Free Dreamer by Ann Mayburn Page B

father’s name she answered it. “I'm okay.”
    “Shan, where are you?” Aaron's voice was shrill with panic.
    “I'm in the parking lot of the Lucky Clucky grocery store on
Jefferson Ave.” She leaned her head back against the leather seat and closed
her eyes. The cars smelled like her dad's woodsy cologne, and she inhaled the
comforting scent. “Your Corvette is okay.”
    “I don't give a rat's ass about the car! Are you okay? We’ve
been calling you but you haven’t been answering.” Royce's voice rumbled low and
deep in the background. “Were you at the bazaar when the attack happened? It's
all over the news. We're trying to get there now, but they have all the roads
blocked off, and traffic is at a standstill. I'll get out and walk if I need
to.”
    Shan squinted at the dash and was astonished to see that she
had been sitting in the parking lot for over an hour. “Sorry I didn't call you
right away. I wasn't thinking straight.”
    “It's okay, honey. Thank the goddess you're all right.” A
horn beeped long and harsh in the background.
    “Are you talking while you drive?”
    Aaron's laugh was brittle but held an edge of relief. “No,
Royce is driving. We've had enough of your lectures about phone safety to know
better.” His voice hitched as he said, “What happened?”
    Eyes still closed, she turned her face to the sunshine
coming through the windshield and enjoyed its warmth on her skin. “I don't
know.”
    There was silence on the other end of the phone before Aaron
said in a careful voice, “Shan, are you sure you're okay?”
    Realizing her lack of response was worrying her dad, she
made an effort to concentrate on their conversation. “Really, Dad, I don't know
what happened. One minute I was getting harassed by a captain of the Temple
Guard for losing my permit, and the next thing I know the world smells like
shit and some crazy green elephant thing is eating people.” Her breath
shuddered out of her. “I saw it kill three, or was it four, people. And I saw a
guard sacrifice himself to defeat it.”
    “Oh, honey,” Royce said in the background again. “We're
almost to you. Stay put.”
    “Dad, what happened? You probably know more than I do.”
    Aaron hesitated, and she heard the wail of a siren. “Someone
summoned two Nosts at the entrance of the bazaar. The surveillance tape shows a
figure in a cloak doing the summoning, but they used some type of shield to
blur their image.”
    “What's a Nost? And why would they attack the bazaar? And
how is that even possible? I thought that place was impenetrable. I thought I
was safe.” The last words came out in a broken whisper as she swallowed hard.
    “You should have been safe, an attack of this magnitude in
the heart of the Egyptian Temple District is unheard of.”
    “Yeah, well not anymore. What were those things?”
    “Um…well…”
    Royce barked out something that sounded like tell her.
    “A Nost is a minor demon from one of the African pantheons.
Anyone can summon one with the right spells and power.”
    “But how did they get it past the wards that guard the
entrance to the square?”
    He replied in an ominous tone, “Bad, bad magic, sweetheart.
You don’t want to know.”
    “Okay, then why was it at the bazaar?” Her hand throbbed,
and she turned it in the sunlight, wincing at the puffing bruise forming.
    She heard her dad take a deep breath before he said, “Nosts
are stalker demons. They are summoned with the intent to hunt down and kill
their intended prey. It was there looking for someone.”
    Sitting up higher in the bucket seat, she watched an old
lady put groceries in her trunk. “Like last night?”
    “Yes.”
    The implication of his words sank into her. “Are they after
me?”
    “No!” Aaron shouted and then said in a lower voice, “No.
Remember, last night there were three attacks at different locations. And there
were at least five thousand people at the bazaar. You had the bad luck of being
at both