Chapter 20

 

As I pushed my way through the crowd that was filled with every type of low-life you could possibly think of, I couldn’t help notice the way the females were raking their eyes up and down Troy. It made me want to bare my teeth at all of them for looking. Of course I’d thought the same thing they were when I’d seen him too, but this was different.

I wasn’t sure whether it was the amount of pushy people in the crowd or not, but Troy found as many opportunities to touch me as possible. A hand on the back, the shoulder, his body brushing against mine, we needed to get out of here.

I was just about to give up and go start pounding the pavement in the bad district, yes there were other areas that were worse than this, when I thought I saw eyes that were close to glowing a lavender shade. Leaning closer to Troy, I pulled on his shirt sleeve so he’d bend down closer and would be able to hear me. “Does Wanda have the same eye problem the rest of you have?”

He smirked, “eye problem?” Nodding, he leaned down to speak beside my ear. “If you mean they change color, then yes.”

“What color?”

“Most witches are purple or some shade of.”

I started shoving my way through the people leading down the back hallway. With any luck I would be chasing the right witch, not that I wanted to think there were a lot of those wandering around on my side.

Not bothering to take the time to see if Troy was following, I barreled through two people glued to each other’s faces and bolted out the door. Stumbling through the it, I stopped and looked around the back alley. The first thing I noticed was the reek of an odor best described as slum, the second thing I noticed was the lights were out.

Why did half the people I chase down end up in dark places? Was I supposed to take that as an omen and find a new calling?

“Wanda?” I called out hoping it would be that easy. There was really only one way to go in this space, but getting to the end had about ten different spots someone could hide in and jump you. Wishing I’d brought a baton with me, I had to hope my reflexes were fast enough with the raptor to deflect any potential beatings coming my way.

Moving in almost slow motion I began working my way toward the first obstacle and possible jump spot. When I was a few feet from the dumpster I stopped. “Wanda, I came back to help.”

A sound from the other side of the metal bin had me tense and get ready for some action. My hand was a hair width away from the handle of my knife.

“You’re really her.” A voice said from behind it.

“The Huntress?” I backed away a few feet, not taking any chances.

“When I sent you over, I wasn’t even sure I had the right person.”

I remembered what happened to those that crossed without a device. “Lucky for me I was.”

She finally stepped around the corner of it, eyes still glowing the pale color. I had remembered right, she wasn’t a giant like most of the others I’d seen from the other side, but she wasn’t tiny either. Her long black hair almost down to her knees, she flicked it behind her and stepped out further.

“I can’t believe you came back. I thought I would have to hide here forever.” A look I knew all too well was still on her face, the way she held herself she was ready to run again if I didn’t say the right thing.

“I brought back help.”

Her eyes dimmed and began darting around the looking into the darkness. “Who did you bring?”

There was no mistaking the fear in her voice.

“Me.” Troy’s voice came out of the darkness behind me. With a few steps that echoed on the pavement he was standing beside me. He looked down at me for a second. “Don’t do that again.”

I shrugged. It wasn’t my fault he couldn’t keep up.

“Sire.” Wanda dropped down to one knee and lowered her head.

These people really were into the whole monarchy thing, I thought as I watched him go over to her and touch the top of her head. She stood slowly and looked up at, the relief very evident on her face.

“I wasn’t sure it was the true Huntress when I sent her.” She whispered in an apologetic tone.

“She is definitely our Huntress Queen, Wanda.”

A noise from the other end of the alley had her jolt. Troy took her arm to stop her from running. “You are safe now.”

With her head shaking, she looked up at him quickly and then back behind us. “No,” she whispered. “I’m not. They are looking for me.”

With that I was back on guard. I didn’t know who the hell they were, but if it was someone from their side, I wasn’t taking any chances. “Let’s get back to my place and then we’ll figure out what to do.”

Nodding, Troy took Wanda’s hand and motioned to the end of the alley. “Can we get there going this way? I don’t think I want to go back inside.”

Smirking, I started walking toward the end. “Yeah, I caught the looks some of the women in there were giving you. It must be a tough life to have them drool on you.”