exterior hallway. His wings blurred to nothing and he gave me a tiny thumbs-up.
My skin tightened in anticipation. I took off the fish tank lid, then pulled the green fishnet from an inner pocket of the jumpsuit. Standing atop the step stool, I pushed my sleeve to my elbow and plunged the net into the water. Immediately both fish darted to the back.
'Rachel!' Jenks hissed, suddenly at my ear. 'She's good. She's halfway there.'
'Just watch the door, Jenks,' I said, lip between my teeth.
The phone started ringing, a soft hum. 'Jenks, will you get that?' I said calmly as I angled the net, trapping them in the corner. 'Got you now…'
Jenks zipped back from the door, landing feet first on the glowing button. 'Mr. Ray's office. Hold please,' he said in a high falsetto.
'Crap,' I swore as the fish wiggled, slipping past the green net. 'Come on, I'm just trying to get you home, you slimy finned thing,' I coaxed through gritted teeth. 'Almost…almost…' It was between the net and the glass. If it would just hold still…
'Hey!' a heavy voice said from the hall.
Adrenaline jerked my head up. A small man with a trim beard and a folder of papers was standing in the hallway leading to the other offices. 'What are you doing?' he asked belligerently.
I glanced at the tank with my arm in it. My net was empty. The fish had slipped past it. 'Um, I dropped my scissors?' I said.
From Mr. Ray's office on my other side came a thump of heels and Vanessa's gasp. 'Mr. Ray!'
In the other room, Vanessa screamed as the tank tipped and twenty-five gallons of icky fish water cascaded over her desk. Mr. Ray appeared beside her. I lurched off the stool, soaked from the waist down. No one moved, shocked, and I scanned the floor. 'Gotcha!' I cried, scrabbling for the right fish.
'She's after the fish!' the small man shouted as more people came in from the hallway. 'Get her!'
'Go!' Jenks shrilled. 'I'll keep them off you.'
Panting, I followed the fish in a hunched, scrabbling walk, trying to grab it without hurting it. It wiggled and squirmed, and my breath exploded from me as I finally got my fingers around it. I looked up as I dropped it into the canister and screwed the lid on tight.
Jenks was a firefly from hell as he darted from Were to Were, brandishing pencils and throwing them at sensitive parts. A four-inch pixy was holding three Weres at bay. I wasn't surprised. Mr. Ray was content to watch until he realized I had one of his fish. 'What the hell are you doing with my fish?' he demanded, his face red with anger.
'Leaving,' I said. He came at me, his thick hands reaching. I obligingly took one of them, jerking him forward and into my foot. He staggered back, clutching his stomach.
'Quit playing with those dogs!' I cried at Jenks, looking for a way out. 'We have to go.'
Picking up Vanessa's monitor, I threw it at the plate-glass window. I'd wanted to do that with Ivy's for a long time. It shattered in a satisfying crash, the screen looking odd on the grass. Weres poured into the room, angry and giving off musk. Snatching the canister, I dove through the window. 'After her!' someone shouted.
My shoulders hit manicured grass and I rolled to my feet.
'Up!' Jenks said by my ear. 'Over there.'
He darted across the small enclosed courtyard. I followed, looping the heavy canister to hang across my back. Hands free, I climbed the trellis. Thorns pierced my skin, ignored.
My breath came in a quick pant as I reached the top. The snapping of branches said they were following. Hauling myself over the lip of the flat-topped, tar-and-pebble roof, I took off running. The wind was hot up here, and the skyline of Cincinnati spread out before me.
'Jump!' Jenks shouted as I reached the edge.
I trusted Jenks. Arms flailing and feet still going, I ran right off the roof.
Adrenaline surged as my stomach dropped. It was a parking lot! He sent me off the roof to land in a parking lot!
'I don't have wings, Jenks!' I screamed. Teeth gritted, I flexed my knees.
Pain exploded as I hit the pavement. I fell forward, scraping my palms. The canister of fish clanged and fell off as the strap broke. I rolled to absorb the impact.
The metal canister spun away, and still gasping from the hurt, I staggered after it, fingers brushing it as it rolled under a car. Swearing, I dropped flat on the pavement, stretching for it.
'There she is!' came a shout.
There was a ping from the car above me, then another. The pavement beside my arm suddenly had a hole in it, and sharp tingles of shrapnel peppered me. They were shooting at me?
Grunting, I wiggled under the car and pulled the canister out. Hunched over the fish, I backed up. 'Hey!' I shouted, tossing the hair from my eyes. 'What the hell are you doing? It's just a fish! And it isn't even yours!'
The trio of Weres on the roof stared at me. One hefted a weapon to his eye.
I turned and started running. This was not worth five hundred dollars anymore. Five thousand, maybe.
'This way!' Jenks shrilled. Bits of pavement were ricocheting up to hit me, echoing the pings. The lot wasn't gated, and as my muscles trembled from adrenaline, I ran across the street and into the pedestrian traffic. Heart pounding, I slowed to look behind me to see them silhouetted against the skyline. They hadn't jumped. They didn't need to. I had left blood all over that trellis. Still, I didn't think they would track me. It wasn't their fish; it was the Howlers'. And Cincinnati's all Inderland baseball team was going to pay my rent.
My lungs heaved as I tried to match the pace of the people around me. The sun was hot, and I was sweating inside my polyester sack. Jenks was probably checking my back, so I dropped into an alley to change. Setting the fish down, I let my head thump back into the cool wall of the building. I'd done it. Rent was made for yet another month.
Reaching up, I yanked the disguise amulet from around my neck. Immediately I felt better, as the illusion of a dark-completed, brown-haired, big-nosed woman vanished, revealing my frizzy, shoulder-length red hair and pale skin. I glanced at my scraped palms, rubbing them together gingerly. I could have brought a pain amulet, but I had wanted as few charms as possible on me in case I was caught and my 'intent to steal' turned into 'intent to steal and do bodily harm.' One I could dodge, the other I'd have to answer to. I was a runner; I knew the law.
While people passed at the head of the alley, I stripped off the damp coveralls and stuffed it into the Dumpster. It was a vast improvement, and I bent to unroll the hem of my leather pants down over my black boots. Straightening, I eyed the new scrape mark in my pants, twisting to see all the damage. Ivy's leather conditioner would help, but pavement and leather didn't mesh well. Better the pants scraped than me, though, which was why I wore them.
The September air felt good in the shade as I tucked in my black halter top and picked up the canister. Feeling more myself, I stepped into the sun, dropping my cap on a passing kid's head. He looked at it, then smiled, giving me a shy wave as his mother bent to ask him where he had gotten it. At peace with the world, I walked down the sidewalk, boot heels clunking as I fluffed my hair and headed for Fountain Square and my ride. I had left my shades there this morning, and if I was lucky, they'd still be there. God help me, but I liked being independent.
It had been nearly three months since I had snapped under the crap assignments my old boss at Inderland Security had been giving me. Feeling used and grossly unappreciated, I had broken the unwritten rule and quit the I.S. to start my own agency. It had seemed like a good idea at the time, and surviving the subsequent death threat when I couldn't pay the bribe to break my contract had been an eye opener. I wouldn't have made it if not for Ivy and Jenks.
Oddly enough, now that I was finally starting to make a name for myself, it was getting harder, not easier. True, I was putting my degree to work, stirring spells I used to buy and some I had never been able to afford. But money was a real problem. It wasn't that I couldn't get the jobs; it was that the money didn't seem to stay in the cookie jar atop the fridge very long.
