Page 113 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse

“You don’t have to do this,” she said.

“I know.”

“You did the right thing.”

“I know.”

She reached over and gave my hand a squeeze. “And either way it goes today, you’re doing the right thing again.”

That was exactly why I was here. After almost dying, my perspective about a lot of things had changed. I didn’t want any regrets. It was the reason I had told Tom the truth, and the reason I was here.

Our phones dinged at the same time. We picked them up in unison and checked our messages.

“It’s Jake,” I said.

“It’s Damien,” she said.

We smiled and then said at the same time, “They got it!”

I raised my hand for a high five, she hit it with gusto. It was damn good news. Jake, Eric, and Damien had gone to what they believed had been Mekare’s true hideout, and, thanks to the witchlights, they’d found the Unholy Vessel.

Using a strand of the witch’s hair Damien had a friend track the place. The friend was a different kind of tracker—one who, given an object from a mark, could trace the last few places that person had visited. It seemed one of the locations turned out to be the right one. He’d also tracked that pesky demon earlier today, so this was the cherry on top.

“I’m glad your boyfriend thinks of everything,” I told Rosalina. He’d cut a section of Mekare’s hair before the police arrived, planning ahead.

We sat in silence for a moment. A string of words crowded my mouth and before I talked myself out of it, I asked the question that had been on my mind since Mekare blew up our agency.

“Do you think... rebuilding the agency is a good idea?”

Rosalina did a double-take of surprise. “What kind of question is that? Of course, it’s worth it! Don’t tell me you’re having second thoughts.”

“No, I’m not, but I was worried you might. It wasn’t going too well.”

“Toni, it can take from two to three years for a business to become profitable. We were in diapers. Of course, we’ll rebuild.”

We’ll rebuild!My heart jumped for joy. I laughed like an idiot, relieved that she hadn’t given up on our dream. I hadn’t either, but it meant the world that she was still vested.

“I was afraid you might decide to join a mercenary squad instead,” I joked.

She laughed, shaking her head.

“But you’re okay, right?” While I was at it, I could vent all my concerns. “Mekare didn’t turn your soul into a shriveled mushroom? And you’re not going to need to go allKill Billevery blue moon?”

“What are you talking about?” She looked truly puzzled.

“Um, nothing! Forget I ever said anything.” It seemed I’d been worrying for no reason. I hadn’t seen that darkness in her eyes in the last couple of days, so it seemed she was back to normal.

“Hey, that’s them!” she said, suddenly pointing out of the window.

I followed her finger and saw Travis and Marcus walking side by side. They were both dressed in suits, ready to take over board meetings everywhere.

Steeling myself, I hopped out of the car and took a few tentative steps in their direction. I almost turned back to the car, but Red reminded me that alphas didn’t do that. So I squared my shoulders and marched forward firmly.

As soon as I caught their scent in the air, they caught mine and glanced sharply at me. A part of me expected them to bare their teeth, grimace, or at least slightly cringe. They did none of those things.

“Hi,” I said, stopping a few paces away in front of them.

Marcus replied with a friendly enoughhellowhile Travis only inclined his head.