I walked down Penad’s narrowing streets toward my shitty little house in the slums, but with an extra spring in my step. Along the way, an older kur man fell in step beside me, and I smiled at him.

“How goes your project?” he asked.

“It’s coming along just fine,” I said. “The flowers are starting to bloom. I’m sure they’ll be in full bloom before long.”

He smiled back at me. “It sounds like you have everything under control, then. Good luck.” He turned down another street and disappeared around a corner.

I couldn’t wait to see these “flowers” bloom so I could go home for a while. Of course, then I’d just have to go plant them somewhere else. That was just how it was.

Someone grabbed my arm and yanked me to the side into an alley, then shoved me to the cobblestones. My hands and bare arms and knees stung from several scrapes and shallow cuts, but I sprang to my feet. My attacker pushed me face first into a wall before I could fight back.

“Look at you,” he said. “Why haven’t I seen you around before? I know I would have noticed.” He pressed his body against mine, his cock against my rear. I struggled to get out of his grip, but he just ground against me, grunting like one of the lord’s hogs. He licked my neck, then bit down, drawing blood. I jerked my elbow back, but he caught my arm and pinned it against the wall.

An elf couple passed by the mouth of the alley, spotting me, but hurried away. Demons take them.

Another man cleared his throat to my other side where I couldn’t see.

“Hey, mind your own business,” my attacker said.

Metal scraped against a scabbard, and my attacker backed off.

“Okay! She’s all yours.” I turned as the man ran off. I faced the other. He was an elf with his hood drawn up, and he sheathed his sword.

“Thank you,” I said, though I took a step back as he stepped closer.

“Don’t thank me yet,” he said. “I’ll take payment for saving you. Maybe that necklace. You must keep it hidden for a reason. Either that, or I’ll take what he would have.” He towered over me and brushed his fingers along my cheek. Goosebumps prickled up like I’d been dunked in ice.

Ket’s low voice grumbled in my head. “You’re just going to let him take me?”

I glared at the man but didn’t move, and he reached his hands behind my neck to lift my papa’s necklace over my head. He smiled as he looked over the deep green stone, carved into a pointed swirl, then pocketed my only heirloom and calmly walked around the corner.

He thought he’d found an easy target. Clueless man. I summoned my prenni, and strings of light streamed from my hands, taking the form of a large ape. It stared at me with its huge eyes until I mentally ordered it off to track the robber.

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I brushed myself off before continuing back toward my house. The narrow thing shared its side walls with the houses next door, which shared their walls with the next, forming a chain all the way down my street. I hurried inside, slammed the door, locked it tight, and stripped down as I headed for the water closet. A steel bucket sat on the floor drain under the only faucet, and I filled it again and again, dumping the water into the tarnished copper bathtub. I didn’t care that it was lukewarm. I wasn’t waiting to boil one bucket’s worth at a time tonight. I needed to wash away the ghost of the pressure against my backside.

If only my mission was over so I could leave this awful city, with all its elven men leering at me and waiting for their chance, but I had to make sacrifices for the greater good. My pain was worth it for the cause. I just wouldn’t tell Mama about it, or she’d never let me leave the Refuge again.

I plunged into the tub, and the cold water shocked my skin. I shivered for a minute, but my body adjusted. I scrubbed myself aggressively with a small cloth, then laid back and stared at the rough wooden planks crossing above me. They needed replacing, but that sure wasn’t happening.

I melded with my prenni, seeing through its eyes. It stood watching the robber standing with his pregnant wife, putting a toddler to bed. Rage boiled inside me, and I wanted to vomit. How could he act so lovingly, so shamelessly, around his wife and little girl after what he’d threatened to do to me?

I turned the ape away and headed downstairs, where I scanned the main room. Where would he have put it? I checked his cloak’s pockets. Not there. The kitchen drawers, the cupboards, any container I could find. Nothing. Footsteps sounded on the stairs, so I shut a cupboard door. Time to check upstairs.

I phased right through the robber and his wife on the way up and guided my prenni straight to their bedroom, passing their daughter’s door. I checked the boxes under the bed, in their dresser drawers and nightstands, and every shelf of their closet. Still nothing. Surely he wouldn’t have hidden it in his daughter’s room?

Then I noticed the small bookcase in the corner and started pulling the books out. A small box was hidden in the back, and my necklace was inside on top of a pile of other pieces of jewelry. Fucking thief. I snatched the necklace and replaced the books, then snuck downstairs. The couple sat on a small couch before the empty fireplace, their backs turned to me, not seeing the necklace floating in the air.

Shit. I hadn’t planned ahead enough. How was I going to get the necklace back to me? If I had my prenni phase through the walls, I’d have to drop the necklace. Think, think. The window. It was shut, but I could smash the prenni’s fist through it and drop the necklace outside. No, that would have been too obvious it had been broken from inside, with the glass falling outside. The man would say he’d been targeted by a witch. My only option was straight through the front door. He wouldn’t be able to prove it wasn’t just a prank, or a spooked thief.

It would make noise. I had to be fast. I gripped the door handle with one hand and readied the other to flip the lock. Go. I flung the door open and sprinted out into the dark.

“Demons take me!” the robber shouted, but the necklace was out of sight before he ever reached the door.

I came back to myself and climbed out of the tub, wrapping a towel around me. I hurried to my door and waited until I sensed my prenni nearby. It let me know no one was around, and when I opened the door, it waited on the other side holding my necklace out to me. Grinning, I took it back and held it to my chest.

“You let him take me,” Ket growled.

“Quiet, you’re fine. Good job,” I said to the ape, and it dissolved into strings of light that faded and disappeared.

That elf had messed with the wrong girl. And if I ever saw the other one again, the attacker, I’d set my prenni loose on him and wouldn’t hold back.

“I’d like to see that,” Ket said.