Page 39 of The Hive Queen

Her angry bootfalls echo down the hall to the second entrance at the back that lets out into an underground garage.

We’ll have to double-check our security, though we trained Amalia, so there’s little that can be done to keep her out if she wants in again.

Eyebrow raised, Meredith turns back to me. “One of your strays come to pay a visit?”

“That’s the trouble with kids these days. You do your best to raise them right, and this is the thanks you get.” I rub the bridge of my nose. “You got all that on video?”

“Yep.” Meredith gives the trash can a mournful glance before she heads toward her desk. “I’ll send those screenshots to your email in a few minutes.”

I reach under Pen’s desk and deactivate all the cameras. “You’re the best, Meredith!”

“And don’t you forget it!”

While I wait for the email, I pull out my phone and dial Pen.

“Hey, pretty boy.” The sound of wind rushes through Pen’s greeting. “We’re just about to head into the jail. What’s up?”

“I just had a visit from Amalia.” Uneasiness curls through me as I stare at the open door. “We have a problem.”

the beauty in gray

- Sharpe -

Clearhelm Detention Centersquats on the outer edges of the industrial area, with a large parking lot and chain-link fence surrounding the facility.

The two-story building has a hundred-bed capacity, which rarely fills. The old building hasn’t been updated in decades and isn’t designed for long-term storage.

Much like the cells beneath the JTFPI, it’s only meant to hold people until trial. From there, the prisoners become someone else’s problem.

A cold wind whips past as Pen and I walk to the back of my car and lock our weapons in the trunk safe, then head for the building.

As we near, Pen’s phone rings, and I pause at the bottom of the stairs while she checks the caller ID.

“It’s Flint.” She holds up her cell before stepping off to the side to take the call.

When she joins me a minute later, tension tightens the corners of her lips and eyes.

I reach out to touch her arm. “Everything okay?”

“Amalia turned up faster than expected.” When I make a move to turn back for the parking lot, her hand on my chest stops me. “Don’t bother. She’s already gone.”

Irritation rises at the lost chance to interview a witness. “Could Flint have called us sooner?”

She shakes her head. “Amalia was there and gone faster than it would have taken us to reach the office. Apparently, she’s hunting the same monster we are and wanted to hire us as backup.”

I take in her troubled expression and the rapid tap of her fingers against her thigh. “What’s wrong?”

Her fingers still before she slips her hands into her pockets. “Amalia’s hunted a lot of dangerous demons in her time. Her fair share of evil witches, too. The fact that she’s looking for backup…”

“We’re dealing with a pretty bad monster,” I surmise. “Worse than the Fox god?”

Pen’s lips twist with displeasure. “Hard to say, though we didn’t even fight the Fox god. Not that we would’ve won if we had.”

“No.” What could have happened that day still gives me nightmares. “If not for Darius stepping up, we’d likely all be dead.”

Her unhappiness deepens, the usual spark in her golden eyes nearly extinguished. It’s been like that since Darius’s death, but I don’t know how to reignite it.

This is one of the few times that I regret not remembering our past lives. If I did, maybe something of our shared history would tell me how to help Pen through her grief.

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