, looking down at a child who must be Eric. On the landing lay Montesanti, who wasn't dead yet since he was still bleeding. His ribcage had deflected most of her casual claw-swipe.
    "Run! Outside! Go!" I yelled at the kid. Sabertooth was already moving, and I barely got through to her. She growled; I'd gotten her attention, though I didn't think I'd hurt her much. Thunderbolt dove in through the window and rolled to his feet, defensive field active.
    Another snarl, and then Sabertooth leaped toward us and pivoted in mid-air—impossibly—her front claws raking toward Thunderbolt while the back set lashed out at me. The impact with my shield instead of flesh threw her off balance; one of her claws traced lightly over Thunderbolt's cheek—through his own defenses—instead of ripping his head off. A drop of blood ran slowly down from the cut. She landed lightly on her feet, snarling. Downstairs, Scott surged up from the basement level, grabbed the paralyzed kid, and went through the front door without bothering to open it.
    I tried for her again and missed as she leaped back toward the stairs; her bioaura was actually fighting me somehow, never mind the way she was darting around. Phoenix Talon charged in through the front door Scott had opened, katana high. One of his flashes of light went off, but didn't seem to affect her.
    Thunderbolt gathered in the extra light and redirected it toward Sabertooth in a diffuse blast, singed her a bit but nothing more. She cleared the stairs in one leap and landed on all fours in front of Talon.
    "I'd call you a bitch, but it'd be the wrong species."
    Her only response was a snarl before she sprang. The katana fell in pieces to the carpet as her claws raked his arm, and then she was gone, following Scott as the robot with his small burden raced across the Common.
    Privateer arrived on the scene, dropped down from his vehicle with considerable élan and fired one of his "pistols" at the feline killer; a cable wrapped around her tightly, and she fell to the ground. It only slowed her down for a moment, but Scott had gained some precious distance in the fraction of a second before she freed herself.
    "You," she snarled at the Swordbearer, the first recognizable word we'd heard from her.
    He flourished his cape and bowed before sword and dagger leaped into his hands; his thrust connected, but the sword simply flexed slightly when it struck her, without penetrating. Phoenix Talon came racing in and punched her in the back; she hit the ground and rolled upright, trying to watch both of them and maneuver around to resume her pursuit. I still can't believe he actually went hand-to-hand with that thing. I remained in the doorway and spent a moment establishing firmer contact with her aura; in case she made a break for it, I'd be able to track her if she got out of sight. This was the psychic equivalent of putting my hand into a bucket of live cockroaches, but I managed not to throw up or anything.

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