Peter huffed. “I want to help, Jolene, I really do. But every time I think you’ve let me in, I realize we’re further apart than I knew. I don’t know how to trust you.”
My stomach sank and churned, grief mixing with anger and hurt. I swallowed against the tight lump in my throat. “I don’t know what to say.”
He nodded. “Well… I’m here if you ever figure that out.”
I stalked off, dressed, and dragged myself back up a few tiers to the Darkmoon District. Day businesses had their open signs out, and human tourists mingled with magical folk. I ignored their stares and dragged my wet, aching body home. I wasn’t usually up this late and longed to throw myself in bed.
When I got to my door, I found Ludolf’s summons, an askew t, magically carved into the metal. Which meant I had to get myself down to the sewers and his secret headquarters—now. I groaned and thunked my head against the door.
32
HEXMAKERS
Since I had a throbbing head (probably from being awake for the last twenty hours), I decided to share and give Neo a headache, too. He and his two hench goons, Viktor and Sacha, escorted me through the stone underground tunnels to Ludolf’s lair.
“So what’s the deal with the sewers?” I curled my lip at the slimy round walls and the cockroaches that scuttled at the edges of the black water under our feet. “Is Ludolf a rat shifter or something?”
Viktor, who skipped ahead, giggled maniacally, the torchlight illuminating the tattoos that wound around both arms and up his neck and throat.
Neo, his black hair slicked back, turned around and glared at me. “No. He’s not a rat shifter.”
Behind me, Sacha, an enormous bald brute of a man, grunted. “Huh. He’s not?”
I glanced back at him, then raised my brows at Neo. “Is he an alligator then? Come on. Just tell me, or I’ll have to keep pestering you until you do.”
Neo rolled his dark eyes. “It’s not for us to speculate about.”
“Oh, yeah.” It was my turn to roll my eyes, though they ached. “I forgot how much of a kiss ass you are.”
He spun around and scowled. “Show some respect. He’s head of the shifters.”
I crossed my arms and huffed. “Not my king.”
A steady drip sounded from somewhere, echoing off the round walls between the splashes of our footsteps.
Neo half-turned. “No one knows, okay?”
I frowned. “What?”
“No one’s ever seen Ludolf Caterwaul shift.” Sacha’s low, slow voice sounded behind me, and I turned and raised my brows at him.
“Seriously?”
He nodded, his bald head slightly stooped in the low tunnel.
I turned around and shrugged. “I thought that was just a rumor.”
Neo shook his head. “He’s very private.”
Weird, in my book. As someone who’d lost her ability to shift, I’d hardly hide being an owl, especially when living in an underground full of other shifters you didn’t have to hide your true nature from.
Even during my heyday of hiding my identity to further my career as a lawyer, I’d spent a few nights a week winging over the island in my owl form. I’d needed that freedom of the wind rustling my feathers, wings stretched, to be able to tolerate the stilettos and stuffy offices.
I’d been down here a few times now, so when we made a left where we usually would’ve gone right, I frowned. “Where are we going?”
Neo’s shoulders tensed. “Hex makers’ lair.”
I stopped for a moment, before continuing on. Had Ludolf actually found a cure for me? He’d told me he’d put his hex makers to work to find one.
A mix of excitement and dread churned in my stomach. After breaking shifter code and turning in not only one of our own to the police, but one of Ludolf’s illegal money lenders, I had no idea how I stood with the shifter mob boss.
We followed the sewers through many twists and turns, the tunnels growing narrower, darker and more crumbled. I guessed we were moving in an older, less visited part of the underground system.
Finally, a reddish light glowed up ahead, bouncing off the rough stone walls. I ducked and followed Viktor and Neo through a half-collapsed doorway into a large, round room. Shelves lined the walls, some made of rocks and stones that jutted out, others formed from alcoves and holes in the walls. Glass vials, bottles, and jars of glowing potions of all colors littered every available space.
A few stone tables sat in the middle of the room, similarly covered in bottles, beakers, and small cauldrons. A walk-in fireplace against the right-hand wall housed a roaring fire that warmed the space and cast a reddish glow over everything. Above the fire, a huge black cauldron of glowing green liquid bubbled.
An old woman, hunched, with stringy hair falling into her face, stirred a wooden paddle around and around. Two other women who looked like her clones worked at the tables in the center. One mashed with a mortar and pestle and the other used a black knife to slice open the entrails of some small dead creature.
I cringed and looked away.
“Glad you could join us. We’ve been waiting for some time.”
Ludolf’s quiet, raspy voice startled me. I looked around the room until I found him, perched on a wooden stool in a shadowy corner. He drummed his talon-like nails on the stone wall. Tap tap tap tap. Tap tap tap tap.
A chill ran down my spine, but I threw my shoulders back, determined not to show this man my fear. I shrugged. “Came as quickly as I could.” I gestured around the room. “I mean, who would want to miss this?”
Neo flashed his eyes at me.
He was right. I probably should show some respect—it was just hard when I
