Free No Quest for the Wicked by Shanna Swendson

undershorts. I’ve already set the curse, so if you break your word, it’ll happen, whether or not I’m around.”
    “Wow, her first day here, and she’s already cleaning up crime,” Rod muttered. “The mayor may want her to stay.”
    The thugs nodded wide-eyed at her, then slunk away. The purse’s owner turned to Granny. “I don’t know how to thank you,” she said. “I don’t know what I’d have done if you hadn’t caught them. My whole life is in this bag.” She opened her wallet, took out a bill, and tried to hand it to Granny, but Granny shook her head.
    “No, I’m just looking out for my neighbor like the good Lord says to do. You go on and have a good day.”
    The woman shifted the baby on her hip, reshouldered her purse and said, “Well, thank you very much.”
    When she was gone, I stepped forward to approach Granny, but froze when a gruff voice behind me said, “So, now you’re bringing in an outside wizard for the search. What do you have planned for when you get that brooch?”

Chapter Five
     
    I slowly turned around to see a bearded gnome wearing a track suit with white pants, a yellow jacket, and a baseball hat. There was something awfully familiar about him. If those white pants were tucked into tall boots, if he posed properly, and if I saw him out of the corner of my eye, he’d look like … “You!” I blurted. “You’re the extra jockey! I knew I saw something at the restaurant.”
    “Aw, you spotted me back there?” the gnome grumbled. “I thought that was a pretty good disguise, even if I hadn’t also used some magic.”
    “Your magical veiling doesn’t work on me,” I said. “And I haven’t seen too many jockeys with long, white beards.”
    “You saw him before?” Owen asked me.
    “He was hiding among those jockey statuettes in front of Twenty-one. I guess I got distracted by that other guy I saw and forgot to say anything.” To the gnome, I said, “But how did you find us here?”
    “I’ve got my ways,” he said, stroking his beard.
    “The hawk works for you, not the elves,” Owen concluded.
    The gnome’s bushy white eyebrows shot up. “You spotted the hawk?”
    “I thought we evaded that hawk,” Rod said with a scowl.
    The gnome chortled. “Yeah, you thought you did.”
    “There you are, Katie,” Granny said, spotting me. “Where have you been? I’ve been waiting all day.”
    I gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek. “I’m sorry, Granny, but I only just got the message. I didn’t know you were coming.”
    “It was an emergency. I didn’t have time to call.”
    My heart leapt as I imagined all the horrible things that could have happened to my family. “Oh no! What is it?”
    “I don’t know yet. But something’s about to happen to you, I can feel it in my bones, and you’ll need me there when it does.”
    That was even more alarming. I reached for Owen’s hand and clutched it as I said, “Something’s going to happen to me? Something bad?”
    “Good, bad, who can say? I just know that you’ll need me here, and I want to be ready when the time comes.” She turned to fix Owen with her beady eyes. “Good to see you again, boy.” Then she frowned. “My, but you’ve changed. What happened to you?”
    Owen winced. “It’s a very long story.”
    “Granny, Owen has offered to let you stay in his guest room,” I said, changing the subject before she could demand the whole story, right there in the station. “We don’t have room for guests in our apartment, and Owen’s place is nicer than a hotel.”
    “That’s kind of you,” she said, then she smiled at Rod. “And you’re here, too. What a welcoming committee. I guess if you can’t get here on time, you bring more people.”
    “And it’s nice to see you again, Mrs. Callahan,” Rod said smoothly.
    She fluttered her eyelashes at him and extended her hand to let him kiss it gallantly. “It’s good to see that someone in this city knows how to treat a lady.”
    “Hey,