Page 102 of He Who Ignites The Flame
I nodded, and he took the papers, flipping through them, his expression growing more grave.
Thesettlingwas a monumental time for our kind, a transition of sorts. It was when we came into our magic, stopped aging. Every cell in our body was remade, rebuilt to be more powerful. With the magic and strength came the need to consume blood, the toll on our bodies too much to subsist on regular food alone. It was never guaranteed when we would undergo thesettling, but it typically happened between the ages of eighteen and twenty-three.
“Surely it’s just a coincidence,” Damien said, running his fingers through the dusting of hair lining his jaw. “Humans don’t go through anything like a settling. The killer probably just has a taste for women around that age.”
It wasn’t unheard of. There had been cases in the past of rogue immortals targeting humans, and sometimes, there were patterns, favored traits in their blood type or physical appearance. Either way, we always got to the bottom of it and swiftly dealt with the threat. This was a new level of obsession, though; I’d never seen such a definitive pattern.
“I have other matters to attend to,” Damien said as he headed for the door. He stopped short as he grabbed the doorknob and glanced back at me. “Get to the bottom of this.”
I let out a sigh—as if I didn’t have enough to deal with—but as my eyes roamed over the mess of case files, my gaze snagged on a photo of one of the victim’s forearms, on the words carved into her flesh.
‘Imposter’.
41
THALIA
Music pounded through the black brick walls of Stokers as I stepped through the door, knowing damned well this was the only place they could be hiding out.
Vincent rounded the bar with a glass of ambrosia liquor in each hand, freezing the moment he caught sight of me, his eyes immediately darting to the assholes I was searching for. I stalked toward him, grabbing one of the glasses he held. “This for Micah?”
He cracked a guilty smile, relinquishing the drink to me without hesitation. “Skipped training, didn’t he?”
I knocked back the glass, the amber liquid burning its way down my throat before I set it on the bar. “They both did.”
They had left me to train alone with ten new recruits, not only avoiding the responsibility but slacking off and shirking their own training all afternoon to do gods knew what.
“Don’t let me stop you,” he said, stepping back and out ofmy way.
“And here I thought you’d at least have Barrett’s back,” I crooned, glancing at him.
“I’m not getting my head bitten off by the wolf,” he said with a laugh as he turned to find somewhere else to be.
I couldn’t help but reminisce on how much he had grown from the little boy I’d met so long ago to the warrior before me now. He’d been Barrett’s shadow everywhere he went, had gotten into all sorts of trouble at his side, but he’d grown into a male his mother could be proud of.
The beast within me swelled with satisfaction as I turned toward Barrett and Micah, who had yet to notice my presence. The bastards were lucky to be hiding out in Semele and Eiko’s bar, or my first greeting would have been to tackle them to the ground, teeth bared. I couldn’t bring myself to cause any damage to the females’ space, though, no matter how ticked off I was with the duo who had left me high and dry to deal with the new blood.
I stalked toward them, bar patrons parting ways to allow me through, as if they could sense what lurked beneath the surface of my skin, ready to bite.
“I wonder how long it’ll be before she shows up,” Micah whispered as I neared, and my lips curved at his statement.
“Better get your drinks in fast. She’s probably already on her way over,” Barrett responded, tipping his glass back and grimacing as he drank the liquor down.
“Yeah, I’d say that was your last one. Hope you enjoyed it,” I said, arms crossed as I stopped at their backs.
Micah choked on his drink, coughing and sputtering as he set his glass down. “Thalia, my love.”
“Don’t even,” I said as I glared down at him.
“It was one afternoon,” Micah said with a guilty smile, and I ignored the part of me that softened at the look in his sky-blue eyes. “Barrett pulled an all-nighter last night working on paperwork, and I was tired from patrol.”
My eyes narrowed. “We train to keep our bodies in shape, to remain prepared to fightthem.”
“One missed day of training isn’t going to kill us,” Barrett said, turning to face me as he leaned back against the bar, strong arms draped over the dark wood. I avoided letting my eyes roam over every inch of carved muscle filling his shirt as he cocked his head to the side.
“I could make it up to you,” Micah said, running his tongue over his lower lip, and my heart fell into a heavy rhythm at the way his soft blue eyes darkened.
“You can make it up to me by taking my training shift tomorrow,” I said, arching a brow with a coy grin.
