Page 73 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse
“I’m Marcus Hillworth.” My half-brother introduced himself. His shoulder-length blonde hair was pulled back into a ponytail like Olivia’s, which made him look like her twin.
A few more introductions went around. The wiry guy with Ulfen was called Patrick, and the big guy, Ben. The alpha with Jake introduced himself as Khal. Then it was our turn to share our names.
“Aren’t you the Copper Mage who died?” Marcus asked after Damien introduced himself with a flourish of his top hat.
The mage rolled his eyes. It seemed he was getting tired of being recognized asthe Copper Mage who died.
“I am,” he said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “But I resurrected.”
Marcus laughed, not believing a word of it.
I shook my head. Clearly, Damien was working on being known asthe Copper of Mage who resurrected, instead—even if that wasn’t exactly what he’d done.
I scanned every face, wondering how much we could rely on these people. I trusted my team. We’d been through enough together, but could we trust these newcomers? We were twelve in total. We had discussed attacking with bigger numbers, but in the end, we decided that stealth and the element of surprise would be to our advantage. If we approached with a full-on army, Mekare would likely spot it and flee.
Olivia caught me looking at her. As our gazes connected, I noticed a certain gravity in her expression. When I first met her, she had seemed haughty and intent on letting me know she was better than me. But now, I detected something else in her manner, something tentative and curious. Had Travis told her who I was? I glanced away, pushing those worries aside. I had to get my head in the game. I couldn’t let anything distract me.
One thing at a time, Toni.
“Ready?” Jake asked.
Everyone nodded.
“Groups of at least two, all right? No one should fight by themselves. These hybrids are incredibly hard to take down. It’s not smart to go at it alone.” He looked at his wristwatch. “We storm the place at oh-one-hundred.”
Damien checked his watch, a silver piece with a wide band, very expensive-looking, then inclined his wrist in my direction, so I could read the time. We had a little more than twenty minutes to make it to the warehouse. We would all approach from different directions under the protection of one of Damien’s spells, while Eric Rosalina, Patrick, and Ben created at distraction.
“Be careful, Rosalina,” I said.
“You, too. Make her suffer if you find her before I do.” She winked, leaving me wondering whether or not she was serious.
Her team got in Eric’s van, while the rest of us scattered, slinking under the shadows of the abandoned building and making our way toward the warehouse.
“You don’t need to walk crouching,” Damien said as he strolled as if he were in a park. “My spell is keeping you hidden.”
I straightened, feeling foolish. “Are you sure?”
“Positive. Last time, she didn’t detect Bernadetta’s vampires, which means my concealment spells are effective against whatever surveillance magic she’s using.”
“Yes, but we’re not dead.”
“I made some modifications to account for that. I suspect she uses the Wozniak variation. Nothing fancy or of her own creation, so in this area, I’m certain I’m better than her.”
“The what variation?” I had no idea what he was talking about.
“Wozniak, a German mage came up with it. There are certain standards when it comes to magic. At first, mages and witches learn the basics in a variety of subjects in order to be capable, kind of like... learning to play chess. After that, depending on our inclinations, we delve deeper into certain topics. In my case, I was always interested in potions. They simply fascinate me. If you’re really good, you come up with unique techniques.”
That explained how he’d been able to create rhaboandthe cure.
“What do you think Mekare specializes in?” I asked.
Damien thought for a moment. “I’ve been trying to figure that out for some time. You know that trick where she turns to smoke?”
I nodded. “She’s really good at that.”
“Yes, she is. I will admit it’s not something I care to master since it involves... dealing with branches of magic too dark for my taste. There is more than one way to accomplish what she does, and I haven’t figured out which way she’s using. It is a common trait for my kind to keep this sort of thing secret from others. It gives us an edge. Plus, we like an air of mystery about us.”
“I can tell.” I gave his cloak a sidelong glance. After a moment of silence, I said, “I hope Jake and Rosalina are all right.”
