Page 42 of Fresh Old Bounties

“You two, get into the back. Now.”

Oh, good Mother Earth. We were getting robbed!

ELEVEN

Dru and I exchanged glances.

“I will shoot you,” the man warned in a low voice. “Move.”

We filed obediently out of the shop into the back hallway. My gaze darted around, looking for anything I could use to defend us. Could I move fast enough to grab the broom out of the closet? But what good would that do against a gun? I believed the man’s threat—with a glamour potion that strong, he could shoot and waltz out of here. No camera would record a sharp image of him, and nobody could give a description of his face.

Dark magic glamour for sure.

And as usual when I ended up in these kinds of situations, my freezing potion was upstairs in my nightstand. Maybe it was time to invest in a can of pepper spray.

Ahead of me, Dru clenched and unclenched her hands, a bit of pointed nail showing through. She nodded toward the kitchen. No need for her to tell me she was going to make a go for it once we were in close quarters.

She slipped inside and disappeared from view, flattening herself against the wall by the door.

The man let out a heavy sigh and pressed the barrel of the gun against the back of my head. A chill ran down my spine. I had failed to move fast enough, and my magic was all but worthless against a piece of metal—I needed flesh-to-flesh contact.

“Nice try,” the man said. “Make a move and the witch’s gone. Get to the other end of the kitchen, demon.”

Dru cursed and did as he asked. The man shoved me inside, and I stumbled forward to end up next to her.

I expected him to close the door and lock us up, but he followed us inside the kitchen.

“The cash is all in the shop,” I said tentatively.

“I don’t care.” His gun moved toward the counter. Dru tensed, ready to leap, but the gun returned toward us in the next second. “Put your phones over there.”

We placed our phones on the counter.

“Push them into the sink,” he pressed.

I pushed the devices until they clanked into the metal sink.

“Tie the demon up.”

“I don’t have any rope,” I said.

The man dug into the pocket of his jacket and tossed me a ziptie. “Use that. No magic.”

Yeah, right. Even as I moved behind Dru, I awakened my magic. If I made a spell weak enough to pass undetected—not an impressive feat, given my power level—he would never know. Even the weakest of spells might give us the upper hand down the road. But what could be useful in this situation? Without herbs or moon water, my options were limited, and I had to act fast.

“Turn around so I can see,” the man snapped.

Dru turned around, and I put the ziptie around her wrists.

“Make it tight.”

Or course. I called on my magic, trying to keep it down to the barest of murmurs.

Let this tie?—

“I said, no magic,” the man exclaimed, shoving me aside. He checked on the ziptie, then pushed Dru down. “Sit down.”

Dru snarled, but sat on the tiled floor.

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