EXCERPT

Chapter One

Hidden behind a trash receptacle, the man watched her approach. The bright Texas winter moon illuminated the area, casting his shadow across the sidewalk. He had almost given up the idea of finding a mark, since everywhere he stood his shadow was visible to all passers-by. When the petite blonde rounded the corner, completely ignoring the portent of his presence, he dropped his bag inside the alley and hid. Her inattentiveness, coupled with her small stature and good looks, made her the perfect mark.

His leg bounced in anticipation. Not only would she be a pushover to rob, he could have some real fun with her afterwards. She walked towards him as if she didn't have a care in the world. If only she knew.

Closer . . . Closer . . . Come on. Just a little closer.

"Hand over the purse, lady." He grabbed her arm, bringing her to an abrupt halt.

With his hand firmly clamped around her wrist, he stepped out from behind the bin. His long gray hair hung stringy and matted around his head. An even more unkempt beard framed the lower portion of his face, hiding both his mouth and neck, giving him an ape-like appearance. The only things remotely human about him were his eyes, and after staring into those ovals of red-streaked green, his victims reported to the police there was nothing human about them at all.

The woman stood calmly making no attempt to flee or comply with his demand.

"Don't ignore me, whore. I want your purse."

She stayed silent, her aqua eyes flashing in the moonlight. Something about her eyes bothered him, was it the color or the way she looked at him? Averting his eyes from her stare, he noticed for the first time she wasn't carrying a purse. It didn't matter, since robbery wasn't the only thing he had in mind.

"Hey babe . . . You're sure pretty. I've got something here for you." He grabbed the crotch of his pants with one hand and ran the other over her cheek. He felt her shudder under his touch. "You're gonna have a real man tonight."

She cleared her throat. "What makes you think I want a man? I've done just fine for centur . . . years by myself."

He was startled for a moment. He wasn't accustomed to his female victims talking back. Pulling himself up to his full height, he dragged her slowly towards the back of the alley. "Your luck's a changin', sweet thang."

"I have such wonderful luck."

He ignored her insult, thinking only of the rewards ahead. "I'm partial to long blond hair and blue eyes. Used to have me a girl looked like you, but she left me."

"Well, if you've always looked like a gorilla and smelled like a garbage dump, it's no wonder she left."

His free hand produced a switchblade from his pocket. He turned towards her and held it up to her cheek.

"Hey bitch! You'd better watch it. You don't wanna make Bill mad, do you?"

The tiny woman merely looked up at him and smiled. Her nonchalance only served to make him angrier. He moved the blade closer to her cheek, intending to make a small scratch, but his hand suddenly shook violently. The blade fell harmlessly to the ground and slid under one of the neighboring dumpsters.

"What the…?"

He watched dumbfounded as the blade rolled out of his reach. His attention soon returned to his hand. It was steady now, not so much as a tremor. "Strange. I haven't blown that much toot tonight."

"Maybe it was the wind. It is a tad chilly tonight."

He raised his hand to slap her, but found he couldn't keep his arm in the air. It was too heavy and dropped harmlessly back to his side. Maybe it was a bad batch of coke. I'd better get this over with before I really trip out.

The fanny pack around her waist caught his attention. "What you got in there?"

"Nothing . . . a pad, a pen . . . some computer disks."

He grabbed the pack and searched through it.

"Damn! Nothing 'cept junk," he exclaimed, tossing it into one of the dumpsters.

"Duh, I told you it was empty. Now, why would I lie to someone so much stronger and smarter than me?"

What a bitch! I'll show her. He pushed her backwards several times into the dark recesses of the alley, then pinned her against the wall. His hands grabbed her around the hips and began to feel their way up her body.

Arianna shuddered, but she made no effort to protect herself.

He didn't understand her silence after putting up such a mouthy front, but took full advantage of it. How many times did he get to feel up such a classy woman without a fight? Unfortunately, the material of her clothing prevented him from touching the softness underneath, and it was too thick to rip without his switchblade. He pushed back her jacket, exposing the low cut opening of her blouse. Finally some skin.

His hand forced its way inside her blouse, but instead of the soft skin he expected, he touched something cold and metallic. He wrapped his hand around it and tugged, trying to pull it out from under her blouse.

"Hmm, what's this, a diamond necklace maybe? That'd buy me enough crack to last a few days."

Suddenly, she was anything but silent or passive. "Hold your horses!" Shoving his hand away, she pulled an odd shaped pendant out from underneath her blouse.

"You're going to snap the chain. It's just an old necklace anyway, of no use to you."

Bill grabbed the pendant from her, but the chain held it securely around her neck. It was the strangest hunk of metal he had ever seen. "What the hell is this thing? Hmm, it's a sword with two dogs' heads on the handle, and it's all lying on top of a heart. Damn, it's ugly."

A faint light of recognition showed in his eyes. I've seen it before in one of my granny's old books. Holding tightly to the piece of jewelry, he thoroughly examined its owner. She didn't look special. Maybe a little prettier than most, but that was all. Nah, it couldn't be . . . Get your mind on your work, Bill.

"I bet those two blue gems in the dogs' eyes ought to be worth something." His fingers caressed the smooth cool surfaces.

Arianna snatched the medallion from his hands and dropped it safely back under her blouse. "For your information, those are jackals, not dogs. This talisman's been in the family for years and I'm not losing it to the likes of you."
"You don't have a choice, bitch!"

"I think I do, and the name’s Arianna!"

He grabbed her wrists and jerked her towards him. Losing her balance, her right knee rammed the edge of a dumpster. She glanced down at the blood seeping through the material of her jeans. Any further attempt to pull her to him met an immovable force. As hard as he yanked on her arms, he couldn't budge her. Suddenly, she freed herself with one quick jerk of her arm. He blinked and rubbed his eyes. No, this is not happening. His eyes opened again only to find it was true.

Floating several feet off the ground, Arianna smiled sweetly down at him, stifling obvious laughter.

No woman was going to get the better of him, especially using cheap magic tricks. He stepped forward and whisked his hands underneath her feet then up towards the outline of her body. "Come on, lady . . . Arianna, how are you doin' that?"


"Wouldn't you like to know? Glad to see you got the name right, Bill."

He still couldn't believe his eyes and continued to swipe his hands through the air around her.

"Need a little help seeing?" She moved her hands in front of her to form a circle. A ball of light appeared between her fingers. "Is that better?"

"N-n-no. You don't exist." Damn, I need to get into rehab.

The light ball bounced back and forth between her palms. "Oh, but I do. We Majerians are very real, you know."

"Majerians? There ain't no such thing. There can't be. My grandma told me those stories just to scare me."

A toss of the Majerian's hand and the orb of light soared high into the night sky. As it disappeared from sight, she folded her arms across her chest. "I beg to differ. I've been a Majerian all my life."

He still couldn't admit the obvious. It would mean admitting defeat and he hadn't lost a score in years. "It's got to be a magician's trick . . . You're just messing with ol' Bill, ain't ya?" He made a grab for her leg.

"Bill, you really don't want to push me tonight. I'm in a bad mood and I don't feel like dealing with anyone right now, especially a man. You're lucky you're still standing."

"We'll see about that."

His pride was getting the better of him and he knew it, but he couldn't help himself. He just couldn't let a woman beat him. He tightened his hand around her leg and tried pulling her to the ground. He hung on, pulling with all his weight, but he didn't move her so much as an inch. Before he had a chance to reset his grip and try again, his feet left the ground. He was too high to jump safely to the ground so he wrapped both of his arms around her legs and held on for dear life.

The alleys and the streets below them grew smaller and smaller. He shut his eyes and breathed slowly. If it were a dream, he'd wake up soon. If not, he didn't want to see it. He was deathly afraid of heights. There had to be some way of talking her into putting him down. Maybe play on her feminine side, if she had one.

"Arianna put me down. Please, put me down. I promise to repent my evil ways."

Arianna laughed. "Oh, I intend to. But I don't think it's quite where you had in mind."

The little Majerian flew even higher until the skyscrapers below them were no larger than backyard storage sheds. Finally, she stopped and hovered in the air. She bent over and jerked his hands free. Clasping them firmly in hers, she stretched out until she was lying flat, facing the earth below. Back and forth her arms moved, swinging Bill through the air beneath her.

The skin on Bill's knuckles glowed white with tension and his hands trembled. "You . . . ain't gonna drop me, are ya?"

Back and forth, she swung him.

"Well, I hadn't planned on it. Do you want me to?" She loosened her grip a little.

"N-n-no, that's all right. On second thought, it’s rather nice up here."

"Oh, I was going to scare the pee-waddle out of you, but I think I've already done that, haven't I?"
What was she waiting for? Why didn't she just kill him now?

"I'm not going to kill you. I've never killed anyone and I don't intend to start now."

Great, she can read minds too.

"Yes, I can read your mind, as feeble as it is. Don't worry, I'm just going to fix it so you won't ever hurt another human being as long as you live."

Pulling Bill a little closer to her, she flew ahead a few hundred feet towards a tall building with a flagpole on top. She set him squarely on top of the platform. His body shook with fear, making it hard to keep his balance. She moved her hands in a square pattern in the air. Suddenly, he felt as if he were sitting in a straight-backed kitchen chair. He wanted to look down but was afraid to move. She floated back and looked him in the eye. A breeze fluttered gently around them, blowing Arianna's waist length blond hair behind her, exposing the faint azure glow in her eyes.

She placed her hands on either side of his face and stared directly into his eyes. "When you have the desire to attack someone, you will . . . . You will . . . Now, what will break you from your violent tendencies? Stomach cramps? Vomiting?
Wait, I know.

When robbery is on your mind,
To feed your nasty habit,
The nearest AA hall, you'll find
See the broom and grab it.

When assault you do enact,
Suddenly your mind's undone
Like a loony, you will act
Harmful thoughts soon be gone."

She pulled her hands away from his cheeks and giggled. "That ought to do it. Now, when I count to three, you'll wake up. You will not remember me, but you will obey my words." She turned to fly away then stopped. "Oh, in thirty minutes you'll find your way safely down."

Off in the distance, a clock chimed ten.

The campus library closed at midnight and Arianna still had at least that much research to do. She'd have to hurry.

Unencumbered by Bill's weight, she dove back towards the alley to retrieve her fanny pack. It contained all her research material for the past few weeks. She would have hated to do it all again. Long hours in the library drove her crazy. It was too quiet and too confining. Unfortunately, adding various human college degrees to her resume required she spend a lot of time there. Research and grades were things she couldn't conjure with her magic.

Landing at the back of the alley, she began a quick search for her fanny pack. She could have conjured a spell and made it return to her, but she preferred doing most things the human way. However, as soon as she found her bag, she'd definitely have to do a very non-human thing - fly to the library - because time was of the essence.

Luckily, the bag was still in the dumpster where Bill had thrown it earlier. She picked it up carefully by one of the straps. It was filthy and smelled of rotten potatoes and bananas. Her fingertips slowly pulled on the zipper, trying to avoid the smelly, mushy mess. The disks, the pencils, and the notepad were still inside, and amazingly, were clean. She stuffed the items into the various pockets of her jeans, then threw the pack into the closest dumpster. She stepped backwards and something squishy oozed up around the sides of her shoe. Staring down in disgust, she wondered when humans would learn to care more for their environment. She shuddered at the mess around her. There was definitely time for one more magical feat before she left. She ran to the back of the alley and levitated four feet above the pavement.

Her hands moved rapidly through the air in a figure-eight motion. All the lids on the dumpsters flew open, ready for their evening meal. One by one, the inanimate pieces of trash and food lying below began to quiver with life. With another flick of her hands, they jumped into a nearby dumpster. There was something familiar about the scene, but she couldn't quite put her finger on it at first. She giggled. It was out of The Sorcerer's Apprentice, except she possessed the skill and knowledge to stop the broom from flooding the basement.

She rubbed her hands together. "Much better."