Page 83 of Cry of the Firebird

Katya tried to shrug off the emotion that clogged up her throat. "He taught me what I needed to know. My family has always been the protectors and the seers of the tribe. I became the hunter because Aleki was a seer from the moment she opened her three eyes. She's so much more powerful than she shows. If you want to see the true talent in the family, look to her."

"I don't need to. I'm looking at some pretty great talent right now," Izrayl said.

Katya laughed. "You really are an incorrigible flirt, aren't you?"

"Guilty as charged. It made you smile again, and that's what counts," he replied. "Warming up to me yet?"

"You are going to have to wait to find out," Katya siad, letting him go. "As for me, I'm going to have a shower."

"Can I come?"

Katya pulled herself out of the pool. "You wish."

"Let me know when you change your mind. I'm an excellent back washer," Izrayl called out to her.

Katya was shivering by the time she got into her bathroom. After peeling off her wet clothes, she stepped in and let the boiling water cascade over her, stretching out her muscles out so they wouldn't cramp. A part of her regretted running away from Izrayl, but she knew if she stayed, she would end up kissing him again. What ever was building between them was never going to be casual, and she needed space. She felt too raw and vulnerable after talking about her parents and she didn't want to use Izryal just to make herself feel better.

Katya's phone vibrated on the basin, and she stepped out of the shower and dried herself with one of the thick, luscious towels. Slipping on a bathrobe, she picked up her phone.

ON A HUNT IN PARIS TONIGHT. CALL ME IF INTERESTED.BEL.

"Shit," Katya breathed. It was about to be a long fucking night.

CHAPTER FORTY-SIX

Katya stared at the message and let out a long breath, her fingers hesitating over the message. Isabelle Blackwood was a hunter and one of Katya's mentors. If she was asking for help on a job, she must've been worried about what she was walking into.

Katya fired back another text, asking for details and hurried to get dressed. She was slipping out of her door when Izrayl spotted her from the other end of the hall. He looked fresh from a shower, wearing only jeans and was braiding his long hair.

"Sneaking out again? Are you fucking serious?" he demanded.

"I'll go wherever I like. It's none of your business."

His eyes glowed as he closed in on her. "It is when I have to come and bail you out."

"Then come with me," Katya said, surprising herself.

Izrayl went from overprotective to curious in a blink. "Where are we going?"

"I have a hunter friend called Isabelle. She wants my help tonight with a job."

"You have only just healed," Izrayl said, brushing a piece of hair back from her face. "Did you tell her that?"

The tenderness in his gesture made Katya's chest feel too tight. "No, and she doesn't need to know. She would never have contacted me if she didn't really need my help."

Izrayl sighed. "I don't like it, but I'm in. I can't let you go out by yourself again."

"Oh, my hero!" Katya said sarcastically.

"Give me a second," he replied and ducked back into his rooms. He reappeared, wearing a three-quarter length black pea coat with a dark green shirt and boots.

"Are you armed?" Katya asked.

He opened his coat up to reveal an arsenal almost as impressive as hers. "I do this in human form so I don't have your friend try to hunt me too. You got that sword with you? You look pretty hot when you use it."

"Of course I have my sword." Katya's ring tone jingled, and she opened the message from Isabelle.

"Do you know where this is?" she asked, holding up the phone for him to the address in the 18tharrondissement of the city.

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