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

Suddenly, I caught her scent in the wind, a combination of earth and wood, like a spring day after rain. The scent and the chase unleashed something wild inside of me, restless energy and that hunger which had been inside of me all along, and I hadn’t known how to satiate. Its intensity scared me, almost bringing me to a halt. But I couldn’t stop, not now that my limbs had come alive with power, and the Fae seemed within reach. I blinked in surprise, realizing how close I’d gotten in a matter of seconds.

Before I knew what I was doing, I lunged in her direction and tackled her to the ground. We fell in a heap of arms and legs and rolled around on the pavement. I ended up on top of her, straddling her. She stared at me with terrified eyes, her vertical pupils wide. Her thin, black mouth opened and a trembling voice came out.

“Don’t hurt me, beast,” she begged in her lilting accent.

Beast?

I tried to speak and a growl came out instead. I froze, my hands pinning the Fae’s shoulders down. She let out a whimper as my thumbs dug into her, ripping her skin. Warm, sticky blood oozed out of her supple skin. I yanked my hands back and stared at clawed fingertips. I began to shake at the monstrous sight. What was happening? What kind of trick was this?

A glamour from the Fae. That had to be it. There was no other explanation.

“Stop!” I ordered her, and my voice was a growl again, the word barely recognizable.

“Please, please, I was just the driver today. That’s all,” the Fae said.

I was hyperventilating, and her voice had become but a buzz, barely able to break through the thunderous roaring in my ears. Words of denial echoed inside my head.

Not real. Not real.

“Quit, you bitch!” I grabbed her by the throat and forced her to her feet. She stood on tiptoes as I wrapped my hands around her neck. “Stop the glamour!”

She shook her head an infinitesimal amount. “I’m not...” She croaked, looking confused.

I forced her back toward the repair shop, pushing her along and causing her to stumble. She didn’t try to run again, which added to my confusion. Fae were good at fighting, but she seemed truly intimidated by me. I examined my hands as I shoved her down the length of one entire block. No more glamour. The claws had disappeared. Good.

We approached the garage. Loud clangs and growls came from behind the metal door.

Jake.

My chest tightened with worry. Judging by the racket, they were still fighting, but was he winning?

I pushed the Fae against the shop’s outer wall. “Is Stephen Erickson in the van?” This time, my voice sounded more like my own. The Fae had finally realized her cheap glamours wouldn’t work on me.

She nodded, her slitted eyes taking me in, analyzing my face with fear.

“Is he... is he alive?”

“Yes,” she said.

A jumble of emotions came undone inside of me. Stephen was alive, and none of this had been in vain.

I was trying to decide what to do next when the Fae’s expression changed and a satisfied smile stretched her black lips. The fear that had twisted her features slowly disappeared and glee replaced it. Her gaze lingered on something behind me. A shiver ran down my spine as the sound of steps reached me.

Slowly, I let go of the Fae and moved away, angling my body sideways. I glanced back and found four dark figures standing across the street, untouched by the moonlight as if they weren’t really there.

“Let’s see what your little claws can do against my friends,” the Fae said with amusement.

One of the figures pulled away from the group. I held my breath as moonlight bathed the handsome features of none other than Prince Kalyll Adanorin. The female next to me let out a whimper, and her smugness died a quick death and putrefied into horror. Not who she’d been expecting, it seemed.

She lowered her head and fell to one knee, looking contrite.

“At last, I find you, Gonira, and entangled in unsavory trade, no less.” Kalyll’s voice dripped with cold anger and disappointment. “Your punishment shall be... deliberate.” He lifted a hand and waved two fingers. Two figures peeled from the dark and came forward. They were dressed in their black tunics with the embroidered shield in the chest. They each took one of Gonira’s arms and walked her away.

“We meet again, Antonietta Sunder,” Prince Kalyll said.

Wow, the Seelie Prince remembers my name! I was star-struck to say the least.

“You should leave this place,” he said.

“I can’t... my friend...” I crooked a finger toward the shop. Inside, something banged against the garage door, making a loud clanking noise. I jumped, my heart knocking against my ribs.

Moonlight shone on Kalyll’s midnight-blue hair as he made a regretful face. “I would stay and help you, but I cannot get involved in human matters, especially not this one. It’s bad enough Gonira has been making friends with the wrong people.”

From the sounds of it, this Gonira had been acting on her own. So did that mean the Fae had nothing to do with this mess? It seemed that way.

Growls and more bangs came from inside.

“Are you sure you wish to stay?” The Prince lifted a perfect eyebrow as if evaluating my intelligence and finding it lacking

I nodded, that same resolve that had driven me here coursing through my veins.

“Well met, then.” Kalyll said as he realized I wouldn’t be dissuaded. He pressed a fist to his chest, inclined his head, and was gone.

The shapes retreated into the darkness and disappeared. I was about to run inside to check on Jake, when something moved in the shadows. It seemed the Prince has decided to stay after all, except the shapes that reappeared didn’t belong to Kalyll and his guards. They varied in shapes and sizes. Two of them were massive men while the others had the