A glittery blue marble. I reached into my utility belt and plucked the gold marble out. A perfect match. I needed to talk to Cil and Zip. I turned, and the door to the alley slammed open.

Turning back cost me half a second. I dove for the floor as I caught a glimpse of a black, hooded figure, and a bullet slammed into the wall inches from where I’d been standing.

Son of a bitch. I ducked. The shooter let out a high-pitched laugh and I leapt across the stockroom, taking cover behind a steel shelf.

I’d gotten the barest glimpse of his gun, but I was pretty sure it was a Smith and Wesson Model 29. Humans loved the firepower, but if I was right, he only had six rounds to play with.

He’d fired three. Whoever had sent him after me hadn’t told him who he was dealing with. He should’ve bought a fucking semi-automatic, because I was betting I could stick my knife in his throat before he could reload. As long as the next three rounds didn’t kill me.

“Come out, witch, and I’ll give you an easy shot in the head. Otherwise it’ll be a gut shot.”

Yeah, yeah. Unfortunately, I wasn’t in a great position, frozen behind one of Merrill’s overturned shelves. If I could get to the shield, I might have a chance. Of course, I could use my power, and the thought made it slam against my shields. The problem with that was that I was liable to kill the shooter. Even attempting a ward was risky. I needed to interrogate him.

But first, I needed to get closer. Without getting gut shot. No problem.

I gritted my teeth and army crawled along the floor, cursing whoever had knocked so many shelves over. While they gave me cover, the weapons and spells littering the ground made it difficult to move.

I peered through a gap in the shelf closest to me. The idiot had thrown off the hood of his cloak and I memorized his features. Wide mouth, yellowing teeth, dark, squinty eyes. His face was twisted in a mixture of rage and pleasure. He thought he had me pinned, and he was already celebrating. Idiot.

A long scar twisted down his neck and disappeared, covered by the robe.

I crawled faster and knocked over a painting. A bullet smashed against the wall, and I dropped to my stomach, hugging the floor. I hated being on the defensive.

Two rounds left.

An explosion spell glittered at me from a few feet away, tied to a piece of rose quartz. Tempting, but I couldn’t risk killing this asshole before I interrogated him. The crunch of footsteps on broken glass made the decision for me. He was walking toward me.

I picked up the stone, coaxed it awake with my power, and threw it past the plates and into the wall.

“You bitch!”