The wolves – if these taloned things were real wolves -- were drawing closer, one well ahead of the others. The packet of needles she’d been given was still in her pocket. With at first trembling, and then steady, fingers, she pulled one from the pack. The lead …thing, slavering, running on taloned claws and not the paws of a true wolf, was within thirty yards now, and closing, its eyes glowing silver.

The needle was longer than a sewing needle, but not so long as one used for knitting. Holding it between her right thumb and finger, she eyed the “wolf” and tossed it like a dart, whispering a word Father Corcoran had taught her. The needle left her hand, and when she repeated the word, this time louder, it disappeared to her vision. It sped toward the were-beast and hit it in its left shoulder with a flash and a sizzling noise.  Hearing it, the pack behind it slowed. The beast snarled and twisted, snapping at its wounded shoulder. Then it howled and came on again. There was no time for a second needle.

And then there was Will, jumping in front of her as the werewolf charged, talons wide, trying to leap over Will onto her. His saber flashed silver in the moonlight, slicing into the were-beast’s neck with a brighter flash and a louder sizzle, oddly like bacon frying.  The dagger in Will’s left hand followed with a disemboweling slash to the beast’s abdomen. There was another flash and sizzle, and the werewolf fell twisting into the grass to Anne’s left, howling and shrieking with enchanted wounds that would not heal. Will stood next to Anne, breathing hard, the hem of his tunic shredded from a swipe of the dying wolf’s left rear talons, but unhurt.

In front of them, the rest of the pack, who had slowed while they watched their leader’s demise, howled like enraged demons, and charged forward. Then there was Sir Dominic, standing by Will, his own saber drawn. She reached for another needle and glancing behind, she saw Charlie Corcoran, who had been kneeling over Jane, get to his feet and draw his revolver. The five slavering beasts came on.

Then she heard from above the staccato rattle of a Gatling gun. Looking up, she saw the Princess of Wales, passing low overhead and a little in front of them. The burst of rapid-fire slugs caught the charging werewolves, and hurled them, screaming and trailing black blood, off the walk away and over the grass. The airship passed on, and Anne saw it, slow and majestic in the moonlight, begin to turn.

She looked back to the werewolves. To her horror, she saw their wounds close and knit as she watched. Anne realized that the Gatling’s lead slugs held no enchanted metal, no silver and that only the force of the hail of lead had forced them out of attack. She heard them growl and then howl as they healed.

“Get behind us and run, Anne,” Will ordered. “Now! We’ll sort out this bunch.”

 But she removed the packet of needles from the pocket of her robe, and stood in defiance, opening the packet and selecting another needle.

“I said GO!” Will shouted, but she stood still and said, “I’m not running.”

The pack was already reforming for another charge. She heard shouts behind her, but they didn’t sound close, and she didn’t know how they were armed. She heard Corcoran saying a pater noster beside her.

Then she saw something bump into Will’s right arm. It was a rope ladder, and, looking up, she saw the airship, which had turned, overhead. Will shouted something and shoved his saber into his scabbard. Without another word, he picked up Anne and lifted her to the fourth rung of the ladder.

“Climb! Now!” he shouted. She dropped the needles and obeyed, pulling herself up. Looking back, she saw Corcoran behind her, climbing one-handed with Lady Jane over his shoulder. Will pushed Dom ahead of him to be next, but Dom, his saber still in hand, pushed back. Will grabbed the ladder and started climbing. She daren’t look back much, but as hands pulled her into the airship, she felt it start to lift, and hazarded a look down. Sir Dominic had leaped for the lifting ladder and grabbed it with his left hand, the saber still in his right. She heard the howls of the pack as it came on.

She twisted away from hands seeking to pull her all the way into the airship, so she could look for her companions. Corcoran had entered the ship behind her, and Will was now safely clinging to the twisting ladder. Below him, she saw the closest werewolf leap for Dom. Its talons grazed his boot, while he leaned down and thrust his point at the beast. He hit, taking off an ear in a flash and sputtering sizzle, and it dropped back.

The last thing she saw before the airship moved over and past the Chancellor’s Residence was the pack running back toward the wall, pursued by guards carrying rifles with bright bayonets fixed, which they fired as they pursued the remaining pack.