Her breath shuddered. She backed toward the cars racing behind her, her golden hair flying on the wind, her eyes wide with terror.

“Stay!” Piers growled.

Her eyes snapped to his. She swallowed and stopped moving.

“Hand it over.” The second man’s flinty stare was as dark as his hair and clothing. “Give up the crystal, and you can stop running. Don’t you want to go home to your family for Christmas? Or maybe we should pay them a little visit?”

Behind Piers, she sucked in a sharp breath. Anger sparked inside him, and he placed himself even more squarely in front of her.

“I think you should leave now,” Piers ground out. The hired ruffians could go back the same way they’d come, cars and all. The magic would change soon anyway. It alternated.

The blond jerked his chin at Piers. “This isn’t your problem, Zorba. Go back to the Theater District.”

The other man moved closer, holding out his hand and beckoning for this crystal the woman must have in her possession. “There’s no reason for the same thing to happen to you as to your friend in California. He took something that wasn’t his and sent it to you. He should never have put you in the middle of this. All my employer wants is the crystal. He doesn’t give a shit about a French teacher from Connecticut. And you”—his eyes flicked to Piers—“get out of the way, asshole.”

This insult was obviously in fashion. Piers was going to have to start using it. “No. Leave her alone and back away unless you want to lose that hand…asshole.”

Piers didn’t check over his shoulder for confirmation. If the woman wanted to hand over the crystal, she would. Instead, she’d led two ruffians on a difficult chase they were obviously sick of. Good for her. He smiled.

Both men’s demeanors shifted. Half a step back, shoulders stiffer, necks shorter, brows lowered. Had they only just now noticed the broken nose and blood on his teeth? People weren’t very observant in Apple.

Traffic stopped, and the woman bolted. Zeus’s bollocks! Piers grabbed the blond who leaped after her, hauling him back with a snarl. The dark-haired one darted wide, jumped a barrier, and chased her.