Page 42 of Stubborn as a Shadow

Then I groaned, because sighing sucked.

I flicked my long black cape. It swung in a delightful arc around my legs as I spun toward the door to search for Nelson. I smiled at the way it moved. When I got away from all these people, I was going to spin and spin and spin until my cape was really flying.

Then I remembered I shouldn’t smile, and I certainly shouldn’t have admired the way my cloak fluttered around me.

Where in the name of hooves and horns was Nelson and his bear friend?

I stomped like an ogre—no shimmies here, folks—to the other side of the entrance area so I could peer through the lobby window from a different angle. My legs ached with the effort of stomping. It took a lot of energy to clomp around all the time. Unicorns pranced or trotted; we weren’t supposed to plod along like a Clydesdale.

Acting like a snooty mage was no fun at all, but a unicorn had to do what a unicorn had to do. If this was the price I had to pay to stay out of another cage, I could do it.

Because I couldn’t go back there. Never again.

Which brought me to my main worry. Why had the SC asked Nelson to come here for me? What did they know? My disguise was so good, I didn’t see how they could know I was Rudy Tada. But if not that, then what?

I resisted the urge to pat my wig to make sure it hadn’t moved and still looked fabulous. I had to trust that it did. No one would notice a little wayward strand of hair, right? Not touching my wig required almost Herculean effort. My armpits still itched from my earlier lie too. But if I gave in and scratched a little bit,it would just make everything worse. I’d end up attacking myself all over, like a dog with fleas.

Great. Now I was itchier than before.

Wet wigs and lies were horrible companions. Ugh. I needed to stop thinking about all of this. If Nelson’s crystal didn’t work and I had to attend more of these things, I was going to splurge on a better wig.

Where was this limo? And where was Nelson?

Unicorns weren’t supposed to worry, but I hadn’t expected to be out here this long.

The blizzard wasn’t helping my mood. Sunshine and rainbows were nowhere in sight. With the gusting wind, snow was piling up on the leeward side of the parked cars. If it kept this up, it’d take a long time to dig everything out. But that wouldn’t be my problem because, apparently, I was going to be in Willow Lake, wherever that was.

I did another gut check. And yep, my insides were still onboard with that plan.

I pulled my hood up over my wig and tilted my head down, which wasn’t a very Rudy-esque move, but my face was getting wet, and I bet the snow was washing away my makeup. If one aspect of my disguise didn’t work, the rest might fail, falling away like toppling dominoes until I was standing out here exposing my unicorn-ness for all the world to see.

Nelson and his people needed to put some hustle in their bustles, as one of my nannies used to say, before this all went sideways. I really hoped he wasn’t delayed because someone caught him putting the tracker in a hunter’s pocket.

I sucked in a breath and let it out slowly. Panicking wouldn’t help.

I glanced at my wristwatch. It was another prop for my disguise, but I found it surprisingly helpful. Oh. I’d only beenoutside four minutes. I thought for sure it’d been at least forty-three.

Another minute ticked by.

I suppressed an irritated sigh and shuffled to the other side of the entry area.

I startled when I caught the gaze of a figure on the other side of the window. My reflection merged with their image through the window, obscuring the details of their features behind mine. But I could still see how their head tilted to the side as they studied me.

Then a slow smile stretched across their face, making their white teeth gleam. Magic tickled my skin. Mages did this to each other all the time, the nosy so and so’s. My uncle used to say that mages poked and prodded one another, trying to find out things that were none of their business, like dogs putting their noses where they shouldn’t.

My heart tripped over itself as the mage crossed to the door and stepped outside. They murmured a couple of words I couldn’t quite make out. Tendrils of their energy reached for me. I swatted them away as I pinned the mage with my haughtiest look—and let me just say, it was spot on. I’d practiced it in the mirror and everything.

“Are you going to sniff my ass next?” I asked in a sneering tone. Ha! I didn’t stumble over my words. I was getting so good at this whole nasty mage persona.

Giddy energy bubbled through me at my success, and I almost smiled. Oops. That would never do.

The mage yanked their magic back.

I did my best to meet his gaze straight on, ignoring how it made my insides all squirmy.

“Your magic is… unusual,” the man said.

“Andyourmagic needs to mind its own business.”