No one ever said Karma doesn’t bite…least of all me. – Madison the Bounty Hunter

Portal travel always sent us through at the speed of light. I was used to it and hit the ground, before rolling to my feet. Adjusting my grip on my spell-shot gun, I studied the landscape around us. Karma landed on his feet, then shook as if he’d emerged from the water. A spell-brador, he had the perfect nose for tracking would-be spell-jumpers. Tail wagging, he focused his attention on me.

The air was cold. Really cold. It had been in the upper 80s at home, but here it felt closer to freezing. The icy chill against my flesh threatened a dangerous drop in body temperature. The short sleeves on my black shirt trembled, then began to elongate even as the fabric thickened. It folded over and glossed over my fingers, like a living thing. The fabric firmed to become gloves. The V filled in, and slid up along my neck until I was insulated.

With a snap of my fingers, I pulled out a hat and tucked it over my hair. The denim in my jeans tightened around my legs and my boots just stayed boots. They were already tougher than hell basilisk leather.

Virgin snow frosted the landscape around me. Overhead, the three-quarter moon splashed silver light across the white.

“You good, Karma?” I didn’t want the cold doing a number on his paws.

He sneezed once and bobbed his head.

Reaching into the pouch on the back of my belt, I pulled out the scrap of cloth Cyrus hex-mailed. Dropping to my haunches, I held it out to him. Karma and I had been together since the day my parents brought me home from the hospital. The puppy appeared on the rug next to my crib—or at least that was how the story went. Mom wasn’t thrilled by the turn of events. What parent wanted to know their child was a hunter? Particularly when their baby was only two days old?

“Find,” I told him then straightened. We’d appeared in the middle of the hilly woods. While I didn’t see any signs of civilization, that didn’t mean there weren’t any around.

Karma didn’t streak off as soon as he’d had his taste of the magic on the scarf. I tucked it back into the sealed pouch. If my spell-brador didn’t lunge into the chase, then Floosey was not in our immediate vicinity. “Bah, that means a real hunt.”

I wasn’t fond of Assjacket or its inhabitants. I came here once before to find a realm jumper. The Baba Yaga and I didn’t see eye to eye on the dispensation of the witch I’d come after, back then. Better to avoid her and anyone else altogether on this visit.

Grab Floosey, take her home, then collect my bond.

A thwack echoed through the hush. Karma darted forward to stand next to me, tail ceasing all motion, ears rising, even as his whole body shivered. Whether in anticipation or from the wintry breeze, I wasn’t sure. I knew what that sound meant.

Another realm jumper was here. Sliding the wand-chester from the holster at my hip, I focused on the direction of the all too familiar noise. The faint scent of crushed black pepper, oakmoss, and just a touch of vanilla.

Are you freaking kidding me?

Wand-chester in hand, I strode toward the west. The pine trees shed more snow as I brushed past them. Moonlight spilled a perfect circle on the powder coated clearing. Along with a tall, broad-shouldered witch bastard Smith & Witchin’ tucked into a holster on his thigh. He grinned broadly. “Hey, gorgeous.”

“No,” I ordered, pointing a finger at him. “No. No. No. You are realm jumping without a license, and this is my bond. Begone.”

The casual smirk on his face infuriated me. It also transformed his rugged good looks into something far sexier. The man’s too-blue eyes would glow in a bedroom, and he had lashes I couldn’t put together with three magic spells or a potion.

If only he didn’t spend half his time trying to procure my bad guys and girls.

And getting away with it.

“Now, gorgeous, don’t wave that finger at me unless you’re prepared to use it,” Grady Hammersmith said, his deep baritone a melodic invitation to sex. Sex I wouldn’t be accepting today or any other day—particularly since I damn well knew where he’d been. The man in front of me seemed to have been created to drive me crazy. I’d blame magic gone bad, but my wards were secure.

Not growling took everything I had. I refused to let him bait me. After holstering the wand-chester once more, I settled for folding my arms. “This is my bond hunt, Grady. Go bother some other idiot witch willing to let you step on her moment.”

Tipping his head to the side, he swept his gaze over me. The man had skills, as I could almost feel the phantom sensation of his hands stroking along my sides. Keyword: almost. Grady might be annoying, and he might get in the way, but he didn’t cross the line.

With me.

I wasn’t sure if it was a healthy sense of fear or respect on his part. Maybe both.

Smart man.

Spreading his arms wide, Grady dropped to one knee and Karma rushed to meet him. The spell-brador all but threw himself into a frenzied roll, leaping up to slurp Grady’s face, then rubbing against his chest as Grady stroked his sides.

Traitor.

“Hey, boyo, how are you? Taking good care of your mama? She’s got a stick up her butt, so why don’t I throw it and you can go bury it somewhere?” As jokes went, it wasn’t bad. I still didn’t plan to laugh.

“Ha. Ha. Karma, knock it off and come here.” And, like the loyal spell-brador he was, Karma flopped onto his back and gave Grady his belly. The big man rubbed the traitor’s tummy and laughed.

“I’m betting that stick up Mama’s butt has brambles on it.”

Karma’s only response was a drooling tongue as he twisted to look up at me while he soaked up Grady’s attention.

I met the dog’s gaze and stuck my tongue out at him. I was so not joining in the make a fuss out of the traitor spell-brador.

“How about coffee?”

“He doesn’t drink coffee, you dolt.” Why did the pretty ones have to be so thick?

“I meant you, sunshine.” He canted his head up, meeting my gaze. The smirk turned into a real smile. “I know you drink coffee.”

“Only like I breathe air. But I like my coffee like I like my men.”

“Strong, hot, and ready to fulfill your every need?” He raised his eyebrows, a sensuous promise in his eyes. Goddess above, the man was a walking invitation for sex.

“No, bold, in a cup, and waiting patiently without butting in.”

“Boring,” he commented, still rubbing Karma’s belly. “C’mon, gorgeous, why don’t we work together, grab the bond, then we can deliver her to Vegas together, catch a show, and I’ll get you that cup of hot, obedient coffee you’re longing for.”

The snort escaped before I could contain it. “If that’s a sexual overture, Grady, it’s weak. I’m immune to your type of contagion. Realm hopping without a license is illegal. Now beat it before I take you in.”

Clucking his tongue, he shook his head as he gave Karma one last pet before he rose to his full height. Damn, the man was tall, fine, and rugged as hell. It didn’t help that beneath the duster and heavy clothes was a well-chiseled wall of muscle. Magic-users didn’t tend to be built like Shifters. Spellwork required fine minds, not bodies.

“Neither of us are with Enforcement anymore, Madison.” How he turned my name into a verbal caress, I had no idea. “In fact, we’re both free agents, no ties, no commitments, and loads of potential.”

“Do you have to make everything a sexual overture?” Did I have to respond to every single one? Despite the nippiness in the air, my spelled-turtleneck seemed to smother me.

“Not everything. That would be boring.” Grady winked. “But you’re right, we’ve both got business. And since I’m about to have a head start, I should leave you to figure your next problem out.”

My next—?

The spell flashed around my ankles, and I sank into the snow. The wind picked up, and the next thing I knew, a barrage of snow fell off the trees overhead.

That son of a spell-humping…

At least my personal wards kept a bubble of air around my face. Digging myself out would take too long. I could hear Karma scrabbling against the snow, his paws going to town, trying to dig me out. I worked my hand down to the wand-chester. The pressure made wiggling hard, but I managed to get a grip.

“Back off, boy,” I called, trusting the spell-brador’s keen hearing. Shaping my fingers around the handle, I concentrated on the magic at my core. Like the spell-brador choosing me, my choosing a career in Enforcement hadn’t been high on my parents’ wish list for their only child. The magic in my soul, however, couldn’t be denied. I lived and breathed magic. It frosted every breath, and my mother promised me I could make a fortune if I just used it to entertain, to build, to design—but I wanted more out of my life.

I wanted to make the world a better place.

Yep, as hippie-dippie as it sounds, I wanted to be the witch who could scratch the itch of badness out. Training with Enforcement unlocked every ounce of my potential. Everything I carried with me—my uniform, my spell-chester, even my faithful Karma—soaked up the magic I shed, which meant that I had access to emergency power I could trigger. Squeezing the handle, I called fire. It swirled around me like a tempest, melting the snow and soaking through my clothes until I erupted from my unexpected snow burial in a burst of steam.

Landing on one knee, I let the heat permeate until my clothes dried. Karma bounced over, raced in a circle around me, then paused to drop to his haunches and lick my face, as though in apology.

“Just remember, you’re the one who likes him.” I grunted, releasing my wand-chester then cleaning off my hat. To his credit, Karma managed to look contrite, with his dark soulful eyes and downturned ears. Running a gloved hand over his head, I let him off the hook. Spell-brador or not, Karma was still a dog and he believed in the innate goodness of people around him. Even ripped, sexy gods in denim like Grady freakin’ Hammersmith, my ex-partner from Enforcement and current pain in the ass.

Worse, between the snow, the fire, and the dousing, my hair was curling.

If nothing else, the bastard was going to pay for that.

There’s a little bit of an asshole in every nice guy. - Grady Hammersmith

Burying Madison in snow had been a low blow, but she would be fine. Pissed off, and gunning for him, but fine. If Grady didn’t think she could get out of it swiftly, he wouldn’t have done it. As it was, between her and Karma, he would be racing to get to the target first.

Once he delivered Floosey for bond, he and Cyrus were going to have a long talk. Why send Grady if he had Madison on call? Touching a finger to his ear, he activated the communicator spell. “Heads up, gentlemen. Madison is on scene. Track Floosey as fast as you can. We’re a tag, bag, and get the hell out of here.”

Groans met his announcement. Groans, and one distinctive, “Frack that!”

“C’mon, Petey, it’s just Madison. Nothing we haven’t handled before.” Of course, in Petey’s case, the last time he drew down with Madison, he’d been walking around with a limp piece between his thighs for six months. Talk about a hex with a bite.

“Nope. Not happening. You want to go head to head with her, go for it. Me, I’m gonna find a beer and a poker game on the flipside. Catch you later, boss.” The thwack of realm jump echoed over the open line.

Dammit. Petey was one of his best trackers. “Anyone else taking off?”

“Nope, but I’m not tangling with Mad-Dog Maddy.” Nichols had been with Grady the longest. Like himself and Madison, he’d honed his skills at Enforcement. “If she has line of sight on the target first, it’s all hers.”

“Coward.” Grady muttered, picking up his pace. He had only been to Assjacket a few times, mostly passing through. The faster they got in and out, the better. The Baba Yaga did not look favorably on Enforcement making the realm jump. Fortunately, his lack of an Enforcement badge was a boon on this trip.

“I’ve got a lead on the target.” All business, Boone’s southern accent elongated the syllables of each word. “She’s right at the edge of town, but there’s some kind of party going on.”

“Don’t engage.” The snap decision was the right one. Grady never knew if he was on the right track until he said the words. Then his instincts kicked in. It used to drive his instructors crazy back at the academy. Why did he make the choice? What thought process sent him down his course of investigation? How did he find a link between two disparate pieces of information?

Not a damn clue, just trusting his instincts. Course, it also made proving a case hard if he couldn’t lead the magistrates down the same path beyond I was right, wasn’t I?

“Thoughts, boss?” Nichols’ question jarred him out of his internal musing.

“We gotta cull her from the herd. We go charging in there, we’ll piss off the inhabitants, bring out the Shifter Whisperer or her mate, or worse, the Baba Yaga.” He used the woman’s title sparingly. There wasn’t conclusive proof that saying it would bring her out. Even if pissing off a woman made her show her true face, some things he just didn’t need to know.

“Got it. I think I’ll get a drink.” Boone’s suggestion carried several layers of meaning. “She doesn’t know me, they don’t know me, I’m just a guy passing by.”

“Nichols, back him up. I’ll run interference.” Slowing his pace, Grady glanced over his shoulder. The avalanche spell wouldn’t hold Madison for long, if at all. Karma liked him—he could work with that.

“You’re going to lead Madison astray?” Disbelief reflected in every single word Nichols spoke. “You got a death wish?”

“No man,” Boone answered before Grady could. “He’s got a big, steel pair of balls. Can’t you hear the clanking?”

“Nope. I hear the smelting.”

“Shut up,” Grady trusted his instincts. “I can handle Madison.” By all the gods, he’d love to handle Madison. She was smart, sexy as hell, and a powerhouse. She didn’t run with a team, because she didn’t need one. No matter how many times he hit on her, she cut him off at the knees. It wasn’t their chemistry she denied, it was giving into their mutual pleasure.

Teasing her had been a way to assuage his own desire, because Grady didn’t need anyone. Still, if Madison would give him the time of day…Maybe I could play nice for a few minutes. Apologize. Eat some crow.

The thought brought a bird on the wing to land on his shoulder. A second landed on a tree overhead. The pair of crows belonged to his father. They showed up whenever he made some critical decision in his life.

Making nice with Madison was not such a decision.

“Beat it, birdbrains,” he growled at them. The bird merely gave him a sideways look. “Tell Dad I’m fine. I’ll be home when I’m done.” His father wanting to see him was another reason they showed up. Hopefully it was more the latter than the former.

Not a critical decision. Tactical. Her spell-brador likes me. I can work with that…

The crows let out echoing squawks and shot upward, wings flapping. Grady barely had time to process that before a spell walloped him in the chest. He went flying backward, smashing through two trees before landing on his ass in the snow.

“I’ll be damned.” He exhaled the sentiment painfully and glanced up in just enough time to see the snow before it landed on him.

Payback was a bitch.

The weight of wet snow pressed down, but it didn’t smother. The compression of the snow shifted around him, like a hand made of ice and wet pack, flexing around his chest. Contracting his magic, he prepared the burst spell. He preferred it for fireworks, but the rapid expansion would also burn through the freeze.

Like a rubber band firing, he launched upward and landed on his feet right in front of a very angry Madison. The snow flung by his emergence hung in the air right in front of Madison’s face. Steam rolled up in wisps, frying against her power.

“Damn, you’re hot.” True on so many levels, and he couldn’t bottle the admiration he experienced. Weather witchcraft was a pain in the ass. Most witches had an affinity for one of the elements. Madison, though? She’d mastered them all.

Even spirit. If she hadn’t, the spell-brador would never have come for her.

“Hey, Karma,” he said, turning his attention to the beautiful black dog at her side. The animal wagged his tail, thumping Madison’s black clad thigh twice, but he didn’t come to Grady. “Aww, c’mon, big boy. Don’t you wanna play?”

Redirecting his magic, Grady removed the earring from the pouch at his back and sent it winging through the woods. Air had always been his friend. Air and fire. The earring had belonged to Floosey.

“He’s not that much of a traitor,” Madison said, but whatever else she might have added cut off when Karma let out a woof and streaked off in the same direction as the earring.

“Dammit. Don’t you dare follow.” She disappeared in a whoosh of steam and smoke, her wild curls flowing behind her.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he lied, calling after her. Of course he would follow.

It was the only way to make sure he kept her away from town and Floosey.

“You’ve got about fifteen minutes,” he warned his team. “Let me know when you have her.”

Snapping his fingers, he created a bit of a breeze to dry out his clothes and then went for a walk. It just so happened to be in the same direction that the earring had gone. Even if he planned to lead Madison astray, he wasn’t going to leave her out there on her own.

Who knew, maybe he’d get lucky, and she’d genuinely need his help.

A guy could dream.