Acknowledgments
To my mom, who suggested why didnt I give my old dream of writing a go. If I become a victim of artistic Darwinism, I blame her; Shannonbest friend, designated driver for SDCC, and undesignated sherpa for various other events; my patient editor, Anne Sowards; the infallible Kat Sherbo; Brian McKay (ninja of the dark craft of copywriting); Agent Jeff Thurman of the FBI for the usual weapons advice; the incomparable art and design team of Chris McGrath (an art GOD) and Ray Lundgren; Lucienne Diver, who still astounds me in the best possible way at every turn; great and lasting friends Michael and Sara; Linda and Richard, and to fellow author Lisa Shearin, who has shown me the Light and the Wayin the church of promotional bargainsand assisted in a time of need. Plus she adopts dogs. Whats not to love? And to Dakota, my original literate dog, my werewolf superherolife without you is a poor imitation at best.
About the Author
Robshort for Robyn (yes, he is really a she)Thurman lives in Indiana, land of rolling hills and cows, deer, and wild turkeys. Many, many turkeys. She is also the author of the Cal Leandros series: Nightlife, Moonshine, Madhouse , Deathwish, and Roadkill; a stand-alone novel, Chimera; and a story in the anthology Wolfsbane and Mistletoe. She is also the author of Trick of the Light, the first book in the Trickster Novels series.
Besides wild, ravenous turkeys, the velociraptors of Indiana, she has a dog (if you dont have a dog, how do you live?)one hundred pounds of Siberian husky. He looks like a wolf, has paws the size of a persons hand, ice blue eyes, teeth out of a Godzilla movie, and the ferocious habit of hiding under the kitchen table and peeing on himself when strangers come by. Fortunately, she has another dog that is a little more invested in keeping the food source alive. By the way, the dogs were adopted from shelters. They were fully grown, already house-trained, and grateful as hell. Think about it next time youre looking for a Rover or Fluffy.
For updates, teasers, deleted scenes, and various other extras, visit the author at www.robthurman.net and at her LiveJournal.
Chapter 1
Life was a trick.
That was what it boiled down to in the end; life was one big trick, one huge April Fools. You might think that could be a bad thing... depending on whether you were on the giving or receiving end. But that didnt matter as much as youd think it would. It was what it was. At the very end of it, we all ended up on both sides. The universe was fair that way, because everyone, without exception, had something to learn. We were all naughty in one way or another.
And tricks were lessons in disguise. They taught you right from wrong, safe from dangerous, bad seafood salad from good seafood salad. Have you ever had bad seafood salad? Thats the worst eighteen hours of your life and a lesson youll never forget. Have you ever put an old lady in the hospital after mugging her for her Social Security check? The lesson regarding that, you might not live long enough to remember or forget.
Life was a trick, a trick was a lesson, and I was a teacherthe majority of the time. I didnt teach in a school. The world was my school, and I had a zero-tolerance policy. I taught the teachable. And the others? Those who couldnt or wouldnt learn? Whats a woman to do in that situation?
Apply a Darwins rules attitude and let the pieces fall where they may.
My name is Trixa, and Im not a woman. Im female, most definitely that, but Im not precisely a woman. Trixa was one of the names Id had in my lifetime, one of manywe con artists had quite a few.This one though... This one was one of my favorites, because I was a trickster, born and bred of one of many trickster races. It was why I enjoyed the name so much. Id rubbed who I was in the face of my enemies for the past ten years and not once had they seen past a simple name. Demons, some were stupid and some were bright, but all were arrogant, which made them blind. The same went for angels. As they were flip sides to the same coin, it wasnt surprising. And humans... Please, dont even get me started on humans. They were the entire reason we tricksters existed. Or since we had predated them, I guess we chose them as a reason to exist. Those of the supernatural world never were quite as much fun to fool, to put in their place, and life could become fairly pointless without a purpose. Everyone needed a purpose.
Without a purpose, why get up in the morning? Why eat? Why not just meld with the earth that made you and wait to turn into fertilizer? Someone could grow some nice marigolds in you. I liked marigolds, but they werent much of a career choice.
Taking humans down a notch or ten, that was a purpose all right, and damn entertaining too. Not that I ever received a shiny red apple for educating the masses, but taking prideand more than occasional excessive gleein my work, that was enough. Although jewelry wouldve been nice too. I liked jewelry better than marigolds.
A variety of tricksters were loose in the worldpucks, also known as Pan, Robin Goodfellow, Hob, and so on. They were one race of identical brown-haired, green-eyed cocky immortals. All malein appearance anyway. A person would need several PhDs in biology to get a handle on their actual reproduction, but you didnt need a GED to get a handle on anything else regarding them, physically speaking. Sexually speaking... not speaking at all because it was rude to with your mouth full. They not only cowrote the Kama Sutra, but they posed for it as well. Thats all Im saying.
There was my partner at the bar, Leo, better known as Loki, who was a god first and foremost, and only a trickster because he excelled at it and enjoyed it, but not because hed been born one. His was a calling, not a birthright. There were also those among us who were just spirit... energy, gossamer molecules strung together like a kite string, no more solid than the wind, and even I had trouble understanding them. And kicking back to have a margarita with them to talk work, that was completely out of the question.
Then there was my kindshape-shifters. We were hundreds, thousands of legendsCoyote, Kitsune, Kokopelli, Nasreddin, Raven, Maui, Velestoo many to name. Most people had long forgotten those names, but we were still only a Wiki away. We werent immortal, but we didnt have to worry about watching our cholesterol either. Id been around to see the sky darken half a world away when Pompeii had died. My brother and I had watched it and for a moment we were put in our place. We had held hands and felt an unfamiliar feeling of mortality sharp and cold cut through us as the sky turned from blue to black. We could trick all we wanted, but nature itself would always have the last laugh.
