Once Bitten (Shadow Guild: The Rebel 1)

They stood there, swaying. I ran around behind them and tugged their white coats off. Mac made sure to keep contact with them as I yanked the white fabric from their shoulders. Last, I took the badges.

“I’ve got them,” I said.

Mac let go, and they stared at her, dazed. Gently, she pivoted them in the direction they’d been heading. She gave them a little nudge that set them walking.

I looked at her, brows raised. “Impressive.”

“Yeah. I’m probably tapped out on that, though. Won’t be able to play the same trick on the guards. Not unless we can wait a while for me to recoup my powers.”

“Can’t.” I handed her a jacket and a badge. “Let’s try our luck. Maybe they’ll assume we’re new and won’t look at our credentials.”

She nodded and shrugged into the jacket, then tugged the hood down from her face, since it just didn’t go with the white coat.

“How do I look?” She gave a faint froggy cringe.

“Honestly, not that bad. You’re still kind of green, but it’s very faint now.”

“Some of the magic from the hoodie is still working, just not as much as if I wore the hood.”

“It’ll have to do. You look like you ate bad seafood and maybe smooshed your nose on a door.”

“Fantastic.” She buttoned up the white coat.

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I did the same, buttoning it so that it covered my jacket and hoodie. It was a lumpy combo, but it worked. I put the badge over my head next, and then Mac and I strode toward the morgue with confident strides that suggested we knew what we were doing.

We really didn’t.

At least, I didn’t.

I could wing it, though.

As we got close enough to see the guards’ faces well, I gave a friendly nod. They did a double take at me and my new supermodel face, then frowned at Mac, who was slightly greener under the bright lights. Both men were of average height and build, with nondescript faces.

“Haven’t seen you around,” said the one on the left.

“New.” I smiled, striding past him toward the door. “Have a good night.”

“Good night.” He nodded at me, smiling.

Victory!

“Hold on a moment,” the one on the right said, his voice ringing with authority.

I nearly groaned. This was not what I needed right now. One out of two wasn’t bad, except when it was two suspicious policemen. But it wasn’t unexpected.

I gave a smile and turned to find him right behind me. The smiling guard had approached as well, and he stood in front of Mac, frowning at her.

Crap.

I eyed the alcove to my left. There were about two meters of space hidden behind a wall that faced the street. A bench sat there, out of the frequent rain and infrequent sun. There was an identical alcove on Mac’s side of the entryway.

They were our best bets for doing this quietly.

I moved toward my alcove, and the policeman frowned at me. I hoped he’d follow so that I could try to knock him out with my limited self-defense skills, but he reached for his radio instead.

Damn it.