Page 45 of The Hive Queen

“Mud wrestling nympho who I used to arrest back when I worked under Bailey.” He shudders. “She liked to try to get the answering officer in on herfun.”

“And did she?” I can’t decide if this amuses me or makes me want to go back and kill Vicki.

He stares at me blankly. “Did she what?”

I arch my other brow. “Get you in on her nympho fun?”

“Never willingly.” His expression turns bland. “But she was very slippery and very nude. I didn’t always have control of where my hands went.”

With a nod, I jog down the steps ahead of him. “I’m telling Flint!”

“Don’t you dare.” His laughter follows me. “We’ll get home to a mud pit in the backyard!”

I pull my phone from my pocket. “Is that such a bad thing?”

“It is before it’s summertime!” Sharpe catches up and wraps an arm around my waist, but I keep my phone out of reach.

A message pops up on my screen, and my humor dies. “Meredith sent the files.”

Sharpe stills behind me. “No rest for the wicked.”

“Nope.” I open the email and forward it to Sharpe. “We should have Flint go to the Library to see if he can find any leads on the monster with Josephine’s description.”

“So that means you didn’t recognize it?” At the shake of my head, he pulls his phone out. “I need to have my team test both bodies to see if they were Others. And see if Mayn found anything on those tapes yet.”

We fall silent as we walk toward Sharpe’s car, each on our own devices.

I close Meredith’s email to read over later and notice a new message from my sire. Curious, I open it and images of golden flowers cover my screen from every angle imaginable.

Did he go back out to the Wastelands just to take these?

The message attached to the pictures reads simply:

May these bring a smile to your day.

Yours eternally,

Marius

Sharpe stops next to the passenger side door to open it for me. “What brought that smile to your face?”

I hesitate for a moment before showing him the email.

His eyes widen. “Marius, as in your sire, Lord Marius?”

I nod. “He sent me an email yesterday with just one picture, and today he sent me a dozen more.”

Sharpe leans against the open door. “Is this a good thing?”

I press my thumb over one of the images, and it opens in high-definition, revealing the red dust of the Wasteland that clings to the flowers.

They’re blooming despite the odds, and that somehow feels meaningful.

“It makes me smile, and it’s been a long time since I’ve felt anything positive where my sire is concerned.” I look up at Sharpe. “What do you think?”

“If it makes you happy, then it doesn’t matter what I think.” He reaches out to pull me closer. “Holding on to hate for so long isn’t good, though. Whether you mend bridges or move on is your choice, and I’ll back you one hundred percent.”

I lean my weight against him. “Thank you. I’m afraid of what Flint and Marc will say.”

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