Page 16 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
I nearly fell to my knees in relief when I laid eyes on Rosalina’s beautiful face. Her green eyes widened as she saw us. She mouthed my name and made as if to move forward but discovered her feet were rooted to the ground.
Clenching my fist, I stopped myself from running in her direction, and instead, tried to convey through my expression that everything would be all right, that we would take her home to safety, and she would never have to go through anything like this again.
It took a few beats before I glanced at the other two people who had materialized in front of us. One was Gonira. I would never forget those fawn horns and slitted gaze. The other person was someone I would’ve never imagined finding here.
It was Em, Liliana’s neighbor.
How in the hell had she ended up in Mekare’s clutches? It made no sense. My mind raced as I tried to figure it out, but nothing came to me. Except... the day that Makare had walked into the agency pretending to be a customer, Em had been there, too. She’d been asking for my help to convince the police that a monster, a hybrid, had put an end to her neighborandsuburban bliss. Maybe Mekare had assumed we shared some sort of meaningful connection. But how and when had the witch kidnapped her?
“You’re lucky I’m in a good mood,” Mekare’s voice traveled up and down the street as if through an amplifier, tearing my attention from the three women. “You didn’t come alone.”
We scanned the street, trying to spot her, but she was nowhere to be found.
“Up here, dear,” she said.
We tipped our heads back to look at the top of the two-story building. Dressed all in black, the Midnight Witch stood on the edge of the roof. The gossamer fabric of what appeared to be a cape glittered and billowed in the wind. Blond, green, and black hair blew around her as she produced her own wind to give her an eerie aspect.Dramatic much?!
I would’ve liked to say she didn’t impress me, but when she jumped off the ledge and easily floated down to take a spot in front of her three hostages, I couldn’t stop my insides from turning to water.
She let her dark eyes examine my companions. “I guess I can forgive you for bringing these two, and thatpatheticmage,” she said, looking unimpressed and waving her hand in the general direction of where we’d left Damien.
Shit!She knew he was here. I tried not to let my disappointment show. Hehadsaid that she would probably be able to spot him, but could she detect more than that? Could she sense his spell and what it was supposed to hide?
“Well, do you have the cure?” She went to the point.
I patted my breast pocket. “I have it, but first, let them go.” I nodded toward the women behind her.
Mekare waggled a finger at me. “Oh, no, no, no, that’s not how it works. I set the rules, not you.” She paused, letting that sink in, then added with a tone of command, “Bring it here. Now!.”
“No! She’s not going anywhere near you,” Jake spat.
“Do you think I can’t harm her from where I stand?” She cocked her head to one side, putting on an innocent expression. “She already disobeyed me once. Don’t test our patience.”
Our patience?What was she talking about?
Noticing our surprise, she pointed toward the top of the building. At first, there was nothing but the empty roof’s ledge against the backdrop of the midnight sky, but a second later, several shapes stepped forward ruining the view with their ugly mugs.
Hybrids! At least ten of them!
So she’d been busy making more. We should’ve figured she would find werewolves to turn despite the warnings the St. Louis packs had sent out.
I stared in horror at the beasts’ malformed faces with their short snouts, patchy fur, and crazed eyes. My skin itched as Red fought to come to the surface, but not yet.
Mekare crooked her finger and made acome heremotion. Next to me, Jake blew air through his nose, expressing his fury.
“It’s okay,” I said.
He nodded reluctantly, and I took a step forward, clenching the fake cure in my hand. The liquid inside the vial looked exactly as it was supposed to, but I doubted the witch would be content with simply looking at it. She was probably going to open it and smell it, and then she would know we were trying to trick her.
Where was that damn prince?!
I took another step forward, focusing my attention on Rosalina. She appeared scared, but there was something else in her gaze, a fierce darkness that hadn’t been there before. My heart ached, and I feared some essential part of her might be forever altered by whatever had happened since she’d disappeared.
My panic grew with every step. My throat felt tight, and I was itching to shift and rip Mekare to pieces. It was all I could do to keep Red at bay.
She would turn you into a slug before you got within an inch of her throat,I warned her, and there was no doubt she believed it as well as I did.
When I was but a couple of feet away from the Midnight Witch, I stopped and met her gaze. Immediately, she put a hand out, demanding the elixir.
