Page 8 of Moonlit Nights & Northern Lights
I pushed all the painful memories of that horrible event to the forefront of my mind, playing them like a movie in my head while staring directly at Maxwell. His lips pressed together, and his shoulders went rigid. Good. Let him feel my anger. Let him consider how it felt to be trapped, desperate, fighting against the change while concrete walls closed in.
Kit groaned loudly. “Rory, can we please not go over all that—”
“But it’s linked!” I practically shouted. “I just know it is! Dev was looking into Meridian. That’s how we met in the first place, remember—he was sniffing around for leads about missing shifters. Even after our investigation hit a dead end, after…that night,Dev still kept poking around things.”
The day after we were caught there, Seb managed to persuade Maxwell to search it properly, but by that point, it was too late. They’d cleared the place out of anything remotely suspicious.
Seb nodded slowly. “We did investigate thoroughly at the time. The reports of missing shifters were concerning—still are.”
The trail had gone cold, and Seb had moved me on to other cases. I got it—we couldn’t chase dead ends forever when London was bursting with supernatural crime. But Dev… Dev was like a dog with a bone when he caught the scent of a story. There was no way he wasn’t keeping tabs on it this whole time.
“Just before we broke up,” I said, picking at a loose thread on my jeans. “He had this anonymous letter come through the door, asking to meethim. They said they worked for Meridian. Dev went to the meeting spot at the specified time, but the person never showed. I told you about it, at the time.”
Kit’s eyebrows drew together, creating that little furrow that meant he was thinking. “I remember. And did that person ever get back in contact?”
My stomach twisted. Dev and I broke up shortly after that, and our communication broke down as well. If Dev had been gathering intelligence this whole time—if he’d uncovered something important—Killigrew Street might have missed out on the information because of our messy breakup. It would be just like Dev to decide he could handle it all on his own.
“I have no idea,” I admitted. “He didn’t want to talk to me after we broke up.”
Maxwell sighed deeply. “So you’re saying your ex-boyfriend has been conducting his own investigation into Meridian for nine months, without backup, following anonymous tips?”
My leg bounced faster. We’d been onto something big—I’d felt it in my bones. The thread I’d been picking at snapped, and I wrapped it around my finger until the tip turned purple. My mind raced with all the possibilities, all the things that could have happened to Dev. What if whoever wrote that letter had been watching him this whole time? What if it had been a trap? What if they’d waited until he thought the case was cold before making their move?
The pressure inside me built until I could barely breathe. Dev might be a dick who’d replaced me with a hotter version of myself, but he didn’t deserve to disappear. And underneath all my worry about him was this horrible guilt that maybe, if I’d been a better boyfriend, if I hadn’t pushed him away, he wouldn’t have been doing this alone.
Flynn cleared his throat. “That’s not your fault, Rory.”
I shot Flynn my most winning smile. Not for the first time, I found myself glad that Seb had found him and his neck rather appealing.
But inside, the memories crashed over me like a tide I couldn’t hold back. Dev standing in his favourite coffee shop, the one where we’d had our first proper date, telling me it was over. Just like that. No warning, no discussion, no chance to fix whatever I’d done wrong.
I’d been looking at flat listings on my phone that morning, excited to show him the two--bedroom in Clapham with the tiny balcony. I’d already imagined Freddy sprawling across the sofa, and Dev’s journalism awards on the mantelpiece next to my collection of vintage band posters.
The shock had hit me like a punch to the gut, followed immediately by this desperate, clawing need to make him stay. I’d begged, actually begged, right there in front of everyone, asking what I could change, what I could do better. The humiliation still burned.
And when begging didn’t work, when he just kept shaking his head with that pitying look in his eyes, I’d lashed out. Said things designed to hurt him as much as he was hurting me. Told him he was pretending to be a serious journalist when all he did was write fluff pieces about fashion trends and call them “cultural commentary on late-stage capitalism.” Told him I didn’t really see a future with him anyway. Called him shallow and vain and—
God, I’d been such a fucking mess. Such a child. No wonder he’d blocked me on everything afterwards.
“Also, it’s not just me who thinks he’s missing,” I added, desperate to steer the conversation back towards safer territory. “Before I rang you, I called Dev’s alpha, and she hasn’t heard from him for over a week either. None of them have. They’re super worried.”
Seb’s fingers drummed against his thigh. “There’s quite a lot happening at the moment. Marcus Vale’s clan is still determined to make my eternal existence a living hell. Only yesterday, they left a drained body in the middle of Brixton park, just to send a message. To be honest, even without your phone call, Rory, we were going to have to cut our Ireland trip short.”
My stomach dropped. This was it. He was going to tell me to forget about it.
“However.”Seb’s eyes fixed on me. “We will investigate. Of course we’ll investigate. Detective Maxwell will assist you, as he has the resources we need, and Killigrew Street is spread thin at present.”
My mouth fell open. “But—”
“And,” Seb continued, his voice taking on that stern edge that meantshut up and listen, “I know that as aprofessional, you’ll be able to cooperate with him and work effectively as a team.”
The word “professional” hung in the air like a threat. Maxwell’s lips twitched, and I wanted to throw something at his stupidly handsome face.
“Why can’t—”
“Rory!” Seb’s voice cracked like a whip.
“Okay! Okay! Perfect!” I snapped.Oops. “I mean, thank you. Genuinely.”
