Page 88 of Black Bird

“I do, mi’lady…I just—” He paused, shrugging.

“Go on.”

Hiseyes dipped to the bathroom floor. “It probably sounds ridiculous to somebody like yourself, but … I miss my parents. My younger brother. My friends.” He continued massaging her shoulders. “Knowing I’ll never see them again hurts sometimes.”

Dahlia tried—truly tried to find some part of herself that wasn’t empty and cold as ice. It just simply wasn’t there anymore. “If you miss them so much, then why were you trying to sneak alcohol with a fake I.D. at my bar? Alone? Looking like the last thing you wanted were those people that hurt you? Don’t I give you enough?”

“You do. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, ma’am. I wasn’t there that night because of them. I was there because of a girl.”

“One of mine?”

“No, ma’am. My girlfriend. She kicked me to the curb … we’d been together since we were kids. I just—it sucked ass … you know?” He shrugged and hung his head.

“No, I can’t say I do,” Dahlia replied. It was an honest answer, really. She’d never had real love. Didn’t know what it felt like to have her heart broken, or pine for someone. Although, she did understand and acknowledge her fondness for someone she’d sired so long ago. Someone who would practically offer her anything to be able to walk away from her and never look back. She supposed that was what had her clinging to him so desperately. What made her want to hurt him so badly. She took another sip from her glass and her phone started buzzing. Patrick wiped his hands and handed it to her.

“Yes?” she answered.

“Your murderous redhead just came and left in a hurry.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, she looks pretty damaged. Want me to follow her? I can be a lot more discreet than Tank’s stupid ass.”

“No. I’ve no interest in her. Unless she puts herself in my way. Stay out of sight and keep watching the girl. Make no contact, do you understand?”

“Got it.”

“Oh, and Lorraine?”

“Yeah?”

“Learn to breathe through your nose. You sound like a congested animal. If you’re to be one of us, then carry yourself with a bit more pride for fuck’s sake.”

“… sorry.”

Dahlia hung up and handed the phone back to Patrick, lifting her glass back to her mouth. Years ago, this seemed more enjoyable. But as time kept passing, she found herself bored. There was an emptiness that she couldn’t seem to fill, even when she had everything she could possibly want. She had endless amounts of money, power … an entire coven sired by herself that saw to her every need—yet it still didn’t seem quite enough. There was still something missing. Something she couldn’t place that seemed so far out of her reach. Having a host to give her the impossible was a necessity now. Now that the blood in that bag had worked, she was determined to get her hands on Sarah St. James before Conrad Stratford had a chance to reap the benefits first.

Athan had just gotten out of the shower and lit a cigarette when a knock sounded at the door. He opened it to find Rhaena standing with her arms crossed, a grim expression on her face.

“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, stepping aside to invite her in.

“We need to talk.”

“Okay?” They walked into the kitchen, and she sat down at the table. “If this is about earlier, I—”

“It’s not. It’s about Sarah.” Rhaena frowned. His stomach churned.

“What happened?”

“Wren came home really upset. Sarah asked her over for dinner and made an ass out of herself.” Athan leaned against the counter and furrowed his brows. “Apparently, Wren had mentioned breaking things off to Brent at the hospital when Sarah was still there. She found out about it and basically told Wren she’d betrayed her.”

“Well … I don’t think that’s making an ass out of herself, Rhaena … I can’t say I wouldn’t be upset about it.”

“Kane, look … I understand your feelings for her. I really do. That’s why I’m telling you this is a problem. While it might sound petty and childish, Sarah isn’t in a good place right now. We’ve got two uniforms watching her and this girl just found out that the man she loves is the one that hurt her, there’s an army out for her very blood, she’s got no family, no friends other than Wren, and that friend she feels betrayed her trust. She’s alone. She’s angry and hurt. With her behavior here lately … it gives me reason to worry about what she’ll do.”

He hadn’t considered that. He’d been too wrapped up in his own feelings about everything to see the bigger picture.

“Did she say how she found out about Wren?”

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