“What?”
“If you find an intruder you will follow their scent, but you won’t confront them or allow them to know we have managed to discover their trail,” Styx commanded. “You will mark their location and return here.”
Magnus glowered in outrage. “You do realize that I’m not your servant?”
“Don’t get caught.”
Seemingly confident his orders would be carried out, Styx strolled out of the cell, the sound of his pet Ravens instantly falling into step behind him as they left the dungeon.
“Bastard,” he rasped, barely resisting the urge to send a bolt of power toward the retreating vampires.
Not to kill.
But he could singe their asses.
Perhaps sensing his childish urge, Tonya moved to stand directly in front of him, blocking his path to the door.
“Are we going?”
Magnus sucked in a deep breath, drenching himself in the scent of wild plums. “I don’t know why I should do the bidding of a leech who has the manners of a demented troll.”
“Neither do I.” She studied him, her expression unreadable. “But you’re going to search for the killer, aren’t you?”
He was.
He didn’t know why. His logical mind told him that this was none of his business. That he should return to his home and forget he’d ever traveled to this world.
But some inner instinct warned him that there was something going on here that was important.
Something that might affect the Chatri unless it was stopped.
Silently calling himself a fool, Magnus stepped around the too-tempting imp and headed out of the cell.
“You should stay here.”
Predictably Tonya was immediately at his side, her pretty features set in a stubborn expression.
“No way in hell.”
He shook his head. No doubt he should have told her that she had to join him on the hunt. She was just contrary enough to have demanded that she be left behind.
How did males in this world ever deal with such continual insolence?
“It could be dangerous,” he growled, climbing the steps and heading toward the foyer.
Tonya easily kept pace at his side. “Darling, I spend my evenings preventing the most lethal demons in the world from killing each other in a drunken rage,” she drawled. “Besides, I’m supposed to keep an eye on you.”
“Fine,” he muttered, his voice carefully nonchalant. “Come if you want.” Reaching the door, he glanced at her with a frown. “But you will not call me darling. I am a prince.”
“Whatever you say, princy poo.” She deliberately glanced at the door, the gun still in her hand. “Let’s do this thing.”
“You . . .” He bit off his exasperated words, yanking the door open and leading the way out of the house and down the path to the front gate.
The late-afternoon sunlight drenched the estate in a pale light, but the breeze was brutally cold and the ground frozen hard beneath their feet.
Without thought, Magnus warmed the air around himself, extending the heat to protect the female walking at his side.
She sent him a startled glance. “What are you doing?”
He kept his senses locked on his surroundings, sorting through the hundreds of scents that floated on the air.
“It’s freezing,” he murmured absently. “My powers will keep you warm.”
“Oh.”
He turned to regard her, in puzzlement over her strangled tone. “Does it bother you?”
“I . . .” An odd flush stained her cheeks. “No. Of course not.”
Intending to press her on her peculiar behavior, Magnus was distracted by the unmistakable scent of fey.
With a swift jog he was headed through the gate and toward a large oak tree across the street. Bending downward he touched the shallow indents in the ground.
“Here.” He blocked out the various smells, focusing on the two distinct sets of footprints. “A fairy and a human.”
Tonya crouched beside him, lightly touching the scorched grass where a portal had opened.
“A witch?” she demanded.
Magnus shook his head. “No, but I sense magic.”
“A lot of magic,” she agreed softly, clearly capable of picking up the prickles of raw energy that had been left behind by the human.
Straightening, Magnus allowed himself to lock on the residual magic left behind by the portal. It wasn’t as easy as following the pathway of another Chatri, but he was one of the rare trackers who could at least retrace the portal to the general area.
With a lift of his hand, he released a bolt of energy, slicing an opening between dimensions in the precise spot as the first portal.
Tonya surged upright, her expression wary. “What are you doing?”
“Following the trail.”
“But—”
He held out a hand as he prepared to step into the opening. “Are you coming or not?”
She hesitated, nodding her head toward the nearby mansion. “I don’t think Styx will be happy.”
Magnus made a sound of disgust. “As if I care.”
“I’m beginning to wonder if you’re staying just to aggravate the King of Vampires.”
Magnus shrugged. That was as good an explanation as any other.