Page 34 of Blood of Vengeance

Locklyn glanced my way before lifting a shoulder. “I’ll have one of his fancy waters.”

“Perfect.” Cassidy hurried out the door just as Zed walked in and started a conversation with Cutter. That gave me a chance to lean over Locklyn and reclaim her attention.

“Why are you always in my space?” she asked, not sounding at all perturbed by my presence.

I leaned in even closer, letting my lips brush her cheek. “Do you mind me being in your space?”

She froze, breath catching. For a long moment, she stayed perfectly still. Like prey that had just realized the big, bad wolf had them in their grasp. Trying to hide in plain sight.

Finally, she took a breath and said a simple, “No.”

Question answered, I squeezed her thigh and moved my hand up a little higher. Teasing her under the table. Keeping enough attention on the others in the room to know they had no fucking idea what was happening with us. “Good. And did you really call my sparkling water fancy?”

She sat back, smiling at me. Our noses almost touching. “I did, and they are. That’s some bougie water you drink.”

“It’s just water.”

“There’s one in your refrigerator that’s coconut açai. I don’t even know what açai is.”

“It’s a superfruit. Great antioxidant content.”

“You’re worried about antioxidants?”

“Worried, no. But I like to make sure I get some in my diet, considering my age.”

She tilted her head, her brow furrowing as if confused. “How old are you?”

Now that was a question, and one I wasn’t willing to answer just yet. Thankfully, Cassidy came in at that moment with Locklyn’s fancy water on a tray. As soon as she left the room—shutting the door behind her this time—Cutter coughed and reclaimed our attention. Question avoided.

“Sorry to interrupt,” he said, looking more at me than Locklyn. “Zed and I were going over notes from Locklyn’s dreams, Popper’s findings, and the crime scene, and we have a few questions.”

“Okay.” Locklyn adjusted her chair to turn toward them while also pushing it closer to mine. I grabbed the arms and yanked it between my legs, surrounding her because what she wanted, she got. And right then, it sure seemed like she wanted my presence to protect her.

“Popper’s guy didn’t get much—some dirt, some gunshot residue, a waxy substance on one hand he wasn’t sure about. The damage to his neck was a mix of pre- and post-mortem, but the guy couldn’t identify what creature had caused it. Could be a coyote, could be a werewolf, could be a vampire, could be some sort of demon?—”

“Jesus,” Locklyn said, looking horrified. “Those are the options?”

“Welcome to the world of the supernatural. Try not to piss off a demon.” Cutter looked back over his notes, shaking his head. “There’s nothing here to really point us in the direction of the killer, so we need to go back to what you kept seeing in your dreams.”

Cutter spent the next ten minutes peppering Locklyn with questions—sounds, sights, smells, feelings. Anything to get the girl to expound on what she’d already told them. I sat back and let her speak. Just there as a bodyguard in that moment.

“Where’s your mom?” Zed asked out of the blue, definitely catching my attention. Locklyn stiffened immediately, the energy around her shifting. Growing darker.

“Dead. Cancer, two years ago.”

“Fuck, I’m sorry.” Cutter glared at Zed before continuing. “We should have been a bit gentler with that question.”

“It’s fine.” Locklyn shrugged, her shoulders tighter than usual. “No harm done.”

But she’d started bouncing one leg and looked stiff as a board. Obviously, asking about her mother had been about as far from fine as a question could be.

“Let’s wrap this up,” I said. “What else you got?”

Cutter shot a glance at Zed before bringing his attention back to my girl. “You mentioned Chiggy’s truck in your dream.”

“Right,” she said with a nod. “The headlights lit the scene.”

He nodded, scribbling something on the notebook before him with his pen. “And at the time of his death, the headlights from his truck backlit him. Right?”

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