Page 149 of White Raven
Sarah’s brows drew together. “She said no?”
Another nod.
“Instead, she gave me a sample of your blood. I had it tested. I tried to concoct a way to keep you from becoming what we are but found no answer. Eventually, your blood would growwith you, changing and…changingyouwith it. Years later, when it was time for you to graduate, I came back to Seattle after receiving an invitation to your ceremony from your mother. The graduation ceremony was at noon…of course, I could not attend. That evening, I watched you. Watched you dismiss your friend’s invitations to celebrate, and instead…you read. Read books as you wrapped yourself in that coverlet. On the couch, while you and your mother drank champagne, and laughed. You were beautiful. Happy. Brilliant. I realized then that no matter what your body became…you would be strong enough to live your own fulfilling life. You didn’t need me. But…I neededyou.”
“You asked again,” Athan stated, clutching Sarah closer.
“I begged her. Again, she refused. She didn’t want to risk your happiness…your simple life. I understood it, but…I could not accept it. I argued that you were old enough then to decide for yourself. And that eventually, some explanation would have to be made for the way your blood would change—yourbody. We fought that night. I had never seen Katherine so angry. So cross. My head, it—I was so damaged, and I fought so hard against it. I had to leave.”
This was…going somewhere he seemed strained to travel. Sarah could feel the tension build between them like a steel wall. His eyes changed. Sorrow began to fill them. The demon inside that he never had the strength to conquer.
Sarah…this—I don’t think…
He knew it too. Felt it. Saw it. Sarah went wholly still.
I need to hear him say it. Don’t coax him. I—it can’t be the truth.
But she knew deep down…it was. It was going to come out, and for a second, she wondered if she truly wanted to know.
“I drove back to Portland. I stayed there for two days. My mind was so restless. My fury outweighed my resolve, and…I knew she wouldn’t seek me. I knew she wouldn’t reveal thetruth to you, so that you’d seek me instead. The demon won. I returned to Seattle and watched her. She left a market late at night. She’d gotten a bottle of wine. Stopped and fueled her car. She was humming in that beautiful voice as she watched the pump. A song I remembered from the night I first saw her. A fire raged in my blood. My head raged along with it. I followed her home, and when she stepped out of the car, she turned, and—I…”
Sarah’s chest heaved up and down. Her adrenaline rushed, and roaring filled her ears. “You killed her…”
His eyes were pleading. Guilt etched every line of his face. He said nothing. Sarah flashed back to the way her mother looked in that plastic bubble. Flashed back to Rachel Foster telling her that not a single drop was taken from her…that it wasmurder…not an attack fueled by bloodlust. The perfect murder for one of his dark stories.
“By the time I’d bitten her, I realized it was too late. Her eyes…the way she looked at me. A betrayal like no other. I thought it was what I wanted…but it was too late to stop it. The venom would smite her. Turning her would erase the woman she was. That messenger from the heavens…the mother she was to you. The love she was to me.”
Sarah had asked her for a name.
“No! I wanna know the truth, Mom. You owe me that much. Tell me what happened, tell me who did this to you!”
“I can’t do that. I love you too much. You’re the best thing I ever had in my life. If you knew the truth it would only hurt you more. Put it behind you and move on. Please…do it for me.”
Her heart shattered.
“Please, Mama! His name!”
Her mother’s teary face being covered in claws of midnight blurred in and out of her mind.
“His name is John Allan…”
That name echoed through her mind. Whispers raged with it…her voice. Her warning. The truth she’d begged her not to uncover. Sarah’s vision focused on the man watching her from the window.
JohnAllan…JohnAllan…JohnAllan…
“She never knew who you really were,” Sarah croaked, grief dripping from every word. “She really did give me the name of her killer. She gave meeverything.” Poe’s thick eyebrows lowered, and she turned back to look at Athan, who was trembling with the need to rip that man apart. “She gave me you. She told me in the veil…she pushed us together.Shewas the one who threw a wrench in his plans. She knew you were mymate.”
“Dear God,” Tony finally whispered under his breath.
Sarah slowly stood, Athan standing with her. Tony reluctantly followed suit. She took a step forward, and Poe didn’t balk. He lifted his chin, submitting himself as the raven on the bust next to them…spoke.
“Nevermore,”he trilled.
“Yes…nevermore.” She clenched her fists at her sides. “Never again. Youtookher. You fucked up my life.You took her from me…”
The whispers continued, and he glanced at the pendant around her neck. The remnants of a woman so pure, that she was allowed to actuallybea messenger.
“The death of a beautiful woman…is unquestionably the most poetic topic in the world,” he recited softly, meeting her murderous stare. “Little bird.”
