Page 53 of Marcus-stiltskin

The man looks taken aback. “Fuck you, man. Don’t come around me sniffing my girlfriend.” He looks ready to fight as he pushes into Zander’s space. I take the opportunity to do the only thing I can think of. I hold my breath like I’m about to open the dumpster in the back and snatch the cloak off the woman. It’s like grabbing a pan hot from the oven. From my side, I hear Esmer suck in a breath as if she’s watching me do something incredibly painful.

It’s all the warning I get.

The cloak is incredibly tight on the woman, as if an unseen belt holds it, and I find myself fighting with it, holding onto it for far too long. At last, something snaps and the cloak falls on me for a moment before I’m able to shake it off.

Instant nausea overwhelms me, and my stomach wretches violently. I manage to make it to the bushes as the effects of its enchantments wear off the hapless woman.

“What the fuck is going on? Who are you?” She’s yelling as I try not to keep my hair out of the way. I have thrown up outside way too many bars in my life, but never have I done it sober. It’s definitely a different experience.

“I’m your boyfriend,” the man is saying incredulously.

“The fuck you are, asshole.”

The yelling continues on as my stomach begins to heave again.

“Sarah,” I hear Esmer say from a safe distance behind me, “do you need a ginger ale?”

I almost want to laugh at how old-fashioned it sounds to ask if I want a ginger ale, but my stomach is heaving again.

“Marcus…” I manage to mutter. “Can you get Marcus at the bar?”

“Of course, dear,” she says before disappearing.

Seconds later, Marcus is at my side, gathering back my hair and holding it for me as I throw up for what feels like the twentieth time. “What happened?” he asks as he rubs my back.

“She fought strong magic without protection,” I hear Esmer tell him.

“I just pulled off a cloak,” I croak out.

She shrugs. “Fighting magic isn’t lights and fire and dramatics. Mostly, it’s just undoing someone else’s magic and then throwing up afterwards if you weren’t careful about it. Get some soup in her. She’ll be better in the morning.”

She turns to Zander. “Sarah’s leaving early. The pack owes her a debt. That Trow would have walked off with a human woman and your club would have been the place women go to disappear. Not exactly good for business.” She turns to Eddie and kicks the cloak to him. “Do not allow anyone with this cloak to leave. There are at least two more cloaks like this one. We need to find them. Come along, wolf.”

Zander looks between us, bewildered, but follows Esmer back into the Wild Hare without complaint.

“Is your purse inside?” Marcus asks me.

I shake my head. “In my trunk.” I hand him my keys.

“Stay here and I’ll bring my truck around.”

I lean my head against the cold, bumpy brick of the building and close my eyes. I definitely need a new job. Zach was right, even if he was just looking out for himself and the Wild Hare. This is too volatile a place for me to be. I cannot keep stepping into magical situations without even knowing what I’m getting into. I’m going to get myself or someone else hurt.

Marcus pulls up and, despite my grumbling, carries me in his arms to the open passenger door of the truck. The nausea has stopped, only to be replaced with a feeling of utterly being drained like I have a bad flu. I close my eyes and lean awkwardly on Marcus the entire drive home.

Back at the fire station, I wave him off as he tries to carry me up the stairs. Once I make it to his room, I don’t even have the energy to wash my face or take off my costume. Darkness takes me, and I’m grateful for it.

Chapter Twenty

In Which It’s One Human, One Witch, a Bunch of Werewolves, and a Baby

The next day is Friday, a work day.

I wake up way too late and find Marcus and the horse trailer gone. Freddie K. is in his usual spot on the couch, so I ask him instead of looking for a note or checking my phone.

“Where’s Marcus?” Freddie K. makes a grumbling noise from under his blanket, but I get the image of Ramona with a baby. The crazy horse must have run off again.

Over the past several weeks, I’ve been slowly figuring out Freddie K.’s attempts to communicate. He shows me images of squirrels when he wants outside and images of the broken fence when he wants to tattle on the donkeys, but for the life of me, I can’t figure out what Ramona and the baby means. She’s not pregnant. She usually ends up as far as the Wild Hare, so she’s not visiting babies. It’s mystifying. I always thought it’d be cool to communicate with animals, but now I’m still as lost as ever.

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