Goose trailed me into the kitchen, continuing to meow and rub up against me as I found the cat food and the can opener.
Goose’s sudden friendliness astounded me. All it took was him being a little hungry, a little alone, for the cat to shower me with devotion. Then again, all it had taken was the promise of protection for me to shackle myself to Silas for the last five years. I was no better than the damned cat.
As Goose lapped up his seafood surprise, I collapsed on the leather couch and watched the slice of sunlight casting through the curtains move across the rug. I drifted in and out of a fitful sleep, only rising to wolf down two bowls of cereal and half a carton of chocolate milk.
By the time the sun had set over the Quarter, a plan had formed in my mind: I would go to Silas and offer myself up in exchange for Imogen’s freedom.
He might have had a use for Imogen, but the hunter inhim craved revenge even more. I knew what he’d do to me, but I could endure it if it meant Imogen would go free. If my plan backfired — if Silas decided he’d rather keep us both — I’d redecorate that filthy house with the blood and entrails of his hunters.
A grim stillness settled over me as I stood in the shower and watched the rusty brown–tinted water circle the drain as it ran off my body.
I hadn’t realized how much blood I’d had on me when I’d gone to plead for Adelaide’s help. It coated my hair. It was under my nails. It was caked in the divot between my collarbones and had pooled in the creases of skin where my arms met my torso.
Once I’d thoroughly cleansed myself, I French-braided my hair and pulled on my spare set of leathers. If I survived the night, I’d find a leatherworker to patch the holes in my jacket. Leather moto jackets were too expensive to toss out any time they earned a few new battle scars.
I felt a strange sense of calm as I strapped on my weapons. The short swords at my back were a comfort, as was the weight of the daggers sheathed at my thighs.
As I left the apartment, I slid a note under the door of Imogen’s across-the-hall neighbor, asking them to feed Goose and change his litter while Imogen was on “vacation.” I didn’t actually know if her neighbor was the type to feed another person’s cat, but it was the best I could do for Goose if everything went to hell.
I didn’t glance twice at the hungry vampires slumped against the neon-drenched buildings as I made my way to Silas’s. They didn’t want my kind of trouble. I was a huntress with nothing to lose.
My heartbeats grew more erratic as I approached theedge of the Quarter. Gaudy opulence faded into neglect — sagging porches, peeling paint, foundations crumbling with age. I passed a Laundromat and a familiar pay-day loans place but walked right past the two-story brick house where Silas and his hunters lived.
I stopped at the corner and doubled back, shaking myself to focus. I couldn’t afford to walk into that house distracted by my own panic.
But as I reached the pay-day loans place again, I realized I hadn’t passed the house. I turned around, looking up and down the block, but Silas’s house wasn’t there.
Gritting my teeth, I strode toward the fence that divided Silas’s yard from the neighboring property. I blinked and whipped around as a giant Rottweiler lunged at the peeling wooden fence behind me, nearly knocking it over. I staggered toward the curb as the dog growled and snarled, the spikes of a choke collar digging into its neck.
The dog belonged to the owners of a ramshackle little house with a caved-in porch and a rusted brown sedan parked out front. I’d never seen this house before — never seen this dog, though I’d heard it barking plenty of times. It was two blocks over from Silas’s place. But how had I gotten here?
Trying to keep my unease at bay, I fisted my hands and stalked up the street, rounding the corner to get to Silas’s. But instead of taking the second right as I’d planned, I ended up three blocks down in front of a seedy gas station, where two scantily dressed mortal women watched me with suspicion.
Growling to myself, I turned on my heel and stomped back the way I’d come. But just as I reached the familiar street, I started to wonder if itwasthe right street.
Silas’s house had been on a street named for a flower. Marigold? Magnolia? I couldn’t remember anymore.
Unease coiled in my chest, but then I felt the cool kiss of magic along the back of my neck. “Lost?” came a taunting male voice from behind me.
Thatvoice. Something about it made my whole spine lock up and sent a hot shiver of need straight to my core. It was also irritating as hell.
Pleading to the gods for patience, I whirled around and came face to face with Kaden. He stood with his wings fanned out behind him, arms folded across his chest.
“What areyoudoing here?” I snarled, closing the distance between us so I didn’t have to shout. Silas’s hunters would likely be setting out within the hour, and I didn’t want to lose the element of surprise.
“I followed you,” he said, shrugging as if this was totally normal.
“Youfollowedme?” I hissed, fury and panic rising up inside of me. How had I notnoticedthat Kaden was following me? The thought was extremely unsettling.
But he simply cocked his head to one side, making those choppy black locks fall across his brow. “You already assumed I was stalking you, so what’s the difference?”
“What do you want?” I asked wearily. I wassonot in the mood. I’d been ready to hand myself over to Silas to save Imogen. I didn’t need Kaden working me up into a murderous snit, or I might just burn the place to the ground.
“I have to admit, I was curious to see what you’d do.”
“What I’ddo?”
Kaden nodded. “Your friend’s apartment reeked of hunter — a hunter that wasn’t you. I figured you wouldn’tbe stupid enough to invite one of your . . .friendsover to her place. Not when Silas is known for collecting witches.”
