Tiny Glitches: A Magical Contemporary Romance by Rebecca Chastain Read Free Book Online Page B

you?”
    “Oooh, snap,” the older man beside him said. Ski Mask glared at the laughing men.
    “But still stronger than me,” I acknowledged. “And I’ve got a little problem that needs more muscle than I have.”
    It took surprisingly little to convince the men to follow me back to the trailer. I introduced Hudson as Tim and myself as April, something Hudson and I had agreed upon as a precaution.
    “We need your help lifting a little cargo from the trailer to the Suburban,” I said.
    Mark shot me a sharp glance.
    “Cargo?”
    I gestured to the trailer. The men jumped onto the running board on either side of the wheels and peered inside. The trailer tilted alarmingly. Kyoko bugled.
    “Holy shit! It’s an elephant!” was the general sentiment.
    “It needs to be an elephant in a Suburban,” I said once they’d gotten over their shock and Kyoko had snuffled all their hands with her trunk.
    “Dude, where did you get an elephant?” Plaid Shirt asked.
    “Trade secret,” I said. Hudson shrugged.
    “That’s not legal. I know that’s not legal,” the Samoan said.
    “It flirts with the law a little,” I conceded.
    The big guy grinned at me.
    Hudson backed the Suburban up to the trailer and I swung the trailer’s door wide, tossing some carrots Hudson had purchased to the front of the trailer to distract Kyoko while we prepped. Mark popped the Suburban’s hatch open. Since the hatch didn’t clear the top of the trailer, we had to leave a three-foot gap between the trailer and the SUV. More than enough room for Kyoko to escape through. I pulled the trailer door flush with the Suburban to barricade my side, and the men did a pretty good job blocking the other side.
    “What’s that smell?” the Samoan asked.
    I pointed to the pile.
    “This is a fine ride,” Mark said, running his fingers lightly over the Suburban’s glossy paint. He peered into the pristine carpeted back. Hudson had lowered the back set of seats, and even the exposed cracks were lint-free. “Are you sure you want to do this?”
    “Positive.”
    The men clustered around, rubbing chins and swinging their gazes from Kyoko to the Suburban and back.
    “Whatever you do, don’t let her escape,” I said. I had a horrifying vision of Kyoko galloping off into traffic. Not only would that botch my agreement with Jenny and give her ample reason to follow through on her threat, but it would also endanger Kyoko. Blackmail or no blackmail, no animals were getting hurt on my watch.
    I pulled a carrot from my pocket and stepped into the trailer. Kyoko finished the few I’d thrown in and eyed the open door. I skirted the offensive pile and looked up in time to see Kyoko trotting toward the opening. She barreled straight past my outspread arms and the offered carrot and tipped off the end of the trailer to the asphalt. It wasn’t graceful, and she had to catch herself with her trunk, but the moment she recovered, she swung toward the nearest man, Mark, and jabbed her trunk straight into his crotch. He squeaked and doubled over, falling back a step. The big Samoan beside him shimmied to the side.
    “Whoa there, Kyoko,” Hudson said, stepping into the gap. “You okay, man?” he asked Mark over his shoulder.
    The blue-haired man groaned through clenched teeth and nodded, clutching his crotch protectively.
    “Okay, you step around her and get the other side,” Hudson instructed the Samoan.
    “No way. You didn’t tell me it was a pervy elephant.”
    “She’s not pervy,” I said. “That was an accident.”
    “You afraid of a baby elephant?” Ski Mask taunted. He stepped to my side of the small opening. Of the four men, he was the one I wanted near me the least, but I held my ground. Kyoko prodded his calf, then ran her trunk up the inside of his leg. He jumped back just in time. “Shit, man. She is pervy!”
    I sidestepped him and offered Kyoko a carrot, but she was more intrigued by the newcomers. Plaid Shirt scuttled backward when she