Skye slammed her hand over her mouth to muffle her cry of surprise, her eyes wide as she watched a form materialize from behind a rusty dumpster. At the same time, she murmured a low chant, preparing to release a spell. It wasn’t until her eyes adjusted to the darkness and she caught sight of a fishing hat pulled low and the familiar velour tracksuit that she realized it wasn’t a mugger, or one of Lynx’s demons sent to attack her.
She lowered her hand to press it against her racing heart. “Oh, Joe. You scared me.”
He wagged a finger in her direction. “I’m not the one you should fear, little one.”
Skye studied the bearded face, surprised by the fiery glow of emerald in the man’s eyes. She’d always suspected that there was more to this man than just a human down on his luck, but she wasn’t like Maya. She didn’t think he was dangerous.
“Why do you say that? Do you know something?”
“I know many things.”
“Have you met a man called Lynx?”
Without warning, Joe tilted back his head, sniffing the air as if there was something to smell beyond decomposing garbage.
“A false name for a false creature. He’s not what he seems to be.”
With his cryptic warning delivered, the man stepped back and disappeared.
Skye stepped forward and peered around the edge of the dumpster. “Joe?”
Nothing. Skye grimaced, turning away to continue up the alley. She didn’t have time to worry about disappearing men in velour tracksuits. Or what he meant with his vague words.
She had a fortune teller to rescue from a horde of demons.