Free The Last Hot Time by John M. Ford

hesitated. He could see the stress on the elf's face, in his eyes. "Yes," he said. "Just for the pain. I won't knock you out."
    "It's all right, Cloud," Patrise said, bending down. "We're almost finished here."
    Cloudhunter nodded. Danny gave the shot. "Thank you," the elf said softly.
    Patrise said, "Rudy, Katherine, bag detail and follow with Stagger Lee. Where's Sam?"
    "Went with Line," one of the others said, and indicated the back of the warehouse.
    Mr. Patrise tapped his stick. "Hallow, can you follow them carefully?"

    "I've been in fires."
    "But not firefights, I think," Mr. Patrise said. "However, you are no longer needed here, and you may be there. Go on."
    Danny gathered up his kit and moved toward the back of the warehouse. There were crates of empty bottles, coils of tubing, crates of God knew what. Through a doorway he saw a doctor's examining table with an IV arm board. That would be where the supply came from. There had been at least a couple of quarts in the glass tank. Losing two quarts of blood was fatal, if you were human. Maybe they pooled it. Or—
    He felt a cold breeze. To his right a few steps was an open door. He looked through. There was an empty lot beyond, and in the distance a low stone wall, some trees beyond. He clenched his fingers on his bag and walked through the doorway.
    "Dance with me, mister?" a woman's voice said, right in Danny's ear.
    His spine froze and he tensed for a bullet or a blow, but there was just an instant of silence, and then the voice again: "I've gotta go home soon, but I'd really like one more dance. You look like a nice fella. Please?"
    Danny turned. A girl was standing just a few steps from him, wearing a long beaded dress that sparkled in the moonlight. She held out her hands. "Come on, mister. Just one more. Before they miss me at home."
    Danny heard a grunt from behind. He turned. The wounded elf-woman lurched out of the doorway, toward him. Danny ducked to one side; his foot hit something and he lost his balance, tumbling over as the woman just brushed by him.
    "Yes, you'll do," the girl's voice said. "Let's dance."
    Danny struggled to get up; his foot was caught in a root or cable of some kind. A hand touched his shoulder, and he twitched. "Take it easy, Doc," McCain said, and helped Danny stand. He pointed a finger. "You find her like that, or did you take her down?"
    The elf was lying face-up a few yards away. Her hands were clawed at her throat; she was absolutely still. The girl in the beaded dress was nowhere in sight.
    "I didn't . . ." He tried to explain about the <;irl in w hire.
    McCain looked into the distance, and said, "Oh."

    "I know I saw her."
    McCain went to the fallen elf, drew one of his guns, aimed very deliberately between the woman's eyes, and fired. He put the gun away. "I believe you," he said, with no irony at all, and crossed himself.
    "I don't get it."
    "Her name's Resurrection Mary," McCain said, and tilted his head toward the stone wall. "That's Resurrection Cemetery over there. Usually she's on Archer Street, but I guess it was a slow night."
    "Okay, but I still don't know where she went."
    "She got what she wanted and went back where she came from, Doc. What's the matter, don't you whistle in graveyards in Iowa?"
    Danny stared.
    "You go on back," McCain said. "Night's not over yet."
    When Danny reached the bottling floor, everyone was gone except for Mr. Patrise and Stagger Lee. Stagger was wiring up what were pretty obviously explosives. "That's it, sir. Good night."
    "Good night, Stagger," Patrise said. "Come with me, Hallow."
    Danny and Mr. Patrise got into the big car. The woman Patrise had called Katherine and Cloudhunter sat in front; Katie drove them away. About half a block down, there was a muffled sound of thunder, and a shimmer of orange light behind them.
    Mt the house, Danny took Cloudhunter to the infirmary. Mr. Patrise followed them. The Ellyll removed his shirt, showing a slender, very angular chest. By human