SNEAK PEEK! Shadow Seeking Excerpt

I reached the fence when he was halfway up and immediately followed him. Luckily, I was faster and stronger than he was. Before he could reach the top, I grabbed hold of his ankle and yanked, hard. He tried to hold on, but I pulled harder.

“Give it up, you little creep. You aren’t winning this one!” I took a deep breath and pulled harder. He tried to kick me, but I had a firm grip on his ankle and the next moment he lost his hold and fell back. I let go of the fence and dropped with him, still holding onto his foot, and we both rolled on the ground.

“Let go of me, you freakazon!” He struggled, but I managed to pin him down, sitting on top of him so he couldn’t get away. Goblins were notoriously squirmy.

“Oh, I’ll let you go, once you give me back that bracelet. And trust me, you think I’m scary, try facing the woman you stole this from. I could just cart you back to Analida and let her take care of you, but I’m giving you a chance to stay alive. You know she’s a snakeshifter, right?”

I leaned down, staring into the goblin’s twisted face. Benny was a low-life thief, but I let him be usually, because he often fed me information I needed for a few bucks. But this time, he’d signed his death warrant, unless I could get the bracelet back. You just didn’t steal from snake shifters and get away with it. They were nasty tempered enough when they were happy. Piss them off? You had an assassin on your trail. Luckily for Benny, Analida was in a party frame of mind, and I had been at her party when Benny snuck in and grabbed her bracelet, so she had asked me to get it back. She knew I could find Benny before he pawned the diamonds.

Benny froze. “She’s a snake shifter?” He sobered and stopped trying to get away, but I knew him too well to let go of him.

“Yeah. She’s a snake shifter. Next time, know who your mark is.” I gave him a shake. “You’d better give me back the bracelet, and I mean now. She won’t stay drunk for long. You know how fast they process their liquor.”

Benny let out a sigh. “All right, all right. It’s in my left pocket.” He was wearing a pair of distressed jeans and a wife beater, which just looked bizarre given the fact that he resembled a demented Yoda.

“You think I’m reaching in your pocket? You’re not pulling that stunt on me again. I’m letting go of your arm, so you just reach in nice and slow and bring out the diamonds.”

The one time I’d reached in Benny’s pocket for something, I realized too late that he had a strategically placed hole in it and I’d gotten a handful of goblin cock. I’d washed my hands over and over again. Chances were, that wouldn’t happen now, given he was on the hunt for money, but I didn’t want to take any chance.

I rolled off of him, still keeping hold of him. He grunted, but reached in his pocket and brought out the sparkling bracelet and handed it to me. I took it and tucked it down my bustier. It was tight enough that nobody was fishing it out without my permission.

“Good choice,” I said, standing up. “All right, you can go, you numbskull.”

He blew a raspberry at me, but stood up and leaned against the fence, crossing his arms. “I wouldn’t have bothered stealing from her if I’d known you were there. Seriously, Kyann, is there anybody in this city that you don’t know?”

“A lot of people,” I said. “But I know the ones who matter. At least in Upper Seattle. I don’t hang out in the Underground.”

Benny arched his eyebrows, or he would have if he’d had eyebrows. Goblins didn’t have much hair. “Good thing. It’s dangerous down there.”

I nodded. Underground Seattle was populated with a lot of the creatures and humans who lived on the dark side, including a number of vampires, mobsters, gang members, and other unsavory types. It wasn’t the place that you went if you valued your life.

“That’s true,” I said. “Tell me, why did you take the chance on stealing from Analida? How did you even get into her estate?”

“I snuck in with the caterers. I told them I was one of her messengers and they had no clue I was lying. You might tell her to watch her security.”

“Will do. But why take the chance?”

He shrugged. “I’m hungry. I haven’t managed to score any good hits lately, and it’s been two days since I ate. I think I’m getting soft, or people are getting more careful.”

I rolled my eyes. “Oh Benny…why don’t you try to just get a job?” I opened my cross-body bag. I knew better than to pull out my wallet, but I kept a couple spare twenties in one of the side pockets. I pulled out one of them and handed it to him. “Here. Make sure you buy food, not drugs.”

“You know I don’t use,” he said, taking the bill. “Thanks, even though I think you might have dislocated my arm when you dragged me off the fence.” He rolled his arm, rubbing his shoulder.

“Trust me, you’d know it if I dislocated something,” I said. “Okay, beat it. Go buy a cheeseburger and fries.” I started to leave.