The Tracker's Mate: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 1) by Ingrid Seymour (book recommendations website TXT) 📕

I don’t need to remind you that if you find out anything important, you should communicate it to the department immediately.”

“That’s right, you don’t have to remind me.”

The detective shook his head. “I see you haven’t changed one bit, which I’m afraid doesn’t bode well for either of us.”

Jake didn’t bother to contradict him. Instead, he gave him one of his crooked, signature smiles—the ones that melted hearts and scorched lingerie.

Tom turned fatherly eyes in my direction. “Sorry, this happened, kid. We’ll see what we can find out about that mage and Beetlejuice. I’ll keep you posted.”

I nodded. “Thank you.”

“Bernadetta Fiore sent them,” Jake said.

Tom’s eyes narrowed. “It’s not wise to throw accusations without proof.”

Jake huffed.

Tom turned to me. “I would assign you a police escort, but we’re short-staffed. Why don’t you stay with me tonight?”

“It’s fine, Tom. I’ll be all right.”

Jake watched with interest, one eyebrow raised.

Tom rubbed his forehead, preoccupied. “You shouldn’t be alone.”

“If you want, I can—” Jake began.

“No.” I glared at him, cutting short whatever he’d been about to suggest.

“I can take care of myself. I’d already subdued the intruder when you showed up, remember?” I turned to Tom. “And thanks to you, I know how to use a gun, so I’m fine.” I paused, then almost asked if they had any leads on Stephen’s case but thought better of it. “Is that all?”

Tom nodded. “For now.”

“Wait,” Jake said as I stood, “you’re not going to ask her to help us find Stephen?”

Tom’s deep brown eyes went from Jake to me, then back. “No, I am not. Ms. Sunder has declined to aid our department in missing person cases even in a salaried capacity.”

Yep, Tom had offered me a job. I would’ve helped his closing rate in Skew cases, but I picked the cheerier path of mate tracking. I didn’t have his strength of character and probably would turn into a psycho bitch if I saw the same thing every day.

Jake pushed air through his nose. “Yeah, I heard she turned selfish.”

“She has her reasons, and I respect them,” Tom said the last few words with emphasis, hinting that Jake should respect them, too. Opening a folder, Tom started perusing it, a clear indicator that he was done with us.

“Thank you, Tom,” I said. “Good luck with your case. And get some sleep.”

“I’ll sleep when I’m dead,” he said, without looking up.

Pulling my phone out of my back pocket, I walked out of Tom’s office and started dialing Rosalina’s number. Jake’s hand on my shoulder stopped me in my tracks.

“So now you call him Tom?” he asked.

“You’ve been gone for a while. A lot has changed around here.”

I stared pointedly at his fingers on my shoulder. He let go and held up his hand, apologetically. His silver gaze intent on mine, he leaned closer. I immediately pulled back, my eyes falling to his mouth of their own accord.

He pinched his eyebrows and scoffed. “Don’t flatter yourself, sweetheart.”

Anger twisted in the pit of my stomach like a writhing snake. The bastard! I wanted to slap him right then and there, but I controlled myself. As ideas went, starting a brawl around all these uniformed cops didn’t exactly get the prize.

“I see you’re still the same narcissistic jackass you’ve always been,” I shot back. Still as hot as hell and able to set my panties on fire with one smoldering look, too. Damn him!

God, I hated him.

“I only want to warn you.” He leaned closer again, his deep voice a mere whisper that made the tiny hairs on the back of my arms stand on end. “You have to be careful. This wasn’t a random attack. I think it’s related to Stephen’s disappearance.”

“Stop trying to make everything about Stephen.” I held his gaze, resolutely. Even if my panties had turned to ash, I still had my pants on and could hold my own. “The Hill has never been a safe place. Things like this happen.”

“Kidnapping, Toni?”

He had a point. Hit-and-runs, burglary, armed robbery, spell robbery... they topped the list of what we normally dealt with, but kidnapping? That belonged in an entirely different category. Still, he wouldn’t drag me into anything I didn’t want to be part of. It’d taken a lot of work to build my life back up, and I wasn’t going to throw it all away for a pair of smoldering clear eyes and a hot body. Not to mention other hot things...

I squared my shoulders. “Like I said, I know how to take care of myself, and even if I didn’t, it’s not your job to worry about me, is it? You quit that job a long time ago, so you need to stop pretending you care when what you’re really worried about is a fat paycheck from Ulfen Erickson.”

His expression tightened. A muscle jumped in his jaw and his eyes smoldered in an entirely different way. Uh-oh, I’d pissed him off. Good! To my surprise, when he spoke, his tone sounded noncommittal.

“I don’t want anything bad to happen to you, Toni.”

“Isn’t that charitable of you? But I’ll be fine. Don’t worry your werewolf head about it.” I turned and walked away.

I thought I’d gotten rid of him, but he caught up to me outside.

“I hope you’re not going back to your office,” he said, trying to sound casual.

I ignored him as I stood at the edge of the sidewalk and thumbed through my contacts. It was past midnight, and a blanket of dark gray clouds covered the sky. I hoped it wouldn’t rain. At least not until I got to Rosalina’s.

“Do you have somewhere to stay besides the loft?” he asked.

How the hell did he know I lived in the loft?! I raised my eyebrows at him. “You've been spying on me, I see.”

“It’s my job to know things,” he offered.

“If that’s the case, then you should know where I’m headed. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to make a phone call.”

I walked away and dialed Rosalina’s number.

“Is everything all right?” was