“Take a hike, junior,” someone said behind Jak, causing him to jump.

Jak took one look at the cold gleam in the man’s dark eyes, then ran off. The new arrival gave the moonshine a disgusted look, then ordered a whiskey.

“I’m Mark,” the man said, extending his hand. He smelled strongly of cologne and peppermint.

He was as out of place in this bar as the shiny red jukebox in the corner. The bar’s other patrons wore faded cotton and denim. They had smudged faces and dirt under their fingernails. Mark looked like he’d stepped off a fashion runway. He wore a black silk shirt, half of the buttons undone to expose his muscular chest. Boots with a slight heel over form-fitting black leather pants completed his ensemble. His hair was combed back and styled with gel. Platinum blond, it was nearly as pale as my own. Except his hair was dyed, clearly an expensive color job from a high-end city salon.

“Leda,” I replied, smiling demurely at my mark. I’d have been able to peg him even without having seen the photograph on his wanted poster. He stood out like a sore thumb. And the irony of my mark’s name being Mark was hard to ignore.

“Leda,” he said, as though he were savoring every letter of my name. “Such a beautiful name.” He looked over his glass, returning the smile. “For such a beautiful woman.”

Smooth. Real smooth. He spoke with an easy grace, as though he didn’t have a care in the world. As though he weren’t on the run from the law.

“You’re not from around here,” I said, trailing my gaze down the length of him as though I were checking him out. He wasn’t wearing any weapons that I could see.

“I’m from the city. New York,” he added with a conspiring wink.

“Oh,” I gasped. “I’ve always wanted to go there.” I fluttered my long eyelashes at him.

He took the bait. “Maybe I’ll take you sometime,” he said, wrapping his arm around me.

I moved in closer, reaching around him to run my hands down his back. No weapons. I moved down to his legs. Nothing. Either he was very good at concealing them, or he was an idiot. I was leaning toward idiot. After all, he had given me his real name. He seemed to think he was safe out here on the border of civilization.

“Would you really take me?” I asked.

“Of course, honey.”

Liar. He was on the run from the New York authorities, charged with kidnapping and theft of Legion property. The only way he’d be going back to the city was in handcuffs. Preferably mine.

“You smell so good,” he muttered into my ear. “Has anyone ever told you that?”

Only every other guy who wanted into my pants.

I kissed his smooth jaw, then pulled back to hit him with my best sultry look. Despite hours of practice in front of the mirror, I still didn’t have the best bedroom eyes, but Mark didn’t seem to care. He leered at me as I stirred my pineapple juice with one hand. The other hand was busy discreetly dipping into my purse for the handcuffs…

“Hello, Leda!” a voice belted from across the bar.

I knew that voice all too well. I glared at the bounty hunter coming my way. He wore a black-and-red leather motorcycle suit that was a hundred times cooler than he was. Jinx. That’s what he called himself, and I didn’t know his real name. Only that he was a scavenger. A damn hyena.

“Hey, sweetie pie.” Jinx stopped in front of me, grinning.

“Do you know this fellow?” Mark asked.

“Unfortunately,” I growled.

“Leda and I go way back,” Jinx said. “We met during the Sunset job.”

Shut up. I tried mentally sending him that message on all frequencies, but I’m not a telepath, so my message fell on deaf ears.

“Or was it the Blacktown affair? I can’t for the life of me remember which.” He laughed. “We’ve done so many jobs together.”

No, you’ve stolen many jobs from me, you thieving son of a bitch.

“What kind of business are you two in?” Mark asked.

“Bounty hunting,” Jinx replied pleasantly. “Speaking of which, Leda, did you ever catch that guy out of New York?”

Stools tumbled, scraping against the floor as Mark bolted for the door, running out of the bar like his tail was on fire. I glared at Jinx, but there was no time to tell him off—and I wasn’t strong enough to best him in hand-to-hand combat. But I was fast. I had him handcuffed to the bar before he could move, then I dashed out after my mark, Jinx’s stream of enraged curses bouncing off my heels.

Now out on the open street, I pumped my legs as fast as I could. My boots barely touched the gravelly ground. I had to get to Mark before he escaped—or worse yet, Jinx got him. The cuffs wouldn’t hold the other bounty hunter for long.

“Leda, our mark just turned down Third Street. I’m in pursuit,” my brother Zane said over the comms. The tiny Magitech-powered device hidden inside my earring had cost us a small fortune, but it was worth every penny. It made teamwork like this possible.

“Keep your eyes peeled for Jinx,” I told him.

I was not letting that scavenger muscle in on our gig—not this time. We couldn’t afford to lose this paycheck. We’d already spent the money to pay our sister Bella’s first tuition bill to the New York University of Witchcraft.

“Shit.”

“Zane?” I asked.

“Mark is headed for the wall.”

If he made it over the wall, we’d lose any chance at that bounty. I ignored the raging hellfire burning inside my muscles and pushed my protesting body to move faster as I sprinted around the corner onto Third Street. Now, I was a fast runner. It was an essential skill for someone always chasing people. I practiced hard and long every day, and as a result, I could outrun almost anyone.