Kicking It

releasing the spell. At first the shadow continued to move. Then the first pinprick of light formed in its torso. It might have started small, but in less than a heartbeat I had to shade my eyes as light poured out of the shadow.

Once the flash faded I dropped my arm and looked around.

“Like that? I spent half the night working on it,” I said with a smile. Not that the shadow creature could care. He’d been vaporized.

I worked through the house room by room. The creatures made no sound as they evaporated so only the soft twinge of my crossbow accented the night.

Dawn was starting to pour through the windows as I reached the last room. I stopped at the door. A soft snoring sound drifted out of the room. Eddy, I presume. What most would-be criminals didn’t seem to understand was that the monsters were hard and dangerous. But the witches themselves? The witches went down easy.

Edward Mackenzie didn’t so much as twitch as I snuck into his room.

His capture?

As fast as a snap of a crossbow.

* * *

Vicky was cleared of charges and moved to the hospital. She’d been an unwilling accomplice, and really just another victim of the spelled stilettos. Especially once the effects started wearing off and she sank back into her depression. She’d have her own personal battles in the coming months, but this time she’d stick to traditional coping methods. I was betting she’d make it out to the other side.

While the waitress’s condition deteriorated, the other victims were making steady improvements. None had been released yet, but most were expected to be back home and enjoying a normal life again soon. Russell Lancaster had regained consciousness, and when I visited, he even cracked a smile. Edward Mackenzie, on the other hand, was looking at a very long prison stay and likely a magical neutering.

All in all, a job well done.

“Done” being the key word there. Now maybe I’d finally get to my vacation.

I locked my weapons in the wall safe—well, at least most of my weapons—and then padded barefoot across my room and into Derrick’s. “Tell me I get to act like a tourist now.”

He looked up from where he was packing his suitcase—not a good sign—and shook his head. “We caught a bad one,” he said, lifting a manila folder. “It involves a grave witch.”

I grimaced. If a grave witch was at the center of the case, that meant I’d most likely be hunting dead things. Excessively deadly dead things. On the plus side, grave witches were rare enough that we’d likely identify our culprit easily. “Do we know who we’re looking for?”

Derrick nodded. “A witch named Alex Craft.”

ABOUT THE AUTHORS

Rachel Caine has published more than thirty novels, including the New York Times and #1 internationally bestselling Morganville Vampires series, as well as the bestselling Weather Warden, Outcast Season, and Revivalist series in urban fantasy. She has contributed to many anthologies, including My Big Fat Supernatural Wedding, Hex Symbols, and Many Bloody Returns. Find her on Facebook, Twitter, Tumblr, and on the Web at www.rachelcaine.com.

Since launching her career in 2007, award-winning author Shannon K. Butcher has penned more than eighteen titles, including the paranormal romance series The Sentinel Wars; the action-romance series The Edge; and a handful of romantic suspense novels and works of short fiction. Being a former engineer and current nerd, she frequently uses charts, graphs, and tables to aid her in the mechanics of story design and to keep track of all those pesky characters and magical powers. An avid beader and glass artist, she spends her free time playing with colored glass and beads. You can find her online at www.shannonkbutcher.com.

Chris Marie Green is the author of the urban fantasy Vampire Babylon series from Ace/Penguin Books. As Christine Cody, she also wrote the supernatural postapocalyptic Western Bloodlands trilogy, and as Crystal Green, she writes romance. She’s working on the Jensen Murphy: Ghost for Hire series and, when she isn’t knee-deep in creating fantasy worlds, she spends her time devouring all the pop culture available to her and avoiding international incidents while traveling. You can get a peek at all her personalities at www.chrismariegreen.com or www.crystal-green.com, and she’s also on Facebook (www.facebook.com/people/Chris-Marie-Green/1051327765) and Twitter (twitter.com/ChrisMarieGreen).

Faith Hunter has written the Jane Yellowrock series and the Rogue Mage series, as well as the RPG, Rogue Mage. Several of her novels have appeared on the New York Times and USA Today bestseller lists. Under the pen name Gwen Hunter, she has written action adventure, mysteries, and thrillers. Under all her pen names, she has more than twenty-five books in print in twenty-seven countries. Faith writes full-time and works full-time in a hospital (for the benefits). She’s a workaholic and playaholic who makes jewelry, collects orchids and bones, travels in her RV with her hubby and two dogs, and loves white-water kayaking. Once upon a time, she also tried to keep house and cook, but since she started writing two books a year, she may have forgotten how to turn on the appliances. You can visit her online at www.faithhunter.net and www.facebook.com/official.faith.hunter.

Chloe Neill is the New York Times and USA Today bestselling author of the Chicagoland Vampires and Dark Elite series. She was born and raised in the South, but now makes her home in the Midwest—just close enough to Cadogan House and St. Sophia’s to keep an eye on things. When not transcribing Merit’s and Lily’s adventures, she bakes, works, and scours the Internet for good recipes and great graphic design. Chloe also maintains her sanity by spending time with her boys—her favorite landscape photographer/husband and their dogs, Baxter and Scout. (Both she and the photographer understand the dogs are in charge.) You can find out more at www.chloeneill.com, www.twitter.com/chloeneill, and www.facebook.com/authorchloeneill.

Lucienne Diver is the author of the Vamped series of young adult novels from Flux Books and the Latter-Day Olympians urban fantasy series for Samhain (into which her Kicking It story “The Parlor” fits nicely). Her short stories have been included in the Strip-Mauled and Fangs for the Mammaries anthologies (Baen Books), and she has an essay included in the collection Dear Bully: 70 Authors Tell Their Stories (HarperTeen). You can find her online at www.luciennediver.com.

Christina Henry is the author of the Black Wings series (Ace/Roc) featuring Madeline Black, an Agent of Death, and her popcorn-loving gargoyle sidekick, Beezle. You can find her on the Web at www.christinahenry.net and occasionally tweeting @C_Henry_Author.

Rob Thurman, who has published more than fifteen novels, is the New York Times bestselling author of the Cal Leandros urban fantasy series (regarding hot brothers as hot brothers cannot be beaten), the Trickster Novels, several paranormal thrillers including Chimera and its sequel, Basilisk, as well as the stand-alone All Seeing Eye. She has also contributed to many anthologies, including Charlaine Harris and Toni L. P. Kelner’s Wolfsbane and Mistletoe, CarniePunk, and Courts of the Fey. To reach the author and/or peruse character bios and pics, award-winning book trailers, and free wallpaper, go to www.robthurman.net, @ Rob_Thurman, or check her Facebook. Do check out the Web site bio to see her werewolf superhero, proof that dog rescue is the only way to go.

USA Today bestselling author Kalayna Price draws her ideas from the world around her, her studies into ancient mythologies, and her obsession with classic folklore. Her stories