The next morning Alice found herself unable to concentrate on anything other than possible gods that might relate to the arrow. She felt trapped, like she needed to get outside.

“Coffee creamer is almost out.” Alice shut the refrigerator door and stood up, looking over at Shakra and Azura, who were perched on the desk eating muffins. “I’m going to run down to the little store on the corner.”

“Bring us more sugar cubes too.” Shakra grinned, popping another cube into her mouth, and Azura elbowed her and nearly made her spill her tea.

“You keep eating them, no wonder we’re running out. You’re going to make all your teeth fall out.”

“But they’re so delicious,” Shakra put another lump of sugar into her tea cup.

Alice smiled at the two of them, shaking her head. “Well, you two watch the front. It’s just Gabriel up there for now, and if another bunch of hyperactive fairies come in he’s going to need some back up.”

“We won’t let them steal his wallet this time.” Shakra sat down in the office chair. “Don’t worry.”

Alice passed Gabriel on the way out, stopping at the desk to ask him if he wanted anything from the store.

“I’m okay,” Gabriel said. “Hey, Altair still in bed? I could use some help lifting the boxes that just came in.”

“Yeah, the lazy bum. Grab one of the brooms and give the ceiling a few thumps. That’ll get him up.”

Gabriel laughed. “I’m totally doing that now you know. Hey, Maya went out to look at the bookstore across the street, make sure she’s not buying the entire place.”

The bell jangled as Alice exited the shop, making her way down the busy sidewalk. It wasn’t as crowded this early in the morning, but there were still quite a few early shoppers out, and Alice looked around as she made her way down the street, breath rising in a white cloud above her head. She zipped her sweater up and pulled the hood down over her eyes, feeling like people were staring at her.

Of course, no one was actually staring at her. She could identify the feeling she was having right now. It was guilt. The dream last night had felt real. Too real. And she’d enjoyed it too much. Plus, it was unnerving. Was it some kind of after affect of magic? And if it was made real by magic, did it make it cheating to have dreams about the masked man?

No, that was ridiculous. She couldn’t control her dreams.

It was good to be out of the shop and away from all the distractions that came with it. She wasn’t going to think about angry gods right now, just about how fresh the air was around her, or how good it felt to be outside and walking.

She rounded the corner, passing a white picket fence that lined the front of a herbal remedies store. There was an alley between that and a laundry mat, and there were high, muffled whimpers coming from the trash cans lining the walls. Alice paused, chewing on her lower lip. A lost puppy maybe? She turned towards the noise, remembering newspaper articles about abandoned babies and other horrifying things like that.

“Well,” she muttered,” my life can’t get any weirder.”

The noise continued, growing louder as she walked into the alley. There was nobody back there, only a fence at the end and more trash cans. She stopped and listened, and the noise stopped too.

“Hello?”

Scuffling noises from the direction of the big black dumpster made her step forward, heart in her throat. Was someone in trouble? Perhaps someone had been mugged and…

A blur from overhead, and Alice didn’t even have time to scream before something tackled her to the ground, knocking the breath from her lungs. Grit scraped her hands and arms as she fell, and she knocked her head painfully on the cement. Stars burst in front of her eyes, spots of light that blocked out her attacker’s face. There was a constant hissing sound somewhere close by, like air being let out of a flat tire.

The face looming over her swam into view, and Alice’s heart stuttered and nearly stopped in her chest. It was a woman, or…something like one. Her face was grotesque, rough with scales. Her eyes were covered by dark, tinted shades and her hair…her hair.

Oh my God. Alice blinked, trying to convince herself to stop staring and do something, but she felt like she might be paralyzed.

The woman’s hair was made of snakes. Thin green snakes with yellow diamond patterns down their backs. The snakes writhed around the woman’s face, mouths open, needle sharp fangs dripping with venom. They were admitting the hissing sounds she’d been hearing.

When the woman spoke her voice was a reptilian hiss, “Ready for your close up, love?” She reached up and seized the side of her glasses, and Alice knew something very bad was about to happen. She could only remember a little about the mythology behind women with snake hair, but she was pretty sure you weren’t supposed to look at their eyes.

She squeezed her eyes shut tightly, and the woman made a “tsk” sound. “Stop that. Open your eyes.”

Alice shook her head frantically, mind racing. She hadn’t seen any threads of magic when she had entered the alley way. But there was still a few strands of magic in the storage necklace she was wearing. But would she be able to unscrew the cap and get the magic out in time while her eyes were closed?

She was just reaching for the necklace when she felt the woman’s body shift on top of her. There was a dull thud and a shriek. A low voice shouted, “Owch! Get off!”

More high pitched shrieking and then there were footsteps that grew fainter as Alice listened. By then she had the magic out of the necklace and in both hands, and was weaving together a fast protection spell. It was sloppy, but it would work.

Shuffling noises neared her, and she threw up the threads in front of her.

“Woah!” A low voice cried. “It’s okay! I’m not attacking you! She’s gone…”

Alice opened one eye a crack. “She’s gone?”

A fuzzy face was looming over her, a blur of blonde hair. The face said, “Yeah, I think we made too much noise for her. Or something…”

She opened both eyes and stared at her rescuer. Her breath caught in her throat. The man leaning over her was very very good looking. But that wasn’t why she stared at him in shock. He was also very tall, with golden blond hair and intense dark eyes. His jaw line was firm and his lips were red and full for a man. Instantly she was transported back to the dream. The eyes behind the mask…

No, there’s no way.

The man’s brows shot up. “Are you okay? You look shocked. She didn’t look at you in the eyes, did you?”

Alice flinched as the man reached out and poked her in the arm. “Owch.”

“Sorry, but good news, she didn’t turn you to stone.”

Her mouth dropped open. “She could have done that?”

“Gorgons aren’t pleasant.” The man stood up and offered her a hand. After a second she took it, and he helped her to her feet, still explaining. “They’re also rare, it sort of bizarre there’s one hanging out in an alley waiting for you.”

“You have no idea,” Alice sighed. “Bizarre is kind of, well, normal for me.”

“I’m Adam,” the man said. Then he staggered back, looking startled. Alice stared at him in surprise, until she spotted a pair of bite marks on his neck. There was two of them, and a thin trickle of blood was running down one side of his neck.

“You’ve been bitten.” She seized his arm, attempting to steady him. “Here, hold onto me. I’m Alice, by the way. Let’s get you to my shop. We’ll look at those bites and see if I can’t get the venom out of your blood.” She tugged on his arm to get him started, feeling a bit alarmed at how pale he was. The neck was close to the heart, if the poison reached his heart…

“Should be okay,” Adam said. His voice was slightly shaky, and he staggered every few steps, leaning heavily on Alice’s shoulder. “Their venom doesn’t…there isn’t a lot in one snake.”

“But you’ve been bitten twice,” Alice voice came out muffled through her clenched teeth. She wished she’d hauled Altair out of bed that morning and insisted he come with her, then at least it wouldn’t be so hard to hold Adam up and get him back to the shop on time.

They got a few strange looks on the way there, but luckily the shop was pretty close, and Alice propped Adam up to lean on the bricks of the ledge by the window while she poked her head in the door and barked at Gabriel, “Need some help out here!”

The elf came at a run, quick to take Adam’s other arm and help Alice bring him into the shop. “Who’s this guy? What happened to him?”

“Bit by a Gorgon hair.” Alice was aware of exactly how ridiculous that sounded as soon as she said it, but Gabriel’s eyes widened. He’d clearly heard of a Gorgon before, even if she hadn’t.

Azura was there almost as soon as they brought him in, with Shakra right behind her. “What type of poison?”

“Gorgon,” Gabriel answered. “At least, the snake part of one.”

“Just plain snake venom then.” Azura took the man’s arm and guided him to the office chair. “Not a complicated spell.” She smiled at Alice. “The same spell that I used on you not too long ago.”

“At least I’m not on the end of this one this time,” Alice said. “I wouldn’t mind learning it.”

“Watch and learn,” Azura said. “What’s your name, sir?”

Adam blinked at her. His face had gone sheet white now, and he was blinking like he was sleepy. “I’m…not…”

“He’s Adam,” Alice said anxiously. “And hadn’t you better start the spell? He looks bad.”

“Once I drain the venom from his blood he’ll be back on his feet in no time.” Azura reached up and pulled down a handful of threads, several different shades of green. She let them drift over onto Alice’s palm so she could feel the type of magic she was using. Alice shut her eyes briefly, trying to memorize which ones to use. Apparently people were always being poisoned around her, so it would be good to learn this spell off by heart.

Azura took them back and quickly wove together a simple pattern, letting it sink into Adam’s skin just below his throat. Then she stood back and folded her arms over her breast, tapping her foot on the floor. “Now a few minutes to drain the blood of venom and he should be feeling  fine. Just prop him up in the chair.”

Alice pushed on his chest until he was sitting back in the chair. His eyes were still shut, but he was breathing more evenly now. That was a good sign.

A door slammed, and she jumped, mind instantly flying to the gorgon. She half expected the monstrous woman to come flying in the door any minute. But it was Altair in the doorway, staring at the blonde man in the office chair with wide blue eyes.

“Who is that?”

Alice, who realized her hand was still on Adam’s chest, snatched it back and smiled evenly at him. “That is Adam. He just rescued me from an angry gorgon.”

“A what?” Altair strode across the room in three steps and seized her shoulders. “A gorgon? Those are super dangerous. Are you okay? Are you bitten?”

“Not bitten and not turned to stone, thanks to him.” She pointed at Adam, who’s eyes were starting to flutter open. “I think he’s waking up.”

“Oh man,” Adam groaned, and one arm smacked the desk top as he struggled to push himself upright. “Wow, my body hurts.”

“You were poisoned and then we drained your blood, so it’s normal for you to be a bit…drained.” Azura smiled at him. “A bit of sleep and you’ll feel yourself again.”

Adam rubbed his neck. “Thanks.”

“No, I’m the one who needs to thank you,” Alice said firmly. “You saved me from being turned into a statue.”

“Why a gorgon?” Altair was frowning at Adam. He had his arms crossed over his chest and his feet planted on the floor like he was about to weather a heavy gale. “Where did it come from?”

“Why anything?” Alice grumbled. “Things want to attack me, I’m just a magnet for crazy people.”

“But gorgons are rare,” Altair argued. “It’s not like there are plenty of them running around out there. They have better things to do than hide in alleyways and pop out at people.”

“It was in a dumpster,” Adam said. “They like raw flesh, so it’s possible there was hamburger meat in there or something.”

“So it was looking for food, it wasn’t lying in wait for Alice.” Gabriel looked relieved.

Altair rolled his eyes. “Yup, could have been anything, stray cat, scavenging rats, rabid gorgon…”

“It’s possible that Adam is right,” Shakra said. “I ran into one before once. It’s not as rare as we think.”

Adam stood up from the chair, bracing himself on the desk for a second before he straightened up. “I should go. But…” he looked around the shop. “Are you going to be here for long? You’re Threads, right? The shop that moves around? I’ve heard of you guys before.”

“We’ll be here for awhile,” Alice said. “As long as that gorgon isn’t coming back.”

“I’ll visit again.” Adam turned for the door. “Just to make to make sure you’re still okay.”

They said goodbye, and Alice thanked him again twice before he left. They stood by the desk and watched him walk away down the sidewalk.

“Well, good thing he came along when he did.” Alice flopped down on the chair and leaned her elbows on the desk. “Otherwise I would be stone cold right now.”

Altair was still glaring out the door. “I don’t like him.”

“Not surprised.” Gabriel rolled his eyes. “You don’t like anyone