Page 33 of Urban Gladiator

“But Marco, don’t do anything stupid that will get you thrown back in the dungeons. Because next time, you won’t ever get out.”

Marco bowed with a flourish. “Until next time, boy.”

In a flash, he vanished as if he had never been there. I spotted Bixby and waved him over.

“You did it, sir.”

“Listen up. If my father asks, in the confusion with the witch flame, you didn’t tell me he wanted to see me. If he asks about Marco, I made him a deal, and he swore a binding oath that in exchange for putting out the witch flame, he would be free as long as he never attacked the kingdom again. And if he wants to know where I am, I’m hunting down the witch. I’ll be back as soon as I am able.”

Bixby looked pained.

“It will be fine,” I reassured him.

“It’s not that, sir. I feel partly responsible. I took her on the tour today. And then I was engaged tonight in other matters.”

I bit back a grin. I wouldn’t fault him for getting some action. I was happy for him. “You couldn’t have known what she was plotting. And besides, you and Lara have been dancing around each other for years.” I slapped him on the back and shifted.

“Good luck, sir,” Bixby murmured the parting words as I raced off.

I located Ember’s scent in the garden and followed it street by street to the city wall. What the fuck? Did she jump? Staring over the edge at the sharp drop, it was more than a hundred feet down. A leap like that would kill her. But I didn’t see her as the suicidal type. She was too vibrant and alive. But I still searched the ground below for any signs of her.

“Want some company?”

Glancing over, Simon silently stood at my side, his red eyes glowing in the night.

I shifted into human form. “This is where her scent ends. She could have gone in any direction.”

“I took the liberty of searching for her scent through the city. She’s not here. And depending on where we pick up her scent, you’re going to need backup.”

“You’ll need to move fast.”

“Please, pup. I can move at twice your speed. It’ll be you who needs to keep up with me.”

“Fair point. I say we loop around outside the castle walls until we pick up her scent. And then we follow it and her wherever she’s headed.”

“I’m ready when you are.”

I nodded and shifted back, jerking my head. We headed down the steps toward the exit few knew about. There was one main gate for the city. It was easier for defense. But when the city was built, the builders included an escape door leading into the mountains in the north. That way, in the event that the city fell from an attack, the people would have another escape route.

Outside the wall, Simon and I raced in expanding circles around the city. We ran for miles. The sun rose while we searched for her sweet scent. I kept my focus on the task at hand and not the trouble she could run into alone in the woods. Did the woman not understand the dangers that could befall her?

“Here.” Simon came to a halt after we’d been running for an hour. “Smell that?”

Putting my nose near the ground, I sniffed. Ember’s sweet scent hit my nostrils, and I howled. But it wasn’t any howl. It was the howl a wolf made when they located their mate.

Simon whipped his face around with his brow raised. “Fuck, dude. She really is your mate, isn’t she? I thought when you told me, you might have been bespelled by her pussy.”

“No. She’s my mate in truth. We need to follow her scent to wherever it leads.” And I would give her the spanking of her life the moment we tracked her.

“I’ll race ya, pup.” Simon bared fang in a cheesy grin before racing off.

With a growl, I sprinted behind him, my paws pounding over the terrain. And I figured we’d catch her by nightfall.

13

The magic wings only flew me about thirty-six miles north of the city. It was a decent head start. And bonus, it left a gap in my scent from the wall to the forest. By the time they extinguished the witch flame, there should be enough miles between Rowan and me.

But that didn’t mean I could relax. Avalon was over one hundred and sixty miles in diameter. That meant I had roughly fifty miles to traverse through rocky, mountainous terrain. My magic would come in handy when needed, but it also meant I couldn’t stop or slow down.

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