Page 89 of Haunting the Hunter

“It’s all about timing. I need her to trust that I am on her side. I’ll fill you in on the details when it’s necessary,” he says over his shoulder, tone bored as he exits the room, not giving me the chance to ask anything further. The door clicks shut and I’m alone again—with only the ghost that refuses to leave me.

I don’t trust him and Rosa is unstable—that makes her impulsive, dangerous. The odds of me surviving this are not high and I could accept that if I knew Calli would be safe.

After everything I’ve done… Rosa has every reason to want me dead.

I made myself into a monster so I could end the Covenant, so Calli could be safe, only to end up in the hands of the very people I swore I’d destroy… I failed her when we were kids. I will not fail her now.

I will do what no one else is willing to do. What our parents failed to do.

Let them take my body. Let them tear out what’s left of me. If she survives—if she escapes them—then I’ll die knowing I finally did one thing right.

I am a monster, but I’m the monstertheymade.

And I will make them fucking choke on me.

CHAPTER 27

CALLISTO

Ipace Jack’s office, back and forth so fast I feel the air shifting behind me. The tapping of keys digs into my skull—sharp, repetitive, mocking me.

We’ve been at this all fucking night. Karma is curled up in the spare chair, her little head perked up and tracking my movements.

I’ve ripped through every tracking spell I could find—the scent of incense still clinging to my hair, reminding me of my failure.

None of it worked.

None of it even came close.

I can feel my magic buzzing under my skin with no direction, and I can’t seem to get it to settle.

“Have you found anything, Jack?” I ask again, for what feels like the hundredth time.

“If I find anything, I’ll tell you,” he mutters, exhaling hard—frustration bleeds into his voice, and I know it’s from both the situation and from me.

“Can you at least tell me what you’re doing?” I ask, my tone tight, eyes sharp with my own bubbling emotions.

Jack stops typing and the silence stretches—long and loud enough to press against my eardrums.

“Calli,” he breathes, trying to keep his cool. “I’m trying to pin his last-known location. I’m in Benjamin Teller’s system. I’m combing through everything: logs, messages, even fucking cached browser data. I’ll find something. Justpleaselet me work.”

His voice is controlled, but I hear the undercurrent of words not spoken. He’s scared, too, and he’s trying not to show it.

“They need him alive,” he repeats again. “Take that as a good sign.”

That doesn’t help. Alive doesn’t mean okay, and it sure as hell doesn’t mean safe.

“This isCade, Jack. My brother. And they have him!” My voice cracks, fear a raw and hot thing in my throat. “I can’t just keep sitting here with my thumb up my ass and pretend any of this is going to be okay!”

Jack’s jaw twitches, but he stays locked in place, his fingers flexing on the keys as he watches me unravel before him.

“Benjamin wants out and Cade is his ticket. That means he’s useful. That he’s leverage. We don’t know yet if the Covenant has him or if Ben’s working alone. Something’s blocking me from accessing his full system, but I’ll get through it.”

“You have no idea what’s really going on here, Jack! You have no idea what he’s really up against…” I run my fingers into my hair, gripping the roots as I try not to fall apart.

“What are you talking about, Calli?” Jack asks slowly, eyes sharp on my face in that calculating way of his. “If you know something, you need to tell me.”

I need him to believe me…I think, and even my inner voice is hysterical. He needs to know what we’re really up against. My decision made, I close my eyes and focus—allowing my emotions to take over.