Exton

I'm barely in the door before Raina is there, looking a little panicked. I look down at myself - shirt torn, sticky with fresh blood - my blood, I might add - and I can't really blame her. I stop her with an outstretched hand before she can throw her arms around me and get blood all over herself.

"It's okay, I'm fine. An hour and some blood and this will all be healed." I give her a crooked grin. "Besides, you should see the other guy."

"You're sure you're okay?" Her eyes are less frantic, but the panic is still in her voice.

"I'm fine, gorgeous. I need a shower ASAP - want to come up and scrub my back?"

She grins. "Okay, now I know you're okay."

I smile back. "Give me a few minutes to talk with Tori - she needs to know what happened so she can update the old man. You might snag me a bottle while you're waiting…."

"On it." And with that, she's at the bar, setting things up with Monty.

I walk over to where Tori and Tannr are sitting and throw her a snappy salute. "Reporting in, commander."

She opens her laptop and hold her hands poised over the keys. "Ready when you are."

"Well, the good news first - we got one of them. The bad news is that in the heat of the moment, we kinda forgot to take him alive."

"I'm listening, keep going."

"One of the ghouls took the bait, went after Cat. I don't think he expected resistance, or maybe he just didn't expect her to be so strong and agile. If they've been targeting humans, it makes sense that they're used to overpowering them pretty quickly.

I sent in the flankers and then the rest of the pack. We surrounded him, then the shifters started clawing at him. None of the wounds would have been a big deal alone, but taken all together…." My voice trails off as Tori nods, her fingers now flying over the keyboard.

"He took a hostage, so we let him go. I let him get about a hundred yards, then dived on him and brought him down." I grin sheepishly. "Guess my blood was up… all I could think of was ending the fight quickly. We whaled on each other for a few minutes, then I called Johnny and skewered the bastard through the heart." I shrug. "Of course, a minute later, I remembered I should have kept him alive for questioning…."

Tannr grins. "Easier said than done in that kind of situation. I'm just glad you're okay."

Tori breaks in. "Are your people okay? Did anyone else get hurt?"

"Nothing major… scratches that'll heal by morning. If you want to reward them for a job well done, you can offer 'em a round on the house."

"I'll talk to Ob and Pan."

"And I'm going to grab a shower. Talk to you guys later…."

Raina is waiting at the foot of the stairs with a bottle of blood, a smile, and a wicked glint in her eyes. I know that look….