But what would Jakub do to him? Kill him? Torture him? What exactly was going on down here? I locked my teeth together.

“Tala!” my sister yelled again.

The bond inside me vibrated more. I was so close to getting her back, but . . .

I swore under my breath.

I couldn’t. I couldn’t leave the hunter to his fate, not when I’d been the distraction and the reason for his capture.

Pressing my lips into a tight line, I crept toward his room.

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Chapter 18

Even though Tessa yelled for me again, I didn’t falter.

You’re gonna have to wait, sis.

If only she and I shared a telepathic link, then I could have assured her that I was coming—just not at the moment.

I cracked the door open a little farther, only an inch, and thanked the gods that it didn’t squeak. Peering into the room, I surveyed the occupants.

The ring of supernaturals were all looking to Sinister Fairy Dude for direction. I assessed all of them. They appeared to be two werewolves, Star Tattoo Guy—who I was guessing was a half-demon—and two sorcerers, judging from the magical sparks glistening on their fingertips.

“A part of me is still surprised that you came just as expected,” Sinister Fairy Dude said with a smug smile. “How unfortunate for you that we were aware of your impending arrival. Our European contact has proven quite useful in that aspect.”

European contact? Do they have something to do with the mafia? Or something else? My eyes narrowed.

“How much were you promised for finding Katarina? Hmm? Thirty thousand? Forty thousand?”

The Fire Wolf clenched his jaw but didn’t reply.

Katarina? Why is that name familiar?

Since Sinister Fairy Dude had everyone in the room enraptured, I inched the door open a bit more. Nobody’s attention drifted my way. Just another inch and I can slip through . . .

“Matija will be quite disappointed by your failure, no doubt,” Sinister Fairy Dude continued, then turned and paced the other way.

All the others watched him.

Now. I whipped the door open enough to slip into the room, then returned it to the slightly ajar position I’d found it in.

I held my breath.

Nobody glanced my way.

Thank you, cloaking spell . . .

My heart pounded as I stood in the room. Now that I had a clear view of everyone, I got a better feel for my competition. It wasn’t reassuring. All six supernaturals had magic prickling over their skin, and I could sense their powerful auras. Nobody in this room was a lightweight.

Shit.

So I’d have to do this fast. It was the only way to survive. Keeping to the edges of the room, I crept closer to the group as their ring leader carried on talking.

“Jakub will be thrilled at what you may be able to offer him. He’s been searching for the key for over a year now. He’ll . . .”

A key?

The Fire Wolf cocked his head ever so slightly in my direction.

I stopped as Sinister Fairy Dude continued prattling on.

The hunter didn’t make eye contact with me, but a slight flare of his nostrils told me he was powerful enough to detect me through my cloaking spell. A new tightness bunched his shoulders, but he returned his attention to the fairy droning on.

I held my breath and stayed plastered to the wall. Sinister Fairy Dude continued pacing as his monologue didn’t abate. Seriously, the dude loved listening to himself, but perhaps that wasn’t a bad thing, as nobody glanced my way. It was only the Fire Wolf who had sensed me. I resumed my slow advance to the front.

Sinister Fairy Dude pivoted when he reached the end of the room. “If nothing else, you’ll be an important spear in Jakub’s collection, and if you cooperate, he will make your captivity more tolerable.”

Spear? Collection? Captivity? I shook off those disturbing comments and concentrated on getting to the best position in the room to fight them.

I shuffled silently along the wall and vaguely listened as Sinister Fairy Dude continued talking about Jakub—whoever he was—and his collections. He kept mentioning Katarina, too, which didn’t really make much sense. It was almost as if he thought the Fire Wolf was here for Katarina and not my sister.

Whatever. Not important right now.

When I was only a yard from the group, I did one last calculation of how this would go down. Sinister Fairy Dude would go first. You always took out the leader before tackling others. Prisha’s father had taught me that. After the fairy . . .

My mouth set into a grim line. While I didn’t relish the thought of killing anyone, I also knew that I might have to. If these six were anything like the warlocks that had been stationed at the asylum, they would aim to kill me. And if it came down to me or them, I definitely chose me.

I stayed where I was, since at the moment, I had time to think my plan through. Squinting, I assessed the bands encircling my hunter’s wrists. They were thick and blue—the color of a robin’s egg—with a strange glow emitting from them.

Whatever the brand of cuffs shackling him were, they weren’t like the ones we’d found in the asylum, and since I didn’t stock bondage equipment at Practically Perfect, I had no idea how strong they were or how to release them. I would have to assume that I wouldn’t be able to free him immediately once I reached him, which meant that I would be on my own initially.

Briefly, I closed my eyes and took a deep breath before calling upon the years of training I’d learned with Prisha and her family. Her father had taught me to fight as if I were his own daughter. Now, more than ever, I was thankful for those lessons.

I breathed deeply again. Be quick. Move fast. Don’t panic. Keep your cool. If you don’t, that weird shit is going to happen with your magic again.

My eyes peeled open as Sinister Fairy Dude checked the time. “Ah, it’s almost time to test the new collectives to see—”

I whipped a potion from my belt and threw it at him while casting a binding spell on the others. The release of my magic had my cloaking spell falling, but it was worth it as I hit my mark.

Sinister Fairy Dude let out a strangled cry when the death potion exploded in his face. Yep, I’d just killed him, but I didn’t give it a second thought, and I didn’t wait to see if he fell. I knew he would.

I shot a telekinetic spell at the werewolves, plastering them to the wall, then whipped out another potion just as the sorcerers broke through my binding hold and began lobbing spells at me.

The werewolves broke through a second later—fuck, all of them were strong—then they shifted midair as Star Tattoo Guy tried to charge. I strengthened my binding spell on him, while dodging the sorcerers’ spells. Star Tattoo Guy froze in his tracks.

“Tala!” the Fire Wolf growled. “Get out of here!”

I dove past him, casting a maximizer spell when I unleashed a telekinetic wave. All five of them spiraled back and hit the wall, which allowed me a second to assess Sinister Fairy Dude. He was definitely down. His unseeing eyes stared at the ceiling.

Good. One down. Five to go.

“Dammit, Tala!” the Fire Wolf roared as the muscles in his arms bulged while he fought and writhed against his cuffs, but they held.

I ducked and rolled behind a desk when one of the sorcerers jumped to his feet and shot a spell right at me. I crouched down and began casting death curses one after the other over the top of the desk. My heart thumped in time with my throws. The entire room seemed to shrink around me as I fell into harmony with my breathing.