Page 188 of Black Bird

He slowly turned himself around in her hold, water pooling between the spot where their bodies met. “Yeah, that might take some getting used to. Do your arms hurt?” Sarah leaned her face out of the pounding water above them and scrunched her face.

“Yeah … so do my legs. I mean, it isn’t terrible. Just a dull ache, but …”

“Adjusting to an immortal body isn’t as easy as one would think. You’ll feel better in a couple days.” Sarah eyed his neck, now healed, and brushed the back of her knuckles across it. “It wasn’t your imagination. You did do it.” He smiled.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t know what—”

“Sarah …” He pulled her closer and pressed their heads together, both their faces dripping hot water. “I’m fine. I’m happy to be your next meal in more ways than one.” She snorted, and hooked her arms around his neck, and Athan sighed against her mouth.

“Why do you seem so sad? Are you angry with me, detective?”

He huffed a laugh through his nose. “God, no …” he breathed, stroking the side of her face. “I just …” Sarah reached up and traced his jawline with her fingers. What would he have done if she wasn’t in this world anymore? If he couldn’t hold her like this? Athan took her wrist and pressed his lips into her palm. “I thought I’d lost you for a minute.”

Sarah rested her head against his chest, holding him close. “For a minute, so did I …” It had to be a coincidence that she laid right over the tattoo they shared. Or maybe it wasn’t. She kissed over it, lingering against his skin as water rushed between them. “I heard you. I was in this … place. I saw my mom.”

Athan pulled away to look at her and lowered his brows. “A place?”

Sarah nodded. “Yeah … she called it ‘the veil’ and said neither of us could stay. I saw her. I could touch her … talk to her.”

“What did she say to you?”

“She told me to stop looking for answers. Said that she wanted me to drop it, basically. She thinks the truth will only hurt me more. Whatever that means.”

Athan smoothed her wet hair over her shoulders. “So, she wouldn’t tell you who did it?”

“No,” Sarah said, shaking her head and staring at his tattoos. “She wants me to let it go and live my life. But before she disappeared and sent me back, I forced a name out of her.”

“Her killer?”

Sarah slowly raised her eyes back to him. “My father.”

He didn’t know what to say. All the time that she’d spent that close to death all he could see was her limp body, slowly dying. She had been somewhere else entirely, and still fighting not for her life … but for the answers to every mystery that plagued her. It was just as heartbreaking as it was admirable, and he fell a little deeper in love with her right then.

“I couldn’t see her anymore and my body hurt all over. Everything was such a blur at the end. I heard your voice the minute I was thrown back.” Her fingers grazed the tattoo on his breast. “I felt you, Athan. I felt everything. I felt your pain … your fear. You really fucking love me, huh?” She smiled, flattening her hand on his chest.

He didn’t realize how much his breathing had quickened while she spoke. Didn’t notice how much his need for her had grown in the last few seconds. He took the back of her head, tilting it back and grazing her bottom lip with his teeth. “Oh, baby … you have no idea.” That kiss was vicious … deep. “You’ve absolutely ruined me, Sarah St. James.”

“Damaged …” she whispered, kissing him back like she was starving for him. “Now I’m just as ruined as you are.”

His blood burned. He turned and backed her against the wall, never breaking their kiss as he hoisted her up and she hooked her legs around his hips. “Don’t you ever die on me again,” he growled.

“Nevermore.”

CHAPTER 34

THE HUNT

Sarah laid the hairbrush down on the bathroom counter, peering at her reflection in the foggy mirror. She was still the same … but so different. On the inside, she felt like she could take on an army. On the outside … she still looked like a cleaner version of that girl in the alley. Even the scar that Athan had left on her neck seemed lighter, but somehow remained. She remembered telling him she’d likely tattoo over it, but now—now it was the mark that would forever remind her of the man she’d never dream of living without. Not ever. Athan stepped in, shirtless and drying his hair with a towel. He leaned over her shoulder, catching her gaze in the mirror.

“You alright?” he asked, pressing a kiss to her damp skin. “Rhaena’s waiting for you.”

“How can I look so normal, but feel so damn strange?” She pressed around her cheekbones and leaned closer to the mirror, inspecting her strange new eyes. They were tinged with flecks of deep crimson between the colors she was so used to seeing. “Well … almost normal.”

Athan chuckled. “It’ll fade out. You’re a newborn. In a few days, you won’t see the red anymore.”

“My scars are gone.” Sarah pointed out, smoothing her hand down a couple places on her arm. “All of them … except this one.” She brushed her fingertips over her neck.

Athan set the towel in a heap on the counter and nestled into her neck as he wrapped his arms around her. “You’ll keep that one forever. It’s your—” he stopped dead and slowly turned his face back to the mirror, his lips slightly parted in a sudden thought.

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