“Hello?” I called out. “Anyone here?”

For a moment there was no response, then, “What the hell do you want, lady?”

My gaze swept the still-closed doorway. I couldn’t see him through the small glass porthole but I had no doubt he could see me. My senses crawled with the awareness of his proximity. “My car broke down and for some stupid reason I can’t get phone reception. Have you got a cell I can borrow?”

There was no immediate answer, but, after a moment, the door opened and a big, tattooed man appeared. As I suspected, he was human, but he was also all muscle, and he moved like a fighter—light on his feet.

His gaze swept me, resting briefly on my exposed stomach before flicking back to my face. “There’s a phone booth down the road.”

“Yeah, I’ve already tried that, but it’s been vandalized.”

“So why come here?” Though his pose was casual, he had one hand slightly behind his back, and I had no doubt it held a gun. “How did you even know we were in here?”

It was just my luck to strike a guard who was neither a fool nor sidetracked by the flash of flesh. “How do you think I knew? I’m a werewolf. I smelled you.”

He raised his eyebrows. “Really?”

“Really,” I said, the irritation in my voice not in the least bit faked. “Look, if you don’t want to help, fine. Just tell me where another phone booth is, and I’ll be on my way.”

“There are some houses one street over, or Scienceworks is a block away to the right.”

“Thanks for nothing, bud,” I muttered and turned away. So much for doing things the easy way.

“Wait,” he said, just as I ducked under the door.

I turned, bending back under the door and, in the process, flashing a good bit of breast. It might not help, but it couldn’t hurt, either. “What?”

He reached into his pocket and withdrew a cell phone. “Use this,” he said, “but make it quick. I’m expecting a call.”

“You’re a doll.” I flashed him a big smile and sauntered over, throwing in plenty of saucy hip action. His gaze slipped down, and though the scent of desire touched the air, a sense of watchfulness remained. Not one to be easily distracted by a wanton woman, obviously.

He offered me the cell, and I took it without attempting to catch his hand. I stepped away, dialed home, and asked a nonexistent boyfriend to come rescue me. Then I hung up and flashed the guard another smile.

“Thanks for that.”

I held out the phone. As he reached for it, I dropped it, then wrapped my hand around his and yanked him forward. Hard. But even unbalanced, he reacted, his free hand moving so fast it was almost a blur as he raised the gun. I clenched my fist and punched him in the neck. The gunshot zinged past my earlobe, and warmth spurted down my neck. I cursed silently and grabbed his leg, yanking his feet out from underneath him. He landed with a thump on his butt, his face at eye level and perfectly positioned for a punch.

I hit him again, feeling skin mash and bone shatter under the force of the blow. As he went down, I grabbed the gun, leapt up onto the platform, and ran into the hall. Over my shoulder, I said, “Azriel, hide the body in one of the rooms.”

I didn’t wait to see if he would do as I asked. The other guard would have heard the shot, but he hadn’t come running. Which meant he was either taking care of Tao or lying low. If it was the former then I had to get there fast. And if it was the latter …

I didn’t want to think about the latter. Not when there was already blood running down the side of my neck.

The end of the hall came into sight. It was a T-intersection, and shadows haunted both the left and right corridors. I slowed and flared my nostrils, searching through the scents in the air in an attempt to pinpoint the guard’s location. I couldn’t smell him, but Tao was located to the right, which meant the guard probably would be as well.

If I was wrong, I’d get a bullet in the back.

I closed my eyes briefly, gathered my courage, then ducked low and stepped out, keeping as close to the walls and the thicker shadows as I could.

At the far end of the corridor, a door was open. Inside, two men were struggling. The one on the bottom of the pile—and taking one hell of a beating—was Tao.

I slid to a stop and pointed the weapon. I might not have fired a gun at a human target before, but I did have weapons training—though I’m sure Mom would have had a fit if she’d known just how extensive Riley’s fight training had been.

Mom. My gut clenched at the mere thought of her. I thrust the fear aside and said, “Hey!”

The guard whipped around and reached for his weapon. He was fast, I’ll give him that, and had the weapon in his hand between one heartbeat and another. But I didn’t give him a chance to fire. My shot took him in the shoulder and flung him back against the wall. As his gun dropped to the ground, Tao twisted around and kicked it to the other side of the room.

“About f**king time you got here,” he said, his hostile tone negated by the relief evident even through the swelling almost encasing his eyes. “I was beginning to think I’d actually have to free myself.”

He’d obviously recognized my scent rather than my face. I grinned. “Have I ever let you down before?”

Amusement teased the corners of his lips. “Never, my sweet.”

“So there was no need for impatience now, was there?” I squatted down beside the guard and pressed two fingers against his neck. His pulse was rapid but strong. He might be out right now, but I doubted it would last all that long. I removed his shirt, tore it into strips, then tied his hands and feet together. I used the remainder to stanch the shoulder wound. I didn’t want him bleeding to death before Rhoan got here.

“Um, I could use a little attention myself,” Tao commented.

I squatted beside him. His hands had been chained tightly behind his back, and his wrists were raw and bloody. The silver was eating into his skin.

“Azriel,” I called softly.

Tao jumped when the reaper appeared next to him. “Damn,” he muttered, “I wish you’d give some warning before you do that. You could send a less sturdy heart into failure.”

“Given your heart is sturdy, I don’t see the problem.” Azriel glanced at me. “You wish me to melt the chain?”

“Please.”

He released Valdis and the sword began to hiss and spit fire. Azriel frowned. “There is magic attached to that silver.”

“Ilianna said that Tao had been spelled to prevent him using his fire—could the chain be the source?”

“Possibly.” He passed the tip of Valdis over the links, not quite touching them. The hissing grew more intense. “The spell is twofold. One is containment, the other is notification.”

I paused. “You can tell this by just passing the sword over the links?”

“I can’t. But Valdis can.”

“Hang on,” Tao said, craning his neck around to see what Azriel was doing. “Who the hell is Valdis?”

“The sword,” Azriel and I answered together. I added, “So the Charna will be warned when you melt the links?”

“Something will.” His gaze met mine. “It may not necessarily be the witch.”

“I don’t care what comes after us,” Tao said. “Just get the f**king things off.”

“I wouldn’t advise—”

“Do it,” I cut in. “Silver is poison to wolves, and it’s already eating into his wrists.”

He stared at me for a moment, then said, “If I melt the cuffs, the Charna will know Tao is free. Which may endanger Stane’s life.”

“Stane?” Tao said. “Why the hell would he be in danger?”

“Long story.” I rubbed my eyes wearily. “Azriel’s right. We can’t risk it until Stane and the others—”

I cut the sentence off at the sound of footsteps and moved swiftly to the door. I flared my nostrils, sifting through the flavors in the air, recognizing Stane’s scent mixed with the spice of a stranger. Another human, which was good. He wouldn’t scent either us or the blood.

“Hank, Terry, where the hell are you two?”

The voice was coming from the loading bay end of the hallway. I crept forward.

“Fuck it,” the stranger said. “If you two are goofing off again, there’s going to be hell to pay.”

I lowered myself to the ground and carefully inched forward on my belly. The shadows were thicker near the floor, and while I doubted the guard would actually see me, I took every precaution and moved as quietly as I could. One wrong move could get Stane killed.

I risked a look around the corner. Stane was walking in front of the guard and didn’t appear restrained in any way, though his expression was tight and his shoulders tense. His nostrils flared as he breathed deep, then his gaze flicked down. I held up three fingers, keeping the movements small so as to not attract the attention of the man behind him, and nodded toward the left. He smiled grimly in acknowledgment.

I counted down my fingers. As the last one dropped, he threw himself sideways. I raised the weapon and fired, again aiming for the shoulder. The guard grunted and dropped. Stane ensured he was out with a quick fist to the face, then glanced back at me. “Tao?”

“Alive and well. Was there only one guard?”

Stane nodded as he flipped the man around and pulled his jacket halfway down his arms, effectively pinning them. Then he pulled the man’s belt free and strapped his legs together. “What about the witch and the men in charge?”

“None of them is here.”

“Obviously. But can we trace them?”

“Maybe.”

I turned and walked back to the cell. He followed, and his anger surged, tainting the air, when he saw Tao.

Tao grinned and said, “Hey, you should see the other guy.”

“I can. And I’m barely resisting the urge to kick him repeatedly when he’s down.”

I squeezed Stane’s shoulder and glanced at Azriel. “You want to release Tao now?”

“Do you think that wise when Stane is in the room? You and I can protect ourselves from whatever might be bound to the restraints, but Stane has little except his own strength.”

“Hey, I have Ilianna’s charm and I can fight—”

Azriel’s glance barely even flicked his way. “The charm protects you against being spelled, not magic of this sort.”

“But—”

I touched his arm lightly, stopping him. “He’s right. Ilianna’s in the parking lot across the road. Go keep her safe, just in case the Charna doesn’t send only magic against us.”

He grunted unhappily, but spun on his heel and headed out. I waited until the sound of his steps had faded away, then glanced at Tao. “You ready?”

“If you don’t do it soon, I’m not going to have any f**king wrists left.”

Azriel touched Valdis’s tip to the links. The hissing ramped up, becoming fever-pitched, then the links simply exploded. Shrapnel spun through the darkness, embedding itself into the walls but somehow avoiding skin.

“The notification spell was in fact a minor demon,” Azriel said. “It has left to warn the Charna. I can trace its path.”

I blinked. “There was a demon spelled to the cuffs?”

“Yes. It is a messenger, nothing more.”

“Glad no one told me,” Tao muttered, gingerly pulling his shirt away from his torn and bloody wrists. “I think I would have freaked out.”

“So once warned, won’t the Charna attack? That’s what we want, right?” I asked.

Azriel didn’t answer immediately, his expression intent and his head cocked to one side, as if he were listening to something.

Unease raced through me, and I glanced nervously over my shoulder. The corridor beyond remained shadowed and quiet, and I had no sense that there was anyone or anything in the warehouse but us.

And yet …

I shivered, and resisted the temptation to rub my arms. The silence suddenly seemed charged. Threatening.

Tao climbed carefully to his feet. Flame danced briefly across his fingertips, and his smile was cold when his gaze met mine. “I hope she does attack. I’ll enjoy watching her burn.”

“It is not the Charna that is coming,” Azriel said. Valdis, still clenched in his hand, was running with angry blue flames.

That cold, hard lump tightened in my gut, and for a moment I couldn’t even speak. “Then what is?” I managed eventually.

“Hounds,” he said softly. “Hellhounds.”

Chapter Fourteen

“HELLHOUNDS?” TAO SAID, HIS VOICE INCREDULOUS. “As in rabid black dogs straight from the bowels of hell?”

Azriel glanced at him. “Yes. I can feel the force of them.”

So could I. That electric sensation in the air was getting stronger, and the air around us was beginning to stir. It was almost as if the hounds were preceded by a wind of evil. “Can you stop them?

“Yes.” He glanced at me. “But it will mean letting the Charna go free. Even now, the messenger’s trail is fading.”

“Then why are you standing here?” Tao said, with all the determination of a man who had never heard Aunt Riley’s stories about the hounds and just what they were capable of. “The sooner you trace and stop the Charna, the sooner those hounds will be sent back to the hell they came from, right?”

“Right.” Azriel’s gaze didn’t move from mine. Waiting. Judging.

If he was looking for bravery, he wasn’t going to find it. I was terrified—so terrified that my legs were barely supporting me, my gut was churning, and I thought I might puke. But if the Charna was to be stopped, I couldn’t let fear sway my decisions.