Page 25 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse

“She did?!” I was surprised. She had seemed so out of it, weak like Rosalina, and distressed by the entire ordeal. She had still been asleep on the sofa the last time I looked, appearing as fragile as an orphan child.

“She asked me to call her an Uber.”

As we walked into the kitchen, I made a beeline for the coffee maker. A big pot had already been brewed by some kind soul, and I was thankful I didn’t have to wait to get my fix. I poured two cups and handed one to Jake.

After a few sips, he said, “I asked her how she ended up with Mekare.”

“What did she say?” I asked curiously.

“Well, apparently, she was on her way to see you at the agency to ask if your detective friend had any news about Liliana’s murderer when someone hit her over the head. She said the next thing she remembers is waking up in a dark room.”

“It sounds exactly like Rosalina. Mekare must’ve thought we were close or something.”

We were quiet for a bit. Jake appeared pensive as if there was something on his mind. A few times, he seemed on the verge of speaking but stopped himself. He was acting exactly the way I had before I told Rosalina about the agency.

“Is something the matter?” I asked.

He set his coffee cup down on the counter and took a deep breath. “It’s about the wedding.”

My heart stuttered. I knew where this was going, but I braced myself.

“Craig made good on his threat to move the date up.”

I put my cup down too for fear I would smash it on the floor in a fit of anger. “When?”

“Saturday.”

“Damn it all to hell!” I cried out, stomping a foot on the floor and tearing open my palms as my claws unsheathed themselves into my angry fists.

It was Monday. We only had a few days to figure a way out of Jake’s unbreakable pact. It wasn’t enough! We’d been trying to come up with a plan to perform the spell we’d found in Eric’s book, but finding and rescuing Rosalina had taken precedence.

Jake slammed his fist against the counter. “I tried to buy us more time, tried to convince him there was no hurry, but he’s a stubborn bastard.”

His face contorted with a mixture of anger and deep frustration. There was a certain quality in his eyes that made me suspect he was losing hope. When it came to Rosalina, he’d never allowed doubt to become a factor. He was certain we would find her and made sure my faith didn’t waver. But when it came to his personal situation, he seemed at a complete loss.

I couldn’t allow that.

Reigning in my own feelings of frustration along with my claws, I took his hand in mine. “We’ll figure it out. There’s nothing to stop us now. Rosalina is safe, and I don’t have to worry about the agency or tracking anyone. It’s time we focused onus. Screw everything else that’s going on. Let the police, the packs, and the covens deal with Mekare and her hybrids.”

“What if we can’t find a way to make the spell work, Toni?”

“We will.”

“What if we don’t?”

I shook my head. “You have to stop thinking like that.”

“I couldn’t stand losing you. Life wouldn’t be worth living without you.” He gathered me in his arms so tightly that I had a hard time breathing. His desperation was palpable and crackled all around him, pent-up energy that needed to be spent or else he would implode.

I pulled away from him. “We’ll get right to work. Damien has been doing some research already.”

“I’m such an idiot. If I hadn’t let my grandfather entangle me in his schemes, if I hadn’t allowed him to make me feel so guilty, we wouldn’t be in this mess.”

“Regrets won’t solve anything. Look at me!”

His gaze had lowered to the floor but, at my command, it snapped back to mine.

“Wewillfigure this out.” My voice rang with conviction. I wasn’t going to let the man I loved slip through my fingers.