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.

OceanofPDF.com

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.”

He pulled me flush against his chest until our bodies molded together, which was definitely not needed for a portal transfer, and something about his grip felt possessive.

“What’s gotten into you?”

For the briefest moment, his grip relaxed and he shook his head. His expression cleared and another flutter of confusion drifted across his face before he said, “I don’t know. I mean, nothing.”

Obviously, I thought sarcastically. Maybe the dude didn’t sleep at all. He certainly seemed out of sorts, and he may have been standoffish previously, but he’d never been an outright asshole.

“Do you understand what you need to do when we get there?” he asked. To the side of us, his portal widened until it was large enough for two.

“Yep. Tell you where Tessa is and leave the rest to you while my weak ass sits on the sidelines.”

A muscle in his jaw clenched. “You’re not weak.” For the briefest moment, he leaned down and inhaled, but then he jolted himself upright, his spine snapping into a rigid line.

Okay, the dude was seriously starting to worry me.

“Stay close when we emerge,” he added. “I’ll tell you where to go while I handle things.”

Some of the fight sputtered out of me as I began to wonder if his irritation and discombobulated actions were because of the upcoming rescue. Maybe it wasn’t Carlos’s text or sleep related at all. For all we knew, an army was guarding my sister and the Fire Wolf was only one supernatural.

“Are you sure it’s smart to do this alone?”

He eyed me briefly, crimson fire rolling through his eyes, before an additional golden flare ringed his irises. Huh, that’s new.

“I always work alone.” He dipped us into his portal, and it felt as though the ground dropped out from beneath me as the portal winds swirled around us, creating a medley of sensations.

I welcomed the distraction, since once again, the feel of the hunter’s body and the fragrance of his intoxicating scent were playing mind tricks on me more powerful than a Jedi warrior’s, and that was the last kind of reaction I needed considering his new labile behavior.

The transfer’s jarring sensations stopped when the portal deposited us into a bustling city. We landed smack in the middle of a busy sidewalk, and my eyes widened in alarm before the hunter said, “Relax. I have an illusion spell cast around us. Nobody can see or hear us.”

“Now you tell me.”

Wherever we were, it had to be in a northern state. The sun was setting, and it was cold. All of the humans hurrying by on the sidewalk wore heavy coats, and the smell of snow hinted in the air.