The pixy flew beside me, fiddling with his bandana as he considered it. “Right now? About thirty seconds. If he gets himself cuffed?” Jenks hesitated. “Three to five minutes.”

I didn’t think David was going to get himself in trouble. Still . . . “Tell him I’m going in for a cat. I’ll be nice about it, but if it gets sticky, I might need backup. Then meet me at the front door.”

“You got it.”

The three I.S. officers had noticed me coming, and as Jenks swooped over to David, they pulled themselves together into a unified front. I gave the guys, two skinny and one muscle-bound, a fake smile, artfully pulled a strand of hair from my braid, and went over what I had. Splat gun. Fists. My feet. Attitude, I thought as I slowed to a halt, staying one step down to give them a brain-dead smile.

“I’m going in to get a cat,” I said pleasantly, immediately pegging the skinny guy with the bad shave as the ranking officer. He was a living vamp, obviously, because they wouldn’t send a witch or Were I.S. agent to sanction Constance’s will. “Are you going to give me a problem, or will we all go home tonight the way we came in?”

“You’ve been evicted, witch,” the heavier guy said. Doyle, according to his badge. “You had your chance.”

I put a hand on my hip, head cocked. “Seriously, I just want the cat. Five minutes. In, out, gone,” I said, a hint of redhead attitude showing.

“And that was your warning,” Doyle said, reaching.

It was a stretch because I was a step down, but I blocked him. Impact sang through my arm, and I used the pain to jab at his throat. He choked, predictably bending to put his ears in my reach. I gave them a good box as I brought my knee up, barely tapping his groin.

Doyle’s breath exploded from him. His eyes widened, and I grabbed his shoulders, taking his weight and easing him off the step and to the ground. Sure, I felt for the guy, but what I really wanted was my hands on him in case his friends decided to do something and I needed him to take it instead.

But they didn’t, both watching with wide eyes and a new reluctance to get involved.

Jenks dropped to the panting man. “Bad life choice. Breathe shallow. It will get better.”

Not before I get that cat, I hoped as I rose, hands in the air in a show of innocence. “He touched me first,” I said loudly. “Everyone see that?”

No one said anything. Smile back in place, I stepped over him and took my splat gun out of my bag. “Five minutes,” I promised as I inched past the remaining officers, stifling a shudder as I went into the narrow foyer and the vamp pheromones hit me.

Damn, it was Mardi Gras and trick or treat all in one, the pheromones so thick I felt as if I had to brush them out of my way. Stuff lined the hallways, skinny vampires in jeans and tees perusing the piles as if shopping. Calls and shouts rang out as others claimed apartments, rooms, or floors. It was pathetic. And illegal. And it pissed me off that no one would do anything about it because the incoming city master vamp needed space for her camarilla. The people she was stealing from could do nothing, and the rest wouldn’t say anything lest they find their home next on the list.

Breath shallow, I headed for the stairs. No telling what I might find in the elevator, and it was only two stories.

“Doyle is up,” Jenks said as he flew backward ahead of me, his eyes on the bright patch of light through the open door at the bottom of the stairs.

“Is he following, or just bitching?”

Jenks sighed, his dust thinning. “Following. Sorry.”

I grimaced and walked faster. “See if you can find Boots,” I directed. “Check under the bed, the closet. You know where cats hide.”

“You want me to put a bow on him and carry him out for you, too?” Jenks said sarcastically. Behind me, Doyle was yelling at everyone to leave me alone. I was his. Right. Slow learner.

Three steps from the landing, I stopped. “You look like a cat toy,” I said, seeing Stef’s open door amid the clutter. “Entice him out.”

“Cat toy?” Jenks said indignantly. “That’s exactly what he thinks you are,” he added, chin lifting to indicate the angry vamp standing at the bottom of the stairway, glaring at me with narrowed eyes. “The thing is, I’m faster than any old cat. How fast are you?”

I went up another step, not so sure anymore. “I guess we’ll find out,” I said, and Jenks hummed off, just below the ceiling, to vanish inside Stef’s apartment.

“You!” Doyle bellowed, and I turned, glad I had the high ground this time. “You have been evicted,” he snarled as he came up, halting a good six feet away, wary now. “And I have every right to throw your ass in jail for assault and trespassing.”

I shook my head, drawing this out to give Jenks time to work. “You reached for me. I’m within my rights. And you want to talk about illegal? Fine. Constance pushing up the eviction date isn’t legal even if the I.S. is sanctioning it. And besides, I don’t live here. I’m visiting. Anything in that eviction notice against visiting?” I shifted my foot side to side, balancing it on a toe. If I flung it out, either it would hit his jaw and knock him backward or he’d catch it and jerk me right into his arms.

“Visit,” Doyle said, the first inklings of thought spilling through him as he looked behind him to where Edden stood on the stoop, chatting with the two I.S. agents as he kept my escape open. “You’re Edden’s witch,” he added derisively, and my face burned.

“She’s nobody’s demon, fang boy,” Jenks said as he rejoined me. “Get it right.”

If Jenks was back, he’d found the cat. Thinking that I might pull this off, I found a pretend confidence. “You really want to do this?” I said, hoping to talk my way out rather than fight and risk the lawsuits that would soak up my time and bank account. “Just let me get the cat, okay? I’ll be out of your hair, your life, and your report if you’re smart. Deal?”

The thick-chested vampire backed down a step, clearly thinking about it. His ears were red where I’d hit him, and he had his weight on one foot. Yes, I had scored on him, but he wouldn’t be so slow the next time.

“While you’re thinking that over, I’ll get Stef’s cat,” I said, and, breath held, I turned my back on him and took the last two steps, ready to react. “Is he following?” I whispered.

Jenks shook his head. “Not yet.”

“Where’s the cat?” My tension spiked as I picked my way through the clutter.

“Under the bed like you said.”

“Swell.” I could feel Doyle watching from the stairs as I checked my splat gun. I stocked it with sleepy-time charms so it would do no real damage, but it was embarrassing to have to be doused with salt water to wake up, and vampires hated to be embarrassed.