A crease appears between his unruly eyebrows. His fingers twitch as if remembering what it was like to do magic. “Yes. Sensing it… Feeling it… That’s the first step to catching it.”
“What happens after I find one?” I ask, trying to tamp down the memory of the rampaging bear that almost ate me last time I came face-to-face with a chimera.
“You’ll need magical help to catch it.”
The buzzing stops again.
“Same vials used for curses?” I ask.
A wry smile crosses his face. “That stuff works about as well as a tranquilizer gun.”
I stare at him, wondering how well a tranquilizer gun works on a monster.
“Not at all,” he adds, reading my expression. “No, you catch it by doing whatever it takes. It can turn into a real rodeo.”
My phone starts up again. I focus on what Troy is telling me, imagining trying to lasso any of the creatures that terrorized Gastown in February. “But they’re shapeshifters. They’d just morph the second someone throws something at them.”
“Exactly.” His eyes gleam. “Ever try to trap a deer only to have it transform into a wasp and buzz away? Frustrating as hell.”
Well, shit.
He studies me for a long time, seeming to debate his next words.
“We have special equipment.” He pauses, drawing a deep breath to gather strength. “Trackers have been perfecting nets for centuries. Subdues magic better than anything. Now, I destroyed mine when the Madsens captured me… Couldn’t let ’em have it. But I’ve got a spare. I told Nat where it is.”
“Nets?” I picture myself running around swinging one. “What, like a butterfly net?”
A gravelly laugh escapes his throat. “More like a fishing net.”
“And I just throw it on the chimera?”
“You’ll need earth magic to trap it. Funnel it toward you.”
Earth magic. Of course. Once again, I’ll be relying on Natalie and other more capable people to do the heavy lifting.
“Make it panic. Force it to change form,” Troy continues. “The more it shapeshifts in a short amount of time, the weaker it gets. Keep at it until you’re close enough—”
The door flies open with a bang that makes me jump.
Natalie bursts in, breathing hard. “Katie, Hazel’s been trying to reach you. There’s a chimera on the beach in White Rock.”
I leap to my feet and look at Troy, my heart skipping. Now? Already? God, Hazel’s prediction was right!
Troy must read my hesitation. “Go before you lose it,” he says firmly, and there’s a flash of the confident, strong Tracker he once was. “We’ll talk more when you bring it back to me.”
“But… We’ve barely scratched the surface…”
“It’s enough. Get that butterfly net ready, kid.”
From the Journal of Hazel Okada
I KNEW IT! Those sleepless nights coding and analyzing data paid off! Take that, Natalie “hm, it’s worth a try” Zacharias. I can contribute to solving a magical problem after all.
Currently on a barstool at the window of a White Rock cafe, finishing my third coffee while I wait for Katie and Natalie. They’d better arrive before the police or animal control, or all my work and staking out for hours will have been for nothing. So far, the chimera seems harmless, running around the beach and boardwalk as a pig.
Yes, that’s right. A pig. Not the griffin who tore apart the Harbour Centre or a tiger or something—just an ordinary-looking pig causing extraordinary chaos. Screams and laughter drift through the windows as it chases people who get too close.
The cafe’s cleared out—as soon as word spread about a pig on the beach, everyone had to race over to see. Other than the two baristas, who seem disgruntled about being stuck here while something exciting happens, the only other person is a girl my age. She’s standing feet away with a latte, checking her phone and watching the mayhem through the window. Like she’s waiting too. Like maybe we’re both in on the same secret.
