Loving would be easy if colors were like my dreams. – Madison the Bounty Hunter, by way of Boy George

Karma lunged ahead of me. Racing after him took most of my concentration, particularly because when he ran, he had four powerful legs propelling him at speed across the surface of the snow, barely cracking through the top. My legs didn’t have that luxury, so I had to rely on air and water spells to let me glide over the surface, more like skating than running.

The hilly and heavily treed area made for a number of reckless hazards in my path. Gliding around them required all my concentration. It shouldn’t have surprised me when I rounded one tree and found Grady floating at my side. Air and Grady went hand-in-hand—probably what made him a blowhard.

Giggling at my internal joke, I had to jump a downed tree in my path and then I skidded to a halt on the far side. Karma had ceased chasing the scent, and stared intently at a cabin, which appeared out of the snowy mist.

Could Floosey be waiting inside? Really, would it be that easy? Showgirls weren’t my thing, but anyone who worked the Vegas circuit couldn’t be that foolish—could they? A cabin in the middle of the woods wasn’t the safest place to hide.

“Damn you can move,” Grady said as he huffed to a stop next to me. I ignored him, cupping my palm to call a couple of will-o’-the-wisps to me.

“Check it out.” I whispered to them in their own language then released the two blue balls of glowing energy. They circled me once, undulating as they gathered some power off me, then wandered off to the cabin.

“Maddy, baby…”

“What did I tell you about calling me Maddy?”

Grady paused a second and shifted his position to be more in my line of sight. A crinkle formed between his eyes, and his lips twisted. “Madison, darling…”

So, he did remember at least part of it.

“And the pet names?”

With an aggrieved sigh, he tugged his hat off. “The pet names are just a facet of my wonderful personality. I like beautiful women. I like smart beautiful women even more. When in the presence of such loveliness, how am I supposed to ignore it?”

“Gouge out your eyes?” As helpful suggestions went, it sucked, but the wisps were still in the cabin, and they hadn’t retreated to me immediately. Were they having trouble tracking her?

“Now that’s just mean. My eyes are my best feature.” True offense filled his tone, enough that I stopped glaring at the cabin and looked at the man.

“Who told you that?” Not that his eyes weren’t gorgeous. They were electric blue, filled with power, and they even seemed to gather every ounce of nascent light and glow from within.

Lifting his chin, he seemed to become more real—less he-man, more prince among men. “My gammlemor.”

Grandparents were pretty much sacrosanct. Insulting them invited all kinds of bad bites in the ass that I didn’t need or want. Shoving my gloved fingers into the riot of curls, I scratched at my scalp. “Then my apologies to your grandmother. I would never cast aspersions on her personal beliefs.” Especially since your eyes are pretty, not that I tacked that thought on. “What did she tell you about talking to women?”

Really, Madison? Couldn’t you just keep your mouth shut? Why invite more conversation with the rugged, sexy, godlike being who was all kinds of mouthwatering distraction in a tough leather package?

Karma barked, saving me from hearing his answer. I cut my attention back to the cabin. The wisps were humming their way back to me, with Karma leaping and twisting trying to catch them as he tumbled along with them.

While one of the wisps got Karma to chase his tail, the other bobbed toward me and dropped an earring in my outstretched palm. In a high-pitched tone, racing from excitement, it told me the earring had traces of Floosey’s magic, but she wasn’t in there.

Had my target spent time in the cabin?

“No no no!” Came the swiftly spoken, damn near inaudible response. “Fun stuff! Must see! Go! Go! Go!”

Something had the wisp super-excited. If the earring was there, maybe she was staying in the cabin. Wisps were good at grabbing exactly what they were sent to fetch. They didn’t do well with abstract examination. Limiting the scope of when and where I used them was better for everyone involved.

“Earring,” Grady said, leaning over her shoulder. “But that’s not what’s got the little critter all excited.”

“Clearly.” I rolled the earring in my gloved palm, then stared at the cabin. “It could be a trap.”

Surprise filtered into Grady’s expression. “The target’s a showgirl, not some black magic Mafioso.”

“Maybe. She managed to dodge the handlers at the casino, escaped a charmed resort, and realm jumped. Sound like your typical showgirl to you?” Why was I talking this out with him?

“Not the ones I’ve fantasized about, but usually that just involved jeweled bodies and lots of feathers.” Even as he spoke, he licked his lips.

“Does being a pig come to you naturally or do you have to practice?”

“Practice,” Grady said with an easy smile, then drew a cross over his heart and circled it. “If Grandma was here, she’d summon a bar of soap, and I’d eat it like candy ‘cause she was staring at me.”

I was starting to like this woman. “Then pretend I’m your grandmother and get to it.”

“No chance. Fantasizing about my grandmother is sick. I get kink, but that’s a little twisted, even for me.” His grin broadened, and I groaned. I’d walked right into it. “C’mon, Madison,” he drew out my name, sans the ridiculous nicknames. “Let’s go see what’s got the wisp all a twitter.”

A squeal echoed through the cold night, and we both turned to find Karma trotting to me, enormously pleased with himself because he had a wisp in his jaws. Even if Karma managed to eat the little thing, he couldn’t digest it, and the heartburn would be miserable for all involved.

“Good boy,” I complimented him. “Let it go now.”

Tail drooping, Karma canted his head. It was a plea to keep his new toy, even with the wisp who’d brought me the earring fluttering around his head.

“C’mon, bud,” Grady squatted down, and held out his hand. “Let the wisp go.”

Luckily, the traitor hadn’t quite forgiven Grady for the avalanche. Rising, Karma came straight to my side and released the wisp toward my palm. Cupping the agitated little beast, I let it sip some of my power from my aura. The glow from the wisp stabilized and it rose up, pressed a hint of a kiss to my cheek, then zoomed away with his companion in attendance.

“No, Karma,” I said without even a glance to the spell-brador. Whatever scent he’d tracked to the cabin wasn’t present anymore. Chasing the wisps would be fun, and far too distracting. Did we go into the cabin or wait?

And by we, to be clear, I meant me and Karma.

“You should go,” I told Grady. “I’m sure your team is somewhere hovering in the background, ready to swoop in. Karma and I will take care of the cabin.”

“You think I’m going to leave you out here, alone in an enchanted forest around a witch town, to wander inside a cabin all by yourself?” With a snort, Grady rose and began striding toward the cabin. “I was born at night, pretty lady. Not last night.”

With a flick of my wrist, I hardened the moist air into a single strand right at his ankle height. The speed of his pace, sent him tripping and I marched past him. “Really?” I waved two fingers at him. “Looking a little uneven on your feet.”

I made it about three feet past him when the air shoes I’d been gliding on superheated. The packed snow slushed, and I sank into it. Ice boots lashed to my ankles, and I went rigid.

“Oh, for the love of the goddess in spring.” Concentrating my will, I released a fresh flurry of watery heat to free the ice, but Grady was already halfway to the cabin. Launching into the air, I streaked toward him and crashed into his back. We went down in the snow. My hat went one way, and I went the other. I rolled to my feet, and took a soft pack snowball to the kisser.

With a wave of my arms, I sent a flurry of snowballs arcing toward him, and the world turned into a white powdered explosion as he met every volley of mine with one of his own. Shields in place, it didn’t take long for a virtual wall of snow and ice to form around each of us. Calling the earth and the wind, I twisted them into a snow-nado. It swept right through Grady’s defenses and hauled him up toward the—no, dammit, not the cabin.

Lifting off, I used the wind to propel me forward. I needed to get to the cabin before he did. Finders keepers, right? As if aware of every move I made, Grady was suddenly in front of me, and I had no time to slow down. We collided, and his arms came around me. Twisting suddenly, he slammed back first into the door. The crash filled my ears, and I’m not ashamed to admit I closed my eyes.

We were literally gamboling right into what could be a trap. Collapsed together on a heavy rug, I tried to catch my breath. Beneath me, Grady groaned. Panting, I tried to disentangle myself. Every bone in my body hurt. Grady was built like a brick shithouse. Twisting, I looked to where the door had been.

Karma stood there, mouth open, tongue lolling, and tail wagging. The spell-brador looked damn pleased with him. Inch by inch, I made it to my feet. A low moan escaped Grady. His eyes were open, and he was attempting to sit up. The interior of the cabin looked like something out of a honeymoon ad campaign, right down to the pink and red heart-shaped bed.

Gross.

Rubbing my side, I limped to the door. Karma still hadn’t entered. Weirdly, neither had the snow or the cold. In fact, it was almost too hot inside. Tugging at the collar of my shirt, I tried to test for anything actually broken. At the door frame, however, I bounced off and stumbled back in the room.

What the hell?

Flattening my palm against the empty space, I stared into the night and at Karma. The dog thumped his tail once.

The field beneath my fingers buzzed, but it wouldn’t give.

“Playing mime?” Grady asked, his earlier stun and groan still in his voice.

“No, you idiot, I’m testing the shield holding us in here.” I couldn’t find a single seam in the magic. Abandoning the door, I headed to the window. I could open the internal shutters, but the external ones were behind another shield. Same thing at the back door, and that left the chimney in the fireplace—where a cheerful fire blazed. Heat seeped out, but a shield kept me from reaching inside.

Goddess on a stick with nails, if Grady hadn’t been such a pain in the ass…and I wasn’t so competitive, we wouldn’t be sitting inside the cabin like a pair of lemmings. Who was this Floosey? How could she set such a perfect trap? Nothing in Cyrus’ info said she was a master craft magician.

“Hey, boy,” Grady was saying. “Go get the team. Tell them to come…”

“And what? Get Timmy out of the well?” Not kicking Grady took every ounce of my self-control. “He’s a spell-brador, not freakin’ Lassie.”

“Hey, now, don’t knock the collie. She had style.” My nemesis stood and dusted the splinters and dust off his shoulders. Limping over to the door, he repeated my check, then at the window, the back door, and finally the fireplace.

“Really?” I rubbed my gloved hands together and the fabric reshaped itself, sliding free of my fingers, then up my arms until the sleeves shortened. Even my collar dropped back to a V. Thankfully, I didn’t want to roast alive. If not for the pink, heart-shaped bed, candlelit dinner table, and bottle of champagne, this place wouldn’t be so bad.

Champagne?

Pivoting, I stopped looking for an exit and stared around the room.

This wasn’t a hideout, it was a love nest.

Sliding a look toward the shielded open front door, my worst fears were confirmed.

Karma had disappeared.

The only reason my spell-brador would leave me in this situation was because he’d put me in it.

Son. Of. A. Bi…

“Damn, babe.” Grady slung an arm around my tensed shoulders. “If you wanted me this bad, all you had to do was ask.”

The old saying is true, behind every good man there’s an incredible woman. - Grady Hammersmith

He totally deserved the elbow jab she delivered to his gut. Letting her go, he raked his fingers through his hair. More wood chips came loose, and his hand came away damp with a little blood. Must have hit his head harder than he thought. “Don’t worry about Karma. I’ll get the guys over here, and they’ll de-hex the trap. See, having me around is useful.”

Only, she wasn’t listening to him. Instead, she was running her hands over the shield. After shrugging off his jacket, he touched his earlobe to activate the communication spell. “Guys? Need some backup at the cabin in the woods.”

Instead of ribbing and ribald remarks from his team, Grady only heard silence. Touching his ear again, he focused his will. The twist of a communication spell had been taught to him in the cradle. Or so his parents always said, because how else were they supposed to handle his demanding appetite?

“Guys?”

Nothing.

Pursing his lips, Grady slanted a look toward Madison. She was testing the shield’s integrity using the sparks of lightning jumping from her fingertips. Every collision illuminated the shield as it dispersed the lightning.

“It’s a diamond,” he said, probably telling her what she already knew.

“No shit Spell-lock, any other great ideas you want to share?” The lightning shots gave way to fire, then to hard pounds of air and finally to ice. The ice shimmered over the diamond pattern, solidifying against the inside and giving them both a solid look at the intricacy of the work.

“Crafted by a master.” If he already had one foot in the grave, he might as well jump.

Though she didn’t look at him, she did tilt her head enough that he could imagine he had her attention. “Are you going to say anything useful or just try to bait me?”

“Not trying to bait you,” he said, then added. “Well, not totally. I just think better aloud.”

“Don’t want those thoughts to die of loneliness?” Was that a trace of a smile he could almost hear softening her words?

“Something like that.” Dragging his attention away from how good black looked on her slender form, Grady studied their makeshift prison. A cabin in the woods. Trapped by a spell. “It’s like Hansel and Gretel.”

“Except we’re not siblings, we didn’t get dropped off by a woodcutter, and we’re not trapped with a wicked witch.”

Talk about a buzzkill.

“Well, if you want to tear it all down,” he said, eyeing the heart-shaped bed. That thing was ridiculous. But was it comfortable? “We’re the witch hunters, and we’re trapped inside a magical cabin.”

“If you want to be specific, we walked into a trap, and I said it was a trap outside, but you didn’t listen.”

“Oh, I listened. I came to check it out. I was being manly and protective. I was going to take the hit for you. Not my fault you got all touchy.” Anticipating her next move, he blocked the pillow, which she’d flung at him from the bed and grinned. When she was striking back, he knew he’d gotten her attention. Dropping the pillow on the bed, he paced the room. He’d sent the earring off, and it ended up in here. He’d half-expected it to embed in a tree—the distance from where he’d jumped through versus the cabin itself was easily a half-mile away.

Interesting. His spell wouldn’t have done that.

“Dammit.” Madison shot to her feet, then paced the room with her hands on her hips. “This makes no sense. What showgirl has this kind of power?”

“Beats me. Maybe she isn’t a showgirl.” Hell, all he’d gotten from Cyrus was the bond came from some exclusive casino resort. The man in charge was not one to be trifled with—so pick her up, bag her, and return her.

It wasn’t even an alive or dead pick up, it was definitely alive.

“Cyrus said she was a showgirl.” The irritation in Madison’s voice climbed to a precipitous height.

“Seems like Cyrus is hedging his bets.” Okay, time to come clean. “All he told me was she’d stolen something from the casino, and they wanted her back in one piece.”

Whirling, Madison squinted at him. “Did he specify what she stole?”

Come to think of it… “No,” Grady said slowly. “I don’t usually care what they took or why.”

“But Cyrus usually specifies what it is we have to get back, even if it’s not the jumper.” Madison had a point. Bonds weren’t always on the witches or sorcerers who realm hopped. It was on the items they took with them.

“What did he tell you?” Because he was damn curious.

Mutiny reflected in the way she twisted her lips and echoed in the tap of her booted foot against the wooden floor. Letting her stew over whether to share or not, Grady walked over to the table and popped the cork on the champagne. It was cold, and a whiff of magic lifted the silver dome on the food. Hot-cow-on-a-bone—real ribs! The smell had his mouth watering.

“What are you doing?” Madison’s harsh invective intruded.

“Fleeing a ball at midnight, what does it look like I’m doing?” He poured two glasses of champagne, then held one out to her. “None of it’s enchanted, so come and sit down. We might as well eat and have a glass of champagne while we figure this puzzle out.”

“How do you know it’s not spelled?”

Not sighing, Grady continued to hold the champagne glass out to her. “Because air and fire are my specialties. Food that’s been magicked or enchanted has a different scent, not that you need me to explain this to you. You’re very well aware of the fact. So, take a whiff and test it yourself.”

To his delight, she stalked over to the table and took the glass. When he lifted the silver dome on the second plate, Madison gasped.

Since the ribs were his favorite, he had to guess that a red raisin populated bed of greens with onions, cucumbers, fruit, and grilled chicken was hers. Huh.

“It’s cran-raspberry chicken. I…” The loss of tension in her shoulders, and the way she fell into the chair worried him. “I haven’t had this in years.”

“Apparently, this is a magic cabin—pardon the pun. The ribs? I haven’t had them fall off the bone ready like this since Gammlemor made them for me. She is the only person I’ve ever known who made them perfect.”

Madison’s deep, brown-eyed gaze seemed to rivet on him. “My grandmother made this salad. It was our magic salad.”

Lifting his champagne, he smiled at her. “To magical grandparents. May they always hold the mysteries we want to solve.”

Shockingly enough, she didn’t hesitate to clink her glass to his. Talk about making progress. As one, they each took a sip of the champagne. He nodded once, then leaned to the side to look at the open door. The ice had begun to melt, but the shield was still in place.

Madison followed his gaze. “What did you think, we’d share a toast, sip champagne, and the spell-lock would give way?”

“Couldn’t hurt. Someone locked us in here, and it’s not some thieving showgirl.”

“Witness,” Madison admitted. “She’s supposed to turn state’s evidence against the casino, but she ran. They need her back to testify.”

That was a hell of a concession. “Then Cyrus is lying to you or he’s lying to me.”

After taking another sip of champagne, she snapped out a napkin and laid it across her lap before picking up a fork. “Who says he isn’t lying to both of us?”

Mirroring her actions, Grady took a drink of his champagne and let the idea ping around in his brain. Cyrus set them up. Cyrus, a matchmaker? Not hardly. Cyrus, offering services for sale, and arranging this weird ambush? Totally possible.

“I want to propose an alliance—maybe a short-lived one—but something I think we can both get behind.”

Eyebrows raised, she studied his expression. “I’m listening.”

“When we get out of this, and we will get out of this, you and I go hunting Cyrus, and beat the answers out of him.”

Raising her glass, she clinked it to his. “I’ll drink to that.”

Sliding his gaze back to the shield door, Grady grunted and took a sip of his champagne. Deal sealed. They were partners and Cyrus was in a lot of trouble.

In the meanwhile, they were still trapped.

And it came with ribs and a beautiful woman he actually liked.

Not bad as snares went. Not bad at all.