Rowan felt a jarring sensation when the crate he was trapped in was placed on a counter. He had kept his eyes closed most of the trip from the agents’ car into the local FBI office.

“Why are we putting a crated coyote in a cell?” a female FBI agent asked.

“Victor says that this one is a god,” the agent Rowan recognized as the driver explained. “He can change his shape from coyote to human. Putting him inside the antimagic cell should keep that from happening, and if he still manages to shift, he’ll be in a cell that can hold him.”

Rowan hadn’t known that it was even possible to make an antimagic cell. Now, he was about to be put into one. Would he automatically revert to a human? Would he be stuck as a coyote? If he didn’t escape before reaching the cell, he might not have another chance until they moved him. Maybe they’d never move him.

He pulled in magic and shifted. Between one moment and the next, his coyote form faded into the astral, and his spider form resolved.

“Why are all those symbols on the wall glowing blue?” an agent asked.

There was a scurry of movement. “He’s using magic!”

Rowan slipped out of the crate, over the counter's edge, and down to the floor. He skittered across a few feet of tile and then leaped onto the agent's shoe he had seen in the desert. He slowed down, carefully positioning himself inside the man’s pant leg, and waited for the swatting. By the voice, he knew this man had been the driver.

“Where did he go?” the agent he was riding on said.

“Why are the symbols turning back to gray?” the agent he recognized as the passenger asked.

“No more magic. Maybe he’s gone,” a female agent said.

“Did we just piss off a god?” the passenger agent asked.

The answer was yes. They had definitely pissed off a god.

“He’s not all-powerful,” the driver agent said. “But he is dangerous. Let’s lock the place down.”

“Maybe he can turn invisible?” the woman asked.

“Maybe,” the driver answered skeptically. “If he could, why did he let us shoot him.”

The female agent sounded incredulous. “You shot a god and brought him here?”

“I don’t think he’s a very powerful god,” the driver said.

There was a pop sound.

“Why did you shoot a tranquilizer dart into an empty crate,” the female agent asked.

“In case he was invisible,” the passenger agent said.

“Well, I guess he’s not invisible. Maybe he can shrink,” the driver agent said.

Rowan heard shuffling sounds and felt lurching movements as he rode the agent’s pant leg while the agent searched around the room.

“Maybe he can teleport,” the passenger agent said.

“I doubt it,” the female agent said. “Why would a god who could teleport walk around as a coyote?”

“We’re talking about a god and magic,” the driver said. “I don’t think we know why any of this is possible. He’s not human. Maybe he just likes having fur.”

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Fur is pretty comfortable most of the time, Rowan mused. Except when you get fleas. That’s not fun at all.

“I’ll call Victor. Sweep the building,” the driver agent said.

“That guy gives me the creeps,” the passenger agent said.

Rowan felt the jolting steps of the agent as the agent ran down the hall, away from the cell. There were beeps, a ring, and then a voice.

The faint phone voice asked, “Agent Harris, did you secure the coyote?”

“That’s why I’m calling,” Harris said. “He disappeared before we got him in the cell.”

“You let him escape?”

“Smith shot him with enough tranquilizer to down an elephant,” Harris said irritably.

“I did tell you that he’s a god, right?”

“I didn’t know that he could shrug off tranquilizer and then disappear.”

“Well, update his file. He’s a trickster god, so assume he’s tricky,” Victor said. “He might attempt to get revenge, so you probably should keep an eye out.”

“What should I do?” Harris asked.

“I’m en route,” Victor said. “Once there, I should be able to sense him, and then we’ll secure him. Meanwhile, keep the building locked up tight, and don’t trust anything you see or hear. Again, he’s a trickster god.”

“How will I know it is you and not the trickster pretending to be you?”

“I’ll use the code phrase: you effing moron,” Victor said. “I’ll be there in two minutes.”

There was a beep from the phone, and then Harris sighed and put the phone away.

Rowan needed to get out of the building before a rematch with Victor. In a straight-out confrontation, Rowan didn’t have the magical skills to take on anybody. His only viable offense was his spider form, which could be stomped on by somebody who could detect him.

He peeked out from Harris’s pant leg as they moved down a hall to an elevator. There weren’t any sirens or flashing lights, so whatever the lockdown protocol was, it was being done quietly.

Rowan recognized the hallway when the elevator door dinged open. They were near the garage. He spotted badge scanners at every door and cameras in every corner.

Harris would stay in the building until Victor arrived. Rowan couldn’t shift more than once more, so he needed a new person to ride out or a big enough opening to crawl out of.

A man and a woman walked past Harris toward the door.

“Hold up,” Harris said. “We’re on lockdown, you can’t leave.”

The female agent who was trying to leave looked back at Harris. “We have a location on the hacker for that Beam case. It’s a cafe. If we wait, the hacker will slip away again.”

Rowan saw through the glass door that the man in the gold shirt and green tie was walking towards them. He’d be here in moments.

Rowan leaped and skittered to the male agent about to leave for the hacker incident.

There was a beep of the card scanner, and the door opened. Victor stepped in. “Don’t move. I sense him.”

Victor’s eyes were on the man that Rowan was on. The door was swinging shut.

Victor lifted a hand and said, “Tell me your sins.”

Magic surged. The man fell to the ground, howling in pain. Rowan didn’t waste a moment and rushed through the nearly shut door. Even through the closed door, Rowan could hear the conversation on the other side and worked along the wall.

“Get him to the cell,” Victor said. He was panting with effort. “I’ll keep him occupied.”

“What are you doing?” the female agent said. “Stop hurting Agent Mace.”

“That’s not Agent Mace,” Victor said.

Rowan needed a way out. He paused in shock. Victor had left his car running with the door still hanging open. It almost felt too good to be true. Something was off. Even if Victor was in a hurry, why was the door open and the engine running? It was too easy.

“What are you waiting for? Go!” A woman stood in the deep shadow of the parking lot.

He couldn’t see her, but he recognized her voice—she was the voice in his head.

“Are you drugged?” she asked. “Go!”

The sounds of Agent Mace being hauled away broke Rowan from his reverie. He shifted to human form and jumped into the car. Looking back at the shadow, he saw that the woman was gone.

Rowan busted through the boom gate at the parking garage exit and onto the street. He was in an unmarked FBI vehicle, but he figured he had only a few blocks before every law enforcement agent in the state would know he was in a stolen car. He’d need to ditch the vehicle and find a place to lay low for a few hours to recharge. He missed his raven form. How would he get out of the city and back to Gretta and Sofia?