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The gang lunged at me from all directions. I turned and twisted in the limited space as I shot into their ranks. I slammed the cup that was still a quarter full of ice cream into the nose of the fake blonde witch while she tried to toss her useless magic at me.

The cup stuck to her bleeding nose, and the green ice cream smeared her face.

“Oops,” I said. “I can’t find a trash can, so you’ll do. But don’t sweat. It’s mocha. Not my favorite. Do you know what’s my favorite? Peach!” At the same time, my leg flew up and booted the side of her face to send her away from me. “Be gone, fake blonde witch.”

The gang divided into two groups. Group A tried again to conjure their magic to throw at me but to no avail. Group B tried to overpower me with kicks, punches, and sheer numbers. It worked poorly as well.

They relied too much on their magic, so they seldom practiced martial arts. After I fled Ruin, I’d taken it upon myself to educate myself in every way possible, including leveling up my fighting skills. I never took my borrowed time or freedom for granted.

I reached Bea and punched the mage restraining her in the teeth while yanking Bea’s wand out of his hand. I returned it to her as I helped her up.

“This doesn’t belong to you, Sweet Tooth.” I smiled at him as he held his jaw and howled in pain.

“Pussies,” I murmured.

The crowd grew bigger. I didn’t want to linger and draw more attention, and I especially didn’t want Gunnar to catch up with me.

“Let’s go.” I grabbed Bea and pulled her up to run with me.

“My book!” she cried. “I need to get my book!”

Not missing a beat, I flicked my wrist, and the book fell into my arms. I put the box of remaining ice cream on top of it, not slowing my pace.

“I’ll catch you, and I’ll fuck you up!” the shifter boy called after us.

“Promise, coyote!” I called back over my shoulder.

“I’m a panther!” he shouted. “And you’ll wish you were never born, servant boy!”

“You and me both,” I shot back. “I already wish I was never born. But since I was born, I can’t go back, so I’m going to grab life by its horns and enjoy every fucking second. Are you with me, coyote?”

He snarled. Not a good sport.

“We need to get out of here!” the fae boy called in warning. “Prince Killian is coming!”

They ceased to pursue me, but I only pumped more strength into my legs. I didn’t have it in me to face the chaos prince twice in a day.

~

“This way, Little Bob!” Bea steered me east, past a white stone building that had Infinite Library of Mist of Cinder etched on its façade, guarded by two sphinx sculptures on either side of the arched steel-blue door.

“Are we going to hide in the library?” I asked her. “I don’t have a library card, but maybe we can share yours?”

“We’re going to the mages’ café,” she said.

“But a mage and two witches from your house just attacked you,” I said. “They’ll follow us there.”

“They won’t attack me in Snowflake unless they want to be banished,” Bea said confidently.

“Whatever you say.” I shrugged and joined her walking past the library. “I don’t have a place to go anyway.”

An amber building loomed ahead; the House of Mages basked in the golden rays of the sun. I’d snuck in once. The interior design appeared more casual than that of other houses. Indoor plants and herbs blended seamlessly with comfortable chairs. The high walls were lined with shelves of books, ancient and new. Mages wanted to show the world that they were the keepers of arcane knowledge.

“I’d have invited you to the House of Mages,” she said, “but the house rules are strict. You aren’t a witch or mage, so you won’t be able to pass the magical requirement to enter my house. Even if you were my kind, you’d still need to be initiated by Prince Cade to be accepted by our house.”

“Hmm,” I said.

She smiled at me encouragingly. “But let’s enjoy tea at Snowflake.”