Because Commander Klebus wanted to know what I was capable of. I’d seen hints of her knowing looks before—her suspicion that I was hiding who I really was—and I’d just given her a front-row seat to it, proving beyond any doubt that her guesses had been correct. I wasn’t a weak witch, and I wasn’t just a witch.

Such an idiot, Tala!

Because the growing look in the commander’s eye—the look she’d often reserved for Kaillen—told me that the Supernatural Forces would be knocking on my door in the near future in order to recruit me, just like they had done with Kaillen.

So much for anonymity. That was officially a life I no longer led.

I sighed in defeat, but then tried to cheer myself up. At least with Eleni’s spell, I was immune to Jakub cuffing me in the future. But I’d just sacrificed my hidden identity to get that immunity.

Perhaps that had been Commander Klebus’s endgame all along.

The vamp gave me a pleasant smile, her smugness disappearing. “Tala, would you be open to letting us test you—”

“No.” I held up a hand, cutting her off. “I’m not open to any further testing, but I would like the SF to do one thing. Will you tell Kaillen that Eleni’s spell works? If Jakub gets a hold of him again, he won’t be able to break through those cuffs without Eleni’s spell since they’ll contain his werewolf power and . . . other things,” I added vaguely, since I had no idea if the SF knew the extent of his sorcerer magic. But the thought of Jakub getting his hands on the hunter twisted my stomach into waves of nausea. “He needs to be able to break them too.”

“Of course.” Bavar gave a graceful bow as the smug expression returned to Commander Klebus’s face.

Yep, bitch. You won.

“We’ll contact him again,” Bavar added. “And we’ll make sure he’s offered the same immunity you now have.”

“Thank you,” I replied.

Something buzzed on Commander Klebus’s wrist, and her communication device flashed. The smugness vanished from her features when she read whatever message she’d just been sent. She showed it to Major Fieldstone, and they shared a concerned look. After placing an earbud in their ears, both hurried to the corner to accept the call in private.

Eleni glided to my side to inspect what was left of the cuffs, but my ears pricked toward the commanders’ conversation.

“Dammit,” Commander Klebus said under her breath as she spoke through her device to whoever had contacted her. “If red tape is the reason that we’re unable to capture him, I’m going to be furious!”

Silence followed while the speaker on the end of the line said something.

“Yes, right away,” she replied. “Yes, he’s with me now. We’ll discuss further.”

After they finished their call, Bavar sighed. “He’s quite evasive, is he not? Since the Supernatural Forces’ jurisdiction ends with earth, what better place for him to escape to than my realm?”

“Hopefully you can help with that.” Commander Klebus’s lips thinned. “Have you spoken with the king and queen?”

“I have. My uncle and aunt are currently discussing whether or not they will allow SF squads into the fae lands to conduct the arrest.”

Bavar’s uncle and aunt are the king and queen of the fae lands? That would mean that Bavar was a royal fae. I frowned as I continued listening.

“Have they said how long their discussions will take?” Commander Klebus asked.

The bite in her tone had me wincing.

“No, but I’m hoping not long,” Bavar replied.

Her nostrils flared. “Our new intel says Jakub was last seen headed toward Culasberee, north of the capital. We’ll lose his location if we don’t act soon.”

I sucked in a breath. Holy shit, they have a locate on Jakub!

Even though my heart began pounding two hundred times a minute, I pretended to be preoccupied with what Eleni was doing. I kept my attention on the cuffs as the young witch worked through them with a metal cutter that she’d extracted from her pocket. Now that the cuffs were no longer magical, they’d lost their inherent strength. The metal cutter groaned as it cut through the thick bands, but the cutter was spelled, so it was able to do so somewhat easily.

I kept my eyes downcast, but my attention stayed on the commanders’ conversation. Since they had no idea that I was now also part werewolf—even though Klebus knew I possessed strange powers that rivaled Kaillen’s—they wouldn’t know that I could hear everything they were saying.

Thank you, Mrs. Wolf.

My wolf straightened, her head cocking. For the first time since she’d been born inside me, I felt thankful for her presence. If it wasn’t for her, I would have no clue that Jakub had escaped to the fae lands and that—from the sounds of it—the Supernatural Forces had run into bureaucratic issues given the governance of that land. The bastard was currently getting away.

“There you are. Do your wrists feel okay?” Eleni set the metal cutter aside and gave me a tentative smile.

I jolted my attention back to her and rubbed my wrists, just to make her think I was considering her question. “I feel fine. Thank you.”

She bobbed her head.

“Please ask your uncle and aunt to grant access to our forces now,” Commander Klebus said to Bavar. “If we don’t catch him, I fear we’ll have lost our opportunity to stop him once and for all, because if he’s headed toward Culasberee, he might be headed for the sea. If that happens, it’ll be harder to track him.”

Bavar dipped his head. “I shall send them another message, although I can’t guarantee if they’ll feel the need to address it. They have meetings with the Solis fairies all week.”

“They need to.” Commander Klebus’s lips pursed. “And while we’re waiting, we need to ensure all of the activated squads are administered Eleni’s immunity spell. We need all of them immune before we act.”

Bavar inclined his head. “Right you are. I shall speak with my aunt and uncle promptly while you administer the spell to the squads.”

“Yes, good plan.” Icy rage was still etched into Commander Klebus’s face, but when she saw that Eleni was done working with me, she strode my way.

Some of her ire melted away, from practiced force no doubt, as she held out her card to me. “We should meet soon, to discuss a few things.”

I took her card automatically and gave a weak smile.

“I’m glad to see that new spell works,” she added. “If nothing else, you now have the added protection of no longer being susceptible to those cuffs.” She gestured me toward the door I’d used to enter the training room. “Private Wilson will escort you back to your residence. I look forward to seeing you soon.”

With that, she turned on her heel.

A sick feeling churned in my stomach as I watched her depart. No way in hell would I be able to hide who I was from the locals in Chicago anymore. Tess and I were going to have to have some serious discussions about the future of Practically Perfect.

Sighing, I joined the young private again as he led me out of the room and down the halls.

But despite all that I’d unwittingly revealed to the vampire commander, that wasn’t where my thoughts turned.

My mind was reeling because Jakub had fled to the fae lands and was on his way to Culasberee. The Supernatural Forces were currently unable to pursue him due to jurisdiction issues, and unless the fae lands’ king and queen granted permission for the SF to enter shortly, Jakub could escape again. And from the sounds of it, Commander Klebus was worried he was going to do that via the sea, in which they would have a harder time tracking him.

I barely noticed the hot sun beating down on me when we stepped back outside.

My brow furrowed as the private escorted me back to Tessa’s bungalow. The entire time, I contemplated what I could do to stop Jakub once and for all.

My wolf yelped in excitement as my plan began to take hold.