CHAPTER 37

No, wait. It was multiple tails. What is going on here?

She slid along the wooden floor, down the hall, ready to scramble away at a moment's notice. From the stairway, she could see the front door below, which was currently blocked by a goblin and several large rats. They weren't looking her way, so she slunk up the stairs, staying low.

The two women had gone into a room down the hall, so she moved the other direction into what appeared to be the master bedroom. It was scarcely furnished, and the bed hadn't been made.

She moved toward the dressers and opened them, hoping to find some clothing that would fit. Unfortunately, this room belonged to a man, and the clothes were far too big for her. She held a pair of his pants up, the waistline reaching above her breasts.

What about the window? She looked outside and scowled. Down below was a beautiful woman standing in a fountain. She just couldn't catch a break.

Footsteps approached, so she hopped over the bed, then slid beneath it without making a sound. Easily able to roll over, she watched a pair of legs come through the door. It was the man from outside, and he sat down on the bed, then grabbed something off the nearby nightstand.

"Let's see. New tablet, new screen protector... yes, I want the waterproof one..." He was mumbling to himself, and tapping his fingers on something up above.

"Mike?" Another pair of legs appeared. It was the woman from the stairs. "Yuki went down to the Labyrinth to fill Ratu in on the situation."

"Sounds good. Couldn't send a fairy?"

"Didn't see one. However, it looks like there's a new room down the hall from mine."

He chuckled. "How is this going to affect my home's value? I mean, I know I still have to pay taxes on this place, but at what point does somebody look and realize the number is too low? Like, I sort of get G****e Earth playing catch-up on satellite photos, but is the geas paying back taxes for me, too? Like, it's one thing to alter the flow of information, but now money is just appearing if that's the case, right?"

"I'm kind of tempted to look into it, now that you brought it up. Anyway, I'm headed downstairs. Dana came in and told me that the house has some damage out back, so she's going to check it out, but Tink refused to go help her until she showed you the new rooms, so... see you soon?"

"Yeah, let me just finish ordering a new tablet for Abella. My phone just updated and now I have to put my card number in again."

"Aren't you worried she's rotting her brain with that thing?"

"Stone doesn't rot."

"Aren't you worried she's weathering her brain with that thing?"

He groaned at her pun. "Seriously, that was just gross. I'll be down in just a second."

"See you soon." The woman left, and he let out a sigh. He tapped for a little bit longer, and she wondered how long he would be up there.

She didn't have to wait long. Mike stood and something slid off the bed and onto the floor. It was a rectangular piece of metal with a cracked screen.

"Shit," he muttered, and bent down to pick it up. "At least it was already—" His bed was at just the right height that when his face appeared, his eyes darted up to meet hers.

She extended her claws and scrambled out, growling deep within her chest as her claws scratched deep grooves into the floor. Mike backpedaled, blocking off the path to the door.

"Whoa, hey, who are—" He didn't get a chance to finish, because she darted forward, her clawed fingers slashing through the air. She was fast, but he was somehow just a hair faster, managing to slash open his shirt, drawing a thin line of blood.

"Easy, easy!" He put both hands up, and she grabbed him by the wrist and pulled him toward her. Even though she was much smaller than he was, she was easily able to put a lock on his wrist and twist him around, shoving him against the bed frame. He fought to remain on his feet, but she was crawling all over him now, doing her best to scratch and bite.

Buried beneath the animal instincts was an understanding of the human body, and how best to break it. She fell to the ground and hit him behind the knee, taking him down. Before he could get up, she slid one arm across his throat and used her other arm to pull it back.

He smacked at her arm, and tried to stand. She squeezed harder, knowing that the flow of blood to his brain was interrupted. How many seconds did he have left before going down? Once he went limp, should she keep squeezing, or make a run for it?

Something hard slammed into the side of her head, and she sprung free, hissing. Standing over Mike now was a goblin roughly the same size that she was.

"Tink fuck you up," the goblin swore, then ripped off her goggles and tossed them to the woman who had followed her in. Tink held up her hands and snarled, revealing razor sharp teeth.

"I'd like to see you try." she replied, her voice cracking when she spoke. She also had a slight lisp. Had she always sounded like that?

Tink was fast, but she was faster. She dodged the first couple of punches, and then deliberately took a poorly thrown one in the shoulder to get in close and smash a fist into the goblin's face.

She howled in agony, clutching her injured hand. Her whole hand throbbed, and she couldn't straighten some of her fingers.

"Goblin have hard head. Tink teach you." The goblin grabbed her by the fur around her collarbone and yanked, slamming their heads together.