Magic Burns

Page 133

 

 

 

where was I going to look for him? The city was full of spots where two street kids could hide. Ten million to one, the reeves would find them before me.

 

Aunt B leaned forward. “By tradition, all beastkin are killed at birth. If any of the older shapeshifters find out she’s here, I’ll have a mob at my doorstep.”

 

The male bouda licked his lips. “It might be fun.”

 

Aunt B reached out and casually smacked him on the back of the head.

 

“Ow.”

 

“Is that Curran’s cat outside my door?”

 

“Yes.”

 

“He’s caught Andrea’s scent by now and he’ll report. You’ll have to tell Curran something. It’s better not to lie.”

 

“I’ll take that under advisement.” I walked out.

 

 

 

 

 

CHAPTER 20

 

 

CURRAN’S HAIR FELL TO HIS SHOULDERS. LONG,blond, luxuriously wavy, it framed his face like a mane. He sat in a room in the Pack Keep, reading a battered paperback under a cone of electric light from a small lamp. He didn’t raise his head as Jim ushered me into the room and closed the door.

 

Just me and the Beast Lord. And the night, spilling into the room through the wide-open window.

 

Jim hadn’t said a word to me on the way over here. I was on thin ice.

 

“What’s the deal with the hair?”

 

Curran tore his gaze from the book and grimaced. “Grows every flare. Can’t help it.”

 

We stared at each other. “Waiting for the Fabio joke,” he said.

 

The fatigue rolled over me in a sluggish wave. When I opened my mouth, my voice sounded dull, stripped of all life and inflection. “I brought a sick beastkin to the bouda house. She’s my friend. If you’re going to kill her, you’ll have to go through me.”

 

He closed his eyes tight, put his hand over them, and rubbed his face. I sat in a chair and kept my mouth shut, letting him work through his pain.

 

“Why me?” he said finally. “Are you on some sort of mission to fuck up my life?”

 

“I try my best to avoid you.”

 

“You’re doing a hell of a job.”

 

“I honestly don’t mean to cause problems.”