Page 49 of A Match Made in Coven
“Hey?”
“The prints were a match. We’re moving in on MacGregor tonight.”
Lorcan blew out a breath, his heart hammering against his ribs. “I suppose this is the part where you tell me to stay put?”
“Yeah, we need to do this by the book.”
She was right, but it didn’t make it any easier to swallow. “Promise me you’ll be careful.”
“Always am,” she quipped with a smile in her voice. “I’ll see you soon, Black.”
The line went dead, and Lorcan stared at the phone for a long moment before pocketing it. His feet were already moving, carrying him back to Town Hall.
By the time he arrived, the scene was a chaos of flashing lights and uniformed officers. Police cars crowded the street, their sirens silenced but their lights painting the night in bright shades of red and blue. Lorcan’s heart lodged in his throat as he scanned the crowd for any sign of Sarah Michelle.
As he kept looking for her, the large entrance doors burst open and a cluster of SMPD agents emerged, the councilman held between them. Even from a distance, Thaddeus MacGregor was unmistakable—his usually snobbish features pale and drawn, his wrists bound by handcuffs that glinted silver in the flashing lights.
Lorcan’s gaze zeroed in on Sarah Michelle, her expression grim but triumphant as she and her partner marched MacGregor down the steps. Pride surged, warring with a sudden, irrational pang of jealousy for the tall, handsome detective at her side.
He tamped down the unworthy emotion as the agents bundled MacGregor into the back of a waiting cruiser none too gently. The councilman’s head disappeared from view, and Sarah Michelle’s partner slid behind the wheel, slamming the door with a decisive thud.
Sarah Michelle leaned toward the window, exchanging a few final words Lorcan couldn’t hear. The hot clench of jealousy reared its head again, but he throttled it ruthlessly. They weren’t officially together, and he was already acting like a mannerless caveman. And even if they got together, Sarah Michelle was a free spirit and Lorcan would never want to clip her wings. They were too beautiful.
As if sensing his gaze, the witch straightened, her gaze finding his across the distance. A slow smile curved her lips, and Lorcan’s heart turned over and tripped down under the force of that smile.
She raised a hand, knocking twice on the hood of the cruiser. The car pulled away from the curb, disappearing into the night. Sarah Michelle watched it go, then turned and crossed the street toward him, her pace unhurried and her smile still in place.
He met her halfway. They came together in a rush. As his arms went around her, her fingers curled into his shirt. He buried his face in her hair, breathing in the familiar scent of rain and vetiver, letting it ground him.
“We got him,” Sarah Michelle murmured, her voice muffled against his chest. “It’s over, Lorcan. He’s going to pay for what he did to Elijah.”
Lorcan nodded, not trusting himself to speak past the sudden thickness in his throat. He squeezed her harder, the last of the tension draining from his body as she leaned into him, offering wordless comfort.
They stood like that for a long moment, wrapped in each other and the bittersweet triumph of the night. When they finally drew apart, Lorcan’s gaze dropped to her mouth, the urge to kiss her rising fierce and sudden.
Sarah Michelle’s eyes fluttered closed, her lips parting in anticipation. Lorcan leaned in, his breath mingling with hers—her phone rang, the shrill sound shattering the intimacy of the moment.
Sarah Michelle jerked back, fumbling in her pocket with a muttered oath. She glanced at the screen, frowning, then brought the phone to her ear.
“Hello?” A pause, then, “Wait, slow down. What happened? When?”
The color drained from her face, and Lorcan’s stomach knotted with dread. She listened for a moment longer, then said, “I’ll be there as soon as I can. Just… tell her to hold on, okay?”
She ended the call, her hand trembling as she lowered the phone. “It’s my grandmother,” she said numbly. “She’s been taken to the hospital.”
“I’ll go with you.”
“You can’t. If my family sees a Black…” She trailed off, her expression anguished. “I need to do this alone, Lorcan. At least for now. I’m sorry.”
He wanted to argue, to insist on being there for her, but the pleading look in her eyes stopped him. So he nodded, cupping her face in his palm. “I understand. Go. Be with your family. But promise you’ll call me if you need anything, okay?”
Sarah Michelle leaned into his touch, her lids fluttering closed. Then she stretched up to press a hard, quick kiss to his mouth and strode away. For the second time tonight, Lorcan watched her go, unease settling in the pit of his stomach.
At the end of the block, Sarah Michelle paused, glancing around to ensure she was unobserved. Then, with a subtle shimmer of magic, a pair of iridescent wings unfurled from her back, becoming one with the moonlight.
In a flash, she was airborne, rising into the night sky until she was little more than a glowing speck in the distance. Lorcan tracked her progress until she vanished from view, the bad feeling in his gut only intensifying.
Chapter Twenty-nine
