Page 110 of Black Bird

She couldn’t explain the way her heart fell out of rhythm, or the way that it made the scar on her neck tingle at the thought of him not only being here when she didn’t know it … but the possibility that what she heard come out of his mouth may not have been a dream at all. Sarah damned herself for telling him that she wasn’t alone, and her face heated in embarrassment. But then again … for the first time since she’d learned the truth, she felt lighter. Almost relieved. She swiped up her phone and dialed his number.

“Umm … hey. Everything okay?”he answered in a hushed voice. Sarah’s face scrunched.

“Why are you whispering? And were you in my apartment last night?”

He paused for a moment, and she could barely hear a few unfamiliar voices in the background.“I believe you know that answer already.”

“Why didn’t you … stay?” she asked hesitantly.

The smile was evident in his tone when he answered.“I didn’t want to disturb your overnight guest.”

“Jesus.” Sarah palmed her face in shame. “Where did you get this container?”

“I—I have to go. Don’t leave the apartment, okay?”

“What?” Before she could ask anything else, Athan had hung up and she pulled the phone away from her ear and sneered at it in confusion. “What the hell?”

Patrick’s quarters were dingy and far too small for her taste as Dahlia slipped from his tiny bed and wrapped her dark red silk robe around herself. She couldn’t explain why she’d felt the need to join him in here when she’d returned before dawn, instead of summoning him to her own bed for the day. She had no reason to explain herself anyway, in her opinion. Patrick didn’t budge, still naked and half-covered from the waist down as she crept out his door and padded toward her own room.

She hadn’t been outside this club in what seemed like ages, but last night … after deciding that Raine was either dead or had somehow run off with her newfound immortality and immunity to sunlight, Dahlia had decided to take matters into her own hands. Several heads had turned at the sight of her beauty and her strange wardrobe as she passed them on the street, but none had stopped to speak to her. Wise. She’d found her way to Sarah St. James’ apartment on her own—with a bit of help from the tug of a siring bond still tethered to someone she’d been itching to find out more about here lately. She certainly hadn’t expected it but was intrigued to find Athan lurking on the rooftop while she concealed herself into the darkness a short distance away. She had listened to what her keen hearing could make out of his half of the conversation and realized that her little blood bank had no idea that he was there.

Two unattractive police officers giggled back and forth about whatever they were watching on their phones and were completely oblivious to the vampire swiveling around the back of the building and disappearing into a side window toward the back. Dahlia followed him, taking his spot on the rooftop and watching intently as he knelt by her bedside. She didn’t have to hear the words he spoke as he softly caressed that girl’s face. Something in her aging bones twisted, her dark blood festering beneath her skin while she watched him.

So … the detective is in love.

Dahlia felt the corner of her mouth twitch with rage. She shoved it down somewhere deep and replaced that rage with the evil that came so much more naturally to her. It seemed her clever gift on Halloween hadn’t been enough to scare him away from the idea that she would ever allow him to have what she couldn’t. He belonged toher. The prized piece in her collection of souls. St. James would be another in that collection, and she’d be damned if she’d let anything stand in the way of the two things she wanted most. Dahlia moved, hiding within the shadows of the next building without so much as a scrape of sound to give her away. Athan was nearly three blocks from the apartment when she watched him get into a very stylish new vehicle and drive off.

Well … let’s give the detective something to take his mind off his little harlot.

She slipped from the shadows and prowled toward the city to find someone worthy to be the wrench she’d throw into whatever plans he had of courting anyone.

Rhaena knelt down, examining the second body they’d found that resembled Sarah St. James, this time with a far more threatening message—one that was directed at one of their own. Captain Foley had decided to visit the scene himself and he stood next to her, his dark skin and towering frame an unsettling presence as he stared with his arms tightly crossed at the message written in the victim’s blood on the sidewalk. This was going to be disastrous. Rhaena had the good sense to warn Athan that while they all knew that Sarah was safe, per the officers that had taken the day shift to stand guard at her apartment, it wasn’t going to be a pleasant day.

“Well, Gloves … your time off request may have come at a good time,” Foley said glumly, sighing after his statement.

“Why, sir?” Rhaena asked, standing. The captain didn’t answer, and they both turned toward the sound of Athan’s car arriving at the crime scene. She watched him step out and couldn’t help but notice how tired he looked when he did. He hadn’t even showered yet when she’d called to ask if he wanted to ride with her when she received the call about the body. He stopped short on his way toward them and glanced at his phone before promptly turning away and taking a call. After a couple ofminutes of watching the captain grow more frustrated, Rhaena stormed after him and grabbed his shoulder, knowing full well who was on the other end of that phone just by the look on his face. She made a face of her own and jerked her head toward the black body bag that laid on the ground behind her.

“I—I have to go. Don’t leave the apartment, okay?” he said, quickly hanging up.

“You realize our captain is standing over there, right?” Rhaena said through her clenched teeth. “He’s already in a mood. Don’t make this shit worse, Kane.”

He didn’t respond, instead cutting her a glare and making his way past her toward the body. She followed behind him slowly and Foley stepped toward him. “What are you leaving out of these reports, detective? Or do you think I’m just gonna continue to look the other way?” Foley asked, his tone firm and demanding.

“Sir?” Athan asked, scrunching his brows.

Captain Foley turned to the side and pointed down at the bloody message. Rhaena stepped forward and watched Athan’s face go deathly pale.

THINK AGAIN KANE

Athan lowered himself down and slipped on a glove as he peeled back a rip in the victim’s shirt, revealing the number 73 on her slashed chest. His throat bobbed and he stared at the mutilated face. A dead black bird was shoved into the girl’s mouth. It made Rhaena tremble with anger. The slashes weren’t made with a blade this time. These were claw marks. Dahlia likely had done it herself rather than send her useless henchmen. Rhaena figured she must be growing tired of them failing to get to Sarah and had taken it upon herself to do her own dirty work. The bitch was torturing him. Taunting him in the cruelest of ways. Reminding him of his servitude and letting him know that she was well aware of his feelings for Sarah. The mere fact that she’d left her little fortress was problem enough, but she had taken it somewhere that there was no coming back from now.

“How do you know this victim, detective?” Foley asked, placing a hand on his hip.

“I don’t, sir,” Athan answered with a deadly edge to his voice. He raised and the latex glove snapped as he removed it. “It’s another staged homicide. She’s supposed to resemble—”

“St. James. I know,” Foley cut him off, stepping closer. “And I didn’t forget what you told me, Kane … but it’s out of my hands now. I’m sorry,” He cut his eyes to Rhaena. “You and Northwood are off the case.”

“Captain!” Rhaena yelped, jolting forward.

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