It snapped with a twang that felt so sharp it had to be audible. I opened my eyes, finding Tom staring at me. I was inside his circle. It wasn’t that big either.

The witch’s eyes narrowed. His fingers moved, and I shot my fist out, smacking him in the gut. Good going, Rachel, I thought, seeing the breath explode from him as he fell, his butt landing on the grass and his back hitting the wall of the circle. He’d probably file charges for assault now, but he had threatened me with ley line magic first.

“You can tell Denon he can shove his falsies up his ass,” I said, feeling that something was wrong but unable to stop and think about it. “He can’t scare me off this case!” I remembered my splat gun in my bag—somehow still on my shoulder—but it would look really stupid if I hit him with blanks. Besides, it was hard to do anything with Jenks in my hand.

“Not Denon,” the witch gasped, his face red as he tried to catch his breath.

I drew back, the strength of his circle humming over my head. He wasn’t speaking for the I.S.? What in hell is going on?

I tugged my shirt to cover my middle, suddenly wary. Tom looked at me from the ground with his back pushed against the circle, his pained grimace making me retreat a step so he could stand. Looking shaken, stirred, and ticked, the witch got to his feet and brushed the grass clippings off. But then his face went still, and he looked at the arch of ever-after over him. That sensation of wrongness in me strengthened, and I followed his gaze to the ugly blackness.

His circle hadn’t fallen when I pushed him into it. That wasn’t right.

“You took it,” Tom whispered, his eyes tracking the come-and-go, knifelike slices of gold glimmering through the demon smut. “You took my circle!”

My gaze jerked to the arc of power over our heads in fearful recognition. It was my aura reflected there, not his. I took his circle? Newt had taken Ceri’s, but it had required some effort. I’d simply walked into this one. That was it, I mused. It had been still forming and vulnerable.

Frightened, he backed up until he hit the slice of ever-after. “They told me you were an earth witch. Damn it, you took my circle. I never would have,” he stammered, his cheeks pale. “I mean…God, you must think I’m an idiot for trying to best you.”

Scared at how fast he had gone from cocky to frightened, I said, “Don’t worry about it.”