Page 68 of The Stolen Dagger

“Katherine?” Drew asked, his voice far off. “Are you still there?”

“Yeah,” I replied and put the phone back to my ear. “Sorry. Leah is calling me.”

“Leah?” Drew asked, just as perplexed as I was. “Shouldn’t she be in class right now?”

She was. She never called during class.

“It must be important,” Drew said. “Either way, I’ll be there in ten.”

“No, wait—” I said, but he had already hung up.

I sighed, missing my chance at a clean escape. Leah’s name flashed across the phone again for the third time, and I answered it.

“Leah? Everything okay?”

The deep male voice that answered made my stomach churn.

“Guess again, cupcake.”

CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE

KATHERINE

Guess again, cupcake.

Those three little words were like a nightmare come to life. No matter how hard I pinched myself, I couldn’t pull myself out of the terror.

“Hunter,” I whispered. My hand shook as I struggled to keep the phone pressed against my ear.

“Too bad we couldn’t finish our conversation earlier,Emilia,” he grumbled. “I’ll have to try something else to get your attention. Does this work?”

A piercing scream tore through the phone speaker.

Leah.

Angry tears prickled behind my eyelids. The agony in her raspy cry echoed in my mind and fueled my rage.

“Don’t you dare hurt her!” I shouted, desperate to to help Leah.

Hunter chuckled, and the wicked sound sent a chill through my body.

“I won’t. Not yet. As long as you bring me the dagger,” Hunter goaded, “your friend will be fine.”

The dagger!I didn’t have the stupid dagger. But Hunter couldn’t know that. Maybe if I explained to him where the dagger might be, he would let her go and take me instead.

“But, you know, I’m not a very patient man,” Hunter continued. “Don’t keep me waiting, Emilia, or I might do something you won’t like.”

Soft cries sounded in the background of the call.

“Isn’t that right, sweet thing?” Hunter growled before another scream sounded.

“Okay!” I relented, desperate to stop this. “Okay. Just don’t hurt her. Where can I meet you?”

Hunter hummed in satisfaction. “We’ll be waiting at your apartment. Bring the dagger. Don’t tell your boyfriend either, or the girl dies.”

The call ended. The silence was deafening.

My lungs expanded, but it was difficult to breathe. I squeezed my eyes shut to stop the overflow of tears.