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“Don’t turn your back when strange people are around. You never know when some egomaniac drops his charming façade and ends up harassing you with his poking powers.”
A glimmer of disgust turned the man’s expression mottled as the poking stopped—only to be replaced with a larger surge clutching his shoulders hard and slamming him against the wall. He gritted his teeth as pain thundered in his chest, then bared his fangs.
“See? What did I tell you about trash? They always show their true colors.”
Maddox gripped the man’s wrist, ready to twist. Abby’s voice pierced the tension.
“Mr. Newton, please let him go. I don’t think Helga would like you harassing someone who works for her.”
There was that look of disgust again, signaling that Ollie had no love lost for Helga, either. But to everyone’s amazement, the man let Maddox go, stepping back and rearranging his collar as if nothing had happened. Abby hurried out of the counter to check on Ollie, who puffed up and sniffed.
“I just find it so odd. Using a strange creature to take care of her other strange creature? That woman gets away with a lot just because she has ties with the council.”
“Don’t say that, Mr. Newton,” Abby reprimanded softly. “I’m sure she is doing good for the community. And she can’t help taking in the unfortunate. It’s in her nature.”
“It’s still not right.”
“How about some free bread?”
That sapped most of the aggressive energy off as the two got lost in conversation. Torn between gratitude that she had intervened and frustration that the incident was going to be swept under the rug, Maddox looked into Abby’s pleading glance and decided it wasn’t worth it. He slipped out with his basket and deliberately tipped his head toward the sunlight, willing it to erase the traces of energy left behind from that chokehold.
“It could be worse,” he muttered. “Most houses wouldn’t have intervened and would welcome a bloodbath.”
He kept walking away when he felt the energy leave the bakery area, hastening when it got closer. A short rocking of the ground had them both halting, his gaze flying toward the burst of colors that shot in the air somewhere on the island—the northern part, where a welding shop was located. The Sutton’s business. Ruby’s home.
On cue, his side pocket vibrated. He took out the small version of his home device and pressed a button until James Magoo’s voice filled the air, sounding more male but just as cheerful as the alarm clock.
“I can see something happening from here. Can you check on it for me? I have a meeting but will be right there shortly.”
Coincidentally, it eliminated the aggressive energy shadowing him, and he glanced behind him as Ollie’s familiar figure hurried off. With a sigh, Maddox tucked the device away and ran for it as the licks of colorful sparks grew in brilliance. When he reached the area, his heart stopped at the sight of the shop in rubble and smoke coming out of every corner.
“Ruby?”
A grim sensation consumed him at the silence. He raced toward the nearest pile of destroyed wood and pushed them off individually. He hopped from one pile to the next, unearthing burned welding materials and crystals he identified as those used in spells, then…nothing. The relief of the incident interrupting his brewing altercation with Ollie shifted into panic as the only person he trusted with his life on this island was nowhere in sight.
“Ruby?”
Nothing. He shouldered a standing wall out of the way and winced when the partially-collapsed roof crashed fully to the ground. He kicked the roof out of the way, too, and crouched, prepared to lift everything clear until he could detect the slightest whiff of blood or—
A face popped up from a mound of ash, covered in soot. Hair somewhere between gold and orange shook it off while mud-brown eyes blinked repeatedly. Ruby Sutton muttered under her breath, a few words trailing in his ears.
“Goddamn it. That should have worked…idiocy…failure…waste of crystals…”
“Ruby?”
She froze, head snapping up and gaze clashing with his. Astonishment spiraled into mortification, one that lasted a few seconds before she lifted her chin.
“I’m here. I’m okay. What’s up?”
“Nothing much. I should be asking you the same question.”
She frowned, cheeks turning pink. She shook her head and brightened.
“Nothing much, too. Just a little accident. You can go. I will deal with this.”
He watched as her head lowered back inside the mound and she flicked out of his sight. Maddox continued staring, dumbfounded, as she stayed in her spot—because he could hear her breathing hard inside it and doing nothing else—before realization slithered in that there was only one reason for Ruby not to get herself out of her little fiasco.
She was trapped.
