Whatever the history between the two, Millie didn’t seem interested in telling Dara as she took a deep breath and then shook her head. “Well, Kid, it’s time to see how much we can get for your genuine, made by magic, glass pony.”

“Now?” Dara asked. Her eyes drifted to the door where Maria had left.

“Now. You got any better plans for today?” Millie grinned. “Besides, Maria’s just being Maria. If they had anything on us, it wouldn’t just be her.”

“Okay…” Dara shook her head. Then she sighed. “Car or bus.”

“Car, we don’t have much time. Besides, think how many times you’ve survived my driving!”

“I only have to not survive it once,” Dara muttered.

“Teenagers. Obviously a universal constant.” Millie shook her head. “C’mon, get the statue and into the deathmobile.”

Dara rolled her eyes and went to find a box that they could pack the statue into.

“After this,” Millie said. “We’re gonna hit some swap meets.”

“But your sister—“

“Warned me, yeah, but the thing is, we got this money from a fight in another county. I bet the FBI isn’t even interested in it.”

“Right,” Dara said, sucking in a quick breath as a giant truck passed on their right, entirely too close for her comfort. “If I’m going to refine it, I’ll need some other items. More bricks. A ladle for the metal…” She frowned. “That’s it for now, I think.”

“No problem,” Millie said. “That’ll be easy to get.”

Dara nodded. But that’s the easy part. She’d never actually made a compass, after all, not without help.

By the time they got to the store, the sun had risen and burned off the last of the morning clouds, its light blazing down on the busy city. Dara got out of the car and looked around that the crowds of people walking too and fro. So many. Not only that, but many of them were focused on their phones, ignoring everything else. Dara wondered if anyone would notice if she worked a spell in the middle of the street.

It was probably best to not try.

“So, I see you found something,” Sheila said as Dara and Millie entered the shop. Dara blinked in relief at the dim interior of the store.

“Yep. Feast your eyes on this,” Millie said, opening the box up and pulling the protective paper away from the horse.

“Oh. Oh my.” Sheila said. “This is…” She didn’t touch the glass figure, just stared at it. “Beautiful.”

“Yep, Dara here did it,” Millie said. “You think someone would be interested?”

“I can pay you two hundred for the horse,” Sheila said. “Or you can put it on consignment with me. That would take longer, but you’d make more. I expect I can get at least five hundred for this.”

“We’ll sell it to you directly,” Millie said. “After all, this isn’t the only thing Dara can make.”

“Yes…” Sheila nodded. “Dara, how quickly can you create works of art like this?”

Dara frowned. I don’t want to sound arrogant, or be claiming the impossible. “A few days, depending on how things work out.”

“That is… incredible.” Sheila nodded. “How about this? The consignment offer is still open, but if you sell to me exclusively, I can offer you two hundred and fifty dollars.”

“Done and done!” Millie said.

“Don’t I get an opinion?” Dara asked, putting her hands on her hips, trying to ignore the fact that she was wearing pants instead of proper clothes.

“Okay, what’s your opinion?”

“It’s a good deal,” Dara replied. “But what if the demand goes down?”

“If you keep up this quality?” Sheila smiled. “Dear, you won’t be able to make enough to make the demand go down.” She shook her head. “I expect the price might go up as well. But since you and Millie are temporarily financially embarrassed...”

“Hey!” Millie put her hands on her hips. “I’m not embarrassed. I’m proudly broke.”

“That might be part of your problem,” Shiela replied. She shook her head. “But yes, I’ll be pricing these to move. Should your landlord need to be reassured, I can tell him that so long as you continue to produce this, you’ll continue to make money.”

“Thanks Sheila,” Millie said. “You’re a life saver.”

“No, I think Dara deserves that moniker.” Shelia glanced at Dara. “After all, she’s the one who came up with the statue, right?”

“Hey, I found her and drove her here!” Millie protested. “But yeah, you’re right. Look, Sheila, there’s another thing. Dara isn’t just good at glass—she can do some neat stuff in platinum, but well…”

“It’s pricey?” Sheila asked.

“Yeah. Got any place we can get it on the cheap?”

Sheila paused. “And you’re not asking me to buy it for you?”

“Well, I don’t exactly have the money.” Millie smiled at the older woman.

“Or you don’t have the kind of money you think is safe.” Sheila sighed and glanced over at Dara. “Millie, are you getting this young lady into difficulty?”

“No!” Dara said. “It’s fine. It’s just that…” she trailed off. That the money we’re wanting to buy the platinum with is taken from criminals… That didn’t sound very fine.

“Hmm…” Sheila shook her head. “Well, if you can’t go through a licensed dealer, which you can’t, I know some sellers at some swap meets who specialize in old jewelry. But unless you have a very good eye for what you need, you’ll be buying a large amount of dross for every real item you get.” She went to her desk and grabbed a pad of paper, quickly scribbling down some names and addresses. “Here they are, but I don’t vouch for their honesty. It’s very much buyer beware.”

“Thanks!” Millie said.

“Millie, dear?” Sheila said, as the two headed for the door.

“Yes?”

“I was young once, so just remember—whatever you do, always pay your taxes.”

“Gotcha,” Millie said.

“What was that about?” Dara asked as they left.

“What’s the most terrible thing on your world?” Millie asked.

“Ah… An elemental dragon?” Dara said.

“Our elemental dragons are called the IRS, and we don’t want to get their attention.”

“Oh—wait, you call your elemental dragons the IRS? What does that even mean?”

Millie refused to answer, just chuckling as she got in the car and waited for Dara to join her.

But before they got started, Millie’s phone beeped. She pulled it out and blinked. “Huh. Mike wants to talk to us. He doesn’t look happy.”

“How do you mean he—“ Dara blinked. “Why is there a flaming skull on the screen?”

“That’s Mike for ‘I’m not happy.’ Seems he wants us to meet him. So…”

“Those places, they’re not open right now, are they?”

“Nope.”

“And we can get the ladle and bricks later.”

“Yep.”

“We, ah, should probably go see Mike.” Dara stared at the image. Why is he angry at us? We didn’t do anything!

This time, they didn’t have to ring the doorbell. Mike was waiting for them, arms folded. He gestured Millie and Dara into his house without a word.

Oh, boy, he really isn’t happy, Millie thought. “So Mike, find something new?”

“So Millie, finished being a terrorist?” Mike asked. He glared at her. “I give you the information, fine, then you leave. Then someone blows up Hancock Park! And I know you were there, Millie, so don’t bullshit me on that.”

Millie opened her mouth, then looked over at the screens that took up the wall of his living room. There were various stills from the park… including one showing their car.

Okay, well, yes, that’s pretty good evidence, detective. “Yes, we were there, but we didn’t—”

“Didn’t what?” Mike cut Millie off. “Millie, you ask for weird stuff. I tell you about weird stuff, and then a magic fog appears, right before the place blows up. Don’t have to be a super genius to think there’s a connection. And because of that, right now every agency you care to name is running around. Now, it’s true I don’t leave much in the way of footprints, but Millie, the people you stirred up don’t need much in the way of footprints.”

“Right,” Millie said. “Look, Mike, we were there and something happened but it really wasn’t—“

“It was us,” Dara said.

Kid, what are you doing?

“You.” Mike stared at her. “Care to tell me why?”

“We were looking for something, and well, it turned out to be more active than I believed it would be.”

“What?”

“I…” Dara looked over at Millie, then back at Mike. “How much trouble could you get into if they find out you were associated with this?”

“Try, life-ending,” Mike said. He folded his arms. “I’m waiting to hear how a teenager and woman who collects strays may have ended up involved in a terrorist bombing.”

“It wasn’t a terrorist, it was me dealing with something,” Dara said.

“Pardon me, Mike,” Millie said. “I need to speak to my friend here.” She pulled Dara to the far end of the room. “Are you out of your mind?” she hissed. She glanced back at Mike and lowered her voice until Dara could barely hear her words. “This is supposed to be a secret!”

“And what if Mike gets hurt because of it? He helped us.”

“What if you end up in Area 51 getting vivisected?” Millie glanced back at Mike, smiled, then turned to Dara. “And if he knows, they can order him to talk!”

“If it gets to that point, shouldn’t he talk?” Dara shook her head. “I know you’re trying to protect me, Millie, and I thank you, but I don’t have the right to endanger others.” With that, she turned to Mike. “I have something to show you, Mike.”

“What’s that?”

Dara took a deep breath and held out her hand, palm up. “I’m a mage…”

A little ball of fire grew right above her palm, slowly transforming into a dancing figure, features indistinct in the air as it jumped from her right to her left hand, before it spun like a ballerina and jumped onto one of his shelves full of knickknacks, pausing and bowing to a statue of an orc from one of Mike’s games. A warchief or something, Millie remembered.

Then it turned and faded into nothing.

“I can do more, if you want?” Dara asked.

“Just don’t put your disguise on, not unless you use the bathroom,” Millie called.

Dara turned red and glared at her. “Yes. Thank you. I’ll remember that.” Then she took a deep breath. “So, what do you want to know?” she asked Mike.

He just stared at her. Then he walked to the desk by the computer, picked his cup up and sniffed it.

“You’re not drugged, Mike,” Millie said. “Kid’s telling the truth. She fell out of the sky right in front of my car.”

“A mage. Did you get hit by a truck back home?”

“What? No, we don’t have trucks back home.” Dara looked puzzled.

“So, Truck-kun doesn’t exist.” Mike folded his arms. “Okay, presuming I believe this, what happened at the park?”

“A golem,” Dara said. “A fragment of the crystal that brought me here fell into the tar pits and formed a heart and…” With that, she started explaining where she’d come from and what had happened. Millie leaned back. She’d heard this.

But it was nice to see the stunned expression on Mike’s face as he heard it.

Dara finished her explanation and looked at Mike. “And that’s how I came here.”

“Lovely. Anyone want a coke?” Mike asked. “I think I’ll go for a beer, but—“

“We drink beer at home,” Dara said.

“How much?” Millie asked.

Dara rolled her eyes. “Not enough to become intoxicated.”

“So you’ve never gotten shit-faced.” Millie stared at her.

Dara opened her mouth, closed it, and remembered the Red Joy. “Not more than once.”

“Well, better than most kids,” Mike said. He reached down to a small refrigerator by his computer and pulled out three cans. “But here. Have a beer. This calls for beer. Because I’m either hallucinating after a very long raid, or holy shit, magic is real.”

Dara opened the tab on the can with only a little difficulty. She raised the can to her lips and gingerly tasted the beer before she winced. Why does everything taste different here? The beer was bitterer than anything she’d tasted back home, with an oddly sweet aftertaste. Sugar. They put more sugar in this beer.

“So, you’re a wizard, Dara.”

“No, I mean, I’m a student, but I’m not an a skilled wizard. I’m certainly not an archmage.” Dara sighed and put the bitter drink to the side. “I’m not—I don’t know how to get back home. That’s what we were looking for, things that might help me find the thief or a way to get back home. I didn’t expect a golem.”

“But that heart was old.” Mike frowned. “Really old. What if the thief is dead? I mean, if he dropped in here in say five hundred years ago, well, he could have lived and died of old age and nobody would have noticed.”

“Unless he used magic,” Millie pointed out.

Mike shook his head. “Would he? Old stories are full of miracles and magic, and things that people didn’t understand. If I read about someone performing magic, I’d just chalk it up to, yeah, people back then weren’t big on the scientific method.”

“If he’s…” Dara bit her lip. “Then I don’t know what to do. He would be the one who would know how to repeat the ritual that sent me here.” If he’s dead… If you’re lost…

“Okay, Kid, no reason to panic,” Millie said. She glanced at Mike. “You seem to be accepting this pretty easily.”

“I’m a sci-fi and fantasy geek. Also—“ he gestured at Dara. “That stunt? I know a little about tricks and special effects, and I know how poor you are Millie. No way did you guys whip that up with anything other than magic.”

“Thanks for the comment.” Millie folded her arms. “I’ll have you know we’re making money now.”

“Good.” Mike muttered. “But I got some more news for you. The weird stuff you wanted to know about? It seems to be getting a little worse.”

“What do you mean?” Dara asked.

Mike turned back to his computer and touched some buttons. “Okay, now this is a time delay of reports in the last week.” He pointed to a curve that suddenly went up. “This is the number of incidents I couldn’t confirm, either as just crazy people or attention seekers. Your devil dog’s back at UCI, and believe it or not, someone talked about a killer with a chainsaw chasing them. Mostly in California, but there’s a few in other parts of the world.” Mike shrugged. “Now the thing is, something like Hancock Park going boom? That puts people on edge, so we’d be getting more reports no matter what.”

“I don’t understand,” Dara said. “More reports?”

“You don’t have the Internet back home,” Millie said. “Say there’s a bus crash and a bunch of kids get hurt. But you get bus crashes all the time. Only now, everyone is paying attention and every news outlet is talking about them. So it seems like there were more crashes, when in reality? You’re just paying more attention.”

“Ah.” Dara nodded. She didn’t quite understand, but then Millie and Mike knew more about the Internet than she did.

“But there’s still more weird stuff. There were some drug dealers out in the Inland Empire that got attacked by… ghosts and fog. I mean, normally I’d say they were high, but right now, maybe it’s one of your things.”

“Yeah, not exactly,” Millie said. “That was sort of us.”

“You.”

“Yap.”

Mike turned to stare at Dara. She shrugged and couldn’t quite meet his eyes.

“Millie?”

“Yeah, Mike?”

“That’s not exactly keeping a low profile.”

“It was a favor! For a friend!”

Dara shook her head and stared at the graph. That was normal at least. Back home, she used graphs all the time. But…

Why now? They’d talked about it earlier, but Dara wasn’t certain if it was just the portal sending her through in this time. That seemed…

Wait. If the gem shards came through at different times… “Mike, do you have some paper I can use?”

“Sure, over there. Use the ballpoint.”

Dara nodded and pulled out the sheet. Right, if it was just the energy, why wouldn’t it have been enough to cause this in the beginning? She hadn’t thought that at first, but… But it can’t just have been the portal. Not if those other incidents are due to this. Because that kind of energy flow would be immediately obvious.

She drew more equations, wracking her brain to remember some of the lectures about the manasphere.

But there’s mana here. I can cast magic. And it didn’t change. If this had been due to the portal opening, it had closed behind Dara and so the world should start going back to the way it was before. No matter how much water you poured out, once you stopped, the water would sink into the earth or evaporate. So how… Why was this happening? It was—

The shards of the gem. I came through, what if the last parts of the gem came through? The gem was more like solidified magic than anything else, probably artificial. And Dara had shattered the gem, scattering the pieces all over this world.

I came through… what if… the last pieces of the gem came through? All of them, separated from the greater whole. Some workings used the principle of contiguity to bring things together, like repair rituals. But some creations just… wanted to come back together.

And if the gem is now complete, if all the fragments are here… Oh. Oh Dear.

“I think I know why things are getting strange,” Dara said.

“Do tell,” Mike said.

“The gem—the thing that brought me here was shattered. Millie knows this. But if the last fragments came through with me, there would be a… resonating effect. I think… and that would probably create more unusual events, not just around the fragments, but everywhere.”

“Ah, theoretically, how many unusual effects?” Millie asked.

“I, um…” Dara thought. “Lots? I mean, the fragment almost feels like solidified magic. So if they resonated and start influencing the local manasphere… Lots?” She looked up and tried to smile. “Maybe? The good news is that if I’m right, the resonating process is going to take time. That’s good news… right?”

Millie and Mike weren’t smiling.

“So… Not good news?”