these attacks by what you call gravelings. Once we find the person we’re tracking, we’ll take her back with us. I’m not here to cause trouble.”
“Maybe not, but you may cause it anyway.” She took a cloth from her pocket and cleaned her blade. “It might not seem so to you, but this world has a balance, just like yours. When people and things cross boundaries between worlds and realms, that balance is thrown off. Things that weren’t supposed to happen do, and what was supposed to happen doesn’t.”
She returned her sword to its invisible sheath on her back. The steel blade vanished as quickly as it had appeared. What the hell?
“The pain you felt during the flare means you aren’t supposed to be here,” she added. “Your magic and your body aren’t of this place. You won’t survive here long term. The more magic you have, the faster you’ll die.”
Damn Valas. I flexed my hands. She’d consigned me to a slow death here unless I brought back her triple-damned scroll. Though I’d never given her any reason to doubt me, she hadn’t trusted me to keep my word and bring back the scroll without the added impetus of locking the mirror-door behind us.
I’d done a lot for the Court over the years: hunted down rogue vamps and their makers, custom-built intricate wards to their specifications, solved cases, saved Valas from Miraç and Charles from the Tepes stone, and a dozen more tasks of varying levels of danger. My repayment was betrayal at every turn.
Never again, I vowed. If I made it back home, this was the last time Valas or anyone else from the Court would stab me in the back.
“If that’s the case, we should get back to tracking,” I said finally. I glanced down. “Hear that, Daisy-dog? The clock is ticking. Now’s the time to let me know why we’re here.”
Daisy walked around the bloody bodies of the wolves. She stood between Lucy and Ronan.
“What’s this?” Ronan demanded, glowering at her.
“Wolf charades,” Malcolm said with a sigh. “We’ve been playing it a lot lately. Alice?”
Daisy looked up at Lucy and Ronan, then stared at me.
I frowned. “Um, I think she wants us all to follow the trail. Together.”
The wolf showed me her teeth. I was getting better at deciphering her expressions. “I think that means I guessed right,” I said.
Ronan sheathed his sword with practiced ease. “I have no interest in joining your merry band. I have bounties to claim.”
Daisy growled. He stared down at her, his eyes taking on that strange silvery hue again. “I don’t know what you want from me, wolf, but you’ll have to find someone else for your quest. I’ve received five job notifications just since I’ve been here. Whatever you’re here to do, between the lot of you, I’m sure you’ll have it covered.”
The back door of Hawthorne’s opened. Charles emerged, a bottle of beer in his hand. He surveyed the carnage with a raised eyebrow. “Congratulations to all on your hard-won victory.”
“Coward,” Ronan said, but without rancor.
“As the proprietor of this establishment, I must be neutral. I can hardly become involved in disputes between werewolf packs and the constabulary.” Charles saluted us with his beer. “The drummer’s pack, I take it?”
Ronan nodded. “Lurking nearby, waiting for him to finish playing so they could hunt together. They must have known what he was doing, and they protected and abetted him.”
“Good riddance to the lot of them, then.” Charles set his beer on the step so he could light a cigarette. “I would be obliged if you would dispose of the bodies once you document the scene.” He took a drag from the cigarette, exhaled, and smiled at me. “Alice, you are quite a sight—resplendent in the blood of your enemies. Would you care to use the bathroom in my apartment to shower? Perhaps we would have time for a bite while your clothes are laundered.”
“Am I not also resplendent in the blood of my enemies?” Ronan asked, his tone dry.
Charles flashed his fangs. “Indeed you are, but your beauty cannot compare to this warrior queen. And for all your charm, I am quite sure your blood would not be half as sweet.”
Lucy rolled her eyes. Daisy chuffed in what might have been amusement.
This Charles lacked the smooth sophistication—not to mention the sartorial flair—of his counterpart, but there was something strangely charming about him. I could only imagine how the Charles back home would react to the news that another version of