I pulled up my banking app and knew that the money would have to come from my hard-earned retirement account. I’d only just opened one a few years prior, and I didn’t have a lot of money in it, but there was enough to cover the hunter’s five thousand now and the final ten after he found Tessa, but there wouldn’t be much left.
Feeling slightly nauseous, I watched the number tick down, but as much as I hated seeing that money disappear, my sister’s life and honoring the promise to my mother were more important.
Once I finished wiring the remaining money to the Fire Wolf, I peeked toward where he was scrying in the corner. Like yesterday, his low humming and the sounds of something rattling filled the air.
I nibbled my lip, and my turquoise phone case flashed in the light when I pulled up my remaining unread text messages. Two other people had been trying to reach me—Nicole and Carlos.
I smacked a hand to my head and read my employee’s message first. Gods, I’d completely forgotten about the store.
I called Sajid in last night to help. We managed. When will you be back?
Thankfully, Nicole was a long-time employee who knew how to do everything. I’d been thinking about bumping her up to a manager position, and if she could handle the store till I tracked down Tessa, then she would definitely deserve the promotion.
I typed in a quick reply.
I won’t be back for a few days. Can you manage without me and Tess?
Thankfully, she replied immediately.
Yep, I got this. See you when you get back.
Gods, she was a lifesaver. Definitely need to bump her up to management. I typed in another reply.
You’re the best. I’ll pay you double for your hours. Thank you!
After I sent that off, she replied with a smiley face which lessened some of my anxiety over leaving her on her own. Satisfied that Practically Perfect would survive until I returned, I finally pulled up Carlos’s text.
Do you still live in Avondale? Was looking at an apartment to rent a few blocks away from where you used to live and it made me think of you.
My lips parted. Carlos was seriously moving back to Chicago, and he was looking for a place to live in my area of town. I frowned, wondering if there was any point in replying or not. Oh, what the hell.
Yep, still there.
I was about to shove my phone into my pocket when it buzzed again.
I’ll never forget that night in your bed following the Chris Stapleton concert. You blew my mind.
My jaw dropped to the floor. Whoa. Okay. He totally just went there. At least he was polite enough not to mention that his mind wasn’t all I’d blown. A memory of the passionate night we’d shared swirled through my thoughts. That particular night was nearly three years ago, about two months after we’d started dating. Gods, that felt like another lifetime.
I nibbled my lip again as I tried to figure out what to say, if anything. Because that night hadn’t been entirely about sex, even though the sex had been fantastic. Nope, that night we’d both used the “L” word with one another for the first time. In fact, he was the one and only guy I’d ever said I love you to.
My stomach did a strange little flip, but it wasn’t from excitement, more from trepidation. Because even though Carlos remembered that night, I didn’t know how I felt about taking a trip down memory lane. I stared at the text for another moment, debating if I would reply and finally decided against it.
Just as I was about to shove my phone into my purse, energy pulsed into my back. A looming presence made itself known behind me, and I realized the chanting and rattling from the corner had stopped.
Yep, the Fire Wolf stood only a foot away and was looking over my shoulder. So subtle.
I swirled around to face him. His eyes tracked my movements when I shoved my phone back into my purse, his gaze lingering on it.
“If you’re done wasting my time, we’ll get going.” The cold snarl flew from his lips, and he eyed my phone again. A deadly gleam entered his eye.
Um. Okay. What? All I’d done was check my phone. I hadn’t delayed us. I gave him a look, as though to say, you’re kidding, right?
But that irritated expression on his face only grew.
I scoffed. Whatever. I hadn’t wasted his time. To get my point across, I bowed deeply before straightening, then said sarcastically, “Of course, Your Highness. Very sorry that I didn’t jump to do your bidding the second you emerged from behind the curtain.” I made a dramatic swirl of my hands and did another bow.
When I straightened, his nostrils flared.
Good. One point to the nine-to-five worker.
With a sharp inhale, he eyed where I’d stored my phone again, that lethal glint still in his gaze, then he did a one-eighty and stalked to the brick wall.
“We leave now while I have a firm locate on your sister, and once we get there, you tell me what you feel and that’s it. You stand back while I rescue her. I don’t need to deal with rescuing you again too.”
I balked, my feet coming to a standstill at the absolute menace rolling off him. What had I done to deserve this sudden hostility?
Oh, that’s right. Nothing . . .
But it was almost as though he was angry about the text from Carlos. I knew the hunter had seen it, but why would it anger him? That made no sense. Or, maybe he was grumpy from not getting enough sleep and was taking it out on me. Asshole move on his part, but that would be a more likely explanation.
“Right. Got it,” I replied curtly. “I’ll tell you how close we are to Tessa and where she is, then will leave the rest to you, Lord Underbelly.”
He scowled in my direction but refused to meet my eyes when I joined him at the brick wall. I secured my damaged purse over my shoulder, wishing that I’d left the thing at home but knowing I couldn’t do anything about that now, and waited for the hunter to lead the way.
He eyed my bag. “Leave it here. We’ll get it later.”
“Really?”
He nodded brusquely, so I pulled it from my shoulder and dropped my purse on the floor in relief.
The Fire Wolf wound his fingers through mine and yanked me to his side.
I glowered at him as heat poured from him so intensely, that it was amazing he wasn’t sweating.
Demon blood . . . And what a fucking demon he suddenly was.
That was the last thought that ran through my mind before we jumped through the ward.
Chapter 16
The Fire Wolf didn’t tell me where we were going. Shocker. He remained silent in the alleyway outside of his man cave as he extracted his yellow crystal and did his portal-thingy. From there, he locked his hand around mine again and forcefully hauled me against him.
“What’s with the manhandling?”
Fire rolled in his eyes, but at my annoyed comment, his grip loosened. “Sorry.” But he didn’t let go, and a slightly confused expression drifted across his features before he locked his jaw and it disappeared behind his stoic mask. “I should keep contact with you in the portal.”