Page 142 of Rejected By the Alpha King

“Right. Good. That’s good, Cindy. Thank you for your help.”

Her gaze dropped down to the necklace. “It is beautiful.”

“From the way everyone is talking, they all knew about it before I even received it. Does Emerson send out some kind of daily newsletter in your email?”

I chuckled to act like I was joking, but I was still watching her carefully. How was he sending out so much information so quickly?

“Word just travels fast. I shouldn’t keep you any longer. You’ve got customers!”

“Actually, I’m going to take this opportunity to finally use the bathroom. My stomach has been killing me all morning. Give me a couple of minutes? I’ll see you out there.”

Her eyes widened. “Oh! Yes. I’ll handle everything. Don’t worry.”

When she left, I leaned against the counter and sighed. It was all I could do not to yank the stupid necklace off my neck.

“It’s a tracker. A magical one. One of my best designs.”

It didn’t surprise me when Janelle’s voice softly filled the bathroom, or that I heard her before I saw her. The magic hiding her was thick and had taken up the corner in brilliant hues of orange and yellow. It had taken me a few minutes to see beneath the magic, to see her quietly waiting.

The question was why she had to hide at all.

“Will it explode if I take it off?”

She looked even thinner and paler than before, and she didn’t even grace me with a smile.

“No, but it will locate you for rather long distances. You did something the other week that made Emerson think you had a plan to run.”

“Oh yeah? What was that?”

“You asked the manager about working a night shift.”

At that, I snorted with laughter. “Wow. Emerson really is struggling if that’s all it takes. I wasn’t trying to escape. Just trying to get out of dinner with him. Why are you hiding in the bathroom for me?”

“I thought it was time we spoke.”

“I would have thought the time to speak was before you spelled Jax’s land to eject all of his people and neatly force me into a trap. Or was that a trick?”

“Not a trick. The spell was real, although it did not have as much power behind it as Emerson would have liked. I am no Irene. I did try to warn her while I was there. You are not the only prisoner. Hurry. Our time is running out. Your suite is the only place we can talk freely, but I cannot get into it without help. It’s even equipped with cellphone jammers. Give me your necklace.”

Without hesitation, I handed it over. She could flush it down the sink for all I cared. She took out a small stone and some glue. “I am not the only witch on this land. There is a redhead.

She stays in the shadows, but she oversees all my work. I doubt you’ll see her at all, but if you do, avoid her. She’ll detect the magical addition. I wish this had more time to dry. Be very careful with it in the next hour.”

Before I could ask what the hell it was for, she circled it over my neck again and stepped back in the corner. Her glamour shields rose just as the door opened and Cindy walked in. “Hey. Just wanted to let you know that your mate called to say that he’ll be stopping by in a few minutes. You’re already gorgeous, but if you wanted to do any additional prettying up, you can.”

She gave me a wink before ducking back out again.

“I will visit you tonight,” Janelle said softly from her hidden corner. “I will try to explain what I can.”

Maybe it was a step forward? Or maybe it was two steps back. For all I knew, Janelle was just a plant from Emerson.

I couldn’t trust anyone. How familiar that felt.

I returned to the bar and cashed out a few customers. They all left in thirty-minute increments. Some stayed just half an hour. Others stayed one and a half hours. Two came in at a time. Two left at a time.

Turning my back on the customers, I started wiping down the bottles. A few minutes later, the bar went silent. I didn’t turn around. Everyone else could kiss Emerson’s rings and kneel at his feet, but I sure as hell wasn’t going to.

“Well, this certainly looks familiar.”

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