which instantly dispersed, letting them drop the last couple feet.
I marched to the man who’d wanted his friends to hold Gabrielle down for him. He was big and would have been mean-looking, if he hadn’t been shaking so hard and half passed out from fear. I bent over him.
“If you try to touch a woman who doesn’t want to be touched ever again,” I said in a calm voice. “It will fall off. I guarantee that.”
I put my fingers to his neck, letting my magic tingle on him. The spark bit, he jumped, and his neck bore a burned circle when I pulled my hand away.
The guy stared at me in absolute fear, and I smiled, hoping I looked as terrifying as Gabrielle.
I hadn’t actually done a spell to make his dick fall off if he tried to touch a woman against her will, because subtle magic like that was beyond me. Except for a few small spells Mick had taught me, I could do either absolute destruction or nothing at all. But maybe the guy would believe I’d cursed him, plus he’d have the scar on his neck as a reminder of what had happened here.
I plucked the shotgun one the third guy had dropped and carried it gingerly out the door, barrel pointing to the ground. I didn’t try to unload it or uncock it, because firearms and me don’t mix. I’d blow the thing up trying to disable it, and who knows who else with it.
The cops tried to stop us. Mick kept going, bowling through them, Gabrielle yelling at him and beating on his back.
I handed the shotgun to one of the state police troopers. “They’re disarmed in there,” I said. “Better get in and help the cashier. Be careful—the poor guy’s got a baseball bat and he’s scared shitless.”
The cop took the gun, bewildered. I know he wanted to stop me, take a statement from me, possibly arrest me, but at that moment the other cops stormed the building. In the confusion, I hurried away after Mick.
Mick had Gabrielle on his Harley a little way down the street. She was still fuming, but had ceased her foul language and calmed her magic.
“Take her home,” I said to Mick.
He nodded, expressionless. I knew he was seriously annoyed that his date night with me had been interrupted by my insane little sister, but that’s what happens when you get yourself engaged to a Stormwalker with family issues.
Mick started up the motorcycle, Gabrielle clinging to the seat behind him. “You going to be okay?” Mick asked me.
“Sure,” I said, waving him off. “It’s a quiet night.”
He gave me a nod, understanding what I meant. In spite of the chaos at the convenience store, there had been no magical situation. The most dangerous person in this town right now was Gabrielle. Safer for everyone concerned if he took her away.
Mick’s look told me he’d come back for me as soon as he could, then he lifted his hand to me and took off into the darkness.
That left me alone in Winslow without transportation. I could have called someone at the hotel I owned at the Crossroads, south of here, to come and pick me up, but as usual, I was without a cell phone. Tonight, I’d left it behind deliberately, not wanting anyone to call me with a problem while I was trying to grab some alone time with Mick.
That had worked well. I could also contact the hotel through my magic mirror, a shard of which I always carried with me, but I was in no mood to deal with my temperamental mirror at the moment.
It was a nice evening, and a walk would not be a bad thing. I’d stroll along the highway, and Mick, when he had secured Gabrielle, would come back for me. Or if a resident of Magellan, the little town beyond my hotel, came along the road, they’d no doubt give me a ride.
I turned my steps southward and began my hike.
As I reached the street in Winslow that led to the train depot—the only touristy road in town, with a mural tribute to the Eagle’s song, an elegantly restored railroad hotel, and a depot that was both Amtrak stop and art gallery—a limousine pulled up beside me.
Limousines are not common sights in this little town off the freeway in northern Arizona. I stopped, peering suspiciously at the smoke-dark windows. The last time I’d seen a limo like this, it had been full