Page 57 of Black Bird

“Holy shit, Sarah …” Brent said from beside him. They pushed through costumed bodies, Wren following close behind them until they made it to the stage. It took everything Athan had not to rip the arms off of every person brave enough to touch her.

It was almost as if she’d sensed him there. She turned, pressing her back against the pole, and raising her arms to grab it above her as she locked eyes with him and slid down, spreading her knees as wide as they’d go before him. Her scent alone had him ravenous, but the way she looked … his self-control was steadily slipping. A vampire … she’d dressed up as a vampire for fucking Halloween. He was going to lose it. Sarah smiled at him, dropping to her knees and crawling toward him, completely dismissing Brent as he gawked beside him.

“I was hoping you’d be here.” She grinned drunkenly, fake blood staining her chin. He couldn’t help but find it incredibly sexy on her. Fuck the rest of that outfit.

“Let’s go.” He jerked his head toward the entrance.

“Where are you taking me?” She smiled, eyeing every part of his body as she slithered forward and pressed her palms against his chest. She turned her face toward Brent. “What are you doing here?” She rolled her eyes. The disgruntled lawyer said nothing, crossing his arms and watching her.Good.He’d hate to have to rip his throat out in front of her. Some shirtless, tattooed punk reached for her exposed ass and Athan grabbed his wrist.

“Touch her again and I’ll break your fucking arm.” He growled, twisting the bones until the man grunted in pain.

“Who the fuck are you? She’s been with me all night!” He barked, trying to pry his fingers off.

“Don’t test me.” Athan seethed, gripping hard enough to make the guy sweat. He nodded frantically and Athan released him, Brent and Wren both looking on in shock. Sarah’s smile grew wider, and she slid her hands up his collar, hooking her arms around his neck.

“I knew it …” She giggled. “Youdowant me.”

“That’s enough. Let’s go,” Athan said reaching around her and lifting her off the stage. He scooped her into his arms and her head fell back as she chuckled, her legs dangling playfully over his arm. “Wren, her stuff.”

“I’ve got it,” she confirmed, following behind him as they made their way to the door. The sounds of the music died as they walked outside and Athan didn’t stop to say another word to the bouncer, or anyone else as he carried Sarah to the truck. Brent opened the passenger side door, and they eased her inside, buckling her in. Sarah smiled, hardly able to keep her eyes open as Athan raised her head.

“What did she have?” he asked as Wren stood on the other side of the door.

“God only knows. I tried to stop her, but she fought me off. I’ve never seen her like this.”

Sarah’s eyes rolled back, and she started passing out. He laid her head down on the center console and backed himself out of the truck, closing the door behind him. “Can you drive, Wren?” he asked. Wren nodded. “Follow me.”

Brent looked on from the curb, arms crossed and defeated, as Wren unlocked her car. Athan made his way around the front of the truck, stopping to look at him. “Thanks for your help … if you wanna take her to my place, you guys can follow me there. She can stay as—”

“She’s not staying with you, Stratford.” Athan cut him off. Brent looked as if he could combust with anger.

“It’s safe there. You don’t know her like I do.”

He couldn’t stop himself from stepping forward until they were standing chest-to-chest. “It doesn’t matter how well I know her. Tomorrow, I want you at the 12th for questioning.”

“I haven’t done a damn thing wrong,” Brent sneered.

“I never said you did. But if you’re fucking stupid enough to believe she’s safe anywhere near you, or your family … then we need to have a talk. You’ll probably feel safer having that conversation at the precinct.”

Brent swallowed and clenched his jaw. Athan didn’t bother saying anything else and stalked to the driver’s side door, jerking it open and crawling inside. Brent never moved an inch as they backed out and peeled onto the street.

CHAPTER 9

THE SHROUDED TRUTH

Rhaena panted helplessly on the floor of the small closet, Athan’s silver ring hooked around the end of her claw and resting just where it could fit snugly against her skin. It had worked. While it didn’t stop her from shifting, it had at least weakened her enough not to thrash against the chains. She was slowly drifting into a place where she was forgetting about the pain in her body … the uncontrollable fury that had taken over after moonlight had spilled between the storm clouds and turned her into a monster. If the silver had done nothing else, it at least had her coherent enough to think a little clearer. Dawn would break soon. She recalled Athan telling her he had to leave, though she couldn’t remember why. Whatever it was, it had to be something important. He never left her on full moons. She only wished that she could help.

Her ears turned at the sound of rustling in the cabin and heavy footsteps thundering across the floor. She couldn’t move. If she was found by anyone who would expose her, she wouldn’t even have the strength to keep them quiet. Panic settled in and her heart ached. She couldn’t muster the strength to even turn her head to see who had walked into the room.

“Rhaena?” Athan’s voice soothed her pounding heart and she let her eyes close in relief. “Shit … should I take it off?” He knelt beside her, daring to get close enough to touch her. She huffed against the floor in warning, unsure of what could happen should he take that ring off. She opened her eyes as he leaned into the closet. “Can you move?” he asked, peering down at her. She tried to tell him with her eyes. “We’ve got a little over a half hour until you shift. You think you can make it?” She managed a slight nudge with her snout. Athan sank down and sat close to her, leaning his back against the closet doorway. “I’m taking the ring off just before dawn.” She closed her eyes again.

She must have drifted into sleep, somehow. Rhaena was jolted awake by a rush of searing pain throughout her body, and she opened her eyes to find Athan tearing the curtains open, sunrise beginning to fill the world with balmy light. She roared, strings of saliva slinging all around her as she arched her spine, and her body excruciatingly began to surrender itself back to her human form. Bones crunched. Her head felt like it would explode. Her heart thundered, threatening to burst. Her beastly, animalistic roaring eased into human screaming as her thick fur became splotchy red skin that was bleeding with streams of sweat. She gasped for breath as every muscle in her body, though trained and solid, gave way to exhaustion and she slunk down to the floor. The squeak of hersweaty back against the wall followed her the entire way down and Athan immediately started unchaining her limbs.

“Here,” he soothed, wrapping a soft towel around her naked body and lifting a glass of iced water to her mouth. She drank heavily, chugging the entire thing down in a few swallows. Her breathing was shallow and ragged as he refilled the glass with the jug of water lying nearby.

“What happened …” she asked hoarsely, taking notice of the grim expression on his face.

“We can talk about it later,” Athan replied, lifting the glass back to her mouth. She downed another in a matter of seconds.

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