Latoya smirked. “All that shit that went down with the treaty? Yeah, that was a human. One smart enough to know theBite would’ve been one hell of a reward, but… stupid enough to get caught.” She shrugged.
“Are there usually humans at the party?” I asked.
She picked at her cuticles. “Yeah, a few. Some know what’s up. Some don’t. That’s what makes it so fun.” She looked up at the Alpha. “Regardless,Mucus, I don’t need to trick you. I want you to hear what Silas has to say.”
“And he will. We both will.”
Marcus uncrossed his arms and growled, glaring down at me. “No, Joanna,” he said, at the same time Latoya snapped, “Hell no.”
“Good thing I’m a grown-ass woman, and neither of you are my parents,” I declared, addressing the werewolves before me. “We should go, Marcus.”
Latoya growled. “I know we established this, sis, but you are ahunter. Sister or not, they will kill you before we step out of the car.”
I shrugged. “I can dampen my aura. They won’t be able to tell.”
“Joanna.” Marcus grabbed my biceps, rocking me as he emphasized, “I. Don’t. Trust her.”
Latoya sucked her teeth. “Do you really think I’d let anything happen to her, you piece of shit?”
He ignored her as he spoke to me. “I’m not putting you in danger. We’d be outnumbered. And let’s not forget we’d be reuniting her with her corrupt pack.”
“I’ve been wanting to get back to my sister forfivefucking years,” she snapped. “My pack don’t mean shit where she’s concerned. But how ‘bout we address the fact that your scents are all over each other? You don’t think they’ll find it odd that my human sister—the one I haven’t seen in years—happensto have a werewolf boyfriend?”
I didn’t even have the strength to argue with the word.
Relief rushed across Maya’s face. “I hate to admit it, but the rogue has a point.”
Marcus’s frown deepened. Because he knew…
“I can mask our scents.”
Latoya chuckled. “Body spray ain’t gonna cut it, Joey.” She glanced at Marcus, noticing the knit in his brow. “She’s serious?”
He nodded slowly, never taking his eyes off me. “She’ll use magic.” The way I’d done to hide that Ethan and I had been sleeping together.
I realized Marcus was still holding me, so I shrugged off his hands. “I’d have to change the spell a bit, but it shouldn’t be that hard to do.”
Latoya squealed, clapping her hands. “Is my sister a badass witch?”
“Not in the slightest,” I mumbled even as fleeting pride flickered in my chest.
At that moment, I feared Latoya would ask me what so many others loved to ask: whether I could do tracking spells. The answer was always the disappointing same: No matter how many books I’ve read, no matter how hard I tried, the magic I possessed simply wasn’t strong enough.
It would’ve made my job as a hunter much easier if I could skip all the dangers of tracking and recon before a kill. But over three hundred and thirty million people lived in the States alone. I had a better chance of finding a needle in a haystack. And if anyone needed proof, well… she was standing right in front of me.
“Can Grace come up with something to get me in that phone?” Marcus asked his gamma.
Maya gave a single, slow nod of her head. “I think so.”
I relaxed my shoulders. “What is Silas planning to do with the list?”
“Good old-fashioned blackmail, Joey,” Latoya answered with a dismissive wave of her hand. “After the plan with the treaty failed, Silas figured maybe he should give a diplomatic approach a try. Hewantedto give the fuckers time to adjust—time they needed to implement the new order in their pathetic lives on a schedule that was more than generous, if you ask me. But then…” Latoya shrugged.
“But then what?” Marcus barked.
The light in Latoya’s eyes vanished. “You stormed into our clubhouse and slaughtered my friends,” she sneered.
“Oh, is that it?” Marcus mocked. “I thought you were going to say something of value.”
