Page 110 of White Raven
“I wanna help you,” he said, repositioning himself in the stool.
“You are. If you wanna help, then take this blood to Rhaena’s apartment. I’ll write down the address. Take a prep kit with you and hook her up to this bag. It looks like this old bloodis the answer.” She turned the knob on the side and adjusted the magnification, and he leaned in closer. “Here, look.”
It was like turning the heat down on a gas stove. Like dousing a raging inferno with ice water. The cells still remained strong—incredibly strong—but Sarah’s untainted blood from before her change was the warm blanket that settled the teething infant.
“You want me to call you? Let you know if it works?”
“No. Do what you have to do, and then make yourself scarce. I was never here, understand? Wren knows how to check in with me.”
“Wren…that was the girl you were looking for the night you bled out.”
She nodded.
“She’s safe. And well protected. I really don’t mean any offense, Nick…but I have to keep my circle of people I trust at a really low number until I find out where Athan is. Not only that…I feel like your wife might already be seeing the flashing neon light that says ‘alimony’ if you continue to help us out. Our situation is just as dangerous as it was before. I’m not putting your family at risk again.”
“What about you?” he asked, watching her as she started cleaning up her makeshift station.
“I’ll be fine. Unlike our last enemy, I’m pretty sure this one wants me alive. But Athan might be a different story, and I’ll bedamnedif I let him take him from me.” She turned and pointed at the blood bag. “Do you have any more of that if one bag isn’t enough for her?”
“Yeah, I stored it.”
“You know that nobody can know you have that shit, right? If the big fish find out that I’ve been giving it away for medical miracles, I’m in the doghouse. And so are you.”
The complications of this girl’s life were astronomical for someone her age. Had that been his own daughter, it would have wrecked his soul to know she’d have to live this way forever.
“I’ve got your back, kid.”
“I’ve gotta go. Get that blood to Rhaena…quickly. Remind them not to come looking for me. Let them know I’ll reach out when it’s safe to. Be careful how much you say around badges. Got it?”
“I’ve got it.”
She shouldered her bag, and made for the back door, glancing over her shoulder as she opened it. “Thank your wife again for my second intrusion into your house.”
Nick grinned, shaking his head. “No need. Take care of yourself, St. James.”
She tightened her mouth and then disappeared, closing the door behind her. Evie would be back with Reese any minute now. He was sure to get an earful when she arrived. Best to take the blow all at once, he reckoned. Nick packed up his instruments and prepared to deliver the blood. She might have his ass when he got back home in a couple of hours…but if it could save someone’s life…
She had the cab drop her a block down from the apartment. Good thing. It looked like Foley had a couple uniforms with him and they were leaving—with Foster.
“Vulture,” Sarah grumbled under her breath as she hid around a corner across the street and watched them. It didn’t seem like they had taken anything, and she hoped they were satisfied with their lack of direction as to where she might be or where she’d go from here. She waited about ten or sominutes before sneaking across the street and hiding out in the dark, under the cover of a broken streetlight. Sarah focused her heightened hearing, singling out any sounds around her place. Once she was satisfied it was empty, she scaled the back wall and slid into the unlocked window she’d once leapt from when she was sneaking around the cops. They could be posted up and watching the place.
The last time that Foster had her way with her apartment, it had been trashed. This time…it didn’t seem like anything was out of place. Maybe they hadn’t been searching for much more than any sign that she’d been here. Now, begged the question—where would they have taken him? Sarah tried to recall every word of that phone call with John Allan.
“All your questions will be answered in due time. Though, you should know…you’ve held all the answers all along.”
“Cryptic, psychodust bunny,” she growled, growing frustrated. What answers had she had? And for how long? Was he even telling the truth?
Sarah scanned the apartment, careful to only turn the light on over the stove, so that it would be dim enough to seem like there was still no one here. Poe’s cage sat empty, and her heart ached. Her eyes caught a couple of feathers laying on his newspaper at the bottom of the cage, and she reflected back to Nell and her shop. What reason would they have to kill her? Did she know something? All they took were—
She shot her attention to the glass pane on the kitchen counter…the only one they hadn’t stolen. If it was important enough to steal it from an old, helpless woman, then whatever answers John insisted she had, would have to show itself in this forgotten piece of literature…right? She picked it up and held it beneath the stove light. Damn, this was old. And in such pristine condition. She picked every syllable apart. The handwriting,and the curls of each letter, trying to sort out differences. Nell wouldn’t have anything in that room that wasn’t authentic.
“Only this, and nothing more…” Sarah whispered, narrowing her eyes.
“I simply wish to see how your stories play out, little bird. Nothing more.”
“Nothing more…” She placed the frame down on the counter, and rushed over to the bookshelf, fetching the missing scrap of rolled parchment inside the glass vial where Athan had hidden her ring. When she unrolled it, she compared it to the hunk of paper missing from the original piece. It was indeed detached from this. Handwriting was exactly the same…but she’d seen it before…where?She pictured Athan standing next to her, throwing his own theories from his detective brain.
“You’ve held the answers all along.”
