Page 20

We’re alone in one of Andrew’s many guest bedrooms. Tammy stands before me, her eyes glowing faintly with fairy magic.

I hold the image of the stolen yacht in my mind—but first, we need to get small.

“Are you ready for this, Ma?” Tammy asks, smirking. “I don’t think I’ve shrunk you before.”

“Do it,” I say.

Tammy mutters an incantation under her breath, and a rush of shimmering light engulfs us both. The world expands around me in an instant, everything growing massive as we shrink down to the size of mice. The air feels denser, too, and my voice—when I try to speak—comes out impossibly tiny.

I glance over at Tammy. Even shrunken, she looks smug, clearly pleased with herself and her abilities.

“Are you okay?” she asks me.

I nod. “Let’s go.”

Taking Tammy’s hand, I summon the single flame and see within it the stolen yacht’s deck. I step toward the wavering flame as the image of the yacht rushes to meet me. The sensation is familiar—weightlessness, the cold rush of space folding around me—and then, just as quickly, we appear aboard the yacht, which is rocking and swaying in the ocean just off the Southern California coast.

The deck is vast from our new perspective, the wooden planks stretching like highways. The ocean’s salty scent is invigorating. The thrum of the engines vibrates beneath our tiny feet. We scamper forward, darting into the shadows like a pair of two-legged—and super cute—mice.

From our vantage point, we can see everything. And it’s worse than I expected.

Henchmen—dozens of them—line the deck and the walkways, each armed with revolvers, undoubtedly loaded with silver bullets, if the tingling in my teeth is any indicator. And considering my inner alarm has remained silent, it appears we’ve fooled all on board. And no, they’re not just standing around. They’re waiting . This was a trap all along.

Tammy hisses, her teeny-tiny voice heard only by me. “Norm set this up. I bet he’s not even onboard, and long gone.”

To where, I haven’t a clue. Yachts of this size often have smaller boats attached. Likely he escaped in one of those or the speedboat I’d seen him get in; in fact, he might not have ever made it onto this vessel. Just arranged for it to be dramatically stolen, complete with security footage.

I grit my teeth, scanning the ship, consider my next move. The captain’s quarters. That’s where some answers will be.

I tell Tammy to follow me, and she does just that. Soon, we’re sprinting across the deck, dodging boots the size of trucks. No one notices the two tiny intruders sneaking beneath their noses; shortly, we reach the starboard side of the ship and follow the curve of the hull until we reach the captain’s quarters. There, we slide under a crack in the door itself. The captain is in there, standing over a small table.

I gesture to Tammy, and she nods. A moment later, she whispers another spell, and I feel myself stretching, expanding, growing back to my normal size.

Weird, and kind of fun.

Tammy stays small, tucked into my pocket, just in case we need stealth magic.

The captain spins suddenly. He’s a burly man with sun-leathered skin, and stares at me with wide, terrified eyes. He reaches for something—a gun, maybe—but I’m faster. I grab him by the collar, effortlessly lifting him off his feet, and toss him backward onto the table.

“Where’s Norm?” I growl.

He sputters, but he’s not brave enough to lie. “You mean that weird little fellow? Never quite got his name. He and his goons boarded my ship and took it over. Made me haul ass out of there as fast as she could go.”

“Anyone hurt?”

“Nope, but my ass is feeling bruised. Can I stand?”

“Sure, and sorry about that. Looked like you were going for a gun.”

“Someone strange breaks into my cabin, you’re damn right I’m going for my gun—especially with all these bruisers onboard. My nerves are shot. This cabin’s the only place I can catch my breath. Are you here to help me?”

“Yes, I think so. There’s only one of me and a lot of them.”

“They disabled the VHF radio. I can’t call the Coast Guard or anyone else. They also took my phone—and the phones from everyone on board.”

I nod. “I’ll go get help.”

“Go get help? How? You didn’t come in a helicopter, did you? I didn’t hear one. Then again, I’ve been holed up in here all evening—ever since they hijacked my yacht.”

I suggest to him that I arrived in a helicopter, and that I’m a James Bond-type of super-agent and can take care of myself.

He nods. “Boy, before careful. There are a lot of guys out there with guns. Oh, and that little asshole took our only speedboat back to shore an hour ago.”

I curse under my breath. “And what’s all this?” I gesture to the trap outside.

“A setup, I assume,” he admits, his face pale. “He said he knew a woman would show up, and they had to be ready for her.”

I’m about to command the captain to head back to shore when it occurs to me the goons outside with their guns could still be trouble for him—or for anyone boarding the ship. The goons may not want to go to shore, where they would likely be arrested. A silver bullet could kill a human, too.

I ask the captain if there are any other innocents on board, and he says yes. They’re locked up in one of the bathrooms, but safe enough, as far as he knows.

Good enough. With that, I command him to close his eyes. When he does, I take his hand and teleport him back to the marina where the yacht had been docked in the security footage. Once done, I decided to wipe the captain’s memory of me completely. He’s going to have to explain how he got to shore without the ship. Lucky for him, his testimony is probably going to fall on the sympathetic ear of federal—and immortal—Agent Lindsey Aeon. Oh, I just got that. ‘Aeon’ means forever. Cute.

Tammy, still the size of a kumquat, peeks out from my pocket. “Is it safe, Ma?”

“Sure is, hon.”

She appears suddenly next to me, regular-sized. The captain’s eyes are just about to bug out of his face. So, I wipe the memory of her, as well.

“Time to go,” I say.

I command the captain to turn around again, summon the single flame, focus on Andrew’s condo again, and teleport our butts off the dock, leaving the confused captain behind.