Page 50 of Wolf of Ashes
I take a deep breath, preparing to have my stomach flipped and to land on my hands and knees on the other side.
Emerald light glimmers around his hands and a haze builds around us.
“To New York,” he says as the fog thickens, forming a tornado of mist that sucks the breath out of me. “And your new base of operations.”
* * *
I come back to myself with athump, but this time, I find myself wedged between Diavolo at my back and the four panthers at my front, as if we all switched places and got plastered up against each other along the way.
A rapid glance at my surroundings tells me we’re in a small room with walls that reach the ceiling on three sides. The walls to my left and right are covered with open shelves and hanging racks holding everything from clothing to shoes to belts, all of it messily shoved in, material dripping over the edges of the drawers.
While we seemed to be all piled up against the narrower wall behind us, the fourth side, which is directly ahead of me, is wide open and looks into a bedroom like something out of a fairy tale.
It’s dark in this room, but I’m glad I’m wearing my blindfold, because late-afternoon sunlight gleams behind sheer curtains on the far side of the bedroom.
Most importantly, I don’t sense another creature anywhere nearby, certainly not in the bedroom opposite us.
The panthers peel off me one by one, silently dropping back to the floor and shaking out their dog bodies. Their lips draw back as they turn their snarls on Diavolo, who has remained behind me.
I guess they didn’t appreciate becoming pancakes, either.
Although I have to admit it’s not entirely unpleasant being smooshed up against him.
Able to take a deep breath now that my chest isn’t being crushed, I ease away from the keeper with a whisper. “Where are we?”
His voice sounds at my ear. “This is a dressing room in an apartment belonging to a recently deceased witch. She was assassinated. Poison, so there wasn’t any blood. She managed to make it all the way home before she died. Right there, actually.”
His arm moves at my side, brushing my hip as he points to the floor at my feet.
“The assassin followed her in, took away her body, and locked up after himself,” he says.
“An assassin,” I mutter, digging into my memory as I scrutinize the shelves. “Mom warned me about them. She said the Assassin’s Legion has a base hidden in Boston, and I should avoid them at all costs.”
Their base isn’t far enough from New York for comfort and my chances of staying off their radar could be slim.
“Well, conveniently for us, this witch’s memories indicated she had no family and she lived alone. What’s more, the human authorities won’t be aware that she’s dead, so we shouldn’t be disturbed.”
The shelves may be messy, but the material protruding from them is so soft that it slithers through my hands when I reach for it. The keeper said he could solve my clothing problem and I’m assuming this is how.
“I suppose you’re hoping these will fit me?” As I turn to him, unexpected movement flickers directly behind him.
My claws snap down as I make out the shape of a woman standing directly behind the keeper.
I leap back, narrowly avoiding bumping into the panthers, who quickly scatter to either side.
The woman is only partially visible. I can’t see much more than the side of her body and her arm, but she has claws.
Deadly, black ones like mine.
CHAPTERSEVENTEEN
“Diavolo,” I whisper urgently. “Step toward me slowly.”
I’m shocked that he hasn’t sensed the woman’s presence already. And that the panthers haven’t reacted to the threat she clearly poses.Andthat I didn’t sense her presence myself before this moment.
The keeper’s brown eyes have flown wide. Despite my warning, he takes quick glances behind himself before he lifts both of his hands warily in my direction.
“Easy, Veda.” He moves aside so that more of the woman comes into view before he gestures at the wall and the large, reflective surface resting flush against it. “It’s a mirror.”
