Page 88 of The Tracker's Rage
It had been a night I would never forget.
Begrudgingly, Eric stood from the couch and poured himself some champagne. He licked his lips after the first sip, then poured more in his cup, and pestered me with the same question he’d already asked me twice today. “Are you sure the dagger is safe, Sunder?”
“Yes! It is!”Sheesh.
“I won’t feel at ease until the Pack Rule has it in its possession,” he said.
“Maybe it’s safer with me,” I said. “Have you thought about that? Huh?”
Eric gave me a look that seemed to ask“What are you smoking?”
I sighed in irritation. “What if one of those stuffy Rule dudes gets ideas and decides to put the dagger togood use?”
“They won’t do that. They’ll keep it safe.”
“Since when do you trust them?” Damien asked.
Eric glared at the mage.
“He just doesn’t trustme‘cause I’m just a pup,” I said.
“I agree with Eric,” Jake said. “I’ll breathe a lot easier when it’s out of your hands.”
I rolled my eyes. But of course.
“Bernadetta or Stephen could come looking for it, Toni.” Jake’s tone sounded like something he should use on a child, not me.
“I’m not afraid of them,” I said. “Let them come, then I’ll show them a dagger.” I lifted my middle finger, letting a sharp claw spring out.
To my surprise, Eric laughed a full belly laugh, something I’d never heard from him. Damien surreptitiously smiled at his friend, looking pleased to see him so merry.
Eric caught his breath and returned to his seat, champagne in hand. “The Pack Rule meets in only three days, I guess I can trust the pup that long.” He gave me a friendly wink.
In all honesty, I wasn’tthatconfident about keeping the dagger. Stephen didn’t worry me, but the Dark Donna was another story. More than anything, I was counting on their assumption that I wouldn’t be so stupid as to keep the dagger. If anything, they would probably guess Damien had it, and he could hold his own against Bernadetta.
Pushing those gloomy thoughts aside, I turned to Rosalina and clinked my glass to hers. “I still can’t believe you have been training behind my back. You turned into a regular Black Widow or something.”
She gave me a cheeky smile and winked. “I was tired of being left behind all the time, andyougetting to see all the action.”
“Yes, but what about all your common sense and sensibility?”
“I threw them out the window.” She pretended to throw something over her shoulder.
“It doesn’t sound anything like you.”
Her expression sobered. “I know. I guess I was just afraid.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“Afraid to lose my best friend,” she said, her dark eyes locking with mine.
I opened my mouth to argue, but she didn’t let me speak.
“And don’t try to tell me I wouldn’t lose you because, the way things are going, there are two ways for that to happen. One, you decide that running this agency is boring and fighting crime is more exciting. Or two, you get killed because I wasn’t there to protect you.”
I didn’t know what to say to that. I guessed I should’ve realized she would feel this way even if she was partly wrong.
“I could always get killed,” I said. “There’s no shortage of buses in the city, and I could always get hit by one of them, but I would never be bored of our agency. I love working with you. I’m excited to wake up every morning and come here to work with my best friend.”
