Page 186 of Black Bird

The mug had broken, and thick shards of the ceramic cup lay on the tray, and the floor. Good enough. Wren turned herself around, scooting toward the tray, and trying her best to maneuver her hands to grab the biggest piece with the most jagged edge. She flipped it in her fingers and slid it between her wrists. The point poked her skin, and she cursed, pinching her fingers over it again and positioning the piece to start sawing away at the rope. At least that part was going in her favor. Not much she could have done if these were metal chains, or cuffs. She was grateful that the large chain on the wall hadn’t been what was used to hold her, though she also knew that if she wasn’t careful … if she didn’t plan this out, there’d be no second chance. They’d either kill her or toss the idea of using rope anymore.

This was gonna take forever. Wren carefully moved the glass back and forth across the rope. She prayed that Conrad would busy himself withanythingelse until she could free herself enough to beat the shit out of the old fuck.

What time was it?

Rhaena’s eyes cracked open at the sound of heavy knocking on her apartment door. Jenkins stirred awake beside her, raising to sit and grabbing his gun from the nightstand as he flipped on the lamp.

“It’s almost four in the morning,” he said, cocking his gun. “Who the hell would—”

“Athan …” Rhaena finished, jerking the sheets back and hurrying to the door. She scrambled with the locks, and thrust it open to find him standing with Sarah in his arms, bundled in a sorry excuse for a blanket. “What the hell happened?” she panicked. “Where have you been?”

“I need you to open my door.”

His face was so hard to read. A hard mix of something between pride and utter devastation. When he shifted, turning himself towards his apartment, Rhaena caught the sight of blood just beneath the collar of his jacket. She stormed forward, peeling it back. It wasn’t hard to follow the trail of dry blood up to a spot on his neck that looked to have been bleeding pretty heavily, but now showed absolutely no signs of dismay. “Athan what—” she paused when she glanced down, finally seeing Sarah’s face. There was blood all over her mouth and chin. Rhaena’s eyes grew wide, and she jerked her face back up to him. “Oh my God …”

“Please open my door, Rhaena.”

Jenkins swiftly moved past her, taking the keys from Athan’s hand and unlocking the door to his apartment while Rhaena stood in shock. What the hell had happened since they’d left Wren’s crime scene? How did Sarah end up like this? Was it by choice? Was he happy about it? She followed them inside and helped pull the covers back on Athan’s bed while he unwrapped Sarah and gently laid her down. She barely stirred, and once Rhaena got a better look at her, it was obvious she looked very different.

“You think you could help me change her clothes?” Athan asked, pulling Sarah’s boots off. Brandon leaned in the doorway, raising two fingers to his forehead in a mock salute.

“I’ll leave y’all to it. Knock if you need anything, I gotta be up in an hour.” Athan jerked his head towards him.

“Thanks, man.”

Once Jenkins left, Rhaena helped Athan get Sarah out of her clothes, replacing them with one of his t-shirts, and a pair of his shorts. She didn’t wake at all, barely twitching when they finally covered her up. Athan sat next to her, brushing the stray hair from her face. It was still caked with blood. Rhaena ducked into the bathroom and came back with a wet towel, handing it to him, and sitting down next to him at Sarah’s side.

“How long will she be like this?” Rhaena asked, watching him carefully clean her up. It was almost strange to see him so gentle. Even after being locked up in the cabin with them both for that long. He had changed so much in two months.

“I’m not really sure,” he said, dabbing her mouth. “Her blood is so much different. She might bounce back quicker than a normal turning. I justwanna make sure I’m here when she wakes. The first few days are so disorienting and fucking weird.”

“Are you gonna tell me how this happened?” Rhaena stared at Sarah, remembering the way she felt when they were all at the cabin, waiting for her to wake up after Sarah had ended her pain. This girl had been through so damn much. She’d been so headstrong and brave, and truly selfless. Athan took a deep breath, and then told her everything. It was a lot to take in, and difficult to hear the desperation in his voice when he’d explained that she’d died again … for several minutes. She imagined that’s how Brandon must have felt that night at the cabin. When he finished, Rhaena sat quietly beside him and the silence that stretched between them lingered for a while.

Athan finally turned his attention towards her. “Are you upset?” Rhaena forced herself out of a daydream, raising her brows.

“Hmm? Oh—no, I …” she shook her head and looked back down at Sarah. “I don’t have any right to be upset about anyone’s choices, Kane. If anything, I guess it makes things a little easier for both of you now. And … she’ll be stronger. Might be a bit more useful for her when we figure out who took Wren.”

“Something else is wrong. I know you better than that.” Athan’s eyes narrowed in on her and Rhaena’s shoulders sagged under his stare. She took a steadying breath.

“Foley came to my house earlier today, Athan … I’m reinstated.” Athan smirked, nodding slightly.

“Well, that’s good right? Why do you look so pained by it?”

“I’m not really … but I do think it’s bullshit that I got mine back and you didn’t.”

Athan shifted on the bed, facing her fully. “That doesn’t surprise me at all, Rhaena. You shouldn’t have lost it in the first place. If any part of it was bullshit, it was that part. I deserve what I got. What does surprise me though, is that he camehereto give it to you.”

Rhaena swallowed hard and raised her face. “He came to talk to me privately.” Athan lowered his brows, and slowly cocked his head.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice dropping into a defensive tone.

“I think he knows what I am, Kane.”

“Why do you think that? What did he say?”

Rhaena stood, planting her hands on her hips and pacing back and forth along the side of his bed. “Remember when I asked him why he wasn’t surprised to hear about you being what you are? Well … he decided he owed me an explanation, I guess. He came here to tell me the truth about what really happened to his partner all those years ago.”

Athan’s head followed her back and forth. “Trainor?”

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