Page 13 of How to Charm a Coven (How to Flirt with a Witch #2)

I fight the urge to perch forward and ask him to spill everything he knows. Every second counts if I want to avoid ending up in my own cell, but the man clearly needs rest more than he needs my interrogation.

“It’s been fun watching the Madsens—get twisted about catching it.” He shifts with a wince. “They haven’t caught a single one, and not for lack of trying.”

Natalie, Sky, and I exhale in relief. More proof that setting the chimeras free was right, even if the coven doesn’t see it that way.

And now you have to catch them all again, my inner voice taunts—but I tamp it down. There’ll be plenty of time to be anxious about that in a minute.

“Did they want you to tell them how to harness it?” Sky asks tightly, like she’s not sure if she wants the answer.

“I damn near did, hoping they’d let me out.” He laughs bitterly, which turns into a coughing fit.

Sky offers him water, but he jerks his chin.

“They’d promised that before.” He frowns, gazing blankly at the far wall. “But when you’re at rock bottom…with nothing to gain by telling them how to end the world… Figured if I was going to die, might as well die keeping one last secret from them.”

Sky swipes at her eyes and squeezes her dad’s arm.

A chill slides down my spine as I think of what I once witnessed—Millie raising her bloody palms toward a chimera, symbols etched into them. The final step to embodying bio magic that the Madsens would kill for.

“Mr. Zacharias?” My voice comes out small as all eyes turn to me.

“Call me Troy,” he says, those familiar dark eyes studying me .

“Troy.” I lean forward, my heart pounding. “What are the chances they could find out through some other means? Are the steps recorded anywhere?”

He shakes his head, then winces at the movement. “We never write down instructions that could be so apocalyptic if leaked. It’s all passed verbally…and only to those who need to know.”

I nod. For once, the coven’s need-to-know rules are working with me instead of against me. At least, I think they are. Will he share information with me?

Time to cut to the chase. Every word seems to drain more of his strength.

“Can you tell me how—”

The door swings open, and Fiona appears. “Troy. Can I borrow your daughters?”

Natalie and Sky exchange a look but don’t budge.

My shoulders tense. What could she want so desperately that she would interrupt a hospital visit with their father?

Troy dips his chin.

“Come on,” Fiona says sharply. “The others are waiting for a mission recap.”

They rise and sweep out of the room, Natalie’s hand brushing over my waist as she passes.

“We need a division to guard the elementary school in case that rhino comes back,” Fiona tells Sky as they pass through the double doors. “I won’t have another injured child on my watch.”

Before I can process what’s happening, the doors swing shut, and I’m alone with Natalie’s dad.

Oh God. Do I leave? Do I make awkward conversation until Natalie returns—however long that takes?

“I hear you and Nat are an item,” Troy says.

Yep, I should’ve run when I had the chance .

I shift in my chair, wondering if I can somehow melt into it. “Yes.”

“Is it serious?”

Heat floods my face. Wow, okay. “We—we haven’t had time to talk about that.”

“But do you think it is?”

I wasn’t planning on telling Natalie’s dad before Natalie herself, but something in his direct gaze pulls the truth from me. I nod.

He studies me for a long moment, then dips his chin. “Good. Nat deserves that.”

A light, tingly feeling fills me.

“She brought you here for a reason…” He closes his eyes as if gathering strength. His scarred, lined face makes him look decades older. “I suspect you need the wisdom of a Tracker.”

“I do. I have to capture all fifty-six chimeras we set free.”

“Ever think you shouldn’t have set them free in the first place?”

“I had no choice,” I say, unable to keep the defensive note out of my voice. “We were handing them to the Madsens on a platter.”

Troy’s chest rises and falls. He opens his eyes with a grimace of pain, his permanently curled fingers twitching. “I know. I believe you.”

I study him, trying to read his sincerity. Is he on my side or Fiona’s? Or is it more complicated than that?

“So how does a person go about capturing a chimera?” I ask.

The corner of his mouth lifts. “Is this a need-to-know thing?”

“Very much so.”

The half-smile disappears, a deep frown creasing his face. “I sure as hell want you to find them before the Madsens do.”

A low hum hits my ears—my phone is buzzing in my bag on the floor.

“Don’t we all,” I say bitterly, nudging my bag as if that’ll shut my phone up. Whoever it is can wait until I’m done getting answers that could change the course of my life .

“A lotta intuition involved,” Troy says. “Trusting your gut. Tapping into a sense that not everyone possesses. That’s why not everyone is cut out for it.” His haunted eyes lock onto mine, a silent question about what I can do.

My heart skips. Finally, someone who understands how valuable my ability is.

So why are the witches determined to cast me out? I’ve proven myself useful, even risked my life. It’s not fair that I have to fight this hard to belong.

My phone stops buzzing, then starts up again. I nudge my bag aside and perch forward. “When I’m near magic, it’s as if it’s pulling me closer. It’s like this… urgency inside me. Is that what it’s like for you too?”

A crease appears between his unruly eyebrows. His fingers twitch as if remembering what it was like to do magic. “Yes. Sensing it… Feeling it… That’s the first step to catching it.”

“What happens after I find one?” I ask, trying to tamp down the memory of the rampaging bear that almost ate me last time I came face-to-face with a chimera.

“You’ll need magical help to catch it.”

The buzzing stops again.

“Same vials used for curses?” I ask.

A wry smile crosses his face. “That stuff works about as well as a tranquilizer gun.”

I stare at him, wondering how well a tranquilizer gun works on a monster.

“Not at all,” he adds, reading my expression. “No, you catch it by doing whatever it takes. It can turn into a real rodeo.”

My phone starts up again. I focus on what Troy is telling me, imagining trying to lasso any of the creatures that terrorized Gastown in February. “But they’re shapeshifters. They’d just morph the second someone throws something at them. ”

“Exactly.” His eyes gleam. “Ever try to trap a deer only to have it transform into a wasp and buzz away? Frustrating as hell.”

Well, shit.

He studies me for a long time, seeming to debate his next words.

“We have special equipment.” He pauses, drawing a deep breath to gather strength. “Trackers have been perfecting nets for centuries. Subdues magic better than anything. Now, I destroyed mine when the Madsens captured me… Couldn’t let ’em have it. But I’ve got a spare. I told Nat where it is.”

“Nets?” I picture myself running around swinging one. “What, like a butterfly net?”

A gravelly laugh escapes his throat. “More like a fishing net.”

“And I just throw it on the chimera?”

“You’ll need earth magic to trap it. Funnel it toward you.”

Earth magic. Of course. Once again, I’ll be relying on Natalie and other more capable people to do the heavy lifting.

“Make it panic. Force it to change form,” Troy continues. “The more it shapeshifts in a short amount of time, the weaker it gets. Keep at it until you’re close enough—”

The door flies open with a bang that makes me jump.

Natalie bursts in, breathing hard. “Katie, Hazel’s been trying to reach you. There’s a chimera on the beach in White Rock.”

I leap to my feet and look at Troy, my heart skipping. Now? Already? God, Hazel’s prediction was right!

Troy must read my hesitation. “Go before you lose it,” he says firmly, and there’s a flash of the confident, strong Tracker he once was. “We’ll talk more when you bring it back to me.”

“But… We’ve barely scratched the surface…”

“It’s enough. Get that butterfly net ready, kid.”