A smile tugged at my lips as I adjusted the heat, waiting just long enough for the final infusions to settle. Soon, very soon, I’d be able to take it off, anoint my friends, and defeat my enemy.
The clatter came without any warning, sharp and metallic, echoing off the walls like a gunshot. I froze, heart hammering in my chest. The spoon in my hand shook. I pivoted toward the source of the noise, pulse quickening.
It was a half second later that I felt someone sidle up next to me and turned to see Violetta. Smith wasn’t far behind her.
“What was that?” she asked, eyes wide.
“With any luck? It’s a kobold,” I answered. “Let’s go.”
Chapter Twenty-two
A vase tumbled from a side table, spinning in the air before smashing into a hundred shards.
Someone yelped as a chair toppled, narrowly missing their toes. The zing of a spell whistled past, missing its target entirely and leaving a faint scorch mark on my wallpaper. Another crash and a collective gasp swept through the guests. I wheeled around, darting toward the noise. Violetta and Wanda were already moving with surprising speed, considering they were in heels.
The room was a mess of overturned tables, spilled drinks, a cloud of dust, and glittering shards. A creature crouched low in the wreckage, its small claws flashing as its wings beat like a hummingbird’s. And seeing it now, I realized it looked nothing like a dragon. Yes, it had scales and wings, and yes, it was some sort of amphibian, but it was missing the regality of a dragon.
“Everyone, stay back!” I shouted, my voice slicing through the panic.
Violetta raised her hands, weaving a protective ward, while Wanda muttered a quick incantation, her spell arcing toward the creature only to ping harmlessly off a wall.
The kobold hissed, baring needle teeth. Its skin was a mottled rust-red, rough and scaly, and a thin, whip-like tail flicked behind it. Eyes the color of embers glimmered from under a narrow, pointed snout. His little clawed hands grasped a crude dagger. What might have been the strangest thing about it this time—it was wearing clothes. And they looked like they were from an earlier century. He had on a loose cotton shirt with two holes for his wings, leather jerkin, worn pants. And, even stranger: work boots. If not for the scales and tail, he might have passed for a brownie.
I think I might have stayed frozen like that, if not for Burns. Because while I stood in the doorway, staring at this thing, he was already on the move. The shining miniature dragon dove like a merciless comet toward the kobold. His claws scrabbled across the hardwood, sending a bookshelf teetering before it crashed into the sofa. The little kobold skittered across the room, shrieking and brandishing his dagger at Smith’s fairy dragon.
Another vase flew through the air as the dragon’s tail whipped forward, shattering against the wall. Feathers and bits of upholstery (from what I didn’t even know but was already bemoaning the fact that there went another piece of my furniture) puffed into the air as it dove under the coffee table, only to spring up and slash at Burns’ flank. A streak of red-gold scales met the glinting steel with a screech that made the windows rattle.
Cushions, lamps, and framed pictures became collateral damage as the two twisted and lunged, the tiny dragon snapping its tiny jaws, the kobold desperately trying to stay ahead of Burns’ teeth. Debris hung in the air, catching the light from the overturned lamp.
Finally, Burns lunged, pinning the kobold against the wall. The little creature hissed, claws scraping the paint, and the dragon’s eyes widened in frustration as it realized the fight was far from over. Somewhere in the chaos, a coffee table leg had snapped in half, and the living room, once tidy and calm, now resembled the aftermath of a tiny tornado.
I skidded to a stop, a vial of the elixir I’d just created clutched tight in my hand. My heart was hammering. The chaos hit me all at once—shattered furniture, splintered picture frames—everyone in a stunned silence. Smith was standing there, ready to make a move if he had to. But he hadn’t yet because he remembered our plan. Hopefully anyway.
“Hey! Stop that!” Without thinking, I flung myself between the combatants. Burns recoiled for a split second, but then stilled when I pressed the potion to its scales, anointing it with a quick sweep of my hand.
A glittering shimmer ran across the dragon’s body, and suddenly its movements became sharper, faster, luck twisting in its favor. It lunged at the Kobold with renewed vigor, snapping its jaws. The little creature tried to dodge Burns, but its foot caught on a toppled chair, sending it sprawling. With a final, triumphant twist of his tail, Burns cornered the defeated Kobold, who seemed to collapse in front of him, as if giving in to its fate. Then, with surprising gentleness, Burns scooped the kobold up, cradling the limp creature in its claws, and set it carefully at my feet. He wagged his tail as if waiting for praise (or maybe a treat), eyes shining with pride. I crouched down and scratched behind the dragon’s ears.
“Good boy,” I said. “That was impressive—but next time, maybe we fight somewhere that isn’t my house.”
“I second that,” Smith said as he appeared behind me. Then, as if everyone was suddenly in motion again, they were all crowding around us to see what in the world had just happened.
“What is it?” I heard someone say.
“Looks like a strange little reptile,” Finn answered.
“It’s a kobold,” Smith said. “Just like I thought it was.”
That was when the little kobold seemed to come to, and it hissed, its claws scraping across the wood, tail flicking with agitation, but I reached down and held it there, in place. “Release me at once!” it said, shocking the hell out of me because I hadn’t imagined it could talk.
“Or what?” I asked. “It seems to me like I’m the wronged party here. What’s more: we know you’re being sent here for a reason. So, who do you work for?”
The kobold’s small chest rose and fell, claws flexing nervously. Its ears twitched.
“And why do you keep attacking Poppy’s family?” Violetta added.
Wanda circled slightly, stopping just to my right. She placed a gentle hand on my elbow, as if to steady me. For a long, tense moment, only the kobold moved, its tail flicking slowly, deliberately, as though weighing the answer it was about to give. Or whether it should give one at all.
The kobold managed to twist out of my grasp, claws scraping against the floor. I lunged, fingers brushing the edge of its scaly shoulder, but it flattened itself like a cornered cat and shot between my boots with a furious hiss. Chairs toppled as it barreled through my living room, weaving through the stunned circle of onlookers. For a moment, all I could do was stare as the little creature darted toward the door, tail lashing, shoulder-checking ankles with surprising force as it fought its way to freedom.
