He cocked his head. “You have a connection?”
I nodded. “It’s because we’re witches and twins. You’ve probably heard that some witch twins share a bond.”
“Why didn’t you mention that earlier?”
I shrugged. “Um . . . because you didn’t ask?”
His portal stayed whirling behind him, ready for him to step through it. I expected him to ignore me and disappear, but then he asked, “How close do you have to be to feel her?”
“Within fifty miles.”
His eyebrows rose. “That’s quite a distance.”
“Exactly. I’ll know if we’re heading in the right direction. I can keep us on track. Please. Let me come.”
“You could get killed.”
Killed? Ah, so he thought I was a weakling. I bit my lip, wondering if showing him exactly how un-weak I was would help. Instead, I jutted my chin up. “I won’t get killed, and if I do, it’s on me. Not you.”
He continued assessing me, his gaze unwavering. “So you’ll tell me if we’re near Tessa, and you fully understand that you could be injured or killed if things get hot.”
“I do.”
“Fine. You can follow, but if you die, I still expect payment. Can you guarantee that?”
Well, that’s pretty blunt. But it was a good reminder that this was merely a job to the hunter, and business was business. I could respect that. “I can set it up with my bank to deliver the money regardless.”
“Good. ’Cause if you don’t, I’ll come back here, and I’ll take payment my way.”
In other words, he would rob us dry. “Fine. That’s fair.”
His jaw clenched, a muscle bulging in the corner. “Also, if your actions compromise this job, or if you alert anyone to where I am or what I’m doing, I will shove you through my portal to a deserted snowy mountaintop and I’m keeping the money.”
“Does your magistrate make you say those disclaimers too?”
He cocked his head at me.
“Ours does. But anyway, Mr. Guy-Who-Drives-A-Hard-Bargain. I can live with that too, especially since I know I won’t do any of those things, so you have a deal.”
He eyed me for a moment, that assessing stare so bold that I had a hard time not looking away. He finally said, “You don’t act like most women do around me.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I’m not exactly sugar-coating my words, yet you’re not offended or scared.”
“Am I supposed to be?”
His lips twitched but then his face schooled itself into a mask of smooth slate. He gave me another unblinking assessment before saying, “Let’s go.”
Without a backward glance, he stepped through his portal, and I jumped in after him.
Chapter 9
The portal dropped us onto damp pavement in another dark alleyway. Given the tall buildings on either side of us, and the underlying scent of gasoline and rotting garbage in the air, we were in a city. Clouds drifted in front of the waning crescent moon above, barely visible through the narrow strip of sky. Not much light penetrated this dark lane. Only a single streetlight near the mouth of the alleyway illuminated the area.
A single sedan drove by on the street. Other than that, it was quiet. But, it was nighttime here too, wherever here was, so I knew we hadn’t hopped to a new country.
I immediately felt inside me for the bond that Tessa and I shared. Still there. But not humming.
I swung toward the Fire Wolf. “Tessa’s not here.”
“I know.”
“Then where are we and why are we here?”
“We’re in Portland, Oregon.”
“And why are we in Oregon if this isn’t where Tessa is?”
He gave me a side-eye. “Are you always going to ask this many questions?”
I shrugged. “Does that mean you’d prefer I stay small and quiet and do as I’m told?”
“Would you if I said yes?”
“No.”
“And if I asked you to anyway?”
“Then I’d say you won’t be getting a tip at the end of this job.”
A smile tugged on his lips as he began walking deeper into the alleyway. When I made a move to follow, he stopped. “Wait here.”
I planted my hands on my hips. “Where are you going?”
“To do something, then I’ll be back.”
I narrowed my gaze. “You promise you’re not leaving me here? I’ll be royally pissed if this was some ploy to ditch me in some far-off region of the country just so you could work solo.”
“If I’d wanted to ditch you, I would have sent you to . . . how did you put it?” He cocked his head. “A frozen mountaintop or empty desert? Now, wait here.”
Before I could open my mouth, he disappeared deeper into the alleyway in a flurry of speed.
Damn wolf. It was completely unfair that I’d never be able to move like that, unless I agreed to be transitioned into a vamp, which definitely was never happening.
I wrapped my arms around myself as another car drove by on the street. A few shouts came from a block or two away, but this was nothing like the Shadow Zone, where supernaturals had been crawling everywhere, and each alleyway had either carried jurats or horny vamps looking for their next easy meal.
I drifted closer to the mouth of the alley, hoping to get a better idea of what section of town we were in.
When I reached it, I assessed the large warehouses and gravel-filled parking lots on the long empty street. In the distance, a bridge was visible. I didn’t know Portland well, but I guessed we were in the industrial section of town.
A squeal of tires came from down the street, then the sound of voices. Four guys rounded the corner only a block away. All of them wore hoodies or caps, except for a fifth person that followed them, maybe a woman since they were smaller, but I couldn’t tell from the distance.
I was about to duck back into the alleyway, when one of the men stopped and pointed at me, then whispered something to his friend. I’d been spotted.
Shit. The last thing I wanted was to draw attention to myself in a city I didn’t know while I was alone in an unknown area in the middle of the night.
I sank deeper into the alley, keeping my footsteps silent. Still no sign of the Fire Wolf.
The group of five shuffled to the mouth of the alley. I kept my back pressed against the wall, watching them from the darkness.
“She went in here,” one of them said.
“Do you know where this alley goes? She could be long gone.”
“I dunno, but it’s worth looking for her. She was carrying a purse, and it looked like she was wearing nice clothes. She probably has cash or a phone.”
The group swaggered into the alleyway, one of them whistling a tune as the smallest one scampered behind the four bigger guys. I reached out with my magic until it latched on to their auras. They were all humans.
“Come on out, pretty girl,” one of them called out in a sing-song tone. “We know you’re in here.”
Fuck my life. I rolled my eyes and knew there wasn’t any point hiding. They’d see me if they kept walking.
I stepped out, letting myself be visible in the dim light that dipped the narrow alley into shadows. “Are you looking for me?”
They all stopped short and spread out, the smallest one again staying behind the others. They’d effectively blocked the mouth of the alley.