I had to bite the inside of my lip to keep tears from welling in my eyes. I had been lucky to get a job, and if the MSI opportunity hadn’t fallen into my lap, I might have still been working for Mimi because I hadn’t had any luck finding anything else. Most of the Manhattan employers had seen my qualifications the same way she did. “I got a better job quickly enough,” I shot back in a voice that was shakier than I liked. Never mind that the job had nothing to do with my résumé and everything to do with a genetic quirk.
“And yet you were working as a caterer and stealing jewelry,” she said with a smirk. Then she waved to her groupies. “I’ve had enough of this. Come on, I want to get home. You can escort me and keep the rabble at bay.”
Her followers shoved me aside, and Mimi and her entourage swept out the door. As soon as I caught my balance, I went after her, running to get in front of her before she went very far. “I’m still not done with you,” I said, panting. I noticed that Owen and some of the other patrons, including the cougher, had also left the coffee shop. I gave Owen a nod to say, “I’m okay,” then returned my attention to Mimi. I needed to buy time, but how much time did I need? Where was that box?
“Write me a letter,” Mimi said, stepping around me.
I rushed at her, grabbing her arm. “I said I wasn’t done.” But then her groupies surrounded me, dragging me away from her.
Owen stepped in, and I was glad he didn’t have magical powers anymore or else the lot of them might have been turned into something worse than frogs, judging by the look in his eyes. “Get your hands off her,” he snapped. Even without magic, his voice and glare were enough to make them back away.
“This is harassment and assault, and you’ve already stolen my brooch,” Mimi shouted. She turned to her nearest groupie. “Call the police!” she ordered. The groupie obediently got out a cell phone and dialed.
“I think she’s outlived her usefulness as a brooch mule,” Owen muttered.
I didn’t disagree, but I wasn’t sure how to get it from her when she was surrounded by fawning admirers. Worse, it seemed like everyone who came down the sidewalk ended up joining her entourage. The only saving grace was that none of them were trying to get the stone for themselves. They were only falling under Mimi’s sway.
It sounded like the groupie was having a hard time convincing the 911 operator that this was a real emergency. With any luck, the operator would assume it was just a drunken spat. The last thing we needed was the police getting involved. Mimi glared over her shoulder at the groupie, who was inarticulately trying to explain why the situation was so urgent, and then she stepped forward and shoved me. “You’d better go now if you know what’s good for you.”
I drew myself to my full height, which was several inches shorter than Mimi, and said, “Why should I? I have every right to be on this sidewalk.”
The groupies closed in, surrounding Owen, Mimi, and me, and I doubted we’d get out of there alive as long as Mimi had the brooch and was able to boss them around. One of the groupies imitated Mimi in shoving me, and Owen intervened. Mimi then grabbed his arm and jerked him away. “Hey, if anyone’s assaulting and harassing anyone, it’s you doing it to us,” I protested.
“She’s a thief! She has to be stopped!” Mimi shouted to her followers.
I had one last bit of ammunition, a secret I’d kept during my stint as Mimi’s assistant because I’d thought sharing it would only make me look like an office gossip and probably wouldn’t hurt Mimi at all. But the fate of the world was at stake, and I needed to get her off-balance. “Does your fiancé know that you got and kept your job because you were sleeping with your boss—while you were engaged to someone else? That’s why you were in a job you couldn’t really do and needed your flunkies to cover for you. The current fiancé seems like a nice man. Maybe someone should tell him.”
Off-balance was what I wanted, and off-balance was what I got. Mimi went into the worst case of “evil Mimi” I’d ever seen. I almost wondered if maybe she’d drunk the ogre potion and really was going to turn green and grow fangs. As it was, her eyes turned red and bulged out of her face, and I could have sworn her head spun all the way around. “I have had enough of you!” she shrieked. Moving so quickly that I barely noticed her upraised hand, she slapped me hard across the face. I always thought it was a figure of speech when people said they saw stars, but I saw stars and my ears rang. I instinctively raised my right hand to retaliate as the stars were replaced by a haze of red—something else I’d thought was a figure of speech. Mimi caught my wrist, but I instinctively formed a fist with my free hand, drew back my arm, and hit her square in the jaw with all my might. She toppled over, taking me with her, and we hit the ground.
