If I'd thought about the specific words for a minute, I probably could have avoided the whole mess, but I was a little distracted. I started gathering my will as soon as she spoke again, and when I heard her shout, I hissed, "Riflet-"

That was as far as I got before a giant with an invisible croquet mallet smacked me across the room, sending me careening into- and through the door of the unused bedroom.

The jacket protected me from the worst of the impact, but that still stung.

"Alright. You want to play? We can do that."

It wasn't a spell I'd used much. Hell, I wasn't much good at veils, never had been... at least, not until Molly Carpenter, illusion-weaver and mental-manipulator extraordinaire, had become my apprentice.

Let's just say that I'd gotten a lot better at being hidden. I began creeping quietly around the room under the cover of my veil, assisted by a minor sound-suppressing effect I'd added to the veil- and by the fact that almost two decades of detective work have made me pretty good at sneaking, when I want to.