doesn’t work, I’m going to come back and burn your store down,” she told Nina. “I’m actually on my way to burn someone’s house down now.”
“Anyone I know?” Nina asked.
“Some insignificant cupcake baker who lied to me. Thought I could be tricked into believing I was getting something when I was getting nothing.”
“How do you know you got nothing?” Nina asked.
“I’ve had no reaction to this fraudulent object.”
“Isn’t burning someone’s house down extreme?”
“It’s only the beginning. When I find her, I’m going to extract her liver and feed it to feral cats.”
I pulled Glo and Clara back behind the shelf. “Sneak out and get help. And call Diesel. I’m not getting any bars on my cell phone in here. Go to the street and call him, and tell him to come to the Exotica Shoppe to collect Anarchy. I don’t care if he’s authorized or not. I’ll stay here and keep my eye on her.”
“I don’t want to leave you here,” Clara said. “She wants to feed your liver to feral cats.”
“I’ll be okay. I’ll stay hidden. Go!”
“Will there be anything else?” Nina asked Anarchy.
“I hear whispering,” Anarchy said, looking around. “Who else is here?”
“It’s this old building,” Nina said. “It whispers.”
There was the sound of the front door opening and closing, and I knew it was Clara and Glo leaving the shop.
“And the wind rattles the door sometimes, too,” Nina said.
Even from this distance, I could see the insanity sweep over Anarchy.
“Liar,” she said, her voice cold, her eyes crazy. “There’s someone else here.” She pulled her torch out of her Gucci hobo bag and waved it at Nina. “Tell me, and I might not set you on fire. Although, it would be fun to see that Glinda the Good Witch gown go up in flames.”
“I don’t know,” Nina said. “I fell asleep. Someone might have come in.”
Anarchy shot out ten inches of blue flame, and the puffy net veil attached to Nina’s princess crown caught fire. Nina pulled the crown off and stomped on it.
“Help!” Nina yelled.
“Shut up,” Anarchy said. “No one’s going to help you in time.”
Nina reached her hand into a jar on the counter and threw some gray powder at Anarchy. “Go away. Go away.”
“What the heck?” Anarchy said.
“It’s deathweed,” Nina said. “It’ll make you shrivel up and blow away.”
Anarchy looked down at herself. She wasn’t shriveling.
“Maybe I grabbed the wrong jar,” Nina said. “Was it gray powder or red powder?”
“Gray powder,” Anarchy said.
“Oops, my bad. That was powdered dragon horn. It’s a diuretic.”
Anarchy moved through the shop with her torch in her hand. “I know someone’s here. I can hear breathing. I can feel a heartbeat.”
I was crouched down behind the bookcase, trying to control my breathing. The heartbeat I couldn’t do much about. My heart was pounding in my chest. I heard her turn in my direction, heard the heels coming closer, and then there she was, looking down at me.
“You!” she said. “How convenient.”
She waved the torch at me, and I jumped away.
“You need to calm yourself,” I said. “You should have Nina mix you a potion. Something to take the edge off. Maybe a milk shake. I’m always in a better mood after I’ve had a milk shake.”
“You tricked me with that worthless piece of glass.”
“It was a crystal.”
“It wasn’t the stone!” she shrieked. “
As if I wasn’t panicked enough, I had the stone in my handbag. Stupid, stupid, stupid Lizzy.
“Diesel has the stone,” I said.
“I don’t believe you. I think you’re keeping it for yourself. You want the power of the stone.”
“Honestly,” I said. “The stone isn’t all that powerful.”
Nina crept up behind Anarchy and threw more powder at her. “Go away. Go away!”
Anarchy turned and glared at Nina. “You will die.” And she set Nina’s gown on fire.
Nina shrieked and ripped the gown off and ran out of the store. A piece of the gown set the feather boa display on fire, and in a flash, the entire front of the Exotica Shoppe was in flames.
“We need to get out of here,” I said to Anarchy.
“There’s no way out for you,” she said. “You’re going to die here. You’re going to be consumed by the flames. And when you’re dead, I’ll find the stone.”
“Look around you,” I said. “You’re going to die alongside me.”
She smiled at me. “I can’t die. I have the power.”
She aimed the torch at me, and I batted it out of her hand. I shoved her out of my way, turned to run for the door, and Anarchy knocked me to my knees with a blow to the back of my head. I was trying to clear my head and shake it off, and the big free-standing set of shelves crashed down on me. There was instant pain in my leg and a wave of nausea. I tried to move, but I was pinned under the shelf.
I was surrounded by flames and choking on smoke. Anarchy had disappeared. I could hear the fire crackling and hissing around me. I yelled for help, but I doubted anyone could hear me. And I couldn’t imagine anyone being able to get through the flames to rescue me.
I had my arm across my face, trying to filter out the smoke as much as possible, and I felt the shelf lift off. It was Wulf. He tossed the shelf out of the way and knelt beside me.
“We’re even after this,” he said. “So stay alert. The next time we meet, I might not be this nice. Hatchet was able to remember most of the writing on the tablet… enough to make me believe I know where to find the next stone. I won’t be happy if you try to prevent me from acquiring it.”
He pulled me to my feet and wrapped his arms around me, holding me close, and that was the last I remember.
When I regained consciousness, I was on the ground across the street from the Exotica Shoppe. A paramedic was bending over me, offering oxygen. I sucked some in and sat up. Glo, Clara, and Nina were there. No Wulf.
“Where’s Diesel?” I asked.
“He got here seconds after Wulf carried you out of the building. He made sure you were all right, and then he and Wulf went to look for Anarchy.”
Glo, Clara, and Nina were smudged with soot. It was on their clothes, their arms, and their faces. Clara’s hair had broken loose from its pins and was an electric mass of singed frizz. Nina was wrapped in a blanket, having left her gown inside the shop. They were all hovering over me, and I could see tear tracks streaking down their cheeks.
“We were so worried,” Glo said, her voice breaking. “We tried to go back into the building to help you, but we couldn’t get past the fire. It raced through the front of the store. The police and fire trucks came almost immediately, but if it hadn’t been for Wulf…” She left off with a sob, brushed tears away, and wiped her nose on her sleeve.
“We don’t even know how he got you out,” Clara said. “He just appeared from behind a fire truck with you in his arms. He carried you across the street, and we all ran over to you. You weren’t moving, and we were afraid…” Clara took a beat to get her composure. “Anyway, Wulf said you would be fine, and he didn’t leave until the paramedic got to you. Diesel was here by then, too, and Wulf told Diesel he’d been following Anarchy. I guess that’s how Wulf got to you so fast.”
The paramedic tried to get me to my feet, but I had pain in my left leg, and I couldn’t put my weight on it. He cut my jeans away at the knee, and I could see the swelling and the bruise developing midway between my knee and my ankle.
“Anarchy pushed one of the heavy display cases over and it fell on my leg,” I said. “That’s why I couldn’t get out. I was trapped under the case. Wulf moved it off me, and the last thing I remember, he was holding me close
