one
“Where are you heading,buddy?” I muttered, squinting at the taillights of the motorcycle I was following and regretting the impulse that had led me to this course of action.
It was frustrating to know that after an hour of painstaking surveillance I was no closer to learning what my quarry was up to than when I’d first started. In a city where you could be pretty much anywhere you wanted within half an hour, it was unusual that a trip would take this long. Especially at this time of night when traffic was at its lowest.
It made me think there was more going on than I’d previously suspected. Like maybe my friend on the motorcycle wasn’t quite as unaware of my presence as he was pretending. Not surprising really. Stalking a hunter, an individual whose job it was to hunt down and execute those of the supernatural persuasion, was never my best idea.
Curse my curiosity.
He’d probably driven past the apothecary I’d been staking out on purpose. Normally, I would have ignored him. Chalked up his presence to a fluke and continued on with my night like nothing happened. If only the hunter in question hadn’t declared himself my cousin. In front of my human family, no less.
How was I supposed to react in a situation like that? Pretend I didn’t have a burning need to find out everything involving him and the rest of his so-called family?
Ha. If only.
A hunter had already come close to killing me once. Okay, maybe twice. No way was I going to allow one to gallivant freely all over my city. Not without having an idea of his intentions, which right now were about as clear as mud.
“You sure he doesn’t know we’re following him?” Caroline asked, echoing my thoughts. Though her delivery was slightly garbled from the taco she was in the midst of devouring.
“You’re not helping.”
I didn’t need any negativity right now.
Caroline shrugged and took another bite of the delicious smelling taco. “I’m just saying—our chauffeur isn’t exactly a master of covert surveillance.”
I glanced at the unlucky human who’d just happened to be getting into his car at the exact wrong time and place.
“Stop that,” I snapped as the man shivered like a wet dog.
His back snapped straight as my compulsion forced him to obey. Seconds later, a high-pitched whistle like that of a boiling tea kettle escaped his nose.
The sound was more irritating than the shivering.
I sent Caroline an annoyed look. “Now look what you’ve done. He’s scared.”
He’d just started to calm down too.
“Don’t blame me. It’s your compulsion. Just order him not to be afraid.”
“It doesn’t work that way,” I grumbled.
I could force someone to do my bidding. Even make them forget everything they did or saw while under my influence, but I couldn’t manipulate their emotions. That was a skill that was still beyond my capabilities.
Caroline occupied herself with devouring another taco as I went back to staring at the taillights of our quarry.
Much as I hated to admit it, she was onto something.
He had to be aware that he was being followed. There weren’t that many other cars on the road. No matter how far back I told our driver to stay, our presence was bound to be noted. Unless he was an idiot—and I very much doubted that—he’d know what was going on.
Normally, surveillance of this nature was conducted with a team that involved several tailing vehicles that switched on and off of the mark. Hunters were naturally observant, paranoid individuals. I should have known after the first ten minutes of nonstop turns that he was taking us for a ride, but I’d been too focused on my obsession of finding answers to recognize counter surveillance tactics when I saw them.
Caroline dropped the taco she was holding into the to-go container and set it aside before grabbing a napkin to wipe her hands. “You never did tell me what’s so interesting about him that we had to kidnap a poor human so we could use his vehicle for this. I thought the plan for tonight was to spy on the sprites causing trouble for the druid.”
“I told you it’s not called spying. It’s surveillance.”
“What’s the difference?”
“Intent.”
