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And again, I had to admit, it was a pretty daoblins were paying out worthless fairy gold in exchange for cold, hard, mundane cash

I almost hated to bust theo double or nothing, I pushed my way to the head of the crowd Beneath my skirt,reflex The Bieber-goblin’s long nose twitched as he detected an eldritch presence in the gathered throng His bright, beady eyes scanned the faces before hi with uncertainty when he reachedHel’s rune "Sorry, guys You’re busted"

"Scatter!" he shouted

I lunged forward to grab hi as someone clipped me hard behind the knees Dahtas a ga s with a whoof sound and oblin vaulted over -fingered hand "I’ll take these" Someone let out a startled shriek as he put thela on the cardboard like an old-school break-dancer, I took hi sweep and pinned hi and a loud, angry buzzing sound interspersed with oohs and ahs I barely had tirabbed h tothe air like a hubird on steroids

"Loose him, you churlish, ewe-necked trollop!" a voice shrilled The Bieber-goblin squirrip and broke into a run

"Dammit, Jojo!" I scrambled tofairy "I’ave an indignant sniff and winked out of sight

"Aw,with his camera "Why’d you have to scare her off, lady?"

My teave him a look that shut hioblins were nowhere to be seen They couldn’t vanish into thin air like fairies, but they were fast, and they could cae the as they held still, it was hard to spot theoblin wasn’t as speedy as the others; when the Bieber-goblin yelled scatter, he’d taken off down the dock, where there was nowhere to hide for a good hundred yards

I raced after hi oblin turned on the jets If I’d had a clear shot, I could have caught higer was agile He scooted underneath a distinguished-looking Great Dane being walked on a leash and bounded over a baby stroller being pushed by a young couple

I had to go around theht up to the bagazebo, but by the ti

"Where are you, you little creep?" I looked around "C’ave e of boxwood around the base of the gazebo And unless I wasSquinting, I peered through the ca very hard to hold perfectly still, his narrow chest heaving with exertion

So lazy hobgoblins could get out of shape Who knew? I tackled hi on his back, he raised his hands in surrender "Okay, okay! I give" He batted his beady, lashless eyes atfun"

"I know" I plucked a cru ru the real ones froive you half our take," he said in a wheedling voice

"No can do" I dropped the false twenties on his chest, where they turned to dry, brittle oak leaves "And I’d like oblin sot off hi "You know, I could have drawn steel on you and I didn’t"

A hint of fear crossed his face "You wouldn’t Not for this"

"Don’t push me," I said sternly "You know you’re not supposed to break mundane laws Do you want me to report you to Hel?"

"Over a pair of cheap dollar-store sunglasses I didn’t even take?" Now the hobgoblin sounded incredulous

"No, you nitwit For defrauding tourists What’s your na, I unsheathed a few inches of dauda-dagr, enough to let him see the hilt "On pain of cold steel, what’s your naher tolerance in the last few centuries, most of the fey retain an aversion to iron and its alloys They can be around it, but they can’t bear its touch "Tuggle," the hobgoblin said sullenly "Na to tell her?"<ins class="adsbygoogle" style="display:block" data-ad-client="ca-pub-7451196230453695" data-ad-slot="9930101810" data-ad-format="auto" data-full-width-responsive="true"></ins>