Page 2 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
I shrugged. “I don’t know anything about any evidence.”
“And what about Walter Knight’s death, do you know anything about that? He was your boyfriend’s grandfather.”
“I know it’s been rough on Jake. It was an untimely death.”
“Why was he killed?”
“I don’t know. Stephen Erickson killed him.”
“But now Stephen is dead and you said...” he looked down at his notes, which he’d started scribbling furiously as soon as I started spilling the beans, “Mekare Graves killed him.”
“She did. I guess you’ll have to ask her why they decided to kill an old man.”
I couldn’t tell Tom about the Unholy Vessel. I had been sworn to secrecy at Wolfskeep. Still, he needed to know about the possibility that hybrids might become a problem, that packs of innocent werewolves might be turned into monsters we had no other choice but to kill. He knew about their existence. One of them had killed Liliana Ward, Damien’s daughter. Em, Liliana’s neighbor, and I had prompted him to look into her murder, though he’d discovered nothing, except another crime scene scrubbed of all evidence—Mekare’s doing for sure. Mages and witches were handy like that.
“You sure you don’t know anything about Walter Knight’s death?” Tom pressed.
“I’m sure.” I kept my face impassive as I answered his question. It surprised me how easy lying to him was becoming.
“I don’t know why you don’t trust me, kiddo. Perhaps, you’re not at liberty to speak.” He cocked his head to one side, encouraging me to acknowledge his comment.
I thought of lying again, but there was no point, he understood. So I gave him a small nod. He knew Skews had their ways. He knew that the goings-on in our city had taken me into the heart of the werewolf community.
Tom shook his head, his expression full of regret. “I appreciate you confiding in me,” he said, to my surprise. “I know it must not be easy. I won’t speak of your involvement in any of this with anyone. By my job and duties, it’s wrong of me. But it’s right by you, and that’s what matters most to me. Be careful, though. There are others who wouldn’t think twice about bringing you in.”
Tears pooled in my eyes, and it took a monumental effort to hold them back. “Thank you, Tom.” I walked to the door, but before I left I offered him a warning. “I think... I think things are about to get very bad. That Midnight Witch is dangerous and can control those monsters, the hybrids. I think soon she’ll make a move, and she may have an army of her own to use against us.”
Tom had looked grim at my words, which let me know they had sunk in. “I’ll keep my eyes open,” he’d said as I left his office.
Now, I shook away the memories, put on my arrow bracelet, and pocketed the heavy metal key Prince Kalyll had given me. It belonged to Gonira, his cousin, and the person I would be tracking today. I had put off trying to find her, just as I had put off tracking Mr. Taylor’s mate. The man was the only customer the agency had, and probably also the last. In fact, I was going to call him today and tell him we wouldn’t be able to work with him due to unforeseen circumstances.
Since my run-in with Mekare and my recovery after she tried to turn me into a charred piece of grilled meat, I’d spent all my energy searching for Rosalina. I’d tried to track her several times, all with the same result. Nothing, not even a small spark of light, a minor scraping sound, or the faintest scent. Every time it had been as if I was tracking a dead person, but I refused to believe she was gone. I knew magic was involved. Mekare was concealing my friend’s location from me. The witch knew I would be looking for Rosalina. She knew I would never give up. But more importantly, she knew that my friend’s absence was killing me. The witch hated me, and I had no doubt she was enjoying torturing me.
Gonira’s key was heavy in my pocket. As I left the bedroom, I berated myself yet again, wishing I’d thought of tracking the Fae female earlier. I had been so focused on Rosalina, that it hadn’t occurred to me that finding Gonira might lead me to the Midnight Witch. Gonira had been working with Bernadetta and Stephen from the beginning, so there was a chance she was still with Mekare—a small one, perhaps, but still a chance. For all I knew, the Fae had been loyal to Mekare and not the others.
Jake had thought of questioning the Dark Donna about Gonira, the only problem... the vamp was keeping to herself, and said that she’d see us when we had the cure with us and we’d better hurry if we didn’t want to face her wrath. Or more likely her coven’s wrath since rhabo was slowly turning her into a withered husk.
She’d actually used the word “wrath.” But I wasn’t intimidated by it. Lately, there was only one thing I feared, and it wasnotfinding Rosalina.
It wasn’t as if the Donna could kill me. If she did, she would be signing her own death sentence. No one except Jake and I knew where the leftover cure was, and even if she found out, Prince Kalyll wouldn’t turn it over to anyone else but me. So it was a catch-22 for the vamp.
I left the room and meandered through the large house on my way to the kitchen. As usual, Eric was already there, drinking coffee and scrambling eggs. From the smell of it, this morning, he also made bacon. He wore a sleeveless gray shirt that was stained with triangular patterns of sweat at the neck and back. His dark brown hair was wet around her ears. It didn’t seem like he skipped a day of training no matter what was going on in his life. He hadn’t asked me to join him again, though. He’d been uncharacteristically gentle, but I had a feeling he was losing his patience. Maybe, once I recovered from today’s trance, I would join him again. It would do me good.
“Good morning,” I said as I filled a cup of coffee with his strong brew.
“Hey.” He nodded as he plated a mountain of eggs and several strips of bacon. “Here.” He offered me the food, his blue eyes assessing me.
I blinked at the platter. It was huge. Normally, my appetite was big but not this much.
“Umm, thanks.” I took the hefty breakfast and walked to the table with it.
“I didn’t know how much energy you would need for your trance.” He served his own plate, which contained half the amount mine did.
“This is great. Thank you.” I doubted I would be able to eat everything, but I decided to give it my best try. Red was a pig most of the time. Besides, I didn’t want to discourage any civilized gestures from him. He was making strides, acting more personable than the ogre I’d met in the beginning.
“Gah!” someone said as they entered the kitchen, startling me. “I swear a layer of grease jumped on my face as soon as I walked in here.”
I blinked up at Damien, who had just stormed into the kitchen, apparently materialized out of thin air. “Where did you come from?”
