Page 3 of Bargain with Fate
“Then I guess you should’ve fled to the nearest bar.”
“Last I checked, you’re the head of security, Maya. I neededyou.”
And there it was again—that pang of loss. Judd would’ve had bourbon and Coke on hand to offer her. A month had passed since his death, and I was already a failure.
I sat beside her. “Tell me about the encounter. Start at the beginning.”
“There isn’t much to tell. I was coming from aquatic yoga at the pool. The other witches wanted to stay longer, but I have a dentist appointment in an hour, so I needed time to shower and change.”
“Where’s your golf cart?”
“I left it at the pool for my mother. I was walking across the square when I started feeling uneasy. Mist rolled across the lawn. At first, I thought the automatic sprinklers had come on.”
“Did you hear anything?”
She shook her head. “I continued walking, and that’s when I saw it out of the corner of my eye.”
“Mr. Big and Blue?”
“Yes. It was across the square. Sharp teeth. Sharp claws.”
“You could see its teeth from that distance?”
Margie glared at me. “I may be over a hundred, but there’s nothing wrong with my vision, Maya.”
“Okay, then what happened?”
“That thing started to charge me, waving a club in the air.”
“A golf club?”
She smirked. “Not surprised that would be your assumption on this island, but no. More like a caveman club, but I think it was made of metal, not wood.”
“You didn’t cast a defensive spell?”
She gestured to herself. “With what? I have nothing on me. Even if I had, there was no time to react. I had a decent head start, so I picked up the pace.”
“You ran all the way here?”
“It was more of a bouncy step. I wasn’t about to let it follow me home. Then it would know where I live.”
“Yes, much better to lead the club-wielding monster to my door.”
“You have weapons, don’t you?”
“I do.” No one on the island was permitted to keep weapons except security, which was currently a team of one. I also had a cache of weapons nobody knew about—which I kept warded so I was the only one able to access them, not that I had any intention of using them. They were relics of my previous life that I couldn’t bear to part with, just on the off chance I was ever discovered.
“Maybe you should send out a Neighborhood alert,” Margie said.
“Not yet.” And probably not ever. I couldn’t afford to induce mass panic on an island full of powerful beings. “Did the creature say anything to you?”
“No.”
“Are you sure it followed you all the way here?”
“No. Once I started going, I didn’t look back. For all I know, it stayed in the square.”
I shot to my feet. “Then I’d better go take a look.”
