She sent him a chiding glance. “Your way is too noisy.”
He smiled. “Yes.”
She rolled her eyes, returning her attention to the spell she’d left embedded in the brick. Once she could feel the warm pulse of the magic, she whispered the words that revealed the hidden tunnel.
With a shove, she pushed aside the wooden planks to reveal the narrow opening. “Follow me.”
“Anywhere,” he murmured, creating a flutter of butterflies in the pit of her stomach as his heat reached out to stroke over her like a caress.
With a click of her tongue at her giddy awareness, Wynn scurried down the narrow stairs that led to a cellar beneath the pub.
Azh followed, only to grunt in discomfort as he was forced to bend nearly double to avoid the low beams that were blackened with age. This particular pub had been ancient when Wynn first arrived in London. As far as she knew, it’d been there for as long as there’d been demons in the area.
Wynn crossed to the center of the stone floor, crouching down to once again search for the magic she’d left behind.
“The spell is still active,” she said with a surge of relief. It’d been years since she’d been forced to go into hiding and she didn’t know how long her magic would last. “We should be able to enter without anyone sensing the shields have been breached.”
Azh frowned. “Tell me what we’re about to walk into.”
“Actually, we’re going to drop into it.” She ran her hand over the stones, revealing the outlines of a trapdoor. “There’s a large space dug into the ground that can hold up to a dozen or more demons.”
“A dozen?” Azh’s frown deepened.
“We’ll have the element of surprise.” She grasped the iron ring and tugged the heavy stone aside before Azh could stop her. “Just don’t cause a huge commotion. We don’t want the Vasiliki clan to know we’re here.”
“No promises.”
She tilted back her head, heaving a sigh at the sight of the nuclear aura that surrounded Azh and the beast that lurked in the depths of the storm-gray eyes. This male was custom-designed to attract attention.
“Never mind,” she said. “Let’s go.”
The words had barely left her lips when Azh was moving to drop through the hole, the translucent shimmer of his wings folded tightly against his back revealing how close his dragon was to the surface. With a low growl of frustration, Wynn swiftly dropped in behind him, landing on the hard-packed earth with a jolt. She grunted, painfully reminded that she’d hurt her ankle leaping out of Hexx’s window. It might have seemed like an eon ago, but it wasn’t long enough to fully heal. Her ankle was still tender.
Swallowing her groan, Wynn quickly straightened, her gaze skimming over the cots shoved against the far wall. She counted six lumps that she assumed were demons.
“I told you to stay out,” a groggy voice muttered from the shadows. “If we want something we’ll...” The words trailed away and one of the lumps suddenly sat upright, as if he’d just caught her scent.“You.” The blankets were shoved aside and a large goblin leaped off the cot and lunged toward her. “Bitch, this is all your fault.”
The male was over six feet tall with a thick mane of black hair and a wide body covered in a thick layer of fur. Not thick enough, unfortunately, to disguise the fact he was naked. Or the fact that he was in dire need of a bath.
Wynn grimaced, not really worried as the male’s aura pulsed with a furious red power. She was fully confident that Azh was prepared for the attack. A second later, he proved her right.
Axton had barely reached the center of the room when white-hot flames circled him, forcing him to halt or be consumed by the fire.
“Nobody move,” Azh warned as the five other demons stumbled off their cots, looking around with wild eyes.
“Back off,” Axton rasped, sweat already dripping down his square face as the flames danced close enough to singe his chest fur.
“Who are you?” Axton glared at Azh, almost as if he thought he could intimidate him. Then, easily sensing he was no match for the stranger, he swiveled his glare toward Wynn. “Damn you. I hope you’re happy.”
Wynn folded her arms over her chest. “Not particularly.”
“You’ve cost me everything.”
Wynn was pretty sure he wasn’t exaggerating. The shop that had been in his family for centuries had been destroyed beyond repair. And worse, he couldn’t know whether or not he was still being hunted.
She might tell him that Malis was dead and it was safe to leave the hidden lair. Eventually.
“What happened?”
