"Kitty, what's going on?" Hardin whispered.

I shook my head. I'd have to explain it later.

Rick stared, like the same realization had just dawned on him as well. He said, "Why? Why back him?"

"The known quantity is always to be preferred," she said. "Always maintain status quo, when the status quo in question is sufficiently under control."

"Under control!" Arturo said. He kept looking around for followers who were all unconscious or dead. "Whose control? No one controls me!"

"The Long Game put you here, Arturo, and the Long Game will keep you here because you are weak."

Arturo's expression turned cold. Frozen and disbelieving.

For my part, I wished I could hit pause and rewind to play that bit over. The Long Game?

"What interest do they have in Denver?" Arturo said, his voice fallen to almost a whisper. "Denver is nothing to them."

"Even a pawn may threaten the king."

She glanced at me, then, and I almost squeaked. I had nothing to do with any of this, I was an innocent bystander, an accidental witness who wanted nothing more than to flee.

Her attention on me lasted less than a second, less than the blink of an eye. How had she put so much meaning in that short a space of time? Then she was regarding Arturo again.

"You've reveled in your power here for quite some time by local standards. As long as Denver's been a city, you've been here. You've grown comfortable, complacent. You've lost sight. You've forgotten that this isn't about you." She approached them step by step, like a lion. No, a jackal waiting to clean up the pieces.

"You—" he spoke to Rick, "you're fighting them. You've always been fighting them, haven't you? You'll keep this city out of their hands."

"I will."

Arturo's smile changed, thinned, turned sly. It became the familiar smug expression he usually wore. "Then I concede. Denver is yours. I'll leave here forever."

Rick said, "Mercedes, you're here as a witness. Is that enough? Do you accept that I am now Master of Denver?"

Mercedes's voice chimed with hidden laughter. "Where will you go, Arturo?"

"Back to Philadelphia. I have friends there."

"Friends like me?" she said. "Friends who are also playing the game? Will they want you back?" Arturo's expression turned stricken.

She was two strides away from Rick. She'd never said her age. I'd guessed that it was young, less than a hundred years. But she was an actress, and she had disguised herself. She carried herself with a confidence that exceeded even Rick's. Having seen what Rick could do to Arturo, I could almost imagine what she could do to Rick.

I was way out of my league here. I knew that, I accepted that. But I also knew that I absolutely did not want this woman poking her sticky undead fingers into my city.

I sprang forward, spray bottle in one hand, cross in the other, both stuck out in front of me, braced in my grip like they were Ben's gun. "Stop."

Mercedes arched a perfect, questioning brow at me. She almost seemed amused.

"It's holy water," I said.

"Oh my." She smiled, but she didn't move.

What the hell good was a spray bottle of holy water going to do? She could bat it out of my hand in a second.

Hardin stepped up beside me. "Stop! All of you, put your hands up!"

Mercedes smiled at Rick. "You have minions. That's so sweet."

Rick said, "Mercedes, yes or no: Do you accept that I am now Master of Denver?"

"What does it matter if she accepts it or not?" I said, losing patience. "She's not even from here!"

"Do not ignore me! I said hands up!" Hardin sounded flustered.

Something happened. Rick moved, then a shadow fell over Hardin, and her crossbow disappeared. He broke the weapon over his knee and tossed the pieces aside like they were nothing.

"Hey!" she said.

"Both of you stay out of this," Rick said roughly. "You have no idea what's happening here."

"Explain this to me, Kitty," Hardin said.

"Rick wants to be the new Master of Denver. Mercedes wants to stop him."

"I'm here to arrest that guy." She nodded at Arturo. "That's all I want."

Rick never took his eyes off the other vampires. "If anyone but me removes Arturo, my authority here will be suspect. Your answer, Mercedes."

"Why are you even asking her?" I said. "Just kick her butt!"

Rick said, cutting, "I can't do anything to her if I want the city."

"Diplomatic immunity," Mercedes said.

"But she isn't exactly being neutral here—"

"Kitty, be quiet, please," Rick said, ice cold. "Mercedes?"

"No," Mercedes said. "I will carry word that Denver is torn between two Masters and ripe for the taking." When she reached for him, Rick stepped back. If I didn't know better, I'd have said he looked afraid.

Enough. I shot her. Sprayed her. Whatever.

My hand was shaking, and she twisted out of the way. Somehow, she'd seen it coming, anticipated me in the protracted way vampires saw time. The arc of water only caught her arm.

She didn't make a sound, not so much as a hiss of pain or anger. Splotches of water marred the sleeve of her jacket. The water probably hadn't even soaked through.

Something hit me. The water bottle went flying in one direction, smacking against the wall behind me, and I couldn't breathe. A weight slammed into me, and I crashed to my knees. Mercedes grabbed my throat and squeezed, holding me still. I clutched her wrist, scratched at her arm, trying to free myself. I gasped for air. She could kill me with one hand.

She said, "And you have both let the wolves here become unruly. You ought to be ashamed of yourselves."

"Right," Hardin said. "That's it. I've heard enough. You're all under arrest!" She'd retrieved the spray bottle and held it trained firmly on Mercedes. Not that that had done me any good.

With her other hand, Mercedes batted the spray bottle out of Hardin's grip. The cop stumbled back.

"Mercedes, let her go," Rick said.

She didn't. My vision started to go splotchy, and a growl forced its way out of my throat. Inside, Wolf was thrashing. We could claw her, we could run—