Page 58 of Horn in My Side
“They have one of the best electronic security systems on the street.Kap told me about it because he had to respond to a call from them one night when someone tried to break in.There’s a silent alarm inside and the entire place locks down once it’s triggered.But more important, every item they sell has a curse on it, so if anyone tries to take a piece without paying, they immediately start growing boils on their skin and their teeth fall out and other nasty stuff.”
“I see.That makes it easier, then.”
“Easier for what?”
“To break inside.”
“Break in—” She lowered her voice to a whisper.“Break inside?Are you mad?Didn’t you hear what I said about the curses and your teeth falling out?”
“We’re not stealing anything.Nothing that doesn’t belong to us, anyway,” he reasoned.“And we don’t need to break in—we’re just breaking Clawdia out.”
“Clawdia?You think she’s a girl?”
“She did choose to hide out in a jewelry shop.”
Wow, another joke.But this wasn’t the time for laughter.“All right.What do you propose we do?”
“Come with me.”
She trailed behind him as he led her to the rear of the jewelry store.Like Fantastic Tails, there was one metal door that servedas the back entrance and one window that was above the bathroom sink.A camera mounted on the wall pointed at both.
“One sec.”Mal held up a hand, then a yellow dome appeared over them like an umbrella.“It’s the same one I used for the tizzie whizie.It generates a magnetic field that disrupts all kinds of electrical signals.Prevents me from getting electrocuted, but in this case”—he nodded at the camera—“it’ll make us appear invisible, at least to the camera lens.”
“That’s amazing.”She had no idea he could do that.“But you said we were breaking Clawdia out.How do we do that?”
He gestured to the window.“I can also disrupt the tripwire signal to the alarm with this same magnetic field.But my magic isn’t infinite.I can only hold up the shield and stop the signal for so long—you’ll have to be quick.”
“You want me to climb in and find her?”
“No, no.”Mal shook his head.“Draw her out.Call her.”
Fear and doubt washed over her and her knees trembled.“How am I supposed to do that?”
“Use your instinct, think about the things you do at the shop.Or how you knew that basilisk was sick.”His purple eyes bored right into her.“You can do this, Jasmine.”
She didn’t respond right away.How could she, when his words of faith shook her to her very core.“I—Okay, let’s do this.”It was worth a try.
He flashed her a smile.“Ready?”
She rubbed her hands together.“As I’ll ever be.”
Mal reached up, digging his claws under the window to pull it wide open.“Now, Jasmine.”
Still unsure what to do, Jasmine raised her hands up.She tried to imagine ...whatever it was in there and draw it out.
Come out and play, Clawdia.
Here, here, Clawdia.
Pspspspsps?
Oh Mother Goddess, this was stupid.She dropped her hands to her sides.“I’m never going to—”
“Shhh!”Mal hissed.“Do you hear that?”
“Hear what?”
“Something’s crawling around in there.”His face strained tight, the veins on his temples bulging.“Keep going.”
