Page 96 of The Tracker's Revenge
I snuck out of bed, careful not to make a sound. Out in the main living area, things were pretty much the same with Jake, asleep on his back, the book resting on his chest as if he’d fallen asleep in the middle of reading. To my surprise, I found Blaze curled up next to him. They looked like best buddies.
Yep, weird is the word.
On my way to the bathroom, I grabbed my duffel bag, ready for a hot shower. I’d been worried the plumbing in the cabin might not be up to standard, but the water was perfect and helped ease yesterday’s tension and prepare me for the day ahead. As usual, I wasn’t looking forward to the trance and its side effects. All I could hope for was that it would go fast, and I wouldn’t lose my senses for very long.
When I was done showering and went out dressed in a comfortable pair of shorts and a T-shirt, the others were already up. Rosalina and Jake were busy at the stove, frying eggs.
“Good morning,” they said in unison.
Rosalina kept her focus on the food, but Jake paused and checked me out, his thick eyebrows arching as he admired my legs.
“You look... comfortable,” he said.
“I feel... comfortable,” I replied with a wicked grin.
“Spare me,” Eric huffed from the small kitchen table, his nose buried inBlood Treaties: My life in France. “I’m afraid this cabin won’t be a safe place to hide for much longer.”
“Huh?” I frowned at him.
He set the book on the table. “I mean that I’ll lose it with all this syrupy romance, and I’ll kill everyone in sight.”
I might’ve laughed at the joke, except for the fact that Eric had already lost it once in his lifetime, and it had resulted in the annihilation of an entire pack.
Jake seemed about to say something but sagely returned his attention to scraping burnt spots from overly brown pieces of toast. He could be an impulsive idiot, but sometimes he actually thought about the consequences of his actions. He had a couple of promises to keep, and it was just smart not to poke the vengeful wolf.
I padded into the kitchen area and procured plates from the shelves and silverware from a rickety drawer. Once we were seated on the table with enough scrambled eggs for twenty Stales, Eric set the book aside.
“I think it could work,” he said.
My ears perked up. “What could work?”
Jake stepped closer, a frown line on his forehead. “I think... I might have found a way to break the pact.”
“Really?!”
He nodded. “It won’t be easy, but I’m willing to do what it takes.”
Why had his gaze darkened?
Eric sighed tiredly. “This is not the priority. Same as your trance.”
Witchlights!He wouldn’t know sympathy if it chomped on his werewolf tail. I hated to get derailed from Jake’s important news, but I went on the defense, opting to get the details from Jake later. This topic concerned only us, anyhow. Jake might have asked Eric’s opinion on whether or not what the book said would work, but ultimately, this didn’t involve Eric’s grumpy ass.
“These thingsare still important to us and need to be done,” I bit back.
Sticking a fork-full of eggs into his mouth, he rolled his eyes and mumbled, “Sure, but one thing at a time and in order of priority. I very much miss my old life, and I would like to get back to normal as soon as possible.”
“Life? What life? You mean the one where you’re a cynical hermit?” I said.
Rosalina sucked in a breath and exchanged a panic glance with Jake. Clearly, they didn’t think that talking to the murdering werewolf in that tone was such a good idea, but honestly, I was tired of Eric and his crotchety ways. Just when I thought he’d made progress, he would take two steps back!
“That very same one,” he replied with an expression that seemed to suggest he was very proud of that life, which kind of took the wind of my sails. “I didn’t get rid of everyone so I could get stuck with the likes of you.”
“What’s crawled up your butt?”
He narrowed his eyes and, without a word, continued eating his eggs. Maybe he was just irritable in the mornings. Sometimes I wondered why I tried so hard with him.
Eric refocused his attention on Jake. “While Toni does her tracking trance, how about you and I do some reconnaissance? Make sure everything is safe. Also, we’ll need more provisions, and there’s a small town a few miles north.”
