Her First Mistake

Chapter Thirty-Two: No, I Just Like Food

    I did not see this coming, I was not going to lie. After I'd started training, I'd kinda forgotten that regular technology existed. Normally, guns pointed at me wouldn't be worrying. I could blast them away, knock them out of their hands, create a shield, or even just crumple them into lumps of metal.

   In the Ghost Realm, with no magic, those guns were as dangerous as they had been before that fateful night in the alley in Memphis. I eyed them warily, annoyed. Fortunately for these people, they acted as a pretty damn good threat.

   "Tell the crythal to let him up," said the fae/elf. 

   "It doesn't obey me, you idiot."

   "No, but for some reason, it's with you." He looked at the feline, his face smug. "So let him up, or we kill her."

   I snorted, crossing my arms. "You won't. Dani wants me for something."

   "We can still blow out your kneecaps or take off your hands." His eyes glinted. "How would you perform any magic without spellcasting, Reilly?"

   The hairs on the back of my neck raised. While not all of my magic required spellcasting -- which needed my hands -- I suddenly realized they were entirely serious. If they wanted to, they'd cut my hands off. My jaw tightened in response and the guy saw it, his smirk widening. The crythal looked toward me reluctantly. I pinched my lips and growled, "Yeah, fine. Let him up. They won't kill me, so you're fine."

   The crythal snorted and backed off of the man's shoulders. He rose to his feet. I scrutinized him critically, recognizing the bulkiness of his body probably meant he was a shifter. Right? So one shifter, a fae or elf, a vampire, and I wasn't able to determine the species of the final guy. He was average height, not overly muscled, and no staff. There was literally no marks I could use to tell what he was.

   "Hands behind your back," instructed the unknown guy. I gritted my teeth and did as asked. As he pulled out some zipties, my mind raced. There was no way I could fight if three of these guys had guns. I had to wait until they put them aside. Or I waited until there was an opportunity.

   I was going to have to bide my time.

   "Jeez, that's a bit tight, don't you think?" I remarked dryly. The plastic dug into my skin.

   He tightened it more for good measure. I gave him a look over my shoulder. The barrel of the fae/elf's gun dug into my back. "Get walking. We're going into that clearing." 

   Right towards Tate. I'd completely forgotten he was here. He had to have heard me get ambushed, right? I looked down at the crythal, but he was gone. I blanched. I hadn't seen him leave. 

   I limped heavily on my good leg. Getting an idea, I screwed my face up into an expression of pain and exasperated my limp. My bad leg dragged awkwardly. The vampire snickered. "What got your leg?"

   "A crythal pride," I answered honestly, taking the chance to make my voice sound strained.

   "A whole pride?" The unknown guy frowned. "Well, it's impressive that you survived. I'll give you that much."

   "Sure took a lot of the fight out of you for us," grinned the fae/elf.

   "I'd like to see you face a pride and come out unscathed," snorted the vampire.

   We finally came around the tree. Tate was gone, leaving nothing in his wake. My backpack and his splint project were gone. I blinked for a second and looked at the four hunters, realizing they didn't know he had been there. They thought I was alone. 

   So they went after Tate at the grove for the fun of it? Something wasn't adding up.

   A hand shoved my back and I pitched forward with a yelp. Without use of my hands, I face-planted into the mud. There were laughs. I rolled over and spat out the mouthful I'd gotten when I yelped. The water lapped in the background. Sitting upright, I glared at the guy who'd pushed me. I hadn't even heard him walk closer.