Page 64 of Edge of Control

“Hey, Theo?”

“Yeah?”

“Why do you have this?”

He turned around. In his hand was a single, sleek, midnight-black feather.

Chapter 24

Jace Holloway

The featherin between my fingers felt like a dagger.

Sharp.

Shiny.

Lethal.

My chest tightened. Blood froze. I turned to Theo, trying to keep my voice from shaking. It couldn’t be what I thought it was. Surely not. Couldn’t be a raven feather. Because why would Theo have that in his apartment? With no birds in sight?

“Why do you have this?” The words were like glass cutting up the inside of my mouth. I didn’t want to ask. Didn’t want to know.

“That?” Theo looked equally as puzzled as I felt. He glanced over his shoulder to the balcony. The one that had a breathtaking view of Central Park. “It was from one of Luke’s catches. He likes to sit on the balcony sometimes. A bird got too close. He had brought it in as a gift, that sicko.”

His cat responded to hearing his name. He looked up from his perch on the cat tree and gave a long yawn, hopping off and sauntering over to the couch. I swallowed. That had to be it. Of course it was because of the cat. It made sense. I’d never owned one, but I knew they had a habit of killing things and bringing them back to their owners. A sign of love.

But… “This feather’s so clean. What kind of bird was it?”

Theo gave a shrug. He looked down at Luke, who had hopped onto his lap. “I think maybe a crow. Or a pigeon. I didn’t find it. The cleaners did. They told me about it.”

“Ah, gotcha.”

Alarm bells rang in the distance of my psyche. It was a crazy thought—of course Theo wasn’t involved in the killings. But, well, what if he was? What if this feather wasn’t either a crow’s or a pigeon’s but a raven’s?

“Mind if I hold on to it?”

“You collecting random feathers now?”

“No, it’s just…” What could I say? That I wanted to take it and get a DNA test ran because I suspected that the man I was falling hard for was actually a serial killer?

It sounded insane. I couldn’t even bring myself to say it.

“You’re right. You should toss it.”

Theo cocked his head, his eyebrows inching together. He rubbed the back of his head, the curling snake tattooed on his forearm appearing to slither with the movement. “You don’t think—is this because of Nevermore? Jesus, Jace. I’m not?—”

“No, I know. I was just thrown off. That’s all.”

Theostood up and walked over. He wore a pair of loose gray pants, his bare feet padding across the shining hardwood floor. He put a hand on my elbow, his intense hazel gaze pinning me in place. “I get it. You have a job to do. You’re a detective; you question everything. But please, don’t question me. Don’t ever question what we have.”

“What is it that we have?”

“Isn’t that a question?”

“I guess it is.”

Theo’s slanted smile started disarming my guard. “I think we have the beginnings of a really solid relationship. I’m not the kind of guy who gets tamed, Jace. But you’ve broken me in. You saddled me. Made me yours. I don’t see myself ever feeling like this again.” His hand dropped into mine. I looked down at the feather, still in my free hand. The truth was that I felt the same, even though there were a hundred reasons why I shouldn’t. My trust in men had been shattered by my previous relationship. The man I loved with all my being had left me for someone else in a moment when I needed him the most. I never saw that coming. It hit me like a derailed train flying off a midnight track, crushing me instantly.

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