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“Magic is always weird.” I whistle. “Maybe it’s good mine isn’t so strong.”
Tammy-mouse flails her paws at me. “It’s getting crazy strong and totally unpredictable.”
I look around at the claustrophobic invasion of plant matter. Good thing I don’t suffer from hay fever or I’d be one miserable psychic vampire right about now. Even without allergies, my amplified senses are going nuts.
“Can you get rid of this?” I ask.
“I think so. Kinda afraid to try, though.” Tammy-mouse clutches her tiny paws to her chest. “I might destroy all plants within ten miles if the magic runs away from me.”
Gah. I blink. “Did you fill a ten-mile area with this stuff or is it just our house?”
“No idea! I haven’t been outside yet.”
“Well, try to clean this up. We need our house back.” I set her down on the carpet.
“Can you give me a little space, please?”
I nod, then shove at the tangled network of vines and plant matter. In a minute or two, I’ve brute forced a little bit of a clearing big enough for two people to stand in.
Tammy-mouse stands on her hind legs, then springs upward into her normal human form. Amid a faint flash of green light, her magical leaf dress appears on her. Damn. I can summon the simple illusion of a dress, thanks to my basic magic skills. Of course, in this current environment, I could undoubtedly summon a ballroom gown—complete with glass slippers. Hmm, not sure where that Cinderella reference came from but it made me smile.
Anyway, my daughter grabs a random vine and concentrates.
Three minutes later, she’s still concentrating.
“Any time now,” I whisper.
“I’m trying to be careful, ma. Almost there.” Tammy takes another deep breath.
A sudden noise comes from the backyard that makes me think of what it would sound like if a deer screamed in terror.
“That didn’t sound good,” I say. “Is that something you did or something else?”
“Not me, I swear.” Tammy gives a small huff of annoyance.
I wince. “We should probably go check on that.”
She nods. “Oh, here goes.” Tammy emits a faint grunt and gives off a surge of energy.
Nothing’s visible, merely an energy tingle washing over me that’s clearly coming from her—like standing too close to a faulty microwave oven.
All the flowers and stuff shrink away to nothingness in seconds, as if we watched reverse fast-motion video of plants growing. The house is a complete mess. Everything the invading vegetation knocked over, ripped, or pushed around is still out of place—but all the plants are gone. Yay.
The ‘deer scream’ happens again, shortly followed by Paxton herself screaming.
Both sounds come from the backyard.
Tammy and I exchange a look of ‘oh crap’ before running to the kitchen and out the door leading to the yard.
I’m not in any way prepared for the sight that greets us. Paxton’s standing defensively in front of the unicorn and staring down an enormous spider-shaped creature made entirely of a black silhouette...
Chapter Ten
Spider
Okay, I say enormous, but it’s almost all legs. Kinda resembles a daddy longlegs spider to be honest. The body is only about the size of an industrial refrigerator.
Paxton has no weapons beyond her fists, which she’s brandishing at this gargantuan creature as if they’re going to hurt it. The unicorn is nipping at her from behind as if she wants to pull her back from the fiend.
