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“Are you sure?” Nana Pratt asked. “The insurance money might pay for those improvements you’ve been wanting.”
I strode toward the front door. “What makes you think I have insurance?”
Half an hour later, I was shivering from the cold and cursing myself for choosing to wear my rainbow socks over the insulated ones. To be fair, they were my lucky socks, and I wanted to manifest a good outcome with whatever tools I had at my disposal.
Thanks to the fresh coat of snow, any recent tracks were crisp and clear. If the donkey had walked into the forest, I’d find it.
As I stooped to examine a set of tracks, an arrow whizzed over my head. I turned to see the point embedded in a tree trunk. I dove to the right as another arrow shot past me.
“Hold your fire!” I yelled.
“No can do. Sorry, sweetheart,” a voice replied.
Sweetheart? Somebody was cruising for a bruising.
I belly crawled to the side of an oak tree for a better view of my assailant. He was dressed in a dark green jumpsuit that reminded me of the Riddler from the old Batman television show, minus the question marks. Pops and I used to watch it together on the occasional lazy Saturday. There weren’t many of those. Weekends were my training time. Pops had been adamant about school, but he’d been more adamant about my supernatural education. I was grateful for his dedication, especially in a town like Fairhaven.
“Are you the one who attacked me at Monk’s?” I demanded.
“’Twas I.”
Laughter bubbled up in my throat. “Twas I? What are you—a Shakespeare demon?”
“Not a demon at all, little miss.”
“Stop using terms of endearment. I don’t even know you. Why did you throw rocks at my head outside the bar?”
“I was testing to see whether you were warded. Then your friend appeared and caught me off guard.”
“What do you want?”
“To kill you.”
Great. “Shouldn’t it be ‘to kill ye?’”
“Are you mocking me, young lady? Bold choice for a woman about to die.”
“I hate to break the news, but you’ve got your work cut out for you.”
“Magnarella warned me you might be a formidable opponent, although I didn’t see much evidence of it in the parking lot. Regardless, I welcome the challenge.”
Another arrow skimmed my left shoulder. “Close but no cigar. Why don’t you tell Magnarella to fight his own battles? He’s a vampire. He can handle it.”
“I’d tell you to ask him yourself, but I’m afraid you won’t get the chance.”
Whizz. Another arrow shot past me, taking a few strands of my hair along with it.
“How can you turn invisible? Is it a potion?”
“’T’isn’t a potion. T’isn’t truly invisibility either. Only an illusion.”
“So would you classify yourself as more of a magician than a mage?”
“My father was a mage, and my mother was one of the Hidden People. I inherited the skills of both, which comes in quite handy in my profession, as I’m sure you can imagine.”
“You know assassins are forbidden from operating within the borders of Fairhaven, right? The guild won’t take kindly to someone breaking their rules.”
“Ah, yes. I’m aware of the infamous Assassins Guild in this town. As it happens, I’m not an assassin.”
