“Mol and the baby are okay?” I asked.

“Yes. Fren and Mol take baby home to show family. They say you have big magic. Ask if you are sorceress.”

“Hardly.” If any magic had happened here today, it had come from Remy, the way he’d helped Mol deliver her baby. Though he didn’t have my power, he was as much a healer as I was and his knowledge of medicines never failed to amaze me. In troll years he was still a teenager like me, but he already knew more than I could hope to learn in a lifetime.

He looked at the street again. “It get dark soon.”

“Not for another hour. And I’m not afraid of the dark.”

“Uncle will not be happy if you stay out late.”

“Nate’s not happy about most things I do,” I quipped. Remy shot me a disapproving look and I said, “You know it’s true. I love Nate but we’re just so…different. He wants me to be someone I’m not. He wants a normal niece who has girlfriends and joins the band or the cheerleading squad or whatever. That’s not me and it never will be.”

“That not true. He just want you to be happy.”

I raised an eyebrow. “Since when are you an expert on human parents?”

“All good parents want children to be happy.” He pushed away from the window. “Come. Boys leave.”

I poked him in the back as I followed him to the back door. “You know, you’re getting kind of bossy these days.”

He let out a gravelly laugh. “Not even trolls boss you.”

“That’s right! I’m a strong independent woman and don’t you forget it.”

We crossed the yard and slipped through the fence. Remy turned to me. “You do good today.”

“We did good,” I said. “By the way, you never did tell me what Baktu is.”

“Baktu is winged serpent from desert lands.”

My brows drew together. “Huh? How does a serpent turn to crystals?”

“Crystals not serpent. It dried baktu dropping.”

“Dropping? You mean poop?” I wrinkled my nose. “Ugh! That’s disgusting, Remy!”

Remy laughed and started for the woods. “Baktu is poisonous serpent. Dropping makes strong medicine.”

Before I could reply he disappeared. I envy the way trolls can melt into their surroundings like vanishing into thin air. It’d be a handy skill to have at times.

The streets were empty when I walked back to the bus stop. Even though it was a Saturday evening, not a lot of people were headed into town so there were plenty of seats to choose from on the bus. The same driver always drove this route on weekends and he nodded at me when I dropped my change in the farebox.

At least I could relax on the return trip because Remy and I had done what we set out to do. I’d helped save two lives today – how many girls my age get to say that? Not that I enjoyed hanging out in smoky bars, doing illicit business with people who are the underworld equivalent of drug dealers. Just because I had enough wits to keep a cool façade and act like I knew what I was doing did not change the fact that I was in way over my head. But I couldn’t stop now, not when lives depended on me.

When Remy asked me two years ago to help him find powdered chimera horn to help a dying kelpie I had no idea there was an actual black market for that and practically anything else you can think of – if you can pay. Since then I’d found half a dozen other items for him and I also got pretty good at negotiating since none of them were cheap or easy to find. It’s not like you can buy hydra scales or hansling teeth on Amazon or eBay. Well not yet anyway.

We were lucky that Remy could afford to buy pretty much anything. Of course there are some things more valuable than even money, like the contents of the vial I gave Malloy, rare and nearly impossible to obtain. He’d sell his own mother to know how I’d gotten my hands on it but I’d never tell him – or anyone else. It was dangerous enough just letting someone like Malloy know that I had some to trade. People killed for a hell of a lot less. And if Remy’s people ever found out what we were up to… I shuddered at the thought.

Troll bile is a potent drug and priceless, not just because of what it can do but also because there are few brave enough to try to get it. Trolls are not only secretive and elusive; their vicious reputation keeps humans and nonhumans alike from seeking them out, let alone trying to take something from them.

It disgusted me when Remy first told me about it. But if you can get past the ungodly smell and not think about where it comes from, it has incredible regenerative properties. It can slow aging and degenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s and it can even reverse balding. I heard it can even fight certain types of cancer. I know from experience that it can not fix every injury, but half an ounce, like what I gave Malloy, could stop someone from aging for up to five years if used properly. It’s basically the fountain of youth and there are people who would pay almost anything to get their hands on it.

The younger the troll, the more potent the bile, but trolls are so protective of their young that it is near impossible to get close to them without meeting a horrible end. Remy gave me his own bile to barter with on his behalf, but his people would be furious if they ever got wind of what we were peddling. Trolls don’t like humans, though for some reason the elders tolerated Remy’s friendship with me. But I didn’t kid myself about where I stood with them. I was still just a human.

The bus pulled up to my downtown stop in front of the post office and I waved to the driver as I exited by the rear door. Market Street, the financial and commercial hub of New Hastings during the week, was quiet now except for the people heading to the Subway or Antonio’s. I crossed at the light and cut through the small parking lot between two buildings to come out on the end of the waterfront near the wharves. South of me lay the pier and the shops and restaurants that lined the waterfront. Almost home. After the day I’d had, all I wanted was to curl up in bed with a book for the rest of the night.