by Heather Long
There’s a little bit of an asshole in every nice guy. - Grady Hammersmith
Burying Madison in snow had been a low blow, but she would be fine. Pissed off, and gunning for him, but fine. If Grady didn’t think she could get out of it swiftly, he wouldn’t have done it. As it was, between her and Karma, he would be racing to get to the target first.
Once he delivered Floosey for bond, he and Cyrus were going to have a long talk. Why send Grady if he had Madison on call? Touching a finger to his ear, he activated the communicator spell. “Heads up, gentlemen. Madison is on scene. Track Floosey as fast as you can. We’re a tag, bag, and get the hell out of here.”
Groans met his announcement. Groans, and one distinctive, “Frack that!”
“C’mon, Petey, it’s just Madison. Nothing we haven’t handled before.” Of course, in Petey’s case, the last time he drew down with Madison, he’d been walking around with a limp piece between his thighs for six months. Talk about a hex with a bite.
“Nope. Not happening. You want to go head to head with her, go for it. Me, I’m gonna find a beer and a poker game on the flipside. Catch you later, boss.” The thwack of realm jump echoed over the open line.
Dammit. Petey was one of his best trackers. “Anyone else taking off?”
“Nope, but I’m not tangling with Mad-Dog Maddy.” Nichols had been with Grady the longest. Like himself and Madison, he’d honed his skills at Enforcement. “If she has line of sight on the target first, it’s all hers.”
“Coward.” Grady muttered, picking up his pace. He had only been to Assjacket a few times, mostly passing through. The faster they got in and out, the better. The Baba Yaga did not look favorably on Enforcement making the realm jump. Fortunately, his lack of an Enforcement badge was a boon on this trip.
“I’ve got a lead on the target.” All business, Boone’s southern accent elongated the syllables of each word. “She’s right at the edge of town, but there’s some kind of party going on.”
“Don’t engage.” The snap decision was the right one. Grady never knew if he was on the right track until he said the words. Then his instincts kicked in. It used to drive his instructors crazy back at the academy. Why did he make the choice? What thought process sent him down his course of investigation? How did he find a link between two disparate pieces of information?
Not a damn clue, just trusting his instincts. Course, it also made proving a case hard if he couldn’t lead the magistrates down the same path beyond I was right, wasn’t I?
“Thoughts, boss?” Nichols’ question jarred him out of his internal musing.
“We gotta cull her from the herd. We go charging in there, we’ll piss off the inhabitants, bring out the Shifter Whisperer or her mate, or worse, the Baba Yaga.” He used the woman’s title sparingly. There wasn’t conclusive proof that saying it would bring her out. Even if pissing off a woman made her show her true face, some things he just didn’t need to know.
“Got it. I think I’ll get a drink.” Boone’s suggestion carried several layers of meaning. “She doesn’t know me, they don’t know me, I’m just a guy passing by.”
“Nichols, back him up. I’ll run interference.” Slowing his pace, Grady glanced over his shoulder. The avalanche spell wouldn’t hold Madison for long, if at all. Karma liked him—he could work with that.
“You’re going to lead Madison astray?” Disbelief reflected in every single word Nichols spoke. “You got a death wish?”
“No man,” Boone answered before Grady could. “He’s got a big, steel pair of balls. Can’t you hear the clanking?”
“Nope. I hear the smelting.”
“Shut up,” Grady trusted his instincts. “I can handle Madison.” By all the gods, he’d love to handle Madison. She was smart, sexy as hell, and a powerhouse. She didn’t run with a team, because she didn’t need one. No matter how many times he hit on her, she cut him off at the knees. It wasn’t their chemistry she denied, it was giving into their mutual pleasure.
Teasing her had been a way to assuage his own desire, because Grady didn’t need anyone. Still, if Madison would give him the time of day…Maybe I could play nice for a few minutes. Apologize. Eat some crow.
The thought brought a bird on the wing to land on his shoulder. A second landed on a tree overhead. The pair of crows belonged to his father. They showed up whenever he made some critical decision in his life.
Making nice with Madison was not such a decision.
“Beat it, birdbrains,” he growled at them. The bird merely gave him a sideways look. “Tell Dad I’m fine. I’ll be home when I’m done.” His father wanting to see him was another reason they showed up. Hopefully it was more the latter than the former.
Not a critical decision. Tactical. Her spell-brador likes me. I can work with that…
The crows let out echoing squawks and shot upward, wings flapping. Grady barely had time to process that before a spell walloped him in the chest. He went flying backward, smashing through two trees before landing on his ass in the snow.
“I’ll be damned.” He exhaled the sentiment painfully and glanced up in just enough time to see the snow before it landed on him.
Payback was a bitch.
The weight of wet snow pressed down, but it didn’t smother. The compression of the snow shifted around him, like a hand made of ice and wet pack, flexing around his chest. Contracting his magic, he prepared the burst spell. He preferred it for fireworks, but the rapid expansion would also burn through the freeze.
Like a rubber band firing, he launched upward and landed on his feet right in front of a very angry Madison. The snow flung by his emergence hung in the air right in front of Madison’s face. Steam rolled up in wisps, frying against her power.
“Damn, you’re hot.” True on so many levels, and he couldn’t bottle the admiration he experienced. Weather witchcraft was a pain in the ass. Most witches had an affinity for one of the elements. Madison, though? She’d mastered them all.
Even spirit. If she hadn’t, the spell-brador would never have come for her.
“Hey, Karma,” he said, turning his attention to the beautiful black dog at her side. The animal wagged his tail, thumping Madison’s black clad thigh twice, but he didn’t come to Grady. “Aww, c’mon, big boy. Don’t you wanna play?”
Redirecting his magic, Grady removed the earring from the pouch at his back and sent it winging through the woods. Air had always been his friend. Air and fire. The earring had belonged to Floosey.
“He’s not that much of a traitor,” Madison said, but whatever else she might have added cut off when Karma let out a woof and streaked off in the same direction as the earring.
“Dammit. Don’t you dare follow.” She disappeared in a whoosh of steam and smoke, her wild curls flowing behind her.
“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he lied, calling after her. Of course he would follow.
It was the only way to make sure he kept her away from town and Floosey.
“You’ve got about fifteen minutes,” he warned his team. “Let me know when you have her.”
Snapping his fingers, he created a bit of a breeze to dry out his clothes and then went for a walk. It just so happened to be in the same direction that the earring had gone. Even if he planned to lead Madison astray, he wasn’t going to leave her out there on her own.
Who knew, maybe he’d get lucky, and she’d genuinely need his help.
A guy could dream.
Chapter 2
Madison
Loving would be easy if colors were like my dreams. – Madison the Bounty Hunter, by way of Boy George
Karma lunged ahead of me. Racing after him took most of my concentration, particularly because when he ran, he had four powerful legs propelling him at speed across the surface of the snow, barely cracking through the top. My legs didn’t have that luxury, so I had to rely on air and water spells to let me glide over the surface, more like skating than running.
The hilly and heavily treed area made for a number of reckless ha
zards in my path. Gliding around them required all my concentration. It shouldn’t have surprised me when I rounded one tree and found Grady floating at my side. Air and Grady went hand-in-hand—probably what made him a blowhard.
Giggling at my internal joke, I had to jump a downed tree in my path and then I skidded to a halt on the far side. Karma had ceased chasing the scent, and stared intently at a cabin, which appeared out of the snowy mist.
Could Floosey be waiting inside? Really, would it be that easy? Showgirls weren’t my thing, but anyone who worked the Vegas circuit couldn’t be that foolish—could they? A cabin in the middle of the woods wasn’t the safest place to hide.
“Damn you can move,” Grady said as he huffed to a stop next to me. I ignored him, cupping my palm to call a couple of will-o’-the-wisps to me.
“Check it out.” I whispered to them in their own language then released the two blue balls of glowing energy. They circled me once, undulating as they gathered some power off me, then wandered off to the cabin.
“Maddy, baby…”
“What did I tell you about calling me Maddy?”
Grady paused a second and shifted his position to be more in my line of sight. A crinkle formed between his eyes, and his lips twisted. “Madison, darling…”
So, he did remember at least part of it.
“And the pet names?”
With an aggrieved sigh, he tugged his hat off. “The pet names are just a facet of my wonderful personality. I like beautiful women. I like smart beautiful women even more. When in the presence of such loveliness, how am I supposed to ignore it?”
“Gouge out your eyes?” As helpful suggestions went, it sucked, but the wisps were still in the cabin, and they hadn’t retreated to me immediately. Were they having trouble tracking her?
“Now that’s just mean. My eyes are my best feature.” True offense filled his tone, enough that I stopped glaring at the cabin and looked at the man.
“Who told you that?” Not that his eyes weren’t gorgeous. They were electric blue, filled with power, and they even seemed to gather every ounce of nascent light and glow from within.
Lifting his chin, he seemed to become more real—less he-man, more prince among men. “My gammlemor.”
Grandparents were pretty much sacrosanct. Insulting them invited all kinds of bad bites in the ass that I didn’t need or want. Shoving my gloved fingers into the riot of curls, I scratched at my scalp. “Then my apologies to your grandmother. I would never cast aspersions on her personal beliefs.” Especially since your eyes are pretty, not that I tacked that thought on. “What did she tell you about talking to women?”
Really, Madison? Couldn’t you just keep your mouth shut? Why invite more conversation with the rugged, sexy, godlike being who was all kinds of mouthwatering distraction in a tough leather package?
Karma barked, saving me from hearing his answer. I cut my attention back to the cabin. The wisps were humming their way back to me, with Karma leaping and twisting trying to catch them as he tumbled along with them.
While one of the wisps got Karma to chase his tail, the other bobbed toward me and dropped an earring in my outstretched palm. In a high-pitched tone, racing from excitement, it told me the earring had traces of Floosey’s magic, but she wasn’t in there.
Had my target spent time in the cabin?
“No no no!” Came the swiftly spoken, damn near inaudible response. “Fun stuff! Must see! Go! Go! Go!”
Something had the wisp super-excited. If the earring was there, maybe she was staying in the cabin. Wisps were good at grabbing exactly what they were sent to fetch. They didn’t do well with abstract examination. Limiting the scope of when and where I used them was better for everyone involved.
“Earring,” Grady said, leaning over her shoulder. “But that’s not what’s got the little critter all excited.”
“Clearly.” I rolled the earring in my gloved palm, then stared at the cabin. “It could be a trap.”
Surprise filtered into Grady’s expression. “The target’s a showgirl, not some black magic Mafioso.”
“Maybe. She managed to dodge the handlers at the casino, escaped a charmed resort, and realm jumped. Sound like your typical showgirl to you?” Why was I talking this out with him?
“Not the ones I’ve fantasized about, but usually that just involved jeweled bodies and lots of feathers.” Even as he spoke, he licked his lips.
“Does being a pig come to you naturally or do you have to practice?”
“Practice,” Grady said with an easy smile, then drew a cross over his heart and circled it. “If Grandma was here, she’d summon a bar of soap, and I’d eat it like candy ‘cause she was staring at me.”
I was starting to like this woman. “Then pretend I’m your grandmother and get to it.”
“No chance. Fantasizing about my grandmother is sick. I get kink, but that’s a little twisted, even for me.” His grin broadened, and I groaned. I’d walked right into it. “C’mon, Madison,” he drew out my name, sans the ridiculous nicknames. “Let’s go see what’s got the wisp all a twitter.”
A squeal echoed through the cold night, and we both turned to find Karma trotting to me, enormously pleased with himself because he had a wisp in his jaws. Even if Karma managed to eat the little thing, he couldn’t digest it, and the heartburn would be miserable for all involved.
“Good boy,” I complimented him. “Let it go now.”
Tail drooping, Karma canted his head. It was a plea to keep his new toy, even with the wisp who’d brought me the earring fluttering around his head.
“C’mon, bud,” Grady squatted down, and held out his hand. “Let the wisp go.”
Luckily, the traitor hadn’t quite forgiven Grady for the avalanche. Rising, Karma came straight to my side and released the wisp toward my palm. Cupping the agitated little beast, I let it sip some of my power from my aura. The glow from the wisp stabilized and it rose up, pressed a hint of a kiss to my cheek, then zoomed away with his companion in attendance.
“No, Karma,” I said without even a glance to the spell-brador. Whatever scent he’d tracked to the cabin wasn’t present anymore. Chasing the wisps would be fun, and far too distracting. Did we go into the cabin or wait?
And by we, to be clear, I meant me and Karma.
“You should go,” I told Grady. “I’m sure your team is somewhere hovering in the background, ready to swoop in. Karma and I will take care of the cabin.”
“You think I’m going to leave you out here, alone in an enchanted forest around a witch town, to wander inside a cabin all by yourself?” With a snort, Grady rose and began striding toward the cabin. “I was born at night, pretty lady. Not last night.”
With a flick of my wrist, I hardened the moist air into a single strand right at his ankle height. The speed of his pace, sent him tripping and I marched past him. “Really?” I waved two fingers at him. “Looking a little uneven on your feet.”
I made it about three feet past him when the air shoes I’d been gliding on superheated. The packed snow slushed, and I sank into it. Ice boots lashed to my ankles, and I went rigid.
“Oh, for the love of the goddess in spring.” Concentrating my will, I released a fresh flurry of watery heat to free the ice, but Grady was already halfway to the cabin. Launching into the air, I streaked toward him and crashed into his back. We went down in the snow. My hat went one way, and I went the other. I rolled to my feet, and took a soft pack snowball to the kisser.
With a wave of my arms, I sent a flurry of snowballs arcing toward him, and the world turned into a white powdered explosion as he met every volley of mine with one of his own. Shields in place, it didn’t take long for a virtual wall of snow and ice to form around each of us. Calling the earth and the wind, I twisted them into a snow-nado. It swept right through Grady’s defenses and hauled him up toward the—no, dammit, not the cabin.
Lifting off, I used the wind to propel me forward. I needed to get to the cabin before he did. Find
ers keepers, right? As if aware of every move I made, Grady was suddenly in front of me, and I had no time to slow down. We collided, and his arms came around me. Twisting suddenly, he slammed back first into the door. The crash filled my ears, and I’m not ashamed to admit I closed my eyes.
We were literally gamboling right into what could be a trap. Collapsed together on a heavy rug, I tried to catch my breath. Beneath me, Grady groaned. Panting, I tried to disentangle myself. Every bone in my body hurt. Grady was built like a brick shithouse. Twisting, I looked to where the door had been.
Karma stood there, mouth open, tongue lolling, and tail wagging. The spell-brador looked damn pleased with him. Inch by inch, I made it to my feet. A low moan escaped Grady. His eyes were open, and he was attempting to sit up. The interior of the cabin looked like something out of a honeymoon ad campaign, right down to the pink and red heart-shaped bed.
Gross.
Rubbing my side, I limped to the door. Karma still hadn’t entered. Weirdly, neither had the snow or the cold. In fact, it was almost too hot inside. Tugging at the collar of my shirt, I tried to test for anything actually broken. At the door frame, however, I bounced off and stumbled back in the room.
What the hell?
Flattening my palm against the empty space, I stared into the night and at Karma. The dog thumped his tail once.
The field beneath my fingers buzzed, but it wouldn’t give.
“Playing mime?” Grady asked, his earlier stun and groan still in his voice.
“No, you idiot, I’m testing the shield holding us in here.” I couldn’t find a single seam in the magic. Abandoning the door, I headed to the window. I could open the internal shutters, but the external ones were behind another shield. Same thing at the back door, and that left the chimney in the fireplace—where a cheerful fire blazed. Heat seeped out, but a shield kept me from reaching inside.
Goddess on a stick with nails, if Grady hadn’t been such a pain in the ass…and I wasn’t so competitive, we wouldn’t be sitting inside the cabin like a pair of lemmings. Who was this Floosey? How could she set such a perfect trap? Nothing in Cyrus’ info said she was a master craft magician.