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“Only because you said you adore me,” she murmurs before stirring the pot. “But I reserve the right to tease these clueless boys when you aren’t around.”
“By all means,” I agree without hesitation.
“Ada,” Ecaeris gripes. “You’re supposed to say no.”
I just grin at him. “She’s better than rocks.”
IMRYLL
DAY FIFTY-TWO
Connak darts through the crowd as his hunting instincts take over. He’s a snake slithering across the water’s surface, bent on chasing and catching his prey.
I follow behind him, silent as I search our surroundings.
Cotear triggered Connak’s hunt days ago, and he hasn’t settled since letting the defector disappear into the shadows. Ada was and is more important. But there will be no getting away now. If we don’t find him today, Connak won’t sleep until he’s cornered.
I can’t say with certainty that we will find Cotear, though I’ve never doubted Connak’s ability to track.
Cotear has already proven that he and Poko could work around Connak’s senses, throwing him off their tracks. I hope that isn’t the case today, though I won’t say it aloud.
They’ve been too prepared, too thought out, for me to guarantee success on one hunt. Eventually, Poko became brave enough to make a move, but he wasn’t expecting Ada to fight back. Cotear will be smarter about his movements after his friend’s mess up.
Her admission, though so many weeks ago, plays in my mind. She acted meek for that reason, knew if anyone ever came after her, they wouldn’t expect her to fight with everything she had.
It angers me we let him so close that we weren’t right behind her. But to know she has the gall to defend herself to the bitter end offers me a small amount of comfort. Only the barest, though. Because she should never be in that position again.
Cotear helped Poko. Helped him get so close to Ada that she was bloody and her clothing was ripped. He helped Poko touch her. As far as I’m concerned, his hands were on her, too.
And for that, he has to die.
Poko’s death isn’t enough to satisfy the rage that chills my veins. It’s not enough to calm the raging ice storm that has my breath fogging in front of my face or my lips cooling. Icy water drips from my fingertips until I shake out my hands and reclaim my control.
Between my unstable element and Connak’s murderous energy, the people in the village square turn away from us as we push forward.
The hunter follows his prey to the eastern side of the Mongrels’ town center, taking us down a wide path that leads to droves of smaller homes. New relationships and young families blossom in the area, none of them the wiser to the monster that lurks in their midst.
Connak steps onto the quaint porch of the gray wash home and doesn’t stop. He slams his foot into the door, pursuing his prey at all costs. And where Ada is involved, the hunter is lost to reason or privacy or innocence. He doesn’t care who’s on the other side or whose space he’s breaching.
I don’t either.
I’m ready for a fight the moment we cross into unknown territory.
The sitting area is empty, and the home itself is a wreck. Connak searches the rooms, his low rumble of a growl betraying his own storm.
“There’s no one here,” he tells me, his voice a little deeper than normal. “Let’s go.”
“Connak,” I call, my jaw grinding as I stand in the doorway of a bedroom. “We can’t leave yet.”
“His tracks are fresh, but they split in two directions,” he continues.
“Connak.” I raise my voice to get through to the hunter. I need the man, not the animal. “Look.”
He stomps into the room, and I witness the very moment he sees what stopped me. His irises fade from the feverish black of his hunt to his normal brown as his nostrils flare.
“Is that Ada’s—”
“Her undergarments?” I finish for him, my breathing slow as I struggle to control my temper. “Yes. And her missing shoes.”
