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A dagger lay near the wall, dried blood on the blade, the gold handle facing me as if it had been dropped.
Fear gurgled in my stomach, the bricks crashing down.
Kat would never leave her father’s blade behind.
“Coop…” His name came out a whisper, but he instantly understood. Not even waiting to take off his pants, his body shifted into his Dweller form. I had seen it many times, but it never ceased to amaze me to watch. With a roar, his bones popped, his muscles expanding, black fur covering his body as he dropped on all fours, claws protruding like scythes, sharp poisonous blades popping out of his spine like a mane. His teeth were longer than my hand, and he came up to my chest.
In the Otherworld, they were the ones you hired to kill. And if you saw one, you were already dead.
Cooper’s eyes flashed red again, a low growl vibrating in his vocal cords as his huge head lowered, smelling the ground. His claws scraped across the cobbles, tearing off down the alley.
Running after him, I tried to keep up, his body blending in the darkness, disappearing before my eyes. Reaching the other end of the alley, I came out to find nothing but a quiet street.
“Fuck.” I peered around, trying to pick a direction to go, though something told me it was pointless. Kat was no longer here. “No.” I batted back the thought, picking up my pace. I would not give up.
Hours went by as I wove through the city, looking for any sign of her. When dawn hinted on the horizon, I headed back to the inn, defeated, angry, and terrified. Was she alive? Dead? Who took her? Was it more of those men?
When I reached the inn, the early light cast a slight glow on the figure at the door, his blond hair pulled back in a knot. He was dressed in a new pair of pants and a shirt.
“Cooper!” I jogged up. “Did you find anything?”
“No.” He shook his head. “I lost her scent not too far out of the alley.” His expression was somber. “I kept going out, trying to pick it up again, but I couldn’t.”
“What does that mean?”
“Once she left this alley, her feet never touched the ground again. I tried to track the men’s and the horses’ scents, but they stopped up the road, and a bunch of other smells basically washed out anything specific.”
“Really?”
“It’s like they knew how to disguise and end their trails.” Frustration wrinkled his brow. “Though there was something familiar there, but I couldn’t place it. It wasn’t strong enough.”
Disappointment built a headache behind my eyes, my hand absently rubbing at the claw marks starting to heal in my skin. Just hours ago, she was riding me. Now she was gone.
“I need to check on Annabeth… and you know Sprig will be up soon.”
“Yeah.” I nodded, swallowing, feeling lost and broken, not having a clue what to do next. I followed Cooper into the inn, and the man behind the desk stopped us.
“Here.” He tossed an envelope to me.
“What’s this?”
“I don’t know,” he snipped. “Not your maid. Said to give it to you.”
I picked up the envelope. “Who?”
“Wearing hood, didn’t see the face, but sounded like a woman.”
Ripping the envelope open, my throat closed around itself as I unfolded the paper, scanning over the blocky nondescript writing.
Lost your pussy?
If you want her back, you will get the nectar. Find it and she might be returned to you…
If not, your little kitty has no more lives.
I won’t hesitate. (But you already know that about me.)
I read it again, looking for any clues, the last line furrowing my brow.
