“Declan Matthew Roundhouse.”
So he had told us his real name. That aching sadness coursed through me again, and I was about to interfere once more, but one look from the Fire Wolf had me stopping in my tracks.
“Declan, I’m going to take you to a home for kids like you. I’d like you to remain as calm as you can because nobody is going to hurt you. We’re going to help you find a safe place to live. Okay?”
Declan nodded dopily, and I glanced between the Fire Wolf and Miranda again. It was obvious they’d done this before.
What the actual fuck is going on here?
Miranda murmured a few more encouraging words, and then held out her hand for Declan. He took it readily, his shoulders relaxed as his fingers curled around hers.
She led him toward the car, and I advanced, but the Fire Wolf fastened a heavy hand on my shoulder. “He’s safe. Stop.”
Scowling, I watched as Miranda led Declan to the car, my heart hammering a hundred times a minute. After Declan was shown to the backseat and they’d pulled away, I spun toward the Fire Wolf.
“What the hell was that? How do you know he’s safe?”
The Fire Wolf crossed his arms again, his face utterly blank. “That’s Miranda. She helps runaways.”
“But she’s a vamp.”
“You’re very observant.”
I gave him a scathing glare. “Don’t play cute with me. What just happened and how do I know I didn’t just hand that kid over to be her next meal?”
“What happened is that you just got a taste of what typically goes on in this part of town. There are a lot of drug addicts and homeless in this area. Declan is just one of many. And that little scuffle I got you out of? That happens all of the time around here. I just didn’t think it would happen so soon after I’d told you to stay put in the back of a dark alleyway.” He said the last bit with a hint of irritation, as if all of this were my fault.
My nostrils flared. “Okay, first off, I went out to look at the street only once. I didn’t mean to attract anyone’s attention. And secondly, you still haven’t answered my question. What was that?”
His face turned unreadable. “That was me getting that kid help.”
“You’re serious that he’s safe?”
“He is. You have my word.”
For some asinine reason, I believed him, but I still frowned. “I don’t understand. You’re the scourge of the Shadow Zone, yet you just helped a runaway kid.”
“You don’t need to understand. Besides, we should get moving. I didn’t get a chance to finish what I was doing since I had to stop to help you with that little run-in.”
My brows furrowed. “I didn’t need your help.”
His gaze grew hooded, and he was quiet for a moment before replying, “As I’m beginning to see.”
I sighed. “Can you just tell me what’s going to happen to that kid?”
A rumble came from his chest before he growled, “I have an arrangement with Miranda. When I find kids like Declan around here, I contact her so that she can have them picked up. She works with a non-profit organization that helps runaways.”
“But she’s a vampire, and he’s a human.”
“There are more human runaway kids than there are supernatural. She finds the work fulfilling.”
A brief feeling of curiosity filled me along with the squeeze of something else that constricted my chest. Perhaps Miranda and the Fire Wolf’s arrangement went beyond casual business. “So she works with other humans in the human world?”
“She does.”
“Is she the only vamp in her organization?”
He inclined his head again.
I frowned. I’d never heard of such a thing. Most vamps were notoriously selfish and fixated on sex, and they usually lived in the supernatural community in nests with other vamps, but I’d met a few who were different. Perhaps Miranda was one of them.
And the Fire Wolf did have a point about his arrangement with Miranda. Human children needed more help than our kind did. The supernatural community always rounded up any supe kids that had runaway. Childhood was difficult enough, but add to that the budding powers that usually emerged around puberty for supernatural species, and you had a very volatile situation in which our kind could be easily outed. All it would take was one wayward pre-teen wolf shifter to go all furry on his first full moon to have the entire human population up in arms and ready to hunt us down.
Still . . . why was the Fire Wolf helping runaway human kids in Portland, Oregon?
He growled. “You’re not going to let this go until I tell you, are you?”
I shook my head.
He muttered under his breath, something about a damn stubborn woman, before sighing heavily. “I have a base set up here in this alleyway, so I come back here a lot, which means that I’ve gotten to know the locals that live in the area, and I’m familiar with what happens around here. You got a taste of the normal activities tonight. So, a few years ago, I decided enough was enough. One thing led to another, and Miranda and I started working together. I find the kids. She takes them off the street. They get the opportunity to have a better life. There. Are you happy?”
My jaw dropped. The Fire Wolf—the menace of society—rescued homeless kids in his spare time.
“So Miranda really doesn’t feed from them?”
He scowled. “No. I’d stake her if she did that, but she never would. She wasn’t lying. She’s a vegetarian who only drinks animal blood.”
I nibbled my lower lip. I’d heard about some vamps denying their true nature and only drinking from animals. It took an incredible amount of self-control, as it went against everything regarding vampiric nature. But if what he said was true, if he wasn’t lying about what he and Miranda were really doing, it was quite . . . admirable.
Huh.
He glowered. “Pick your jaw up and follow me, or have you forgotten that your sister is still missing?”
His comment was like a giant slap, knocking the shock right out of me.
“This way.”
I stumbled after him as he led me deeper into the alley. It got darker and darker the farther we went, the little light from the streetlight vanishing behind us like a snuffed-out candle.
“Why are you letting me follow you now?” I asked, and then cursed when I tripped over a rock on the ground. “I thought you wanted to keep whatever you’re doing back here a secret.”
“You know enough now that it doesn’t really matter. And besides, we don’t need any more setbacks tonight. We’ve wasted enough time as it is.”
I kept my mouth shut but then his footsteps abruptly vanished. “Fire Wolf?” I was about to ask him where he’d gone when I collided with his warm back and his delicious cedar scent flooded my nose. “Oh, sorry.” I retreated a step.
“The door’s here. You can’t see it, so you’ll have to hold onto me.”
The alleyway was so black that I couldn’t see my hand in front of my face. “Where are you?”
“Here.” His warm hand slipped over mine, and a storm of nerves fired up my arm. His warmth, his scent, the feel of his palm’s hard callouses pressing against my skin—it was like sensory overload in the most intoxicating way.
He tugged me forward, and I kept my lips pressed tightly together. Since my brain had joined my vagina in a complete and utter lack of self-control, I figured it was best not to say anything and keep my lips sealed.
I blindly followed the Fire Wolf as he led me forward. Just as I lifted my foot to take another step, a thick coating of magic descended over me. The magic rubbed against my skin, hot and smooth, like taking a bath in melted butter. I nearly sighed from the tantalizing feel of it.