Page 15 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
If we gave her the elixir, she would get rid of Bernadetta Fiore, and if we didn’t, she would get her revenge against us. We had thwarted her efforts against the Dark Donna, and she hated us for it. She wanted the vamp dead, and Damien had gone and offered Bernadetta the cure in exchange for helping them find me after Mekare took me from the cabin—not that we’d hurried to deliver it.
“So is there anything at all we can do to prepare?” I asked.
“Of course there is,” Damien said, appearing at the door.
“Where the hell were you?” Eric asked.
“Preparing, of course.” He waltzed in, discarding his top hat and cloak on a side table. “I have a plan, and you need to help me polish it to perfection.”
* * *
DRIVING WITH HIS HEADLIGHTSoff, Eric’s Mercedes rolled slowly up the road. We were a couple of blocks from the agency and had no trouble finding a parking space. Damien parked behind us, driving separately in a second car. Eric shut the engine off, and we got out and convened on the sidewalk, no one saying a word.
We all knew the plan. We’d discussed it until we could recite it by heart. I had no idea if it would work, but I felt glad we had one, especially since Prince Kalyll hadn’t made an appearance at Eric’s house.
I checked my watch. We were fifteen minutes early. I had told Captain Loraerris that if Kalyll couldn’t make it to Eric’s place, he should meet us at the agency. There was still time, and I was doing my best not to lose hope.
Damien reached out a hand and deposited a small vial in my palm. It was filled with a clear glittery liquid that looked exactly like the rhabo cure. The mage had concocted it in Eric’s kitchen using water, sugar, clove, and a slight touch of magic. He said the scent might be able to fool Mekare into thinking it contained bitterthorn. Though, he doubted it. He seemed to have a healthy degree of respect for the witch. She had bested him, after all. It scared me to see the uncertainty in his copper eyes. He’d never been anything but confident. But when it came to Mekare Graves, it was a different story.
My heart knocked inside my chest with wild ferocity. I kept thinking of Rosalina somewhere nearby. She must be so scared. I feared the witchy bitch had hurt her. I feared my friend might not be the same after the ordeal, but mainly, I was afraid she would be done with me. Everything that had happened was my fault. If she hadn’t met me, she would’ve never started a hopeless business that did nothing more than getting her into debt and a heap of trouble.
Jake leaned close and gently deposited a kiss on my temple, then whispered in my ear. “Rosalina is fine. I feel it in my bones.” He pulled away, his silver gaze locking with mine.
Whereas I saw only caution in Damien’s eyes and calculation in Eric’s, Jake’s gaze showed me self-assurance and resolve. I had no idea where he got his inner strength, but I was grateful for it because it gave me the confidence I needed to stand firm and do what needed to be done. I would crumble if I lost hope.
“She is,” I said, willing every cell in my body to believe it and finding that I did. No other alternative was possible.
When there were only five minutes left until midnight, Eric, Jake, and I started walking toward the agency. Damien stayed behind as part of the plan, and he quickly started weaving his hands in the air, crafting a spell.
Eric was on my left and Jake on my right. Our steps synchronized of their own accord. If it had been a movie, there would have been badass music playing as we advanced in slow motion.
Because wewerebadasses.
The effect was probably spoiled by my darting gaze, which kept searching, trying to spot Prince Kalyll. I imagined him running in my direction and bringing the cure back to me in the nick of time, but there was no sign of him.
In truth, I didn’t want to have to be a badass tonight.
All I wanted was to make the exchange exactly as Mekare wanted it. I would hand over the cure. She would let her hostages go. And I would run to embrace my friend in the tightest of hugs while blissful relief washed over me.
But without the real elixir in my possession, there was no hope for a peaceful resolution. There would be a fight, no question about it. Hopefully, the fake cure would buy us some time, though.
Turning the corner at Giovanni’s Pizzeria, we marched down the middle of the street that crossed in front of the agency. At this hour, it was deserted—all the businesses closed and no cars parked by the sidewalks.
Heart in my throat, my attention immediately homed in on the second to last building on the left. The place looked just as peaceful as all the others, the windows dark, the door closed. I threw a panicked glance at Jake. Had the witch left when she realized I hadn’t come alone?
God!Had I messed everything up by refusing to listen to these stubborn men?
A sickening feeling tightened my stomach, and my legs began to tremble. Cold sweat slid down my back, and only Jake’s hand in the small of my back allowed me to keep walking.
“Rosalina is fine. I feel it in my bones.”His words echoed inside my head, and I held on to them for dear life.
When we reached the front of the agency, we turned to face it, peering into the darkened interior. Nothing stirred inside.
“Where is she?” I whispered.
But before anyone ventured a guess, white-blue light sprang from the sidewalk and rose upward. A few blinding flashes made me squint as they crackled on the building’s façade. Through my lashes, I saw shapes forming behind the random blasts of energy, which dissipated as they climbed past the second floor.
When the light show was over, three women stood in front of the agency, facing us.
