"You could change in the ambulance," I said.
Nicky frowned at me.
Domino said, "He'll have to stay in beast form for a few hours to make sure it heals completely. He can't just shift back and forth even if he's able to do that without risking permanent damage to his hearing."
"He can't run around Dublin in lion form, Anita," Damian said.
"Especially not one the size of a small horse. We're all bigger than the regular version of our animal side. A lion that big would attract a lot of attention," Domino said.
"I'd think any lion loose in Dublin would attract attention," I said.
"True, but our normal beast size is huge. It won't pass for a natural animal."
"I've seen shapeshifters that were the normal size of their animal," Damian said.
"I haven't."
"I think it may be an older type of lycanthropy," he said.
"That would explain it, and be weird. Why would older lycanthropy strains make their beast half look like a regular animal?" Domino asked.
"Maybe it's camouflage," I said. "Back when there were more real lions, tigers, and bears running around, if you could pass for a real animal I'd think you'd go undetected longer."
"So why did that strain die out and ours with the really unnatural-looking beasts survive?" Domino asked.
Nicky was watching the conversation, but unless he read lips he couldn't follow it. I felt guilty about the fact that it was my damage he was suffering through. I hadn't consciously given him the hearing damage. I touched his face, which earned me a smile. I wanted to give him a kiss but was afraid that leaning that far forward would make my arm move too much. My stomach had settled down, and I wanted to keep it that way, because there was nothing romantic about throwing up on someone.
"I know that the shapeshifters that looked like normal beasts didn't hide in their animal form as stringently as those who couldn't pass for ordinary," Damian said.
"That led to many of my brethren being hunted like common wolves," Jake said. He'd apparently walked up while we were talking.
"Are you saying that the fact that they could pass for a normal wolf meant they let themselves be seen, and that led to them being hunted?" I asked.
He nodded.
"But ordinary weapons couldn't harm them," Domino said.
"Once the hunters knew it was no ordinary beast, other weapons and magic were brought to bear," Kaazim said.
"Wait," Domino said. "Are you saying that your wolf and your jackal look like the natural counterpart?"
"Mine does," Jake said.
"So your lycanthropy is old-school," I said.
"Very old-school," he said with a small smile. He still had the pack with Echo inside it on his back. I wasn't sure I could carry her like that at all, but wounded I knew I shouldn't try.
"My jackal does not, but that is neither here nor there," Kaazim said.
"There are reports from all over the city about people being on fire," Jake said.
"People?" I made it a question with the upward lilt at the end.
Nicky asked, "Did you say people are on fire?"
"Vampires. I believe all reports are of vampires."
"Nicky, can you hear us?"
"Some," he said.
"I'm sorry," I said.
"My job," he said.
"I'm still sorry."
"I'm not."
"Are you sure all the victims are vampires?" Damian asked.
"The news and social media are speculating, especially the latter. They are saying anything from religious zealots burning themselves alive in protest to a serial arsonist setting helpless victims on fire with some unknown combustive agent that cannot be extinguished by normal means."
"The police don't realize how good your hearing is," I said.
Jake smiled. "No, but I can also hear the crowd that has gathered, as well as the police."
Kaazim added, "They are talking about the book of faces and other Internet sources. The police are trying to decide what they can reveal to calm the rumors."
"If the vampires tore into people like this one did, then that should be in the media, too. They'd know at least some of the other victims are vampires," I said.
"If what we are hearing is to be trusted, then the other vampires have not attacked the people that tried to help them," Kaazim said.
"Why did this one attack, then?" I asked.
"Vampires are driven by bloodlust, but underneath that is the person they were before the attack. Some remember themselves sooner, and if they were a good person before they became a vampire, they do not cease to be good."
"A few people would be able to fight the craving for blood," Damian said, "but not many. No matter how good a person you think you are when you first rise from the grave and seek blood, there is no pity, no humanity left."
"Once they have fed for the night, sanity can return," Jake said.
"But that first feeding is often vicious enough to kill, like what happened to Detective Logan. Have there been reports of more victims like that?" Damian asked.
"You are very right, Damian. There should be more. Even a good man rises the first few nights as a crazed beast," Kaazim said.
The air whispered along my skin, heavy with power. It made my skin run in goose bumps again, and that made me shiver, which moved my arm. The pain was sharp and the sensation of the shard moving in my arm made my stomach roll again. I took a deep breath and let it out slow.
Domino was holding his stomach. "You know, you've been hurt worse than this. Why does this make you nauseous?"
I took a few more calming breaths, then said, "I don't know."
"Do you hear it?" Damian said, and even those few words were full of fear.
I concentrated on that whisper of power, tried to listen, and just like before I could hear the words, "Come out, come outside." I nodded. "I hear it."
"It's just noise to me again," Domino said.
"Come out," Jake said.
"She is compelling more of her creations to come out into the light," Kaazim said.
"Then she's limited on how many she can control at one time. Not that that really helps us stop her," I said.
"Can we stop her this time?" Domino asked.
"I don't know, but I'm open to ideas," I said.
"We need to get this wound treated, before you do any more vampire hunting," Nicky said.
"Is your hearing back completely?" Jake asked.
"No," Nicky said. "I won't hear everything that's coming."
"I'd have tagged you for being too manly to admit it," Domino said.
"If I can't hear everything, and I lie about it, it could endanger Anita."
"Good man," Jake said, and patted Nicky on the shoulder the way he patted Dev and Pride.
Damian's phone rang. He answered it by saying, "It's Nathaniel."
"Is he all right?" I asked, my pulse speeding up just thinking about possibilities.
"He says he's fine." Then he was quiet, listening, but his hand came back to rest on my shoulder as if something about talking to the other third of our triumvirate made him want to touch me more. I didn't mind as long as he didn't push on me.
The evil energy faded away--no, not faded. It was like it was muffled, and there was music in its place. I couldn't hear the tune, or the words, only that there was a tune and someone was singing--something was singing.
"Do you hear music?" I asked.
"No," Jake and Kaazim said together. They exchanged a look at each other and then Kaazim said, "But the compulsion is quieter, not gone, but as if its power has been dimmed."
"I hear music," Domino said.
"Can you make out the words?" I asked.
"No."
"Me, either."
"I don't hear it, but Anita feels calmer," Nicky said.
"What the hell is it? The music, I mean."
"Whatever it is seems to be on our side, or at least not on hers," Jake said.
Damian said, "Nathaniel says it'
s Flannery's friends."
"You mean the fa . . . little gentle folk?" I finally managed to get out something that wasn't going to insult every Fey within earshot.
"Flannery has them dimming her magic with their own, but it's a temporary fix," Damian said, and he was listening as he talked, as if he were repeating things.
"How temporary?" Domino asked.
"How much time do we have?" I asked.