Veiled Magic Read Online Free PDF Page A

Grim,” Donata scolded, “you’ve got wet food. You don’t need my chicken too.”
    The cat stalked out of the kitchen, tail raised high.
    â€œUnbelievable,” she said to herself, somehow spilling peanut sauce all over the stovetop. “My own familiar won’t even have dinner with me. I really need to work on my social life.” She turned to tempt the cat back with a piece of chicken and out of the corner of her eye saw a bowl sliding slowly toward the edge of the counter.
    â€œHa!” she said, grabbing the bowl before it could go over the edge. “That’s enough of that!” She stood back and glared at the counter near where the dish had been, folding her arms over her chest. “Come on—show yourself.”
    Nothing happened, and for a moment she thought she’d been imagining things. Then Grimalkin walked back into the kitchen and hissed again before sitting down next to her feet.
    â€œAha. I knew it!” Donata narrowed her eyes. “You’d better come out on your own, buddy. You
really
don’t want me to go get my broom.”
    A long-suffering sigh sounded from the top of the counter, and a figure appeared where a moment ago there had been empty space. It looked like a small, perfectly shaped man, about three feet tall, with a long brown beard, brown overalls, and an indignant look on his face. He squinted in the bright lights of the kitchen.
    â€œNo need to get nasty, missus,” the little man said, putting his hands on his hips. “I wasn’t bothering you.” He looked around at the mess. “Much.”
    â€œRight,” Donata replied. “Like screwing with my cooking isn’t bothering me.”
    He shrugged. “It hardly looks like a four-course feast.” He peered at her with his eyes screwed up. “You look more Italian than Chinese—shouldn’t you be making spaghetti or something?”
    â€œI hate tomatoes,” she said shortly. “Not that it’s any of your business.” She looked back at him evenly. “So, what are you? Gnome? Leprechaun?”
    The little man gave an indignant snort. “Hardly. I’m a Kobold, of course. Don’t tell me you’ve never seen a Kobold before.” He hopped down off the counter, helping himself to a carrot as he went.
    Donata cursed to herself. There were five major Paranormal races: Witches, Dragons, Fae, Ghouls, and Ulfhednar. Of those, only the Witches were living openly among Humans. But in addition, there were the so-called “minor races”—too many of them to count. Kobolds were among the more volatile of the various “little people.” Originally Earth spirits who lived underground, they moved into the cities when Humans overran their lands.
    Kobolds tended to be invisible unless they chose otherwise, and mostly stuck to the darker, deeper spaces like subways and basements. Although they were drawn to Humans, they rarely let themselves be seen. The good news was, they were mostly harmless. If they liked you, they could be quite helpful: finding lost objects and cleaning the house. Of course, if they didn’t like you . . . well, her mangled, half-cooked dinner was evidence enough of what happened then.
    The bad news was, once one decided to attach itself to you, there wasn’t much you could do about it. They didn’t take well to efforts to remove them and could become quite the nuisance when peeved. Donata eyed the Kobold standing in front of her and resolved to get rid of him as quickly as possible—before he decided to move in for good. This apartment wasn’t big enough for any roommate, much less a Kobold.
    â€œWhat do you want?” she asked. “I haven’t done anything to you that would justify you turning my kitchen into a disaster area.”
    The Kobold peered critically around the room and through the door into the living room.
    â€œMissus,” he stated