A Human’s Guide to Surviving Magical Mishaps by Kit Bryan

I run back to my car faster than I've ever run before. It's not until I'm in the vehicle with the door shut and locked behind me that I finally pause for a moment. I'm breathless and my chest is burning from the exertion. What am I supposed to do now? Just sit here and wait for Ashton? What if he doesn't come back? Should I call someone? I said I wouldn't just abandon him but the moment I got scared I just left him behind and ran. I know he told me to, but still... Should I drive up closer to where he is? We did walk a few streets over while we were tracking the imp. If he gets hurt or something he might not be able to travel that far. Yeah, I should move closer. I start the car but I don't move. It turns out it's easier to say you won't abandon someone in a scary situation than it is to actually be brave and go after them. I didn't expect this to be so hard. I guess because Ashton always seemed so confident when he spoke about capturing the assassins that it made the whole situation seem a lot less dangerous than it actually is. I take back every mental complaint I made when Ashton was reminding me to be safe and stay away from danger. He wasn't being unreasonable or treating me like a child He was just looking out for me. That's the thought that gets me to switch the car into drive and start moving. Ashton has been looking out for me, it's the least I can do to stay nearby and look out for him.

I pull up closer to the house where Ashton is investigating. Not right in front, that would be asking for trouble. I stop about three houses down and I put the car in park but don't turn off the engine. Partially because it's hot and I'm stressed and I think without the air conditioner I might pass out, and partially because if something happens I want to be able to move quickly. The street is disturbingly quiet and it feels wrong compared to how fast my heart is beating. Some guy walks past with his dog and a few houses down someone pulls into their driveway and starts unloading groceries from the back of their car. It seems insane to me that everyone can be acting so completely normal when just a few houses away there are a couple who were murdered in their beds and an assassin potentially lingering nearby. The minutes pass and everything stays quiet. My heart finally starts to slow. Maybe the imp already left? Maybe Ashton is just searching the house for clues and will be back soon to update me so I can call the police, or hospital, or whoever it is you're meant to call when someone dies. Surely if Ashton had found the imp it wouldn't be so quiet... Although maybe I'm being too pessimistic. Maybe the imp was there and Ashton has already defeated him and is just making sure he is definitely restrained and that everything is safe before he comes to get me. There's no need for me to worry so much. Ashton was confident in his skills and I should be too.

I'm almost feeling normal when a huge crashing sound has me flinching in my seat. Something large comes flying through the front window of the old house in a dangerous combination of fire and glass. Moments later, that something staggers to his feet and I can see that it's Ashton. I gasp in horror at the burns tracing his arms and the red scrapes I can see on his cheek and arm, probably from the glass. Clearly the assassin has not been captured yet. This is not good. Ashton wasn't supposed to get hurt! I should call someone, but who? Who can I call to help with a magical fae assassin? The police clearly aren't equipped to deal with someone like that, it's why Ashton had to come here in the first place! This is stupid. What if he gets badly hurt, what if he dies? I don't even know how I would contact his family! Can I take a fae to the hospital? Can he take blood donated from a human or would that hurt him? I clutch the steering wheel tightly and lean forward as far as I can, trying to see what's going on. Another man comes barreling through the broken window and tries to rush Ashton who dodges to the side smoothly. The guy LOOKS human enough, at least he does from a distance. But I know that he isn't. I watch as the imp throws literal balls of fire at Ashton. Ashton moves faster than I've ever seen any human move before and easily dodges them and luckily they burn up quickly when they don't meet their target and do very little damage to the surrounding area. I can only imagine how much damage an out of control fire could do in a place like this. Seeing that the fireballs aren't working, the imp throws himself physically at Ashton, his hands still blazing and tries to attack him. Ashton continues moving and dodging, but suddenly falls to the ground as if his feet were yanked out from underneath him. But how? He kicks and yanks some invisible thing off his ankle and the imp yelps in pain. Was the imp holding him somehow? What could his glamour be hiding? I remember what Ashton said about some fae having tails and I look closer. Sure enough, just behind the human looking imp is a strange glimmer that is flicking around a bit like a cat's tail. The moment I notice that, I see through the rest of the glamour and I am startled by the difference. The imp has reddish toned skin and bright yellow eyes. As I suspected he has a tail which reminds me of a lion's tail with a little tuft of brown fur on the end. The imp is quite tall, but without the glamour he looks thin and kind of weedy. His eyes are wide and his movements wild as he swings at Ashton. I doubt he has the strength to hurt Ashton badly that way, but if a single brush of his skin was enough to burn Gergory, I can't imagine being hit by him would feel good. Ashton's movements make even more sense now as I can see he is not just avoiding blows from the imps hands and feet but is evading his tail too. Actually, Ashton also looks different. The white markings over his body seem brighter, almost like they're glowing but not really. It's more like they're reflective or something. The longer the two of them fight, the brighter they get. Ashton is clearly at an advantage in this fight. He's faster and stronger than the imp and even from this distance I can tell that the imp is starting to tire. In a last ditch attempt, the imp throws himself at Ashton and grabs his arm with both flaming hands. I expect Ashton to scream out in pain or something, but instead the markings over his arm get brighter. Okay, now they are definitely glowing. The imp howls in terror then drops to his knees and collapses onto the singed lawn, all his fire completely gone out. Ashton reaches for the necklace around his neck and pulls it away, however instead of taking it off, somehow he is now holding a second necklace, identical to the first. The imp tries to weakly push him away as he forces the chain over his head. With the necklace in place, the imp stops fighting and just sits quietly. Actually, he looks like he might be crying. The fight is clearly over, although Ashton still looks like he's glowing. He is practically bouncing in place like a child on a sugar rush and is clearly shaking. This time I don't think or hesitate. I turn off my car and practically throw myself out of the vehicle and rush to help him.