Zenith had to get back to Sam. Sam had probably already been dozing too long as it was. The girl had nodded off almost the minute she’d climbed back into bed.
But the footsteps had returned. When Zenith paused, they stopped. At the end of the alley, Zenith spun toward the last place she’d heard the sound behind her. Empty space greeted her. She scanned the alley.
“Come out, come out, little beastie,” Zenith sang. “I won’t hurt you.”
A moment later, a boy stepped out of the shadows behind a dumpster, wrapped in layers of rags and painfully thin. When he glanced up, he had the slit eyes of a reptile. He trembled and dropped his gaze to the ground.
“Dragon shifter?” Zenith murmured. “Your kind is hard to find these days.”
He studied his scaled toes but nodded. “Most worlds are too cold, miss.”
“This one isn’t?”
He shrugged. “I don’t know how to get home, miss.” He shivered again. “Or at least some place warmer. Hum fairies are the only ones that can make their own portals.”
“I doubt that.”
“Can’t afford Fae portal geodes, and I haven’t been able to figure out any other way. Do you know of any?”
Zenith thought a moment. He’d basically listed everything she knew about inter-world travel. “Fair enough,” she said.
He peered at her.
Zenith frowned. “Are you hungry?”
He nodded.
Zenith sighed. She shouldn’t give it to him. She needed food, and Sam did, too, but she’d been a beggar runt before, and Unseen Street wasn’t the kindest of places to be alone. Sam had made a world of difference for Zenith. Even if nothing changed, the feeling of two against the world made a difference. She understood that better than most.
She crouched down. “I don’t have any meat,” she said. “But I have something else.” She tugged the blackened apple from her pocket and held it out to him.
His eyes sparkled. “You’d let me have that?” he whispered.
Zenith nodded. She could always grab another one later. Or something else. Her sleight-of-hand skills never disappeared for long.
He swiped it from her hand and sank pointed teeth into the flesh. A tangy scent filled the air. He made it through half the fruit in two bites.
“Stop right there,” a deep voice bellowed.
The dragon shifter blinked once and then collapsed into a heap. A moment later, he launched himself into the air, holding the Stygian fruit in his claws.
Zenith chuckled and turned toward the voice. “Paden,” she said. “You’ve caught me.”
His mouth twisted in a sneering smile. “So I have.”
How could she defend herself against the team of Fae officers? Paden had caught her red-handed with the stolen merchandise. The evidence might have flown away but the memory of it hadn’t. What options did she have?
Paden took a pair of handcuffs from his belt and held it out to her. “We’ll take you in for questioning. I’m sure the mayor will release you tomorrow. You might even get a free meal.”
Zenith shook her head. She couldn’t go along, no matter how easy Paden promised the process would be. She had to get back to Sam. If she didn’t, Sam would sleep too long. Without Zenith summoning it, a magical sword coalesced, connected to her right arm. Her eyes widened. That hadn’t been what she meant to do at all.
Each of the Fae peacekeepers drew their own metal weapons. The moment the blades struck the air, magic engulfed them. Their eyes glinted eerily in the magical light.
“Crap,” Zenith whispered. She wasn’t a match for five Fae. She didn’t have to be a genius to understand that.
Paden raised his hand as though gentling a skittish horse. “Easy now. There’s no need for that.”
She appealed to Paden. “But how do I get rid of it?”
He tipped his head to the side, his expression confused. “The same way you summoned it.”
“I don’t know how,” she said.
Paden frowned at her, clearly not believing her. “Then I suggest you try.”
Zenith shook her hand, trying to dislodge the sword. The hilt rested in her palm, but she didn’t want to hold it. She shook her hand again, trying to get it to go away. The blade would act more like a neon sign. She didn’t know how to use it to defend herself with it. She hadn’t been trained in weaponry. She waved her arm over her head and then in front of her body.
“Argh,” she yelled.
Paden took a step backward. His men followed.
There had to be a word or phrase to make the weapon do what she wanted. Some sort of feeling that would make it disappear. She cycled through a bevy of Fae words she knew. A moment later, a murder of crows gathered at the top of the building right next to her. Probably also accidentally summoned.
She accidently sliced through the dumpster and two trashcans. A cat yowled and darted down the street. “Sorry, sorry. Sssshhh.”
Paden bellowed. “Freeze.”
Zenith sighed. Nothing she tried worked. If past experience had taught her anything, it wouldn’t go away until she’d given up on making it. Zenith bolted toward the end of the street and around the corner, running as hard and fast as she could.
The Fae gave chase. Through the blocks they ran, around corners, and through side streets. They gathered attention as they tore through the crowds. Zenith tried to keep the sword tucked close to her, but she sliced through three shopping bags and caught the fetlock of a dancing faun. He howled in pain.
“Sorry,” Zenith called over her shoulder. She hoped he heard her.
Paden hadn’t summoned his wings. Fae could fly. Why hadn’t he launched into flight? His kind had wings. She pushed the thought aside.
At the next corner, Zenith took a hard left and into another alley almost identical to the first. Though, a heavy cloud fogged the space
