“Here . . .” Bunny? Kitty? “Here, cute creature thing . . . Don’t be scared.”

The bunnycat squeezed itself into a tiny ball, looking sweet and innocent. I’d seen that look on feral cats before. That look meant they would turn into a tornado of razor claws as soon as you were within striking distance.

I scooped it up, bracing myself to be clawed bloody.

The bunnycat looked at me with its round green eyes and purred.

I rose and turned. “Got it.”

The beam collapsed under my feet and we plunged down. My stomach tried to jump out of my mouth. The rope jerked, burning my ribs, and I hung suspended over the sheer drop, the bunnycat snuggled in my arms. The beam crashed to the ground with a loud clang, gouging the crumbling pavement.

The rope rotated slightly. The bunnycat purred, oblivious. Across the ruined city, the sun was rolling toward the horizon, turning the sky orange in its wake. I was alive. How about that? Now I just had to stay that way.

“Okay, pull me up.”

The rope didn’t move.

“Ascanio?” What was it now? Did he see a butterfly and get distracted?

The rope slid up, as fast as if wound by a winch. I shot upward. What the . . . ?

I cleared the edge and found myself face to face with Curran.

Oh boy.

He held the rope up with one hand, muscles bulging on his arm under his sweatshirt. No strain showed on Curran’s face. It’s good to be the baddest shapeshifter in the city. Behind him Ascanio stood very still, pretending to be invisible.

Curran’s gray eyes laughed at me. The Beast Lord reached out and touched my nose with his finger. “Boop.”

“Very funny,” I told him. “Could you put me down?”

“What are you doing in Unicorn Lane after dark?”

“Apprehending a bunnycat. What are you doing in Unicorn Lane after dark?”

“Looking for you. I got worried when you didn’t come home for dinner. L'ooks like I found you just in time. Again.” He lowered me onto the ruined roof.

“I had it under control.”

“Mm-hm.” He leaned over the bunnycat and kissed me. He tasted just like I remembered, and the feel of his mouth on mine was like coming home out of a dark cold night to a bright warm house.

I put the bunnycat into the pet carrier and we hightailed it off the roof.

• • •

I HOPPED OVER a metal beam covered in pink slime that steamed despite freezing temperatures. The cold wind licked my back through my jacket.

Ahead of me, Curran leaped onto a concrete boulder. For a large man, he was remarkably graceful. “I parked on Fourteenth.”

Mmm, car. Warm nice car. We had come on foot, and right now the car heater sounded heavenly.

Curran stopped. I landed next to him. “What’s up?”

“Remember this?”