wanted criminals in Budapest. Especially since money was awarded for our capture.
“Where are we going?” I demanded again, gathering in close to his tall form and using him to shield me from the people stuffing the lane, melting us into the sea of activity.
Smells, music, and sexy costumes with feathers and colors brushed around me, women whispering enchanting words in my ear. Glamour tickled my skin, taunting me to try their goods. Half-naked women and men with wings, animal ears, and glowing eyes dangled from the swings and hoops attached to the overhangs. A man blew fire from his mouth into the air as a stunning woman twisted the fire into forms that seemed to come to life. Her features were split down the middle, dark hair on one side, blonde on the other, her eyes two different colors, which was even a rarity in the fae world. The circus environment was set to tempt and seduce people to open their wallets in their establishment.
Wearing similar clothes to many others, dark and hooded, we slipped through the spectacle. I constantly gazed behind us, while Warwick kept his eyes ahead. His sudden need to leave, not even waiting for the middle of the night, had me asking over and over where we were going.
“They’ll expect us to move at night, have more eyes out looking,” he had said when we were moving into the street. “Twilight tricks the eyes, the world between day and night, shadows and light.”
With nothing but the clothes on our backs, which weren’t even ours, he took us through the backs of buildings, coming out on a side street and going directly to a motorcycle tucked into a side alley.
“Hop on.” He motioned to our newly acquired bike, suggesting what he might have been up to after he disappeared earlier. I peered up at him, his gaze not meeting mine, aggravation twitching his limbs.
A flutter of doubt wrinkled my forehead, but I shoved it back. I didn’t have much choice. Warwick and I were in this together for the time being. Both of us were wanted and on the run.
My list of friends was almost nonexistent in my life: Caden and maybe Hanna.
My willingness to trust people and let them in was something I always struggled with.
Warwick saved my life. Got me out of Halalhaz. Protected me. And yet, I still didn’t trust him. But going with him now was my only choice.
My hesitation drew his attention to me, his eyes finding mine.
I’m trusting you. My lids narrowed on him. His head dipped like he understood me perfectly.
His Adam’s apple bobbed, his jaw grinding together. Then he spun around, settling on the bike, and kick-started the engine to life.
Rolling my shoulders back, I swung my leg over the back, wrapping my arms around him as it lurched forward down the lane.
I clung to his back, the warmth and firmness claiming me and making my heart jump like it was on a trampoline.
Speeding away from the area, the indigo of evening gobbled up all the light, curtaining us in this private world where I actually felt safe and free as the wind blew my hair back, skating over my face. He kept to side streets, the buildings growing even more dilapidated and covered in graffiti the farther we went. We passed several huge factories, smoke chugging out of chimneys at the top. Both the fae and humans had factories in the neutral zone, the products needed to export and keep this city afloat were all made here. Maja’s kids worked in one of these.
Bang!
My thoughts vanished at the sound of gunfire, jerking my head as four men riding horses came galloping out of an alley, as if they had been hiding there in wait, their guns pointed at us.
“Shit!” Warwick hissed, racing faster and weaving the bike in a curved line.
A bullet whizzed by my head. The shot meant to kill. Glancing over my shoulder, I saw the figures race toward us, the horses keeping up with the bike better than I thought. The men’s hoots and hollers echoed over the roar of the motorcycle.
“Who are they?”
“The Hounds,” Warwick yelled back. “A gang of thieves who would kill their own mothers for money.”
They were dressed in black clothes and black cowboy hats with guns and knives hooked on their belts or aimed at us.
“Are they fae?”
“Doesn’t matter here. There are no sides. When you are struggling for food, what species you are doesn’t matter. Especially because so many