Look left? Run left? I settled on darting left and flattening myself against the bricks.
As soon as my spine hit the wall, the naga sprang past me, fangs bared and clawed hands reaching.
“Be a little more specific next time.” I counted on my voice to draw its attention and kicked it in the gut. “I’m sorry,” I told the hissing creature. “You don’t deserve this.”
But neither would its victims if I let it roam a populated area.
Too young to understand or to respond, it bared fangs already crimson with the blood of an earlier kill.
That was when I noticed the black tag, almost hidden against its glistening scales. Hung from a hoodlike ridge near its earholes, the piece of plastic glinted as the naga thrashed on the asphalt.
Magic lit the end of my wand, and I funneled enough power into the naga to knock it unconscious.
With the immediate threat removed, I got out my phone and snapped photos of the tag.
Done with the easy part, I called up to Colby, “Anything else out there?”
“Nope.” She launched off the arm of the streetlamp and made a lazy circle. “Do you think—?”
As her scream echoed off the buildings, I spun toward her, heart racing when I spotted a bat.
“Grow,” I yelled at her. “Bigger.”
The rather large moth blossomed to a cat-sized moth in the blink of an eye, and the eager bat squeaked in terror before flapping off as fast as its wings would carry it.
“Rue.” Colby smacked into me, rocking me back on my heels. “It almost got me.”
“Nah.” I cuddled her. “You would have zapped it first.”
We were working on nonlethal protective measures for her, in case the next thing that grabbed her was human or humanesque. The instinct to incinerate what frightened her was strong, made stronger by the grimoire that still eased into her head to whisper bright ideas on occasion.
That was one leak I had just about plugged, otherwise it would already be ash. I couldn’t afford to let it worm its way into Colby’s head. Not only was she a power, now that she was my familiar, but she was a good kid who didn’t deserve bad thoughts planted in her head when the Silver Stag made sure she had enough of those to last a lifetime.
With her shaken, I made an executive decision. “You don’t need to see this next part.”
For once, she didn’t fight me to stay. I didn’t blame her. I didn’t want to finish the job either.
To kill an enemy or threat in combat was one thing. To murder a creature defending itself was another.
About the time we reached the car, Colby back in hairbow mode, headlights blinded us.
“Wonder who this is,” I murmured. “Hopefully not someone trying to keep us from our sweet fix.”
The thing I loved best, next to a good smoothie, was a frozen coffee drink with whipped cream on top. If you asked me, Colby and I had earned an indulgence before we headed home to establish Camp Aedan.
Especially when you considered what I was about to do.
“They’re in suits,” she whispered. “I can see them through the glass.”
A closer look proved she was right, and I braced for unpleasantness as the black SUV’s doors opened.
“Ms. Hollis,” a scratchy voice greeted from the driver’s side. “I hear we have ourselves a naga problem.”
The white-haired man’s face belonged on a bucket of fried chicken, but his eyes were dark and cold.
“Handled it.” I toyed with the bulge my wand made in my pant leg. “Thanks for checking in.”
“I’ve heard about you, I have.” His partner, a younger man, grinned. “Mind if I have a peek?”