The Took’s eyes narrowed. “One and three-quarters credits.”

“As a matter of fact, if we were to buy these shoes, the rest of your pile would smell better. You should pay us for the service of removing these so-called sandals from your shop.”

“What?”

“You heard me. Now this!” Cookie raised my right sneaker in the air. “This is a shoe.”

I sighed and went to stand next to Sean.

“I should’ve just gone barefoot. Now he’ll be haggling until the cows come home out of principle.”

Sean didn’t answer. He was looking down the street, back the way we came. I looked into his eyes and saw Turan Adin there. The hair rose on the back of my neck.

“What is it?”

“We’re being hunted.”

“Is it Draziri?”

“I don’t know.”

When a wolf told you that he was being hunted, only a fool ignored it. I shut up. Sean’s senses were a lot sharper than mine, and distracting him right now was a dumb idea. I slipped on my glove and pulled the energy whip out of the inside pocket of my robe.

The street on both sides of us lay empty. The faint breeze that usually moved the air through the canyon-like streets of Baha-char died. The air turned hot and oppressive. I shivered. It felt wrong.

“And stay out!” the Took thundered behind me.

Cookie emerged with the sandals and deposited the shoes and a credit chip into my hand. “Here are the sandals and half a credit. I have given him your right shoe in trade.”

“Thank you.” I slipped the sandals on my feet.

“I had to redeem myself.” Cookie smiled.

“Let’s go,” Sean said quietly.

We hurried down the street. Cookie started out skipping, but two turns later the fun went out of him. He slunk now, fast and silent on velvet paws.

I glanced over my shoulder. The street was still empty. The darkness seemed to pool behind us. My heart rate sped up. Maybe it was my imagination, maybe not, but I wasn’t willing to take chances. We were almost running now.

We took one last turn and emerged into one of the main streets. The noise of the crowd washed over me. I exhaled. We wove through traffic, with Cookie’s monster bringing up the rear.

I glanced behind me again. Nothing but the crowd.

Deep breath. Deeep breath. Almost home.

Sean’s face seemed to relax slightly. Good.

Two more blocks and we would turn into the alley leading to the inn’s door.

Magic crept up my spine, icy and slimy. I recoiled. It was revolting, but it felt almost… familiar? How…

The crowd in front of us thinned at an alarming speed. Creatures fled, escaping into the shops and side alleys. The street emptied, leaving a lone creature standing in front of our alley.

Eight feet tall, it wore a tattered robe with the hood pulled up. It looked like a mirror of my own, except larger, with a deeper hood, and wider sleeves. It had to be a coincidence. The galaxy had a million robes. It was highly possible that two of them would be cut and sewn together in a very similar way.

I squeezed the energy whip, releasing the thin filament. It dripped to the ground, sparking off the stone.

Next to me Cookie pulled a knife out of the jeweled sheath on his apron.

Sean looked at Cookie’s shaggy bodyguard. “He’s in danger.”

The creature bared its fangs. A massive hand landed on Cookie’s shoulder. The beast yanked the small fox up, spun, and ran down the street, carrying Cookie and the tank back the way we came, each stomp of its mammoth feet like the blow of a sledgehammer. Cookie’s outraged screeches faded.

Sean pulled out his green-edged knife.

The robed creature waited between us and the alley. There was no other way to the inn’s door. We had to go through it.

“Dina?” Sean asked quietly. “What is it?”

“I don’t know.”

The creature thrust its left arm up, exposing a humanoid hand, pale and withered, with thick yellowed claws. The veins in its arm pulsed. I felt the magic gather around it, revolting and sickening. If that magic had a body, it would’ve been a putrid corpse. But the pattern in which it flowed, the underlying core of it… Shock gripped me.

“It’s an innkeeper.”

“What?”

“It’s corrupted somehow. We have to kill it. It’s an abomination.”

A sphere of pure energy shot out from the creature’s fingers, a ball of orange lightning as big as a grapefruit. Sean leapt up and forward, but it streaked past him and curved to follow me. I couldn’t outrun it.

Sean pulled a gun from within his clothes and fired, running at the robed creature. The air around the hooded figure rippled. Pulse projectiles, the deadliest in the galaxy, and it was blocking them.

The ball lightning lunged at me.

Like killed like. I flicked the energy whip.

The lightning exploded.

White haze drowned me. The magic shock wave reverberated through my bones and exploded in my chest, like my heart tried to burst. I gagged and vomited onto the ground. Sean bounced from the side of a building and landed behind the creature. He lunged, too fast to see, aiming the knife into the hooded figure’s ribs. Lightning bit him. Sean flew back as if punched by a massive fist.

Oh no, you don’t. I gritted my teeth and staggered forward, my whip burning with energy.

A second ball of lightning dripped from the creature’s claws and shot at me. I swung my whip. It connected. The lightning burst over me. Heat and pain seared my chest and stomach. My robe caught fire. I tore at it, trying to get it away from my skin.