Chapter 1 #2
“I do.” No one on the island was permitted to keep weapons except security, which was currently a team of one.
I also had a cache of weapons nobody knew about—which I kept warded so I was the only one able to access them, not that I had any intention of using them.
They were relics of my previous life that I couldn’t bear to part with, just on the off chance I was ever discovered.
“Maybe you should send out a Neighborhood alert,” Margie said.
“Not yet.” And probably not ever. I couldn’t afford to induce mass panic on an island full of powerful beings. “Did the creature say anything to you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure it followed you all the way here?”
“No. Once I started going, I didn’t look back. For all I know, it stayed in the square.”
I shot to my feet. “Then I’d better go take a look.”
“What about me?”
I swiped a key from the counter and tossed it to her. “Take my golf cart the long way home. I’ll pick it up later.”
“Thank you, Maya.”
“You should call the other witches and let them to know to be careful when they leave the pool.”
Margie hesitated. “I don’t think they’d have any trouble.”
“I mean, I agree they’re badasses, but why not?”
“Catherine is with them. They can all outrun her.”
“Wow.”
Margie winced. “Please don’t tell her I said that, but it’s true.”
“Do you think they’d sacrifice Catherine for their own safety?” The other witches were fighters; I couldn’t picture them letting this creature get the upper hand. Magic was restricted in the Neighborhood, but they weren’t known for following the rules. Neither was I, for that matter.
“I wouldn’t want to be Catherine and find out.” Margie shrugged off the blanket and stood, still wrapped in her towel. “I’ll walk out with you.”
“Let me grab a weapon first.” It seemed irresponsible to go outside without one. I’d retrace Margie’s steps back to the square and see what I could find.
I hurried to the weapons trunk and chose a shoulder harness and glaive.
The six-foot polearm topped with a single-edged blade would allow me to fight while still keeping my distance.
If this creature was large and armed to the teeth (and claws), this was the best weapon for the occasion.
It was also collapsible, which made it less awkward to transport, and the locking twist allowed me to assemble it in two seconds. Modern advancements weren’t all bad.
Margie recoiled when I returned to the living room holding the full-length glaive. “You might want to be careful brandishing that thing inside.”
“I have experience, don’t worry.” I collapsed the glaive and attached it to the shoulder harness.
“Look,” she said, pointing to the floor. “Even your cat is scared.”
“First, Jinx isn’t my cat. Second, she isn’t scared of anything.”
Margie glanced around, perplexed. “Are those her bowls?”
“Yes.”
She pointed to a soft fishing rod with a fake fish attached. “Is that her toy?”
“When she deigns to play with it.”
Margie sniffed the air. “I hope that’s her litter box I smell.”
I rubbed the back of my neck. “What’s your point, Margie?”
The witch brushed past me toward the front door. “Jinx is your cat.”
The black cat meowed, whether to confirm or deny Margie’s statement, I wasn’t sure.
We walked outside together. Margie drove in one direction in my golf cart, and I headed in a different direction on foot. Jinx tried to follow me, but I shooed her back to the porch.
“Do you see what I’m carrying? It isn’t safe for you,” I said.
Jinx swished her tail in protest.
“I can’t do my job properly if I’m worried about protecting you. Please, stay here.”
The cat reluctantly turned back. Only then did I continue to the square.
Sunlight cast the lawn in a soft, golden glow. No mist. No sprinklers. No monster. I surveyed the ground for any trace of the creature. I plucked a long, thin strand of hair off the ground and held it up to the light where it shimmered with the faintest hint of blue. I tucked the hair in my pocket.
As I turned to do another sweep, I spotted a lone figure huddled under the gazebo bench and sprinted toward them. “Are you okay? You’re Lazlo, right?”
The old man glanced up at me, shaking. “Yes. Is it gone?”
I pivoted to face the square. Still empty. “It’s gone.” I helped him to sit on the bench. “Tell me what happened.”
“I thought for sure I was a goner. It seemed hell-bent on attacking me. I got as far as the gazebo and tripped on the step, so I crawled under the bench to hide until it left.” Lazlo kicked out his leg to show me the torn fabric at his knee.
“I expect the HOA to reimburse me for a new pair of pants.”
“You’ll have to submit the request to Justine’s office.”
I turned over his and Margie’s accounts in my mind.
Based on their information, there was no good reason why this creature didn’t kill either one of them.
Margie’s “bouncy step” was unlikely fast enough to outrun the monster, and the gazebo wasn’t warded.
If the creature had wanted to enter it to attack Lazlo, it would have.
“Do you think it might be a prank?” Lazlo asked. “Somebody decided to dress up in a big green suit and scare us for fun?”
“It’s possible.” I paused. “Wait. Did you say green?”
“Yes, did I not mention that?”
“Are you sure it wasn’t blue?”
“It was definitely green, like a giant, terrifying leprechaun.”
“You’re not blue-green color blind by any chance, are you?”
He bristled. “I may be old, but there’s nothing wrong with my vision, Maya.”
Everyone had a skill. Mine was apparently insulting senior citizens.
“How many horns did it have?”
“One.”
“Any facial hair?”
“Like a mustache?”
“Or a beard.”
“Not that I noticed.”
“Did you see any mist?”
He blinked. “No, ma’am. Should I have?”
“There’s no should haves, Lazlo. I’m gathering information. That’s all.”
He slumped against the latticed side of the gazebo. “Please tell me there isn’t more than one of these things running around the Neighborhood.”
“Two, possibly. A blue one with an unkempt beard.”
Lazlo paled. “Gods save us all.”
They wouldn’t, but I didn’t have the heart to tell him that.
“Would you mind driving me home?” he asked. “My knee hurts and my legs are too wobbly to walk.”
“I wish I could, but I loaned out my golf cart.”
He tried to stand; as he predicted, his legs gave out, and he collapsed back on the bench. I couldn’t leave him here in his condition.
“Are you afraid of heights?” I asked.
“No, ma’am.”
“How would you feel about a short stint in the air?”
Lazlo took a moment before responding. “You sure you can lift me?”
“Lazlo, you’re a hundred pounds soaking wet.” Luckily, he was small enough that I wouldn’t have to explain my brute strength.
“Well, okay. As long as you don’t drop me.”
“I wouldn’t drop you even if you were slathered in Vaseline.”
His eyes narrowed. “That’s oddly specific.”
I scooped him off the bench and stepped out of the gazebo to spread my wings. I didn’t use them often anymore; they were a painful reminder of my past, but they were too useful to abandon completely.
“I live in Terrapin.” Lazlo clung to my neck, admiring the receding ground below. “This is nicer than I expected. A lovely breeze up here.”
I turned and flew toward his section of the Neighborhood. “Why weren’t you in Terrapin Square?”
“It’s part of my routine. I walk to another square to get the blood flowing, usually first thing in the morning, but I was too tired when I woke up. I try to be gentle with myself these days. Something I stubbornly refused to do in my youth.”
“You were a tough guy, huh?”
“Not to other people, only to myself.”
I landed at the Terrapin boundary and set him on his feet. “Can you take it from here?”
Lazlo glanced around warily. “The coast looks clear.”
“Do me a favor and call me if you see the creature again.”
He shivered. “I sure hope I don’t. I’m going to sleep with the light on tonight, I can tell you that much.”
I left Lazlo and took to the air again, scanning the island for any unusual blue or green creatures. The day had started off weird, and I had the uncomfortable feeling it was only about to get weirder.