as I was saying about my question...When you get your collar off, are you going to stay, or are you going to leave?”
Her eyes dart over to me before she looks forward again, keeping her pace. “Why are you asking?”
“Honestly? Because you seem like you don’t know the answer yourself.”
I expect her to tense up, to tell me to fuck off, or to just plain ignore me. Those are all three of the usual Jetta reactions. But to my utter surprise, she lets out a huge weighted sigh that curls in her shoulders. The same shoulders that always seem to be straight back, like she’s afraid to relax for even a second, or else the world she’s carrying up there will come crashing down.
“That’s because I don’t,” she admits with bitterness. “I don’t know what the fuck I’m doing.”
I can tell this admission costs her, so I’m quick to reply. I want her to be comfortable with me. She’s a cold one, hard to get to warm up to you, but I have a feeling that if I could get Jetta to relax just an inch around me, it would be the most rewarding thing in the world.
“Talk it out with me. I promise to keep it between us.”
I don’t know why I blurt that out, but I do. I fully expect to get shot down. No one, not even Alpha or Addie, has gotten her to fully open up. So she shocks the hell out of me again when she starts talking.
“Kaazu is the most powerful conjurer I’ve ever seen. He uses some sort of external energy to pull from. But he’s fast. He can use his power to form barriers or whips like lightning. He doesn’t even have to lift a finger to take you down,” she says, her eyes full of fierce conviction.
“He’s that powerful?”
She nods, our footsteps in sync as we head toward the warehouses. It’s midday, so the sun is shining down on us, and the pack is busy with activity.
“He’s incapacitated every single one of my troupers at the same time, just with a pulse of his energy. He even keeps a barrier up when he sleeps, in case any of us get any ideas about trying to end the bastard. When a crowd got too rowdy once, and they tried to rush the stage because they claimed a fight was rigged, all he had to do was flick his wrist and they were all taken to the ground. He’s untouchable.”
“He doesn’t sound like a good enemy to have.”
“He isn’t.”
“Well...your tracker is broken, so that’s something. But...”
“But fucking Rockhead.”
I nod at her. “Yeah. How’d that prick recognize your collar, anyway?”
“He and his buddy tried to grab me in town when I first got here. I got the jump on them, and they must’ve gotten pissy about it and looked into me. They got a good look at my collar that day.”
“Shit.” That’s not good. “You think they’ll actually contact him?”
“Yes,” she answers without hesitation. “But I have one thing going for me.”
I lift a brow, curious. “What’s that?”
A mischievous smirk slips over her lips, and just that tiny hint of a smile wraps a fist around my chest. “I’ve been leaving false trails.”
Surprise filters over my features. “How?”
“Every town I’ve been in, I’ve gotten people along the way to call Kaazu’s number and give him a false tip. He’s had phone calls from eleven different people—mostly vagabonds and truckers—who’ve told him that I’m in eleven different states.”
I whistle between my teeth. “Smart.”
“It’s something at least,” she says with a shrug. “So even if Rockhead has contacted him, either Kaazu thinks it’s a lie like the other tips or he’s busy tracking down every single lead, and it might take more time for him to make it down here.”
I can’t help but respect her shrewd forethought. “Or he might not come here at all. Then you have nothing to worry about, and you can forget the troupe and stay with us,” I tell her.
She shakes her head vehemently. “It’s not that easy.”
“Why?” I press. I really want to understand. For some reason, I have this need to figure out what makes her tick. My animal wants to reassure her, but I can’t do that if I don’t know what has her so tangled up.
“I left him behind.”
Her admission comes out like a tumble. As if they were stones instead of words and they just slid off the cliff and landed in a pile of jagged