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I instantly recognized the sensation: it was the tracker.
Experience let me override my waffling instincts. I turned around, already reaching for the hilt of my short sword that barely poked up out of my floppy jacket.
The tracker—elf-tall and lanky—was a block behind me, boldly standing in the middle of the sidewalk. He wasn’t even bothering to use his usual weird, shadowy magic to cover himself, so I could see the black swirls of his neck tattoo, and his box-dyed hair color of the month: acid green.
He most likely wasn’t using the shadows because he didn’t need the advantage they gave him. He had an even bigger one, today: he was holding a young woman and had a knife at her throat.
“Don’t move, shadow,” he called, ignoring the young woman who squirmed in his grasp. “And let go of that sword I know you’re drawing—or she’ll pay for it.” The tracker flicked his eyes to the panicked woman.
No, no, no, no.
I was a scaredy-cat all the way to my bones, but I’d never forgive myself if he hurt her because I fled.
I must face him. But how?
I could hear my heartbeat in my ear drums as I tried to think.
The young woman—she had to be human as I couldn’t feel any magic coming from her—had eyes wide with panic, but as soon as the tracker pulled the knife from her throat, she tried smashing the back of her head into his face.
He dodged her head, but he staggered a step, and growled under his breath.
Good, she’s fighting. That means if I get her free, she’ll make a run for it.
“Shadow, I am notpatient,” the tracker warned.
I let go of my sword’s hilt and held my hands out in front of me.
The tracker changed his grip on the young woman so he held her by the neck, and kept his knife pointed at me. He shoved her ahead of him, using her like a shield as they approached me.
It’s okay, it’s okay. I tried to calm my rapidly rising hysteria.I’m trained for close combat—my fast shifting from cat to human makes it better for me. I will do this. I must do this. I can’t leave her.
“Of all of the shadows I’ve hunted, you have been the most problematic,” the tracker drawled as he stalked closer, dragging the young woman with him. “You don’t act anything like you should. Which is no excuse for why it took me so long to figure out how to get you. But, in my defense, any other shadow would have turned tail, caring only for themselves.”
He hunts shadows? Why? We’ve been gone so long, and Noctus said this guy is half elf at best.
I gulped and tried to remember which pocket I’d stuffed my cellphone in.
The tracker and his hostage staggered close enough that I could see the whites of the young woman’s eyes.
“But once you’re gone, I can track down the humans who adopted you,” he sneered. “A bit of pain, and I’msurethey’ll suddenly remember more about the circumstances of your adoption.”
My parents, he’s talking about my parents.
Anxiety still flooded my body, making me knock-kneed, and I started breathing faster.
He’s going to torture my parents for information.
The tracker’s smile was cruel.
No.The word rippled through my entire body.Never. He’s never going to touch them.
I glanced at his hostage. She met my gaze and nodded imperceptibly.
“Don’t move an inch, shadow,” the tracker warned me.
He wrapped his hand around the woman’s neck and held her away from me, then lunged forward, his knife aimed at my heart.
I shifted into my cat form, so he staggered and almost fell over.
