Free Grave Expectations (The Ministry of Curiosities Book 4) by C.J. Archer

all fours to the beef, sniffed it, but didn't eat. It tilted its head and looked at me as if it were waiting for something.
    "Go back into your amber," I urged. When nothing happened, I tried a different command. "Return, imp. I send you back."
    It mewled again.
    "It don't look magical," Cook said.
    "What does a magical creature look like?"
    "Don't know, but if I be a magical creature, I'd make meself prettier for a start, and bigger, with fur. Lots and lots of fur everywhere."
    I kept my gaze strictly averted from his bald head and hairless face. Cook couldn't even grow eyebrows. "What shall we do?" Lincoln might walk in at any moment. I eyed the door and chewed my lip.
    "Maybe it understands French for 'go back' better than English."
    "That's all well and good, but I don't know the French for 'go back.' Do you?"
    "I dozed off when me tutor were teaching them words in French lessons."
    I gave him a withering glare. "This is not a time for jokes."
    "I think you have to hold it and touch the amber too."
    "Now you're just making things up." But I recalled my mother saying something similar. The suggestion was as good as any. "If it bites me, fetch the medical kit." I picked up the necklace and dangled the pendant where the creature could see it then caught the pendant in my hand. "Come here, little—"
    The creature let out a squawk that seemed far too loud for its small size, then jumped off the table. It ran out of the kitchen before I'd registered that it had moved.
    "It's escaping!" I lifted my skirts and sprinted after it.
    "It can't get out," Cook said from directly behind me. "The doors and windows all be closed."
    Thank goodness for that. I spotted the tip of its skinny pink tail as it turned a corner. It was heading toward the front of the house.
    "Stop!" I shouted. "Get back here, you little rat!"
    "Don't call it names or it might not want to come back."
    Thank goodness the front door was closed, so we only had to corral it in one of the rooms and—
    I skidded to a halt just as the creature leapt into the air. It was going to slam head first into the solid wooden door!
    The imp stretched itself very thin. It resembled a stiletto dagger. Even the head was distorted. Then I saw why.
    It squeezed through the keyhole and disappeared.
    " That be its magic trick," Cook muttered.
    "It's getting away!"
    He flung open the door and pointed into the darkness ahead. "There! On the drive. It be normal shape again."
    I ran down the steps and along the drive, flicking up clumps of damp gravel with every step. It wasn't until I was halfway to the gate that I realized Cook was no longer behind me. I turned to see him doubled over, holding his side.
    "Go on," he puffed out between heavy breaths. "I'll catch it if it comes back."
    Nearly three months ago I'd been known as fleet-foot Charlie, and for good reason, but my speed was not enough to close the gap between myself and the creature. It was as fast as any cat, and its magic trick, as Cook had called it, gave it an added advantage.
    By the time I reached Lichfield's gates, I was in utter despair. The moonlight and street lamps weren't enough to reveal much in either direction, and the imp was nowhere to be seen. Once again I'd been responsible for releasing a supernatural creature with the potential to cause great harm.
    The committee members would be gloating if they knew.
    I stood on the pavement, hands on hips, and squinted into the darkness to left and right. It could be halfway to Clerkenwell by now.
    Leaves in a nearby tree rustled. Thank goodness! "Come here, you little—"
    The crack of a gunshot woke up the birds and deafened me.
    And then everything became a blur.

Chapter 5
    A blurry shadow slammed into my side, pushing me to the ground. I landed on my elbow and shoulder, the wind knocked out of me.
    "Charlie!" Cook shouted. "Charlie, you hurt?" He appeared at the gate, his white apron making him look ghostly as he emerged out of the darkness. He sounded like a steam