Really? All three of them wore smirks, in a on joke nobody bothered to tell me. They dressed in dark clothes, black leather jackets and a variety of interesting piercings and tattoos decorated them, which I couldn’t study, too busy focusing on the current threat they posed.
“Going somewhere?” the one in the middle asked as I tried to retreat.
“I-I don’t have any money…" One tiny step at a time, I kept inching back. “I don’t want any trouble."
"Oh.” He grinned, full and mean. “There’s where we’ve got a problem. What do you think?"
Several unkind things. I thought about several unkind things that I kept to myself to avoid pissing off the jerks in front of me.
But the man in the middle hadn’t been asking me since a response came from behind me. “We’ve found our guest of honor.”
“Maybe,” said the middleman. “Only one way to find out.”
“Let’s get to know our new friend.”
Behind me, crap, I barely looked before rough hands pushed me back towards the others. Two or three people were back there, stacking the odds even farther out of my favor.
As much as I desperately wished to be left alone, having some backup wouldn’t be so bad in situations like this.
“You think you’re scared now?” The ringleader in the front laughed. “Just wait.”
He wiggled his fingers dramatically and the cane partially supporting my weight flew from my hand and landed in his outstretched palm.
Unprepared, I fell and watched from the ground as the gang of psychos laughed and he twirled my cane in the air. He held it out, dropping it. Instead of falling, the cane hovered inches above me, out of reach.
They had seemed like a regular gang of assholes looking for victims to torment just because they could. Even worse, apparently they were assholes withmagic.They were waiting for a reaction from me. I delivered, unable to hold back any longer.
“Being a regular asshole just wasn’t cutting it for you? You decided to add magic? Well guess what?” I sneered at the faces above me. “I’mnotimpressed.”
My mouth often got me into trouble. Totally worth it here. They expected a scared human who had no idea magic existed. If only for a moment, I ruined their fun. The cane fell to the ground. I seized it with shaky hands and barely had enough time to right myself before the ringleader adjusted.
"You’re right, it’s hardly my best trick.” A sadistic grin decorated his face. “Our guest has earned the red carpet treatment, don’t you think?”
“Yeah.” The same voice from before answered. “Show him something reallyspecial."
My heart pounded, my cane tapping out a similar rhythm on the sidewalk, unable to stop jumping. No way did I want to find out what being their guest of honor meant. I stepped to the side, trying to get out into the street.
“Really gotta be going.” I babbled excuses while putting distance between us. “See, I left the oven on back at home and I wouldn’t want to start a—"
Fire.
Torn between keeping an eye on them and looking where I was going, I nearly collided with the wall of flame in front of me. Whoa!
Teetering back, the ground felt unsteady under my feet. In fact, the ground no longer resteddirectlyunder my feet. I rose in the air, hovering above the ground and unable to fight the invisible hold on me.
The dick mages raised their hands to move me with their powers. I tried to hold onto my cane, but it slipped through my fingers as I tumbled through the air, spinning and swaying wildly as they toyed with me, until landing in a heap at the feet of the ringleader.
"Time for some fun.” The others cheered and he raised his hands to quiet them, focusing on me. “Do you like fire?"
That felt like a trick question. Either way, I was still screwed.
"Ah!” Feeling sparks erupt against the back of my palm, I pulled my hand away and clutched it protectively to my chest.
"I said, do you like fire?" he repeated dangerously.
"I-I don’t know."
"Oh, not too familiar?” He clapped his hands, delighted. “You just need an introduction!”
