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When I got up to Merlin’s office suite Monday morning, Trix looked significantly better than she had Friday night. She almost even looked happy. “Thanks again for coming to my rescue,” she said. “It was sweet of you and Ethan to interrupt your date to help me.”

“I think my enemies had already interrupted our date,” I said. “Once a walking skeleton has thrown fireballs at you, it’s hard to get into a romantic mood.”Advertisement

She fluttered her wings. “Oh, I don’t know. Don’t they say that the response to danger and sexual arousal aren’t all that different? It could have made for some interesting foreplay.”

“Trust me, that was the last thing on my mind when we got out of there.”

“Do you have any idea who it was or what they wanted?”

“No clue. I doubt it was a magical mugging. They were specifically after me. But why me? It’s not like getting me out of the picture will make that big a difference.”

Merlin came out of his office, concern on his wrinkled face. “You’re well, then?” he asked me. “I heard about the incident Friday night.”

“I’m fine. They didn’t do anything to hurt me. I think they just wanted to scare me, and I’m not entirely sure why, unless they’re still trying to make me give up and quit. Fortunately, Sam’s security team was on the ball, even in their off-hours.”

“It would probably be safe to assume you’re closer than you think to the truth about the spy.”

“Or else I’ve managed to piss off the wrong person and this has nothing to do with work.”

He cocked his head to one side, considering that idea. “Possible, but it seems like a great deal of effort for a personal vendetta. Those kinds of bandits don’t come cheap. They didn’t in my day, and I doubt that has changed with time.” He started to go back to his office, then turned back. “I think you should take Wednesday off to be with your family,” he said. “Getting you away from the office might give the spy a false sense of security.”

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“Thank you,” I said. “I really appreciate that.”

I left work early to meet Ethan in front of the building. While I waited for him, I chatted with Sam, who was back in his usual spot on the building awning. “My folks are flying in this evening,” I told him. “Do you think you could increase the bodyguard detail a little bit?”

“Worried that Idris’ll go after them?”

“Kind of. I mostly just want to avoid any situations that might make my parents worry. If they had any idea about the weirdness I’m caught up in, they’d have me hauled back to Texas so fast my head would spin. Heading off the bad guys at the pass would be a very good thing.”

“Gotcha! I’ll get my people right on it.” Then he winked. “Besides, Palmer already talked to me about it. He said you were worried.”

Even when Ethan arrived and we were on our way to the airport, I couldn’t stop fretting. I’d already worried about what my parents would think about my dinky apartment over a nail salon in an old tenement building. They were guaranteed not to like that. But even if they couldn’t see creatures with wings, flying gargoyles, and other magical oddities, they were still likely to see the effects of anything that got close to me. I wasn’t good at coming up with explanations on the spur of the moment.

“It’ll be okay,” Ethan said mildly as he negotiated the traffic on the way to LaGuardia.

“Hmm?” I asked, distracted.

“Your parents. Most people are scared of New York the first time they come here, but after a while it becomes just another place. It isn’t nearly so scary. In fact, I think that letting it become a real place instead of the bizarro world they imagined will make them feel better about it.”

“The problem is, it’s more a bizarro world than they possibly could have imagined. Muggers I think they could deal with. But magic?”

“These people have been hiding their magic from others for ages. I think your parents can spend a week here without discovering the secret. It took you a year, didn’t it? And I’d lived here for nearly ten years before I figured it out, even as an immune.”

I hoped he was right. It had been difficult enough to give Ethan, someone I barely knew at the time, the “magic is real, okay?” speech. I didn’t think I could give it to my parents while remaining sane. I gave him a quick kiss before I got out of the car and headed in to the baggage claim area.

The longer I waited, the more nervous I grew. I hadn’t seen my parents in more than a year. More important, they hadn’t seen me. What would they think of me? I felt like I’d changed so much. What if they didn’t like the new me? pqdm.com