The knife cut through the last threads of the seatbelt.

Gretta hopped out of the truck and glanced back at Sofia. “Go with Rowan.” Then she turned to Rowan and said, “I saw a fast-food burger place across the way before we turned in. Pick me up there.”

“Don’t get killed,” he said while dashing to Gretta’s red Honda Civic.

As she was walking toward the police car, she said. “There’s a sorcerer here somewhere. Keep your eyes open, birdbrain.”

Rowan helped Sofia into the backseat, shut the door, and then got in and pulled out. The police car’s lights turned on, and the siren released a single whoop.

Rowan exerted a minimum effort of will, only large enough to create an illusion to mask the license plate at the back of the car. He wanted to save his strength, and even that much magic threatened him with unconsciousness.

“I’ve got to work on my endurance,” Rowan whispered.

Gretta marched toward the police car, blocking them from chasing the Civic. She could hear Rowan driving off, but her eyes were on the officer behind the wheel, reaching for his seat belt. She was just a few feet away from the bumper when she dove to her right, pulling in magic to her, and shifted to a small tabby cat.

The police car screeched to a halt. Gretta dove under one car, crept along as fast as she could while crouched, and dashed to another. She kept repeating the process as she worked toward the end of the long row. Behind her, she could hear the police officers talking.

“She was right here,” the male officer said.

“She couldn’t have gone far,” his female partner said. “Check under cars.”

Gretta didn’t slow down. They’d be looking for a person, not a cat, and she was already multiple cars away, moving considerably faster than a person could navigate. She was a little nervous that one of the cars she was under might decide to pull out while she was under it and turn her into roadkill, but thankfully, she made it safely to the end of the row.

She surveyed the parking lot. Rowan had gotten out of the lot and was already pulling into traffic going right. This made her nervous since the fast food place was to the left. He was a disciple of the trickster god, but he hadn’t abandoned her yet, so she’d just have to trust that he wouldn’t abandon her yet.

Whatever reason he’s helping, he seems to be still helping. Maybe he doesn’t get along with the god of destruction. You’d think that his god, the god of chaos, would be friends with the god of war, but maybe the god of war is a neat freak. Either way, I need the ally. If, or more likely, when he betrays me, I’ll find a way to settle up.

Shifting from human to animal or back to human took tremendous magic to switch one form from the astral and the other to reality, but once shifted, it took no magic to sustain. That meant that she would be a cat for at least a few hours at this point, and she had to hope that nobody would call animal control or simply run her over while she navigated the three blocks to the restaurant and then hung around looking for a ride.

She let out the most resigned sigh a nine-pound cat could muster and trotted across the street. The pavement was hot. When the air is 115 degrees Fahrenheit, the ground is about 175 degrees. That’s hot enough to fry an egg—not that you’d eat that egg; the salmonella would likely survive, but the egg would cook. Her cat paws were tender when she reached the sidewalk on the opposite side of the street. If cats could swear, she would have found new and creative ways of arranging four-letter words to express her displeasure.

Across the street, back in the outlet mall parking lot, she spotted a man wearing a gold button-up dress shirt and a green tie talking to the police. With striking green eyes matching his tie, the man looked straight at her as he spoke to two police officers.

Gretta felt judgment in that glare, and she realized he was the source of judgment she had felt earlier. He was the sorcerer. Along the sidewalk were small desert bushes, and Gretta took the chance to dash between them and out of sight.

That man was not one of the god of war’s disciples. Where they moved like soldiers, this man she would bet money on was a disciple of the Beacon of Light—goddess of order and judgment.

Her thoughts were running wild. This is why you don’t team up with a disciple of chaos! Before you know it, even the good guys are after you. Since when have the god of war and the god of judgment worked together? Oh, yeah, since they both hate the trickster god. Effing tricksters! And where is the trickster disciple? Oh, yeah, he drove off in the wrong direction!

A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

She wove through bushes and avoided the sidewalk, crossing streets only as necessary to reach the fast-food burger place.

When she finally arrived at the burger place, her red Honda Civic sat in the parking lot near the back. Rowan had the windows down and was eating a burger. Her eyes narrowed with suspicion. Had he discovered her parking change in the center console?

She lept from the ground, straight through the window, and landed hard in his lap. She wasn’t careful with her claws or where they dug in.

Rowan coughed. “I sincerely hope that was an accident.”

Gretta looked at him and let out a hiss.

Rowan rolled the windows up and started the car. “We’re low on gas because somebody forgot to fill up, but we should probably put a little distance between here and the police. I masked the license plate on your car, but I wouldn’t count on that being enough. They probably know you are involved and will be looking for your car. At best, I might have given us a few hours before they figure out what’s going on.”

Gretta crawled back next to Sofia, who was eating a cheeseburger and wearing a small paper crown.

“I seriously hope that you aren’t a stray cat.” Rowan shrugged and pulled out into traffic, heading east.

Gretta curled up next to Sofia and fell asleep.

She woke up sometime later to the sound of gravel under the tires. She let out a meow.

“Rowan,” Sofia said. “I think Gretta needs something.”

“I don’t speak cat,” Rowan said.

Gretta likely had the energy to return to human form, but if she did, she’d immediately need to sleep again. She let out a more aggressive, drawn-out meow.

“I think she needs a litter box,” Rowan said.

Gretta leaped from the back seat onto the center console and hissed toward Rowan.

He glanced at her and then back to Sofia. “Sounds like a bathroom emergency. We might need to pull over. Cat pee smells—Ow! Why did you bite me!”

Gretta let out another hiss.

“I don’t think she needs to go potty,” Sofia said.

“Maybe she does, maybe she doesn’t.” Rowan sucked on the fresh bite mark on his wrist.

“Why doesn’t she turn back into a person?” Sofia asked.

“She likes being a cat,” Rowan said.

Gretta let out a warning hiss.

“Or, she’s saving her strength,” Rowan said in a rush. “If she shifts back into a human, she’ll be tired, and maybe she’s worried about taking a nap right now.”

Gretta gave a meow.

“What does she want?” Sofia asked again.

“Evidence suggests she wants to bite me again, but other than that, I got nothing,” he said.

Gretta let out a hiss.

“Maybe we could guess what she wants us to talk about,” Rowan said. “Why don’t you go first?”

“Okay,” Sofia said. “Well, maybe she wants to know that she slept all day.”

Gretta stared at Rowan.

“It was more like an hour,” he said.

Gretta gave a meow.

“Maybe she wants to know where we are?” Sofia asked. “We’re out in the desert. Rowan had to pull off when he saw police making a roadblock.”

Gretta gave a meow.

“They didn’t recognize us. I saw them in time, and a freak dust storm blew through. Nobody could see anything.”

“It was like everything was brown,” Sofia said. “It was a little scary because we couldn’t see.”

Gretta let out a hiss.

“Sofia was in no danger. I could see. That was part of its freak nature.” He winked at Gretta.

“Was that your magic?” Sofia asked a little awe in her voice.

He glanced back and smiled. “It was.”

“The magic was so big! How did you do that?”

Rowan shrugged. “It was tough, but it’s easier for me to make an illusion if it doesn’t move or isn’t complicated. I didn’t make millions of pieces of dirt; I just made a big brown dome around them. It was large and far away, and I’m still tired from doing it, but it wasn’t moving or detailed, so it was something I could manage. Magic like that works best when they don’t realize it is magic.”

“My mom said her magic is like that,” Sofia said.

“Your mother must be smart,” Rowan said.

“My mom is very smart,” Sofia said. “I miss her.”

“Where is your mom?” Rowan asked.

“I don’t know. She came to see me right before the bad men showed up, and I haven’t seen her since.”

“Your mom was there when they came to your dad’s apartment?” Rowan asked.

“She was, but I don’t know where she is now.” Sofia sniffed. “Maybe they took her.”

Rowan thought of Miguel’s fate and imagined that Sofia’s mother might be in a similar condition, but he didn’t want to say anything. From the look Gretta gave him, he imagined she was warning him.

Rowan lowered his voice. “My little stunt at the roadblock might have bought us a ten-minute lead, but the gas tank has been on E for a bit, and I don’t think there’s a gas station out here. I couldn’t pull a repeat illusion without a good night’s rest. We’re both well beyond our limits, and I’m shocked that either of us is awake, so if you have any brilliant ideas on how we get out of here, you’ll have to scratch them out in the sand.”

Gretta wanted to tell Rowan that their situation was worse than being chased by the police. The green-eyed man was likely on their trail and had some judgment to deliver. She figured that Rowan was at the top of the naughty list, but her name would be in the second spot.