The stones warmed against my skin. The runes flashed gold, then pink, then that familiar pink arrow hovered above my wrist, pointing to the right. I took a deep breath, then started walking, immediately stepping on a pebble and cursing everyone in the city for it. Then it occurred to me that Tegan might have given me a spell for clothing, so I dove back into the bag for the notebook and found on the very first page a spell to give myself shoes. I’d never been happier to have on socks and a pair of Vans sneakers. About two blocks down I realized I could have just changed my entire outfit but just shrugged the thought off. I wasn’t cold yet and just wanted this quest done.

I walked alone down the street through a quiet neighborhood just looking around at all the different architecture without running into another person. I hadn’t even seen anyone through the windows of houses. So, when a lone figure stepped out onto the sidewalk up ahead, my nerves started firing. It looked like a man based on the height and width of shoulders, yet I couldn’t have been sure yet since they were in shadow. And across the street. But this was a busy city, and a residential area, so it wasn’t weird. It wasn’t. Even if the hairs on the back of my neck stood tall. I shrugged it off and kept walking. The arrow was guiding me closer to this person who still hadn’t moved from the shadow of the building across the street.

When I was two blocks away, the person stepped into the glow of the streetlight on the corner. It was a man. My stomach tightened into knots. Not all men. Not all men. He’s fine. It’s fine. Besides, I have magic. And weapons. The man looked familiar, though I wasn’t quite close enough to know for sure. There wasn’t anything particularly alarming about him aside from him being attractive. That tended to be dangerous enough. He had strawberry-blond hair, blue eyes that sparkled even from this far away, and freckles on his pale skin.

It’s fine. He’s fine. He probably lives in that building right there and is waiting for an Uber or something. Don’t freak out. Don’t freak out.

The man walked out into the middle of the empty street and rolled his shoulders. Massive wings popped out of his back. Wings made of black feathers. My feet stopped of their own accord. He turned and looked right at me. A menacing grin spread across his face.

OH GOD. FREAK OUT. FREAK OUT. FALLEN ANGEL. FALLEN ANGEL. RUN, FRANKIE, RUN.