Kimmie woke with a start to see Wendy standing over her, nudging her in the shoulder.

“Oh!” the older woman said. She backed away and Kimmie recognized the wood paneled ceiling of her living room in the background. She turned her head, realizing right away that she’d somehow ended up on her couch.

“Sorry,” Wendy said, clutching her handbag. “I didn’t want to wake you, but I thought you should know that Albert and I made breakfast ourselves this morning and now we’re heading into town for some more sightseeing. I didn’t want you to worry.”

Kimmie sat up, holding her throbbing head. She glanced over to see the front door open, and Albert already outside, headed for their car. She noticed Wendy was dressed and made up to go out.

She also realized it was daytime.

“No,” she waved her hand, engaging her social interaction autopilot. “Don’t worry about it. I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to sleep through breakfast. I’m a terrible host.”

Wendy patted her on her shoulder. “Well, you were tired dear. Get your rest before you wear yourself out chasing after two old scamps like me and Albert.”

She winked, and Kimmie smiled. Her aunt used to do that, and she could never resist a good wink from a motherly figure.

“You two are fine. Best boarders I’ve ever had, just don’t tell the others.”

They laughed, and Wendy wandered off.

“We’ll be back late. We’re eating out tonight. Some place in Fortuna, I think.”

“Well, I’ll definitely have a big breakfast ready for you tomorrow. Extra big, to make up for this morning.”

“Albert will be thrilled!”

The front door closed and Kimmie’s smile melted away. She got up from the couch, and the room spun around her. She clutched the armrest until her balance returned. She took a few unsteady steps toward her bedroom and closed the door. She went into her bathroom and splashed water on her face, then stared at the disheveled woman in the mirror. Wendy had been kind not bringing up the fact that Kimmie looked exactly like a woman who’d been out in the woods all night.

Her hair was busy defying gravity, so she pulled it back into a ponytail, all the while trying to remember what had happened. She’d been running after the goblin, and she found a sack and rope on the ground. And a knife. She remembered the knife. Then everything went black. Someone snuck up on her, and then… what? Knocked her out? She checked her head for knots or bumps, but found nothing. Other than some disorientation and dizziness, nothing hurt, anywhere on her body. Had she passed out? Or did she somehow not remember running back here?

Kimmie’s stomach fluttered, and she froze as a memory surfaced from the deep recesses of her mind. She remembered a time when she was younger, and she’d done something terrible, something she’d vowed never to do again.

No. It couldn’t have been that. She would know. Wouldn’t she?

She pushed the thought away, forcing it back where it came from, then walked over to her phone and dialed a number.

She wouldn’t panic. Not yet.

*

“It wasn’t me,” Ollie said, a hint of alarm in his voice.

They sat in a small, busy Italian restaurant in Eureka, il Calabrese. The smell of pasta and tomatoes filled the air, along with the obnoxious clink of silverware on plates. Ollie sat straight up in his seat, uncomfortable and trying to avoid leaning forward on his elbows lest his mom somehow scold him from the grave for having bad manners. Kimmie sat across the table from him, concern etched on her face.

“Sorry. I had to see your eyes when you said it.” She frowned and looked around the restaurant. “Despite your mysterious, tough-guy demeanor, you’re actually pretty obvious when you’re hiding something.”

Ollie looked up from his plate of breadsticks. “I am?”

She nodded as she studied an older couple eating at the table next to them. “It’s a thing I do. I can tell when people are lying to me or being dishonest in general. I’m like the world’s foremost expert at reading body language. You should see me on blind dates. I can sniff out the creepy married guys like that.” She snapped her fingers. “But, let’s not short sell the fact that you’re like the worst liar I’ve met since leaving Chicago.”

He frowned and returned to bread. “Sounds like a nice party trick.”

“It’s one of those things.” She sighed heavily and rubbed the weariness from her eyes. “Sorry, I’m not thinking straight. It’s a little creepy waking up somewhere and not remembering how you got there.”

“I can imagine.” He fought to keep from telling her, ‘I told you so.’ Because he had told her so. She was getting into a whole different world now, one that didn’t wait around for newbies to get their sea legs under them. Of course, what happened last night was a definite escalation in the danger involved. He might have to rethink his arrangement with her.

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“So, what do you think? Was it,” she mouthed the word, “magic?”

Ollie held his breath. Magic would be a dangerous topic with this woman. He might as well dangle a steak in front of her dogs.

“Maybe.” He bought himself a moment by setting aside some of the breadsticks to take back to Grika. “Crones, the female goblins, some of them can cast spells. But I haven’t seen a lot of evidence of them around here.” Mostly the truth. He suspected crones were around somewhere, just not in Ferndale. “Not to mention a crone isn’t putting you to sleep only to drag you back to your house. It was probably a hunter.”

“Oh.” Kimmie leaned back in her chair, deep in thought, a worried frown forming on her lips. Ollie realized she hadn’t considered the notion that something other than a goblin could have come after her. “Hunters use magic?”

“A few.”

“But not you?”

He shook his head. “Not me.”

“Why not?”

He looked back at his food and played with his napkin. “It’s not my style.”

Ollie said nothing more, hoping Kimmie would get the hint. Instead, she watched him with that infuriating stare that meant she knew he was holding something back. He didn’t care. He wasn’t about to crack, not on this topic. He’d stare at his plate all day long if that’s what it took to get her to drop the subject.

“What are we dealing with, then? A sorcerer?” She wiggled her fingers. “A witch? A renegade Hogwarts dropout?”

“More likely some idiot who knows just enough to be dangerous.” He tapped his fingers on the table. “It’s your own fault, too, seeding those articles in that website. You lured a lot of troublemakers out here. And now one of them is wandering your land at night looking for the same goblin we are.” He leaned forward onto his elbows, then thought better of it. “If we’ve got direct competition now, and they know magic, that’s gonna make what we’re doing a lot more difficult.”

She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I’ll be honest. I’m a little freaked out. Not enough to stop what we’re doing, but enough to keep the dogs in my room at night from here on out.” A look of alarm flashed across her face. “Wait. You’re not about to back out on our deal because of this, are you?”

He chuckled. “No. I thought about it during the salad course, but apparently you’re safer with me than on your own. I think it’s clear that from here on out, you need to stop making these little nighttime excursions when I leave.”

She nodded and sighed in relief. “Agreed. And go back to what you said about these other hunters. Why hunt goblins if it isn’t to protect people?”

“Goblins are magic. People who practice magic need… magical materials. You can take parts of a goblin’s body and use it for spells. Ground up toenails or hair. Eyeballs. A piece of skin.” Ollie stopped as he caught a pre-school aged kid at a nearby table looking at him with a weird expression. He leaned in and lowered his voice. “You’d be surprised at how powerful a goblin head can be. You can do some really messed up things with one of those.”

She winced. “Ew.”

“Look,” he set aside his food and fixed a harsh stare on Kimmie, “before you get all excited about this, let me be very clear. There are only two things you need to know about magic. One, it’s unreliable. It could kill you just as easily as save you. Two, it corrupts. Everyone who learns magic goes down a dark path. Everyone.”

Her expression wilted, and her laser-like focus shifted from him to the food on her plate. “Sounds like you’ve seen that firsthand.”

Her tone was mollifying, which caught Ollie off guard. He took a drink of water, mostly to avoid eye contact. He looked around the restaurant, watching as a waiter brought food to a table of well-dressed businessmen nearby. Why did he always feel out of place with her? Like he didn’t belong in polite society.

“I gave in on letting you hunt with me,” he said, “but if I get any sense that you’re messing with this stuff, I will be gone from here in an instant. I am dead serious about that.”

Kimmie said nothing at first. Then she nodded. “If it means that much to you, I’ll stop asking about it.”

“Good.” He took another drink, content in his victory, even if it did come easier than expected. “One other thing about magic. Remember what I told you the other night? How magic and electricity don’t mix?” She nodded. “That means it doesn’t work as well inside your home. It still works, it just loses potency. Consider that another reason to stay inside at night instead of wandering out in the woods in the dark like a crazy person.”

Kimmie’s eyes narrowed, her unease fading. “You’re starting to be a little bit of an a-hole.”

He shrugged. “It suits me. But, in the spirit of cooperation, I’ll make a suggestion. Get a signal jammer. It’s not the greatest defense against magic, but it’s probably the best a layperson can get their hands on. But keep in mind that it drives goblins insane. They hear it half a mile away and they go crazy from the noise. It’s kinda like a dog whistle that never stops blowing. Turns some of them into mindless killing machines, so, you know, tradeoffs…”

“Sounds like another neat party trick.”

He grinned. “I’ve seen some interesting things in my life.”

“I bet you have, Mr. Hauk.”

She flashed that playful smile of hers and his cheeks became warm. He suddenly felt uncomfortable, so he decided to change the subject.

“Go back to the beginning. Describe the goblin you saw.”

She leaned forward. “It looked like I thought it would. Kind of a muted green skin, big hands and feet. A big head, too, with a little bit of black hair on top. It hunched over when it walked. Oh, and it had a limp! Its right leg was twisted around to the side.”

Ollie nodded in thought. “Probably got in a fight with something higher up the chain. But yeah, sounds like you saw a regular old greenie. Same one that grabbed you?”

“I think so.”

Ollie took a deep breath. “Well, the good thing is that’s the only one that seems to be around right now. And it isn’t causing too much trouble. Probably holed up in a cave somewhere, scavenging for food near your house. If it was here to make trouble, we’d see crazier things going on.”

“Then what about all the attacks?”

Ollie pursed his lips. “Whatever did that probably isn’t around anymore. Maybe this one is left over from a roaming pack. They don’t always kick out the lame ones, but it happens.”

“You mean… like a runt?”

“Don’t call it that,” he said, suddenly serious.

“Why not?”

“The word runt evokes sympathy this thing doesn’t deserve.” Ollie ignored the fact that he was repeating one of his father’s lectures verbatim. “Small or not, crippled or not, it’s still a goblin. A dangerous, savage, evil creature. No goblin was put on this earth to be sympathized with.”

“Not even Grika?”

Ollie scowled. “Don’t play that game, Kimmie. Don’t feel sorry for it. Trust me.”

She held up her hands, conceding the issue. She looked out the main window to the street, tapping her finger on the table.

“Do you think whoever got me last night caught the goblin, too?”

“Doubt it. You said the ropes were frayed? Like they were ripped apart?” She nodded. “It probably cut through the ropes before they could tie it up completely and then got away. If so, it’s going to be cautious now. We’ll need a different plan to capture it.”

This time it was his turn to stare out the window in thought.

Kimmie sighed. “Another plan?”

“Don’t worry.” He flashed a playful smile of his own. “I think this one will be right up your alley.”