drank it. She’s gonna love you.”
“I told you, I did not drink the—”
“Whatever.” Evan grabbed her around the waist and lifted her up. He was surprisingly strong. “Get a move on. We’re running out of time.”
Sassy grabbed the thatching and tried to pull herself up. Her throbbing ankle made her sick to her stomach and she was uncomfortably aware that her bottom was sticking in Evan’s face.
“Oh, my goodness, this is awkward,” Sassy said. “I expect you to be a gentleman and not look up my dress.”
“News flash, Lollipop. I’ve got more important things on my mind right now than your Tiffany twat. Staying alive, for starters.”
“Tiffany—” Sassy spluttered. “You are the crudest man.”
“Babe, this is me being nice. Move it.”
Ignoring her indignant protests, Evan put his hands on Sassy’s butt and pushed. She shot through the hole like a cork out of a champagne bottle and belly-flopped onto the roof. The impact jolted her bad ankle. She pressed her face against the scratchy straw, gritting her teeth to keep from screaming.
Evan hoisted himself out of the shed. “See, I was right. The shield doesn’t reach the roof. I could have busted out of this shit box weeks ago.”
Sassy lifted her head. She did see. A network of shimmering lines surrounded the shed and ended some six feet off the ground. The spell was clearly visible. Why hadn’t she seen it before?
It had to be the fairy funk.
“Don’t sit there.” Evan yanked Sassy upright, ignoring her cry of pain. “Let’s get out of here. And turn down the wattage. You’re lit up like a freaking airport runway.”
Evan was right. She was incandescent.
“I don’t know how to turn it down,” she said. “Go without me. I can’t run anyway—my ankle.”
“Shut it and do what I say before I change my mind. This nobility shit is wearing thin.”
There was a bloodcurdling roar from the far side of the cottage.
“Aw, hell. We’re in for it now.” Evan spat. “Here she comes.”
A twisted form cleared the stone wall behind the cottage and barreled toward the storage shed. Slavering with rage, the witch crossed the yard in a broken, shambling lope, body bent and long arms dragging on the ground.
“Thief.” The witch fastened her burning gaze on Sassy. “Dirty, filthy thief.”
Sassy recoiled from the sheer force of the witch’s hate and rage.
“It was an accident,” she squeaked. “I swear.”
“Sneak. I’ll teach you to steal what’s mine. I’ll teach you.”
“Leave her alone, bitch,” Evan said in a voice loud enough to crack stone. “You’ve pissed off the wrong demonoid.”
Demonoid? What was he talking about?
To Sassy’s astonishment, the earth cracked open and a fountain of sod and dirt vomited forth, burying the witch. Sassy glanced at Evan and received another shock. His body contorted and his clothes split and fell away. Bones cracked, sinews and tendons stretched. He grew in leaps and bounds, turning into a bulky, muscled behemoth, a naked eight-foot-tall giant with claws and a set of choppers like an orc. The roof of the hut groaned beneath his weight.
Sassy yelped in surprise and staggered back. Her injured ankle gave way with a sickening crunch. She lost her balance and fell. An enormous hand caught her and she was lifted like a Barbie doll and held, eye level, with Evan’s brutish face. He stared at her without recognition, his eyes solid pools of black.
A shriek clawed its way up Sassy’s throat.
“Do not scream, Sassy, else you will startle him,” a deep, familiar voice said.
Evan’s dark liquid eyes widened, and he whirled with a feral grunt. His hand tightened around Sassy’s ribs. Screaming was no longer an option.
“Peace.” The no-name hunk from the bridge stepped from the shadows. He held out his hands, palms up. “Release the woman and I will have no quarrel with you.”
“But I sure as hell will.” The witch popped out of the ground like a mole coming out of its hole. “She’s mine. Hand her over, demon boy, or you’ll be sorry.”
Evan tossed Sassy aside and sprang off the roof.
“Witch,” he bellowed. “Kill witch.”
The witch and Evan collided with a horrible snarling that faded into the distance.
Sassy rolled onto her back. The stars wheeled overhead and the moon laughed down at her. This morning she’d lived in a world of absolutes, a solid and immutable place. No room existed for such things as fairies, or ghosts, or monsters. This morning had been a lifetime ago. Right now, if someone told her the moon was made of green cheese, she could not,