I quickly shook off those thoughts because they only put me on edge. After all, the power Jakub had been after when he’d abducted my sister was actually the power I possessed, not Tess.

“Shall we go?” Carlos gestured to the street corner. “I can call us a ride.”

The Fire Wolf stepped into Carlos’s path before my ex could guide me away. “Who are you?”

My ex’s chin jutted up. “Carlos Lopez.”

Flames surged in the hunter’s eyes. “Tala’s former boyfriend?”

“That would be me. Who are you?”

The Fire Wolf took a step closer to my ex, malice rolling off him in waves. “The man who made Tala scream in pleasure this morning.”

I blanched just as Carlos blinked.

“Dude, TMI,” I hissed under my breath.

The Fire Wolf scowled. “It’s true,” he said to me. “I’ve thought about it several times since I left this morning.”

Carlos’s jaw worked, but he remained quiet.

The Fire Wolf rounded on Carlos again, a growl rumbling from his throat. “You’re her ex-boyfriend, are you not?”

Carlos’s lips thinned. “I don’t see how that’s any of your business.”

“I second that,” I added, although in all honesty, I was somewhat thankful that the hunter’s attention remained on Carlos since it meant that we were no longer talking about my orgasms.

“Is he not an ex?” the hunter demanded, the power off him climbing up another notch.

I rolled my eyes. “You know what? Carlos is right. This isn’t any of your business.”

A muscle ticked in his jaw. “How can you say that after we—”

“You know, I have a bone to pick with you.” I planted my hands on my hips and figured that now was as good a time as any to bring this up, since I had no intention of speaking to the hunter after today. If I wanted to know if my theory was correct, now was my only chance. Besides, it stopped the Fire Wolf from divulging what he’d been about to reveal of our . . . ahem . . . extracurricular activities this morning.

The hunter’s gaze narrowed. “What bone to pick?”

“Who’s Katarina Varga?”

“Why do you ask?” he asked haltingly.

“Because I’m curious to know if you’ve been lying to me the entire time I’ve known you.”

Carlos’s eyes widened. Yep, shit was about to get real.

The hunter cast Carlos an irritated glare before saying quietly to me, “What makes you think I was lying to you?”

“Because I’ve come to the conclusion that the only reason you offered to find Tessa was to help you with another job you’d taken. So tell me, were you hired to find Katarina Varga?”

That unreadable mask descended over his face.

“I’m right, aren’t I? You didn’t come to my apartment because you had a change of heart after I’d tried to hire you in the Shadow Zone. You came because you knew Katarina and Tessa were most likely abducted by the same person, and that was because I’d mentioned Star Tattoo Guy’s tatt to you just before you disappeared into your portal.”

His jaw clenched, but he still didn’t reply.

Gods, I am right. I crossed my arms, then shook my head at how easily I’d been duped. “Were you ever going to tell me that you’d been hired by Matija to find his daughter? And that you were using Tessa’s magical footprint as a way to find her?”

His expression faltered for the merest second. “How do you know all of that?”

“Because I’m smart. I heard things, and Tessa told me enough that I figured it out. So tell me, were you ever going to come clean and admit why you’d taken my job?”

“Why does this feel like a trick question?”

I scoffed. “So it’s really true. I’m right. You only took my job because Katarina’s trail had grown cold and you knew you could find her by scrying for Tessa.”

His mask slipped again as a trace of worry rolled across his features, before he bit out, “It was a smart business decision.”

I crossed my arms. “Is that the closest I’ll get to a confession?”

“Tala—” He growled, then raked a hand through his hair. His growl increased when he caught Carlos eyeing us. I had to admit, my ex was looking a bit too intrigued by this conversation.

The hunter glared at him again, then gave my ex his back, blocking us from Carlos’s view, before saying softly to me, “Why are you making it sound like I did something wrong?”

Because you did. You should have been honest with me. And you never should have alpha-compelled me to tell you my secret. Or seduced me. Or given me two earth-shattering orgasms, ’cause now every time I look at you—

I took a deep breath, willing myself to gain control of my emotions. Thankfully, my practical side kicked in. I remembered again that the hunter had probably made the decision to take my job based on calculated risk, pure and simple, because he’d needed to find Katarina. Following Tessa’s trail was the easiest and quickest way to do that. And he would make twice the profit since I’d offered to pay him too. Win-win. I couldn’t blame him for that, but it still hurt.

It hurt that he hadn’t been honest with me. It hurt that he’d seduced me so easily and pried my secret from my lips like child’s play. And all of that pain told me I was too emotionally invested in this—in him—and needed to take a huge step back. A clean break was the only way to untangle myself from this messed-up mating shit that had been born between us.

I tilted my chin up, looking him in the eye. “Just answer, will you? Was I right? Did you take my job because scrying for Katarina wasn’t working anymore? Did you think that you could find Katarina and Tessa, since Tessa’s trail was still fresh?”

He frowned, and I could see the wheels turning in his mind. A hint of demon fire rolled in his irises before he said, “Yes, that was the reason I took your job.”

“So the part about having a change of heart was a total lie?”

His frown increased before he replied hesitantly, “It might have been.”

“And when that blue-haired fairy said they got a heads-up about you coming, was that from Matija?”

“No, but it was from somebody in Matija’s camp. I’d sent Matija a text to tell him where I thought his daughter was before we left, which means that he has a traitor in his mix. That’s how they knew I was coming and were able to ambush me, and it’s probably how his daughter got abducted in the first place. Matija’s aware and is working to correct that.”

I placed my hands on my hips. “And were you ever going to tell me any of this?”

This time, the dude studied me for a full ten seconds before he responded. “No. I didn’t see a reason to.”

I made myself not react, but inside, my heart cracked. Dammit, it cracked.

Too invested. I’m too invested in this.

“Thanks for answering honestly.” I wrapped my coat tighter around me and turned my back on him. It was time to make my getaway and be done with the Fire Wolf. Our business was officially over.

I took off at a brisk pace down the sidewalk, and Carlos hurriedly fell into step beside me.

In the next moment, the hunter was walking on my other side. “What do you think you’re doing?” he snarled over my head to my ex.

Carlos stiffened. “Escorting Tala to the Supernatural Forces. I’m here to help her.” Carlos’s hand drifted to my waist, as if he were intent on propelling me away from the menace of the Shadow Zone, but . . . sigh . . . that was a mistake.

Before I could blink, the hunter had Carlos pinned to a tree three yards away. I stopped dead in my tracks, my jaw dropping even though I knew this was normal mating behavior for an alpha whose chosen female hadn’t accepted him. The dude was simply acting on instinct and my earlier suspicion was turning out to be entirely accurate. The hunter was territorial as fuck.

The scent of the Fire Wolf’s illusion spell drifted around me. Thank the gods. At least he was sane enough to hide what he was doing from the humans walking by on the sidewalk.