The entire squad studied me, which wasn’t surprising considering that I still sat on the Fire Wolf’s lap.

“We need to secure the area,” the commander said brusquely.

“The area’s secure to the best of my knowledge, Commander Klebus,” Carlos said, his spine straightening.

“You’re sure?”

He nodded. “I am, ma’am.”

“Very well. Thank you, Private.” Her eyes narrowed as her gaze landed on the Fire Wolf. “Mr. King. Twice in one day. That’s a first.”

He grunted but didn’t say anything further.

“If the area’s secure, we’ll need to start collecting evidence. Patterson and Wokawitz, check the back alley. Lopez, grab your supplies from the chest and check for magical signatures. Cheng and Merrick . . .”

She continued giving commands, but I tuned her out as a buzzing sensation filled my skull. “This really isn’t a dream, is it?” I muttered more to myself than anything.

The Fire Wolf’s arms tightened, and I suddenly became aware that he still had an arm snagged around my waist. Even though I’d released him to hug my sister, he hadn’t let go, and it struck me that not once, in all the time that I’d been hovering between life and death, had he let go.

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Chapter 6

I stood in my bedroom, as SF members combed through my apartment. Cloaking and illusion spells shimmered everywhere, hiding all of this from my human neighbors. The magic that surrounded the area was enough to make my head spin.

My arms stayed wrapped around myself, disbelief now settling upon me like a heavy, soaking rain. I’d nearly died, and that realization was only now fully hitting me.

Commander Klebus and the Fire Wolf were in the room too. The hunter’s heavy energy strummed toward me as the commander grilled him about what he’d seen.

The other SF members worked around the building, collecting evidence, studying magical footprints, and assessing for remnant energy. It all felt like a dream, a horrible twisted dream that I couldn’t wake from.

Tessa’s tinkling laugh drifted to me from the living room, startling me in its sharpness. A male laugh followed. Of course, she’d charmed one of the SF members. I was pretty sure he was going to ask her on a date just as soon as his shift finished.

I felt the Fire Wolf’s eyes land on me again. I couldn’t stop myself from returning a glance in his direction. Nor could I stop my attention from fluttering down his body, taking in his broad shoulders, firm waist, and muscled thighs.

He stood tall and unyielding. Defined muscles strained against his shirt, his dark hair was a tousled mess, and his amber-hued eyes swirled with barely controlled violence. His chiseled features clenched, a muscle continually ticking in the corner of his jaw. An aura of menace clouded around him, and I had a feeling that he was barely holding himself in check. He was angry. I’d known that from the moment my head began to clear as the high from his potent blood dissipated. Not angry with me, but angry at what had happened to me.

The hunter had positioned himself near my bedroom wall, like a giant predator ready to pounce. His gaze left me to follow a new SF member who hurried into the room to join those studying the sorcerers’ bodies.

The Fire Wolf had been like that for the past hour, scrutinizing everyone who entered and exited my room even though his conversation with the commander was ongoing.

My heart rate sped up, and his gaze cut to mine again. The dude had probably heard the sudden uptick.

Tapping a finger on my forearm, I wondered how much longer this was going to take. Now that the effects of the hunter’s blood were wearing off, and the adrenaline of my potential abduction had faded away, fatigue was rolling in. And damn if I wasn’t bone-weary.

Commander Klebus frowned as she crouched beside the two dead men in my bedroom, her brown skin shining like gold. “This is the one thing I can’t make sense of. How did they die?”

For a moment, I thought she was asking herself the question, but then realized she was looking at me. Despite my exhaustion, that question snapped me upright. “Cause of death?”

“Yes.” The commander’s lips pursed. “I don’t see any obvious trauma.”

I did my best to maintain a cool expression as I frantically searched for a way to explain their sudden demise. It needed to be a convincing one, because the two men who lay sprawled across my bedroom floor had such grotesque expressions on their faces, it was as if they’d seen the devil himself right before they’d passed.

But they hadn’t seen Lucifer. Only me.

I swallowed the unease that crawled up my throat. I’d literally just spent twenty thousand dollars to keep my forbidden power a secret, and even though that money had been returned to me, that wasn’t the point. And now I had this new power erupting inside me that I neither understood nor knew how to wield. The only thing I knew was that it was good at killing people who were trying to kill me.

But I didn’t really want that info spread around either . . . Damn, this whole secret-keeping business was becoming quite a headache.

I shifted my weight to my other foot. “Um, they—”

“I killed them,” the Fire Wolf cut in.

My eyes widened, but his expression gave away nothing.

The commander straightened, and placed her arms akimbo. “How?”

“A death curse.”

“But there’s no trauma.”

He shrugged. “Not all curses have outward trauma.”

Her eyes narrowed, but he was right. Most death curses left a crater in a person’s chest—most, but not all. Some were like a poison, killing you instantly without any sign of infection.

The vamp commander’s nostrils flared. “You know you can’t go around killing supernaturals as you please. You aren’t above the law.”

“As I’m aware,” the hunter drawled, “but last I heard, it was within my rights to kill any supernatural that attacked my mate with intent to maim or harm.”

He did not just say that . . .

The commander’s lips parted. I’d never seen the vampire looked so stunned. Given the expression on her face, it looked as if she’d just been told she won the Powerball.

“I—” She cleared her throat. “I didn’t realize you’d been mated.”

“I am now.” His expression didn’t waver.

I didn’t know if he’d finally recognized what was happening to him or if he was grabbing at the one law that would allow him to kill on my behalf. I wouldn’t put it past the shady fucker. Thanks to some law written in the 1800s, which allowed mated male werewolves to defend their mate even if that led to the death of another, many male wolves had avoided prison time. If not for that law, pretty sure most of them would be in there now.

But by claiming me as his mate to help me avoid any fallout? A tiny thread of gratitude wove through me. Once again, he was saving my ass.

“Very well,” the commander said after she’d smoothed her shocked expression. “But we still have one very important question left to answer.”

I stood up straighter. “What’s that?”

She turned her full attention on me, her eyes piercing. “Why did they try to abduct you? I thought it was Tessa they wanted.”

I cleared my throat. So that wee, tiny detail wasn’t going to go unnoticed after all. “Keep in mind that Tessa and I are twins. They probably thought I was my sister.”

The commander made a noncommittal noise. “That does make sense.” She studied me a moment longer, as though dissecting me. I had a feeling she knew I was hiding something, but she hadn’t figured it out yet. She signaled a few SF members over. “Please take the bodies to the processing lab.”