Page 37 of Taken

My curiosity waspiqued, wondering if he could smell it through a sealed mason jar.

Dorian shook his head. “It’s sealed airtight,” he explained. “I’ll need to open it.”

“No. Don’t,” I said. “What about fingerprints?”

“For one,” he started with a slight grin adorning his face, “if someone went to this length to send this to you, I guarantee they were wise enough to wear gloves. I’d be careful about my own fingerprints, but you and I know we aren’t giving this over to the police.”

Okay, he was right. This was a situation onlywecould handle. I walked over to the mason jar, grabbed the lid, gripped it tightly, and turned it until the sealed lid popped up, releasing the air inside. The pungent aroma of copper and iron filled my senses, and nausea flooded my stomach. I looked up at Dorian as his fangs protruded and his eyes turned as red as the liquid inside the jar. He clapped his hand over his nose and mouth and backed up, composing himself, letting out the breath he had been holding in.

“Yeah, that’s blood,” he affirmed.

“Is this human blood?” I asked.

He nodded.

I quickly grabbed the lid and sealed it back up. I quickly turned on the vent below the microwave to get the smell out of the kitchen. Perhaps just the scent alone would drive Dorian into a frenzy, and I wasn’t going to be responsible for having to beat the shit out of him to protect myself. Since I came back into his life, it was apparent that he had changed somehow; he was always on edge. It didn’t help that my blood was like liquid gold to vampires since my Awakening, tempting them with a delicious scent until it turned them human again when they’d lose control and drink from me. I watched carefully as Dorian shuddered. Whatever blood lust had claimed him finally released its hold.

I placed the jar back on the counter and pulled the note from under it.

St. Mary’s Cemetery. 9 P.M. Come alone

I looked up at Dorian. “This may be the only way to find out who’s doing this. I know it’s crazy, Dorian, but I have to go.”

“You don’t have to explain this to me,” Dorian said. “I’m not telling you to not go, but I am going with you. Don’t worry; I’m good at staying hidden.”

My mouth pulled up at the side into a smirk, remembering how he and Noah had somehow gone undetected for the last year, as he lived only a few miles from me.

I nodded and eyed the clock. It was eight-thirty.

“We need to go, then,” I said.

I didn’t have a plan. All I hoped for was that whoever this asshole was wouldn’t be a coward tonight and that they would show themselves so I could take them the fuck out.

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WE DROVE TOSaint Mary’s Cemetery and parked a few blocks down the road. Dorian hid behind a large grove of trees as I cast my eyes around the grounds. No intuitive abilities were screaming at me—I didn’t see or sense anyone.

“Come out, you fucking coward!” I screamed, holding my hands out while energy hovered slightly over my fingertips.

Though I didn’t see any movement between the tombs or the trees behind them, I did spot an object a couple hundred yards away. It was difficult to see exactly what it was because it was too dark outside, and the cemetery wasn’t lit up by the streetlights.I approached a massive cement crypt with trepidation.As I neared it, my heart began to beat faster than ever before when I could clearly see what it was.

Notit, but who it was.

A rush of adrenaline shot down my spine, immobilizing me—spinning my head in circles. I had to pace my breathing to slow down my pulse as the aching pain in my chest grew.

No … No! It can’t be.

“Dorian?!” I yelled, but he was already speeding toward me. I felt the breeze from his movements fan my skin before he stopped by my side, staring at the body with me.

“Oh, fuck,” Dorian said.

“Is it really her?” I asked, turning to look at him. “I don’t understand, Dorian. Where are her wings?”

“She’s fallen,” he explained, keeping his eyes locked on her lifeless body.

What does that mean—fallen?

I turned back to the crypt. Tatyana, the angel who had created me and my coven, was sprawled across the concrete lid on her back. She was dead.

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