De'Shak chained her monster into one of the interfaces designated for her Guard.

"You will come with us, my Monster, and you will guard me, as you guard me here. I cannot abide useless things in my demesnes."

Her monster, her Magnus, only groaned with overwhelming pain and sorrow.

***

Al's tow truck was way bigger than anything the Agency's architects had expected to be driving through the entry gate. I couldn't even sit in her seat and reach down to swipe my ID; I had to climb down through the driver's side door, squeeze in next to the front fender of the truck, and go through the whole 'swipe, scan, sit' routine. I half expected the ID to be completely invalid, and half expected I would have to wait for an escort to drive out from the Agency building itself.

I got more than a little nervous when the crossbar ratcheted up. The kiosk screen read 'clear', though, so I squirmed my way back beside the truck, got up on the running board, and waved Sue forward. The truck bounced twice, heavily, as the twin rear axles humped their way over the speed bump under the crossbar. Once her door was clear of the kiosk, I clambered back in over top of her lap.

"Stay on the dotted line."

"Don't you mean stay in my lane?"

"To hell with that. Your truck is a little wide for Agency drive, and I don't want to get shot."

"Right. Dotted line it is. So, any advice?"

"Yeah. Don't shift. They might not realize."

Allie shifted in the back seat. "They can't tell by smell?"

"Not that I know of. Why, can you?"

"Well, yeah. I mean, I could always tell other cats, and I can tell Miss Sue is a Shifter, but... I guess there are a lot I haven't met. Maybe I'm just being silly."

Allie's comment about smelling cats and Sue yanked my brain back to my earlier thoughts about how few Shifters the agency had, and how poorly used they seemed to be. In all the time I'd worked there, I couldn't remember a single Shifter being used to determine if someone else was a Shifter. They helped contain them, helped track them down, but they never identified them. If Shifters didn't have a reputation in the Agency for being a little bit on the ignorant side, I was certain someone would have noticed by now.

Of course, my own illusions about that had been smashed to bits by Sue and Al. Hell, my cat had managed to penetrate one of the most secure buildings on the planet. Maybe the Agency had been underestimating Shifters all along. Special Agents and Mages and even Vampires were looked on as valued members of the community, but Shifters mostly got lumped in with Zombies; contagious, stupid, and impossible to control.

"Sue?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you tell if someone is a Shifter by looking at them?"

"Sometimes, if they're close to the edge."

"Okay. The ones walking around free in here won't be. Basically, if someone is wearing a suit and smells of gun oil, assume they're an Agent of some kind and follow my lead."

"What if they're not carrying?"

"Then they're in management, and we can ignore them, or they're Shifters, and you can still follow my lead, or they're Mages."

"What do we do then?"

"Hope it's my dad, because any of the others might take you apart to see how you tick."

"Charming."

"Yeah, now you know why I'm getting Kittul out of there."

Just about then we pulled into the parking lot, and all thoughts of conversation fled. I took in the shattered facade of the west wing of the building, the back end of an SUV still sticking out of a smoking hole in the wall. A big luxury sedan was lying a few feet beyond the broken remains of the front entrance, its front end smashed beyond any hope of repair. Four suited Agents stood next to each of the breaches in the building's defenses.

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I leaned over to whisper to Sue and Allie. "Okay. Stay with me. If anyone asks, we're engaged, and we're trying to foster Allie."

Sue just stared at me in annoyed disbelief. "Really, Zed?"

Allie, on the other hand, was grinning at me, "Really? Do you mean it?"

My face was irresistibly drawn to my palm. After a second, I looked up at Allie. "Yeah, Allie. If you want to stay with me, I've got room." When she finished squeeing, I looked over at Sue. "Remember what I said, Sue. Slow, but not stationary."

"Yeah. I think an engagement just now is a little fast, isn't it? Or did we take a wrong turn and wind up in Vegas?"

"Yes, well. In America, we have this amazing thing called lying to people who might want to kill us."

She lifted an eyebrow, her lips drawing down into a frown. "So, you don't really want to marry me?'

I sighed, "I did say 'not stationary', right? I like you, Sue. I'm not ruling more than that out. I just don't know you very well yet, okay?" I pulled her into a kiss, which she returned eagerly. When I pulled away, she was smiling again.

"So. You want me to lie about something important for you."

"Well, yeah."

"Okay."

I swear, I'll never understand women. "Okay then. Just follow me."

***

"The presumption of innocence is key to the process. The presumption that an individual found on United States soil is a United States citizen until proven otherwise is a natural outgrowth of that."

The black-haired Agent terrified Kittul. No matter what she said, it was delivered in a faint, slightly impatient monotone, whether she was spouting legal theory or dressing down the other agents. Right now, though, she was on Kittul's side, so the Neko hoped she won the argument.

"Jeezus, Lissa, she's a goddamned Shifter."

Agnes, on the other hand, was getting riled up. She'd put her gun up during the interrogation, but she'd never snapped the holster shut, and she'd never put her jacket back over it. Kittul could see the muscles in the Special Agent's hand twitching as Lissa spoke.

"That has no legal bearing on this, and Lissa remains an improper form of address in this venue."

"Ok, Special Agent Silver, what about the fact that we kill Shifters? Huh? Does that have any bearing?"

"It does not. Nor does the fact that you have sex with them, frequently as a precursor to killing them. What matters is that we are empowered as law enforcers, and we should in all possible cases attempt to follow the law."

"Dammit, Lissa! They kill people!"

"While there have been murders by Shifters, this Shifter is guilty of breaking and entering, theft of government property, and, possibly, destruction of government property. None of these are capital offenses. One of them would be difficult to prove given the damage you did to her tablet computer. She will need to stand trial, and that means she will need a lawyer. She has a right to a lawyer, and we will not question her further until she has a lawyer present."

Agnes' hand twitched for her gun again. It was clear she thought Kittul was a problem, and she wanted to make the problem go away. It was equally clear she was unwilling to defy Special Agent Silver... Kittul blinked in surprise. Both Agents had addressed each other as Special Agent Silver. These were Zed's sisters, and she hadn't realized until this moment.

"So, um... Am I under arrest now?"

Lissa Silver looked at her. "Yes. You may consider yourself in our custody until further notice. If we had a reliable way to ensure you would not run, I would have Special Agent Silver release you, but we have no such method of Neko containment."

"Are you gonna read me my Miranda rights?"

Lissa cocked her head, as if studying some strange new insect. Agnes was more direct. "Who the fuck is Miranda, what rights are those, and why do I care again?"

Before Kittul could reply, Lissa spoke. "You should care for two reasons, Special Agent Silver. First and foremost, because she is an arrested suspect and should be treated as one. Second, because from her eyes she feels Miranda rights, whatever they are, are a fundamental portion of the legal process. Please, Kittul, explain."

Kittul worked her jaw in surprise for a moment. "They're what cops read you before you're arrested. You know, 'you have the right to remain silent, anything you say can and will be used against you, you have the right to an attorney, if you cannot afford an attorney one will be provided to you'. All that stuff?"

For the first time, Kittul saw Lissa do something other than talk. Her motion was deceptive; unhurried, yet precise and quick. With her right hand she sketched a circle in the air; light flared into being a few inches behind her hand. With her left, she drew a compact pistol, just big enough to kill someone. Her right hand kept moving, tracing a series of short, angular lines through the air. Without warning, she barked a word that twisted at Kittul's ears.

Something tugged at Kittul, almost like she'd felt coming across the entryway to the building, but far weaker. For a moment both of her bodies, Kittul's and Karin's, tingled. The moment passed, and she shook her head to clear it.

"Whoa. What the hell did you just do?"

Before Lissa could say anything, Agent Winston leaned into the room, a thin file folder in one hand. "Special Agent Silver?"

Both women turned to him and replied in unison, "Yes?" Before he could start talking they glared at one another.

"Your brother is here to..."

"I'm here for my cat, sis. Thanks for watching her, but I think it's time I took her home."

After so long without hearing it, Zed's voice hit her like a balm. Kittul caught herself purring before she even saw him. Just when she thought she'd never see him again, he'd just come hundreds of miles to save her. All her doubts about his intentions washed away. He was here to take her home.