“They don’t like you either,” a deeper voice responded.
I froze in the hallway, my heartbeat drowning out every other sound and echoing off the walls.There were at least two people in the apartment.My gut tightened as I realized there was a terrible third option—that my father had told the hunters about me and they’d found me.
I took a step back, intending to shut myself in the bedroom and barricade the door.Not that a door would stop the hunters for very long.Could I escape through the bedroom window?Possibly, I’d have to climb across to the fire escape, and I was five floors up.
I turned ready to put the half-baked plan into action when something stepped out of my room.I yelped and threw the dildo at the massive dark shape before my brain processed what I was seeing.
It wasn’t human.It was huge and hairy, and it caught the dildo with one hand and chuckled.“Is this all you’ve got?”he growled.
“Timothy Trapping, you’re under arrest for using magic,” a monster said behind me.
I glanced over my shoulder, not sure what I was expecting, but it wasn’t a lavender praying mantis with a very humanoid face.
It was a nightmare.That’s what this had to be.I’d been waiting for my monster, and now my brain had conjured up more monsters.Except I felt very awake.
“Magic?”That was a dumb thing to say.Of course, I knew about magic.
“The golden glow that forms under your bed?”the hairy monster said, still holding the dildo.
“Get him into the bedroom, so we can get away from these damn cats before they grow any braver.”The third monster grumbled from behind the praying mantis.
The hairy one wrapped a massive hand around one of my arms and tugged me into the bedroom.Even though I tried to resist, it was pointless.He tossed me onto the bed, and for a heartbeat, I thought this was all going to go sideways, skid off the road, roll down a cliff, and burst into flames.
Hairy placed the dildo on the bed next to me.“Sit still, sorcerer.”
The other two monsters crowded into the room and shut the door.
This room was full when it was just me and Farrow.Now there was no room even to breathe.I sweated even though I was only wearing track pants.
One of them turned on the light.I squinted and lifted a hand to my face.
“It’s him.The tattoo matches the description.”
“Put your hand down,” the praying mantis monster ordered, and when I didn’t do it fast enough, Hairy did it for me.“Facial recognition confirmed.”
“What’s going on?I didn’t use magic.I made a few wishes.”Yeah, that was technically magic, but it’s not like I was doing magic to hurt anyone.And I hadn’t made any wishes since Farrow warned me.
“Same thing,” Praying Mantis said.
Hairy pulled my wrists together and slapped metal handcuffs of the non-fun variety on them.
“Wait, can I dress?Where are you taking me?I can’t just disappear.I’m house sitting.Who will feed the cats?”How will Farrow find me?
The tracker.
I needed to grab the tracker that was sitting on my bedside table next to my phone and a rather obvious pump bottle of lube in preparation for a fun night.
This was not my idea of fun.
“Don’t worry about the cats.You can make a call from the other side of the bridge,” Hairy said.“As for clothes, they will be provided in prison.”
“What?No, I can’t be arrested.This has to be a mistake.”I wanted to tell them I had a monster boyfriend, but that meant dropping Farrow in the shit, and I didn’t want to point them in the direction of hisSteamchannel either, as they might add other charges.“Do I get a lawyer?”
The other monster laughed.“What happens to you after we deliver you, I don’t care about.Our job is to identify and catch you.”
Hairy pulled me to my feet.“Which we have done.Do you want your toy?”
There was something about the way he said it that suggested he knew about the channel.“Am I allowed to pack a bag?”
