Page 101 of Black Bird

“Ugghhh …” Raine groaned from behind them. There was no damned way. They looked over, finding her face slowly reconstructing itself.

“She’s fucking turned,” Athan spat, storming over to her bloodied body. Sarah couldn’t figure out if she was dreaming or not as she watched him plunge his fingers into her exposed chest as if she were made of sponge cake. The sound of him tearing her heart out was almost as sickening as the way it sounded when it hit the floor between them, the organ beating weakly until it didn’t at all. A small red satchel hung from Raine’s wrist, and he took the keys from inside it, reaching for Sarah’s cuffs. She let him remove them, both their hands covered in blood.

“Will she come back?” Sarah asked, breathlessly.

“No. Whether it beats, or not … vampires can’t live without one.”

“Hers was.” She pointed out, unsure if he’d noticed.

“What?”

“Her heart was still beating when you threw it on the floor, Athan.”

He paused, looking first to the heart, and then to the body. “Fuck …”

“Tell me.” Sarah grabbed his arm.

“That means she’s like me. Where would they have gotten your blood?”

“I don’t know.” It was true, she didn’t have an answer. “But I think Conrad must have it, too. He plans to use it to hype up a cure for cancer on that little girl at the benefit.”

The doors sprung open and Rhaena rushed in, her gun drawn. “Shit… are you both okay?”

“We’re fine,” Athan answered, his voice low and defeated. Sarah caught him buttoning up what he could of his shirt. Clearly, he wasn’t ready to talk about the tattoo. It didn’t appear to be the right time, anyway. They had to get out of here.

“Who the hell is that?” Rhaena asked, pointing to Raine’s body.

“Red Riding Hood,” Sarah said, both the detectives looking at her, puzzled. “She said her name was Raine. She was dressed as Red Riding Hood at the Halloween gig. Her and the guy Wren shot were working together …” She glanced at Athan, purposely meeting his eyes. “ForDahlia.”

Rhaena looked back down at her body. “Take her home, Athan. I’ll deal with this. Conrad ordered the entire building to be evacuated. I don’tthink anybody will notice you. Too many people out there. Keep your hands out of sight … and button up that jacket.”

“How are you gonna explain this?” he asked.

“I said I’ll deal with it.” Rhaena pointed at the door. “Go.” She took out her phone, dialing a number and pressing it to her ear. Athan put a hand on the small of Sarah’s back and started leading her out the door. “Hey … I need you.” She heard Rhaena say as they left.

Sarah couldn’t remember the way back from where they’d come from the ballroom. She and Athan followed the red exit signs until they managed to find a door that led out into the parking lot. Rhaena had been right. There were people everywhere. Athan grabbed her hand, their palms sticky with drying blood. Neither of them said a word as he took her the long way around the back of the building to where the staff parking was. He dug a key out of his jacket pocket and a blacked-out Charger beeped and blinked.

“Whose car is this?” Sarah asked as they approached it.

“Mine as of a couple days ago.” He opened the door for her, and she lowered herself into the smooth leather seat. She watched him rush around the front of the car and get in on the other side. He started it up with the push of a button and a small screen slid out and raised on the dashboard. He tapped on it a few times and backed out of the space while it dialed someone’s number.

“Blakely.”

“Hey, man it’s Kane. Are you on duty tonight?”

“I am … you need me?”

“If you’re free, I do. Can you post up at Sarah St. James’s apartment tonight?

“Yep. Want me to bring another?”

“If you can.”

“You’ve got us til’ 11:00 A.M … will that work?”

“Yeah … I appreciate it, bud.”

“You got it. On the way.”

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