Page 92 of The Tracker's Dawn: Sunderverse

“Only a couple of hours.” She gave me a big smile. “C’mon, I made spaghetti and meatballs.”

My stomach growled at that, surprising me.

Rosalina laughed. “I guess that’s my answer.” She headed out of the bedroom at a clipped pace. “There is a big bowl with your name on it, and a huge wedge of Parmesan to grate on top.”

Parmesan! Yum!

Why didn’t she lead with that? She knew how much I loved good cheese, and Parmesan was one of my favorites. There was also feta and asiago and gruyere and pecorino. The list went on and on.

When I walked out of the room, there was no sign of her in the hall. Whenever she took charge of something, she was all business.

In the kitchen, I found everyone milling about. They were chatting, pouring drinks, serving noodles, and ladling sauce on top of them. Jake had a grater in one hand and a wedge of Parmesan cheese in the other. Lucia walked up to him and presented her plate to him. He went to town grating until she had a thick layer of cheese on her food.

The mood in the room was upbeat, and it clashed with mine completely.

“What’s going on?” I said, sensing something had changed.

Lucia perked up and turned to look at me. “Oh, nothing, just that I showed that demon who’s boss. For over five minutes. And Damien said that should be more than enough to get the curse out of Jake.” Her tone was smug, and not to mention her expression.

“What?! You tried again without my permission?!” I demanded. “Jake?!”

He put both hands up, holding the grater and cheese above his head. “Don’t look at me. I’d come up here to help Rosalina with lunch.”

Lucia glowered at me. “News flash, Toni, I don’t need your permission. I’m eighteen, and neither you, Mom, Daniella, or Leo can tell me what to do. When are you going to get that into your thick heads?”

I seethed with anger, but there was nothing I could say because she was right. WhenIturned eighteen, I didn’t listen to anyone.

I whirled to face Damien. “You should know better!”

“Should I?” he asked, cocking his head to one side.

My mouth opened and closed as I struggled with what to say. He was the same damn mage who had repeatedly put a restraining curse on my wolf for twenty years, so what else could I expect?

“You’re wasting your anger, Sunder,” Eric said. “This is what you and loverboy wanted.”

“Exactly! Thank you!” Rosalina exclaimed, walking to the table to dig into her spaghetti.

Huh? This? From her?!

There were a few seconds of silence, then slowly everyone resumed what they’d been doing while I just stood there watching them cast furtive glances in my direction. Slowly, my outrage subsided. Eric was right. This was the reason I’d called Lucia here. Now I was upset because she’d accomplished it?

“Here.” Rosalina pushed a large bowl of spaghetti into my hands. I took it to Jake who, knowing my love for cheese, promptly started grating a layer a lot thicker than the one he’d given Lucia. He held my gaze as he topped my plate withyumminessand smiled.

“I know it wasn’t right, what they did,” he said under his breath, “but...” His lower lip trembled with emotion.

“I’m glad they did it. All will be as it should be.”

“Thank you,” Lucia mumbled righteously, a lump of food squirreled away in her cheek.

I ignored her and pressed a hand to Jake’s cheek. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

Eric groaned. “Don’t make me regret helping you.”

Everyone laughed, except for Eric, of course.

A moment later, we were all sitting at the table, enjoying the delicious food and amazing company. The mood was light and hopeful, and it felt incredible. Despite everything else that was going on, knowing that Jake would be free from the pact meant everything. I knew there were still risks, that something could go wrong. We were messing with demons, and it was not child’s play. But, with Damien in charge, I felt confident everything would be all right. The man had resurrected, for Pete’s sake.