I followed her out into the dark alley. She turned and locked the clinic’s nondescript metal door. A few rats scurried nearby, rattling some paper trash and an empty bottle.
Rupert, we’ve been over this—I don’t want our children picking up bad habits.
Oh, come on, Glenda! It’s street food—a delicacy!
Yes, but if they learn to eat human food it could lead to risky behavior. I vote we stick with a diet of crickets and—
Mom! He’s biting my tail!
I pinched the bridge of my nose and sighed. I’d assumed that when I’d been cursed a few years ago, the intention had been to end my powers and ability to shift and that this gift of speaking to animals had been an unintended side effect.
But given the overwhelming amount of asinine chatter I had to listen to from rats, insects, spiders, and birds all day and all night, I was starting to wonder. Slow claps to the creator of that potion—if they’d intended this as the real curse, it was not only creative, but effective.
“Headache?”
I looked up at Heidi’s concerned face and softened. “Nah.” We started down the alley side by side. “Want to grab some dinner? My treat?” I’d intended to ask Will too, but since he was mysteriously absent, a little girl time would be fun.
She groaned. “Totally! But I can’t this time, I’m sorry.” She shot me a pinched look. I could barely see her features in the darkness of the alley, but enough pale moonlight filtered through the clouds to highlight her cheeks and eyes.
I waved it off. “No worries.” I waggled my brows at her. “You have a hot date?”
She sucked on her lips. “Maybe.”
I nodded. “Who’s the lucky guy this time?”
“That bouncer from the Unicorn’s Horn.”
I smirked. “Another bouncer, huh?” The girl had a type.
She giggled and shrugged, the shoulders of her furry coat bouncing. We reached the end of the alley and stepped into the neon lights of the street. The narrow, crooked buildings that lined the alley had sheltered us from the rain but now it pelted our heads. Heidi drew her wand and cast a protective spell around the both of us.
“You heading this way?” She tilted her head.
“Other way.” I decided in that moment to grab a quick bite by myself and treat myself to a visit to the bridge.
She bit her lip. “Sorry about the—” She lifted her eyes to the falling rain. She wouldn’t be able to shelter me from it with her spell if we parted ways, and without magic, I was at the mercy of the elements. But tonight, the rain didn’t bother me. The nights were starting to cool off, and instead of being muggy and oppressive, the rain actually felt refreshing.
I waved it off, drew my headphones up around my ears, then pulled my hood forward. “I’m all good. Have fun tonight—and be safe.”
She shot me a good-natured smile. “Always. You, too, Jolene.”
She headed one way, and I ducked into the milling crowd, going the other.
TIME TO FACE THE MUSIC
I reached into my pocket and punched the play button on my Walkman. Gary Numan’s “Cars” blasted through my headphones. The upbeat, human 80s classic gave me a little extra pep in my step as I headed for the bridge.
While the rest of Bijou Mer was probably nestled asleep in their beds, the Darkmoon Night Market District was at its peak. Neon signs flashed overhead, hung from the crooked stone buildings that leaned inward over the narrow cobblestone street. Steam rose from an iron sewer grate, and a mix of shoppers, revelers, and shady characters jostled together, some heads down, slinking through the shadows, others drunkenly belting out sea shanties.
I passed by the bathhouse on the corner, the red lanterns still burning bright. I did some quick mental calculations. I’d had a bath just two days ago. I nodded to myself and continued on.
Seeing as the entire island ran on magic, losing mine posed quite the inconvenience. I had no way of using the magical plumbing in my apartment or any of the kitchen appliances. Luckily, I had a human goods hookup who helped me figure out a few work-arounds and luxuries, like the Walkman I used to drown out the constant chatter of animals. But for most life basics I’d simply gone without for way too long.
But now that I’d been working with Peter as a consultant for the police, I had decent money coming in on a semiregular basis and could afford to cover the staples. It felt good to be on a regular bathing schedule, to not be constantly starving, and to have dry socks now that I had new boots that weren’t riddled with holes. Plus, for the first time in a while I could get a comb through my long hair—bonus!
I was still a long way from my life before the curse, when I had a thriving law career, casually bought designer clothes for fun, and lived on an upper tier of the island in a swanky loft. I took a deep breath and straightened my spine. And that was okay.
I wasn’t going to pine for the past anymore. And I wasn’t going to selectively remember the good times—I’d also been a workaholic, had no real friends, and was willing to do less than upstanding things to get ahead.
I wasn’t aiming to reclaim the past anymore. Just to create a better present for myself—starting with a visit to my favorite black market human goods dealer for some new tunes. That’s what the youth were calling them, right?
I hurried on and shoved my hands in my pockets. The air held a briskness I’d missed over the warm, humid summer. Though, once winter came, that posed its own challenges in terms of, you know, not freezing to death. It took spells to heat my apartment… and I had no magic. I rolled my shoulders.
