When it was just me, the Fire Wolf, and Small One, who was still on the ground rocking himself, I glanced up at the hunter.
Fire burned in his eyes, his rage palpable. “Fucking druggies. They cause so many problems around here.”
Small One let out another whimper, and I placed a hand on his shoulder. “Hey. It’s okay. I’m not going to hurt you.”
The boy flinched.
“How old are you?” I asked.
He wiped at his nose and scurried back on the pavement, his limbs shaking.
I pulled my hands back, giving him space. “Sorry. I don’t mean to frighten you. I was just wondering how old you are.”
“Old enough.”
The Fire Wolf growled, which got a hasty side-eye from Small One. “You’re still a kid,” he said, his tone not as rough as it’d been earlier. “Like she said, how old are you?”
The boy looked between the two of us, his eyes wide. “Sixteen.” He wiped his nose again.
I cocked my head. “Care to try that again?”
Still breathing fast, Small One pushed to a stand and inched back. Considering I was taller than him, I highly doubted he was sixteen. And while it was obvious he’d been living on the streets for a while, he was also doe-eyed enough to let me know the streets hadn’t hardened him yet. He was still just a skinny kid with a dirty but clear complexion, who probably hadn’t even hit puberty yet.
The kid moved back again, but since his back was practically against the wall, he didn’t have anywhere to flee.
“Can I ask your name?” I asked hesitantly.
“Declan.”
“How old are you, Declan? I know you’re not sixteen.”
“I’m . . . thirteen.”
The Fire Wolf and I shared a look of disbelief. Thankfully, the fire had died from the hunter’s irises. Not that Declan would have noticed. He refused to look either of us in the eye.
“How old are you really?” I prodded.
Declan sniffed and wiped his nose again, his gaze on his feet. “Eleven.”
My heart squeezed. So young. “And where are your parents?”
“Not here.” He glanced up at me for the briefest second, still wary looking, but at least he wasn’t making a run for it. “I ran away.”
I tried to hide the crash of sadness that hit me. Not only young but also all alone. “Was home worse than being on the street?”
He looked down, not replying, but then after a minute he nodded.
“And those older guys you were with? How do you know them?”
He shrugged. “They let me sleep near them if I don’t cause too much trouble, but we’re not friends or anything. I have to earn my keep to stay with them. They don’t do it for nothing.”
I imagined that he meant he had to steal. Hopefully, that was all he had to do. Since he was small, he might have been good at pickpocketing. But as he was so young and so boyish, he would be a prime choice for sex trafficking. And since he wasn’t violent like Hoodie Guy, that could be where he’d eventually end up. Gods.
On top of that, given the way Declan had reacted to the fighting, he probably had a history of abuse. I’d seen it before when Tessa and I had been passed from house to house growing up. Some of those homes were in areas of Chicago filled with poverty and crime. Runaways were a dime a dozen, and all of them had been abused in one form or another.
I glanced over my shoulder to see the Fire Wolf with a cell phone pressed to his ear, talking quietly to someone. So he did have a phone. Prisha had been right. When the hunter finished speaking with whoever he’d called, he crossed his arms and watched me.
His eyes had gone back to their usual amber glow, and I gave silent thanks that he wasn’t scaring this kid off or beating him up. I had no idea what the Fire Wolf was capable of but it was a relief to see that he didn’t harm kids. That and he wasn’t rushing me as I spoke to Declan. As much as I wanted to find my sister, this kid needed help too.
“Do you have anywhere to go tonight?” I asked Declan.
After a moment, he shook his head.
“We can get you to the shelter.” The Fire Wolf pulled a wallet from his pocket and extracted a few twenty-dollar bills. He held the money toward the kid. “Hide this, so no one takes it from you. And when you get to the shelter, ask for Miranda. Tell her Kaillen sent you. She’ll look after you.”
Kaillen?
Declan’s hand darted out, snagging the money before he stuffed the bills into his sock, under the arch of his foot. “I don’t need the shelter.”
“You do,” the hunter replied. “Miranda will look after you. She’ll get you food and a bed with a roof over your head tonight. In the morning, she can get in touch with social services—”
“No way!”
The Fire Wolf held up his hand. “No social services if you don’t want it, but the shelter employs a few social workers that are experienced with helping kids in your situation. It doesn’t mean you’ll go back to your parents’ house. There are other options.”
He scoffed. “Like foster care. I know.”
The Fire Wolf sighed heavily. “I know, kid. I know it’s not easy. But at least go to the shelter tonight. I’ve already called a ride for you.”
That’s who he was talking to?
I tried to smother my surprise. So not only did the Fire Wolf not hurt kids, but he also helped them and knew enough about runaways to know where the resources were to assist them?
And Kaillen? I mean, WTF, is his real name Kaillen? Or was that another alias he went by?
A minute later, a sleek Cadillac pulled up to the alley’s entrance.
“That doesn’t look like a rideshare to me,” I commented.
“It’s not.”
I waited for the hunter to elaborate, but he didn’t.
Declan backed up and waved his hands. “No way. I’m not getting in that car.” He turned to run just as the driver of the sedan stepped out.
The Fire Wolf’s hand clamped onto Declan’s shoulder, and my protective instincts flared. “If he doesn’t want to get in the car, he doesn’t have to.” My hand strayed to my potion belt as I called upon the magic inside me, but the hunter ignored me.
“You’re the one who took this call?” the Fire Wolf said in surprise to the woman sauntering toward us from the sedan.
Red hair draped over the newcomer’s shoulders, and the pale skin of her face reflected like ice in the moonlight. She wore skin-tight pants and was sans jacket, as though the cold didn’t bother her.
She shrugged. “I had time. What’s his name?”
“Declan,” the hunter replied, his grip not lessening on the kid even though Declan was now actively fighting him.
“Would you let him go?” I snarled. “He doesn’t want to go with her!”
I advanced on the Fire Wolf, but before I could interfere, the woman bent down to look Declan in the eye. “Hi, I’m Miranda, and I’m not going to hurt you. Can you please stop fighting and remain calm?”
Declan immediately went slack in the Fire Wolf’s grip.
Rage fired through me when I registered the woman’s species. I rounded on the hunter. “You’re giving him to a fucking vamp to feed on? How dare—”
“I’m not going to feed on him.” The female vampire cast me a withering glance before turning back to Declan. “I’m a vegetarian.”
My jaw dropped as the young boy stayed wrapped in her compulsion, a dreamy look on his face.
“What’s your full name?” she asked him, her pupils constricting momentarily before dilating.