Taking the lead, he motioned with his hand for the two kids to follow him. Shit, this must have been how Rylee felt, towing Pamela, Alex, and Eve around on her salvages and such. While they were powerful in their own rights, they were children, untrained and so very young.

With nothing but the soft crunch of their feet on the packed snow, they slipped around the side of the building, staying well back from the lights.

Halfway there, Liam saw a major flaw in the plan and touched Pamela on the arm. “They will see where the shots come from. Go back to the Jeep, get Milly to drive and let off two or three fireballs. Be sure not to hit the doors, we want to drive them out front, not push them out the back.”

Her jaw tightened. “And then just you and Frank go in?”

Liam drew her close. “They can’t hurt me. And Frank can raise the dead. We’ll be okay, but not if they are on top of us before we even reach the door. We don’t want a fire fight, not with people who have guns that work against us. Double back and meet us along the road there.” He pointed to a dark line passing through dense canopied trees that ran parallel to the building. He didn’t point out he had a gun—Frank’s—tucked into the back of his pants under his shirt.

She let out the building steam of teenage indignation in a big gush of air. “You’re right.” No more words, she turned and ran back the way they’d come, her long hair streaming behind her.

Liam didn’t waste any time. “Frank, let’s go.”

They jogged around the perimeter and were at the back of the mirrored building within a few minutes, crouched low against the snow. Between the building and them was a line of dark, dirty snow, posts driven at twelve-foot intervals, chains dangling from them. Liam lifted his nose and took a deep breath.

Trolls, they’d used Trolls. Not that the killing of the slimy bastards was any loss, but if the Trolls decided they had a vendetta against the humans, and the Trolls were aligned with Orion … shit, clusterfuck didn’t begin to cover what they could be looking at.

“Ho kustwithw are we going to know the witch does anything?” Frank whispered, his eyes round and dilated behind his glasses.

“You’ll know. And don’t call her ‘the witch.’ She has a name. Use it,” Liam said softly. There was very little finesse behind Pamela’s abilities, just sheer power. With her, it was all or nothing.

“Sorry.”

Without warning, an explosion erupted, lighting the night on fire as a column of flame shot high into the sky straight up the front side of the building.

“Holy shit,” Frank breathed. The kid had missed Pamela’s previous light show, exploding Ingers’s cars, since he’d been unconscious.

“Remember that next time you try to take her on or call her ‘the witch,’” Liam grunted as he started forward. A second column joined the first and then a streak of flame the size of a truck soared in an arc toward the top of the building.

Liam paced himself so the kid could keep up; even at that slow speed, they made it to the back of the building without anyone seeing them.

They skidded to a stop, and Liam pressed his hands against the door, which opened easily. Not even locked? That was cocky beyond any FBI agent or operation he’d ever known.

They stepped inside and Liam froze, his nostrils flaring, every nerve in his body dancing with recognition.

Witches, and lots of them, had been here. His thoughts connected. “Frank, we have to get some of these weapons out of here, and then we have to burn this place down.”

“Isn’t that what the witch—I mean, Pamela—is doing?”

Liam forced himself to move forward, deeper into the building, deeper into the thick smell of witch and dark magic. “No. And we have to hurry because we aren’t dealing with humans.”

Frank swallowed, his Adams apple bobbing several times. “Other supernaturals are helping them kill their own kind, that’s what you’re saying?”

Liam followed his nose, sniffing for gun oil, and picking it up pretty quick. He didn’t bother to answer the kid. “This way.” He wove through the lower levels of the building. The weapons were always stored down low in the FBI buildings, easier to grab on the way out. They didn’t run into anyone as they traversed the hallways, though Liam heard footsteps now and again.

He brought them to a door labeled “Armory.” With a glance at the kid, he pushed the door open and peered inside. Armory indeed. Guns of every size and type. Without questioning himself, he grabbed two handguns to replace those he could no longer use. While he didn’t mind Rylee’s blades, guns would always be his first choice.

“Grab two guns and the ammo for them.”

Frank did as he was told and Liam gathered up ammo for himself, stuffing it into a large backpack on the floor. Footsteps coming down the hallway made him pause. He snapped his fingers and got Frank’s attention. “Hide.”

Frank stared around them, settling on tucking himself between two desks.

Liam loaded the weapon, almost casually, though his heart thumped hard. The last time he’d used a gun, he inadvertently killed his partner. Being as close to supernaturals as they’d been, the bullet veered sideways instead of staying on its intended course.

The door swung inward and a man in his forties strode into the room, his head down. “Gods be damned, I thought we’d taken out that meddling coven.”

Liam didn’t wait for the witch to bring his head up, didn’t gi k, d thatve him time to use a spell. He just pulled the trigger. Even in his hands, the gun worked and the bullet stayed true, driving through the man’s head.

The witch was dead before he hit the floor.

“That was loud, Liam,” Frank whispered, standing.

Liam nodded. “Yeah, guns tend to be that way. Time to leave, I think.”

Frank nodded, then lifted his hand, and the body at Liam’s feet twitched. Frank gave him a half grin. “I’ll leave him to guard the weapons. That should scare the shit out of the rest of them.”

The dead witch rose slowly, pushing itself to its feet, but only had eyes for the kid who intoned in a more than creepy voice. “Protect this room, kill all who enter.”

The zombie nodded, its head lolling forward and back with far more looseness than it should have.

Liam scanned the room, saw two files on the far side. He grabbed them and stuffed them into the bag alongside the ammo.