Page 137 of Black Bird

“Well, it looks like it’s gonna lead a lot more to you than him. Now they’re both on the run and the only thing that we have to look forward to are a bunch of fucking badges! They’re gonna eventually put it all together, and we’ll both be fucked.”

Dahlia slowly raised from her chair and braced her palms on the desk to lean toward him. “Then I suggest you find a way to draw them out,Stratford. I’ve survived war. Plague. Peasant mobs and witch-hunters with pitchforks and torches. I’m perfectly capable of handling a few coppers. You on the other hand … well …” She cocked her head.

“How do you expect me to do that?”

“I sent Athan running with his little lover when I hit him a little too hard in his soft heart. Find out what she holds dear. Use it. She’ll come after it like a dog to a bone. And if she does … so will he.” She stepped from behind her desk, nudging Patrick aside and heading for the door. “If you’ll excuse me. I need to catch up on some sleep.” Patrick made to follow her out and she pressed a hand to his middle. “You can return to your own bed.” The hurt that flashed across his uncanny resemblance stung as she turned away and left them all in the office. The door shut behind her and she walked in a hurry back to her chambers.

“Fucking Thanksgiving …” she whispered under her breath, her heels clicking down the dark hallway.

CHAPTER 23

THE SNOWBALL EFFECT

Damn, it was cold. Wren had bundled up and layered two jackets before stepping outside for a smoke, while Sarah took a quick shower. She didn’t have to guess that things went well last night with the way she walked and the just-fucked hair she was sporting on her way through the bedroom. Athan seemed rather chipper this morning, as well. Rhaena on the other hand … Wren was getting a lot better at reading her here lately. She knew there was the obvious strain of what was gonna happen to her body in one more day, but the way she kept eyeing her partner in the kitchen led Wren to believe there was something else. She’d make it a point to pry later.

It was gorgeous here. Even more so with fresh snow blanketing the already bright colors of fall. It seemed really early for snow, but not unusual for Boston winters. You couldn’t quite set your watch on it, but one could, for sure, never get an experience like this wild … wonderland of a thing that spread itself over these woods. Wren stepped off the porch and strolled out into the yard, the snow crunching beneath her boots as she dragged off her smoke. Her parents were expecting her in Andover today for Thanksgiving. She hadn’t gotten a chance to tell them not to. It probably made her an asshole for feeling a little relieved that she wouldn’t be making that appearance today, either. Wren hid behind Rhaena’s truck, tucking her cigarette between her teeth and making a loosely packed snowball in her freezing hands from the back fender, as Sarah crept out the front door to the cabin. She waited until Sarah’s hands were raising to cup around her cigarette and light it before chucking it square at her face. It found its mark and exploded, breaking the cigarette, and leaving Sarah with her mouth gaping as she brushed the snow from her hair.

“Oh, myGod, Wren!” Sarah growled, smiling and barreling down the slick steps. She slid off the bottom one, landing ass-first in the snow. A sound “oof” left her chest when she hit. Wren burst out laughing. But not before grabbing more snow and pommeling her with another while she was down. “You’re dead, bitch!”

Wren howled and took off running, finding several good places to escape while Sarah started making a full-out arsenal in her arm. She felt one hit her back. “Your aim is as bad as your balance, slut!”

“Grow up!” Sarah cackled, hitting her with another one. “Come take this ass-whoopin’! And you owe me a cigarette!” She chased her around Rhaena’s truck, and then behind the large oak tree, both of them rounding it and darting for the front porch.

“Not today!” Wren barked, not seeing the swing as it blended into the cover of snow. She ran right into it and the old rope snapped, landing her face down in the snowbank. Sarah fell next to her, scarce of breath from laughing so hard. When Wren raised her face from the snow, her cigarette was also broken and soaking wet. She threw it across the yard and they both laid on their backs in gut-wrenching giggles. “I deserved that.”

“On this special holiday,” Sarah heaved between laughs. “I am thankful for … karma.” She drew a check mark in the air and Wren slapped the back of her hand into her stomach.

“I’m thankful for hard sleep. So I was spared from having to hear what obviously happened last night with Blood Daddy.” Wren dug her smushed pack of cigarettes out of her jacket and lit one while she passed them over to Sarah, who neither confirmed nor denied her remark. “So?” Wren pressed, blowing out smoke through her devious smile. “How was it?”

Sarah passed her the pack and took a long drag, staring up through the trees. “Have you ever been with a guy, and just thought to yourself … maybe I shouldn’t have done this, or … what if that was too much?” Wren turned her head to look over at her. “I’ve never once been with anyone and didn’t think that maybe he wouldn’t call back, or I was just some deranged lay that always went too far. Even with Brent, it was always just this … unspoken,uncomfortable, awkwardness between us.”

“I’m not really sure Brent is anything to compare it to, Sarah.” Wren couldn’t help but snort.

“It’s all I’ve ever known, really. Even some of them that were more like us. They were still just … withdrawn and creeped out by any little thing I did. Even if it was something I asked them to do to me.”

“Oooo … what did you ask him to do?” Wren grinned, taking another hit.

“That’s just it. I didn’t have to ask. Every move he made was just as welcomed as mine. Like he’s—like he’s my counterpart. That other half of me that’s been missing. I don’t think there’s a single thing I wouldn’t let him do, Wren.”

“Did he face you?”

“Yes.God, yes … and he was fucking fascinating to watch. I lost count how many times we both got off.” She shook her head and drew on the filter.

“Lucky bitch.” Wren rolled her eyes and puffed on hers as well. “I need me something like that. Do you remember the bass guitarist in that band we went to see at Cannon’s Brewpub last year?”

Sarah jerked her head toward her and smacked her in the shoulder. “Oh, my God! Yes! Didn’t you go out with him once?”

“Dude, I told myself … he’s so damn perfect, I’d let him test out my bum hole if he wanted. That should have been the straw that broke the camel’s back with my interest in musicians.” Wren huffed.

“Why? Was he terrible?”

“We went out and had such a good time. He was funny, and actually talked about something other than the road. I let him stay at my apartment and he was by far the worst fuck I think I’ve ever had.”

“Oh, noooo … why?”

“Well, for one. He was lazy. Like all of a sudden, he just seemed so entitled. He had that fuck-boy attitude like I should be so lucky to be in his company, and it turned me off. But I realized pretty early on that there just wasn’t any spark there. All the shit I felt during our date? I got played about as efficiently as that guitar.” Wren turned her face and met Sarah’s eyes. “I think everything leading up to what you have with Athan … you two spent so much time trying to bury the obvious truth that you’re perfect for each other, that you really had no idea how well all the pieces would fit.”

Sarah gave her a soft smile. “Look at you … growing up on me.”

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