The Tracker's Mate: Sunderverse (Mate Tracker Book 1), Ingrid Seymour [red white royal blue TXT] 📗

well, all the creases in his face, and the way they arranged themselves to convey emotion, even against his will. Pain shaped his expression. But that wasn’t all, regret and longing were also there.

At last, he spoke, his deep voice raw. “I understand. I’m sorry to have bothered you.”

He turned and walked to the door. There, he took a deep breath as he stared at the glowing “open” sign affixed to the window. Deciding on the spot, he glanced over his shoulder.

“I think I’ll keep the office. But don’t worry, I won’t bother you anymore.”

He left, and as the bell above him chimed, my knees unhinged and I collapsed in Rosalina’s chair.

Chapter 7

Up in my loft after work, I picked up the container of fish food and dropped five pellets into the bowl.

“Eat, boy.” I tapped the glass.

Cupid, my red and purple betta, floated at the bottom, oblivious to his dinner. Maybe he was mad because I’d forgotten to feed him last night.

“He’s not eating,” I complained, glancing back at Rosalina who was sitting on my fuzzy Papasan chair, massaging her feet.

“Stop projecting all your troubles on that fish.” She set down one foot and started on the other. “Gah, I hate breaking in new shoes. They’re cute, but they’re killing me.”

“I’m not projecting. You know I need to do a good job with Cupid. I mean, to move up to a cat, I have to keep this fish alive.”

Rosalina rolled her eyes. “Cats take care of themselves. They can probably even take care of you.”

“I seriously doubt that.” I stared at Cupid, leaning over his bowl. Finally, he floated over and gulped one of the pellets. “Good boy!”

Feeling as if I’d ran three marathons and then had been hit by a train, I kicked off my shoes and collapsed on the bed.

“What a day.” I sighed.

“Are you all right?” Her voice took on a serious tone.

I pulled the pillow over and squeezed it tight. “I don’t know. I feel a mess.”

“I don’t blame you. A lot just hit you. How do you feel about Jake being back?”

I pressed a finger to my lips, then cupped both my ears and moved my hands around like radars. Werewolves could hear through walls if they tried.

Rosalina frowned. “Wanna get out of here? Go get some dinner? You never ate your fried ravioli. You must be hungry.”

It was early for dinner, but I was starving. Stress always had that effect on me. “I’ll have to eat something light, though.” I wrinkled my nose. “I have kick-boxing class later.”

“Why don’t you skip?”

I made a face. I didn’t like to skip. The exercise helped with the aforementioned stress.

“You deserve a break, especially with Morelli’s tracking coming up.”

She wasn’t wrong about that. Tracking always left me exhausted and banking my energy before the trance really helped. I’d never been as careful about using my powers as I was now, and I owed my prudence to Rosalina, who always had my best interest at heart.

“All right, let’s do it,” I said. “I honestly think I can devour a large pizza all on my own.”

After I changed into jeans, we locked the office and walked arm-in-arm down the street, our heels clicking against the sidewalk. I even managed not to glance in the direction of Jake’s office. I would have to decide what to do, whether to leave the building or stay. But I’d gotten there first, dammit. He should be the one to leave.

Maybe I could sabotage him. Hmm, that was a worthy thought.

We chose Giovanni’s Pizzeria across the street. It was a cozy place with a brick magical oven that infused their pizzas with unique secret flavors. The owner was an Italian mage with a specialty in culinary potions. The place packed a good crowd all the time.

We got our favorite table. I inhaled the delicious smells, pinpointing known ingredients and wondering about some I’d never come across. When the food arrived, we ate like lions at the zoo. As we fought over the cheese sticks and marinara dipping sauce, we talked about inconsequential stuff like whether Italian sausage or pepperoni pizza ranked first and the cute outfit she wanted to buy for her Abuela’s birthday party in a couple of weeks.

“That’s my Toni,” Rosalina said as I threw back my head laughing when I learned that Abuela Esperanza planned to rap during the party.

The comment sobered me up a bit. I wanted to keep talking nonsense, but we needed to discuss what had happened. It always helped me to talk to Rosalina. She was the voice of reason when my emotions got messy—not to mention I’d tasked her with keeping me on the right path. Without supervision, I tended to do some dumb shit.

Seeing that I was ready to talk, she gave me a sweet smile and said, “So, what are we gonna do? Stay? Leave? Give it some time to see what Jake does?”

“That last one seems the most reasonable,” I said. “His PI business might tank.”

“PI business? I thought you said he was a professional bum.”

“I never said that.”

“You said he never had a job, that he was independently wealthy.” She waved her hand in the air as if it was all the same.

“He is. That’s why the PI business seems unnecessary. Although...” I paused. With my stomach full, and my temper simmering at a low burn, I started thinking more carefully about Jake’s career choice.

“Although what?” Rosalina picked a pepperoni piece off our pizza and popped it in her mouth.

My thoughts got ahead of myself as understanding dawned on me. “It’s because of his brother,” I blurted out.

“Huh?”

“I’ve never told you, but Jake had a brother who went missing. They never found him.”

She leaned closer. “Really?”

I nodded. “He disappeared when Jake was thirteen. He was two years older. Neil, that was his name. It pretty much destroyed Jake’s family. His father lost his mind searching for him. A few years later, he drank himself to death. Then