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The rustling intensified, and I put a hand on Lila’s shoulder, ready to drag her behind me.
Then the most adorable creature ever jumped out of the vegetation and looked at us with huge black eyes. The body was that of a brown-and-white squirrel, her nose twitching enchantingly, and a set of long furry ears rose from where its pointy ones should’ve been.
“Squibbit!” Lila exclaimed with delight, moving forward.
Greenie let out a sudden growl, his head snapping toward the house.
I grabbed Lila and dragged her behind the tree.
She kicked at me. “Squibbit!”
“Shh,” I admonished, putting a finger over her mouth. “Something’s wrong.”
Lila stilled, eyes growing wide with fear. Greenie joined us behind the tree, his mouth pulled back into a silent snarl.
Nothing happened for a few long moments, and Lila started squirming in my hold, then the back door of the house slammed open.
Someone shouted in a strange language, and loud thuds announced the presence of two people as they rushed down the deck and into the backyard.
I watched Squibbit hurry across the grass and weeds, then disappear into the base of the fence.
The thuds on the ground followed, along with loud exclamations.
Greenie, Lila, and I moved sideways to keep the tree between us and the newcomers, whoever they were. Fae? Their language didn’t sound remotely familiar, and thanks to my lack of clients, I was very familiar with language learning applications.
One of the strangers—a woman from the sounds of it—said something, and the other replied. More rustling followed, and I assumed they were poking along the fence.
Time to go.
As usual, when it counted, Greenie offered no complaints and lowered obediently to let us get on top of him. In the next blink of an eye, we had jumped into the grass and away from the two newcomers.
We came out inside a copse of trees in the middle of nowhere. Fields extended left and right, and a group of houses clumped together far in the distance. The rumble of cars told me there might be a road or highway closer but not within direct view.
Considering Fae were secret to the human world, Greenie really was the most considerate when choosing where to pop out.
“Who were those people?” Lila asked. “Why were they looking for Squibbit?”
Good question. “Are you sure they were looking for Squibbit and not you?”
She appeared offended by the question. “I’ve never seen them before.”
“Doesn’t mean they weren’t looking for you.”
“But they were poking at the fence.”
“Good point.” I patted Greenie’s side. “Greenie, can you find Squibbit?”
Greenie pawed at the ground here and there, then let out a woeful sound.
We had lost Squibbit.
Chapter Three
“What do we do now?” Lila whined.
I appeared to think about it for a few moments just to impress the kid, but the solution was obvious, wasn’t it?
“We set up a trap.”
