Page 82 of The Tracker's Secret
The pain sliced through my terror. I inhaled deeply, willing myself to calm down. That was when I understood all I had seen last night, even the things my shock had hidden from me.
Still breathing heavily but more calmly, I glanced up and stared at one of the crates, at the logo. It was the same bleeding heart stamped in the small bag of rhabo Rosalina had retrieved from Damien’s house. And underneath it, words.
Pulse Inc.
I came to gasping for air, my head pounding and a cold sweat sliding down my back. I blinked my eyes open to find three staring faces. Rosalina, Jake, and Damien hovered over me, looking worried.
“Oh, thank the witchlights. Are you all right?” Rosalina pressed a hand to my forehead. “She’s so cold.”
“Let me take her upstairs.” Jake slid his arms under me and picked me up as if I were no more than a child. He bounded up the loft steps. I wanted to protest, to say that I was all right, but my head was so foggy I couldn’t even think of how to shape words.
A moment later, Jake laid me down. Rosalina and Damien appeared at the foot of the bed.
I stared at the mage. “Weren’t you... just trying to kill us?”
Jake’s eyes flicked toward Damien, flashing with a silver sparkle of threat. Suddenly, it occurred to me that if Damien said the wrong thing, he might spill the beans of my secret to Jake. I bit my lower lip, praying the mage held his tongue.
“Kill you?” Damien said. “No, why would I try to kill you? I just wanted to find out who sent you to snoop on me.”
“You busted my hardwoods.” I sat up, but my head started swimming, so I collapsed back down on the pillow.
The mage rolled his eyes. “Truth spells are not meant to be used on oak. Besides, you going all glowy with blue magic was far more interesting.”
I frowned at Rosalina. “What is he talking about?”
She shrugged. “I don’t know. You told me to hide.”
I turned to Jake. He was frowning, looking concerned. “I saw it, too. Magic just started crackling all over your body,” he said. “Then you fell to the floor, seizing. It was scary as hell. I thought...” He didn’t finish, but I had the feeling he’d been about to say“I thought you were dying.”
I sat up again, more slowly this time. I lowered my feet to the floor and squeezed my eyes tightly, trying to dispel the wave of dizziness that overtook me.Shit, the whole room was tumbling like a washing machine.
Then it all came rushing back to me. I gasped.
“What is it?” Jake knelt by my side, placing a hand on my knee.
I met his gaze. “I know where Blake is.”
“Blake?” Damien echoed. “Are you talking about Blake Foster? Is that who sent you?!” he demanded, growing angry again.
Jake stretched to his full height and leaned threateningly in the mage’s direction.
Damien cracked his knuckles. “You want me to punch you again, I see.”
A growl sounded in the back of Jake’s throat.
I rose to my feet, a little wobbly but not dizzy anymore. “Hold your horses, you two. Let’s talk about this before you cause more destruction. Please, everybody, sit and calm down.”
Jake huffed. I touched his arm and glanced toward the bed. He sat down reluctantly. I joined him while Rosalina sat on the papasan chair, and Damian pulled a wooden chair from the corner.
“To answer your question,” I said calmly, “Blake didn’t send us. No one did. Rosalina and I just wanted to learn more about rhabo. We have a client and his mate is dying from using the drug. Jake told me that you might be involved with the drug trade somehow, so we took it upon ourselves to find out, hoping that you might know of a way to fight the effects of the drug.”
“You thinkI’minvolved in the trade of rhabo?” the mage asked, appalled.
“Well, aren’t you? You had a mountain of it in your house.” Rosalina glared at him, sounding indignant.
“That was not mine. I took it from a werewolf who was selling it to young vampires out of the trunk of his vehicle.”
“You did?” Rosalina’s question sounded hopeful, and she seemed ready to believe him. I, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure.
