Black bird a nevermore d.., p.14
Black Bird: A Nevermore Duet, page 14
“Welcome back, Gloves.” Foley smiled, almost sympathetically. He knew, she supposed. Knew that she had some sort of feelings for Kane that were more than the closeness of being partners. How long he’d known, she couldn’t be sure. He hid it very well. Sarah turned in her seat, touching a hand to her neck when she’d craned it too much.
“Detective Northwood!” Sarah stood, reaching her hand out. “Good to see you again.” Rhaena glanced at Athan first, who watched her like a wolf protecting his pack, and then back at Sarah, taking her hand and shaking it.
“And you. This is a surprise.” Rhaena turned away and snapped the lid from her cup, stepping over to refill it at the water station.
“Well … I got here a bit too late. I initially came to warn you guys about—about …”
“I get it,” Rhaena said, perhaps a bit too dryly. Everyone was silent, the only sound being the splashing of water as it rose in the tumbler. “You seem better.” She finally turned around, facing them and the lid snapped closed … loudly. “I’m sure the Stratford boy is happy to have you home.”
“Actually, I wanted to talk to you about that … exactly that.” Sarah shifted on her feet and Athan decided to finally break the tension.
“We should go back to the board.” He met Rhaena’s eyes and there was a look in them that she’d never seen before … something predatory, but not in the way she’d known him to look when he needed to feed. This was something else. Something territorial.
She’s marked. I fucking marked her …
It’s like they’re branded to us … forever …
I either have to sire her, or kill her …
Rhaena watched them walk back to the desks. Watched the way he barely touched the small of Sarah’s back as he led her forward. Watched him nearly snarl at any of the uniforms that looked at her when they walked by. Foley broke her concentration with a hand on her shoulder.
“You okay, kid?” he asked. She shook herself out of a daydream and looked up at him.
“Yes. Yes, sir … sorry.”
“He ain’t the one, Northwood.” His tone was light and soothing. “I stay out of personal business. You know that. But I’m just offering some friendly advice, from someone who already went down this rabbit hole. Don’t date your partner. Just trust me.”
Rhaena gave him a tight smile. “Thank you, sir.” He nodded and left her to gather herself before she felt confident about walking into the snake pit. She unwrapped a straw from the container on the counter and shoved it into the hole in the lid, watching Athan as he slid a chair to the end of their desks in front of the white board. Sarah sat and pulled her knees up to her chest, flipping through the papers she’d given him at the apartment. Any time he turned away from her, Rhaena caught her staring after him in the same way he had when he’d thought no one was looking. It was more than being marked … they looked like— “Oh, fuck …” Rhaena’s eyes widened at the thought.
Do vampires have mates?
Something sank in her gut like an anvil. She turned away from the window in the break room and one of the rookies popped into the doorway.
“What’s up, Northwood?” he said, with a shrill voice that sounded very much like the poor guy had never quite made it out of puberty. “You okay? You look like you’re gonna puke.” He grabbed a coffee mug from beside her.
“Yeah …” Rhaena breathed, too stunned by the possibility to say much more. “Yeah, I’m fine. Thanks.” She shuffled past him and walked out the door, making her way back to her desk and shaking it off before she had to play nice at the table.
She eased her chair out and tried not to look too horrified as she sat down. It seemed channeling that image was working, or Athan was too enthralled with their vic that he didn’t notice. But Sarah did.
“You okay, friend? I swear, I only had a couple of questions. I also thought maybe it would help in some way, but if you need me to go I can—”
“No, no … I’m good. It’s um … not the best time of the month for me.” Rhaena had actually meant how near it was to the full moon, but Sarah took it differently. That seemed to do the trick, anyway.
“Ohhhhh … I gotcha. No bueno.” She winced back. “Mine are always hell on earth, too. I go from moderate bitch to murderous demon slayer. Even Wren can’t stand to be around me that week.”
Athan swiveled in his chair. “Okay … ladies? If you want me to go, just say so? I can listen to plenty of shit, but I can’t deal with this one. Lines have to be drawn here.”
Sarah snickered, and Rhaena found herself joining her when she spotted the look on Athan’s face. It was obvious that he was uncomfortable. “Actually, Kane … why don’t you give us a few minutes. I’ll talk with her and catch you up later.” Sarah gave him a smirk and he eyed Rhaena like he could eat her alive but … he stood, grabbing his gun, and looping his badge over his head.
“Alright. I’ve got somebody I need to pay a visit to myself.” He swiped a hand through his hair and nodded once in Sarah’s direction, that look still a blistering flame in his eyes even though he seemed like he was trying hard to hide it. “See ya.” He stepped around her and started walking toward the elevator.
“Thanks for the coffee,” Sarah called, but he didn’t turn back to acknowledge her. “Not much of a talker, is he?”
“Be grateful for that. He’s a real shit,” Rhaena said, sipping from her straw.
“I could see that.” She laughed. “But he seems like the kind that wouldn’t bother me as much. It’s the shady ass, bratty ones like Brent that make me want to go slam my face into a wall.”
“Mmm …” Rhaena hummed, swallowing down her water. “Let’s talk about that. You said that’s why you wanted to see me? Is everything okay?” Sarah raised her hand and wiggled her bare ring finger. Rhaena set her cup down. “Shit … what happened? This wasn’t because of what I asked you at the hosp—”
“No, no … it wasn’t you. Trust me. I told you things were a little off before the attack in the alley. We’re just not … right?” Sarah shrugged her shoulders and pinched the bridge of her nose. “He’s just—I don’t know. We’re two different worlds trying hard to co-exist, and it just doesn’t feel strong enough to even fight for. I love him … but I don’t … love him, you know?”
“Why tell me?” Rhaena asked.
Sarah was quiet for a moment. “Well one, because besides Wren … I don’t really have another female to talk to about it. She hates him, she always has. It didn’t surprise or upset her when she came back last night, and I told her we’d broke it off. And two …” Her mouth curled up on one side.
“Two …?”
“He doesn’t look at me that way anymore.” Rhaena shifted under her stare.
“What way?”
“The way he did when you came to my room.”
“Oh!” Rhaena shook her head and turned forward to face Athan’s empty chair. “No … I think he was just trying to piece together where he knew me from. That’s not—I would never … no.”
“Well … if you did, I wouldn’t be upset about it. So, if he tries to ask you out, and you actually wanna go? Get to it. You won’t hear any argument from me.” Sarah tossed her palms up and leaned back in her chair. “Also … now that you mention it, that was the other thing I came to talk to you about.”
“Which part?”
“You said that you knew him because you worked security detail for Conrad, right?” Sarah clutched her knees to her chest. Rhaena nodded. “Well, at the hospital you told me that I should be careful about him … the senator. You said you were working a case of your own and weren’t actually a uniform then, but a detective. I know you can’t tell me much, but … what do you know about him that I should know?”
“Do you have any reason to believe you should be worried? Especially with this case?” Rhaena watched Sarah turn her head back to the white board where the senator’s campaign photo was hanging at the end of one of the many lines branching out from the middle. They hadn’t started the bullet points for that one yet. “Sarah?”
“I feel like he’s involved,” Sarah said softly, not looking back at her.
“Attempted murder is a serious accusation, hun. I need you to be more specific.” Rhaena knew full well who was responsible for that mauling that she couldn’t help but stare at while Sarah wasn’t looking. But if she had any reason to think that, she had to dig a little deeper for it.
“I don’t think he tried to kill me. I told you I don’t even truly believe what did this to my neck was even a human … but I do think he’s involved.” She finally turned her face toward her again. “I told Detective Kane yesterday that people are after me. That they’ve been after me ever since I lost my mom.”
“Yeah, he told me about that. The details were a bit disturbing. But what does that have to do with Senator Stratford?”
“I’ve been with Brent for two years. You asked me how long when you came to the hospital. I thought back on that after you left that day … I didn’t apply to that school. I also didn’t sign up for the blood drive for the senator’s campaign the day that I met Brent. Don’t you find it a bit odd?” Rhaena drew her brows and crossed her arms as she turned her chair back toward Sarah.
“Go on …”
“Brent was overly charming that day. I know that now that we’ve obviously gotten to know each other. And what are the odds that out of all the other techs in that tent … he ended up in my chair? On top of that, I never questioned what was so striking about me for him to ask me out before I even pulled the needle from his arm, considering the type of girls he usually would be attracted to …” Sarah smirked again. “Like you.”
“You think this was planned …”
“Yep.” Sarah’s mouth tightened into a thin line. “I would have probably missed all that had you not said what you said, but then I found this later that night.” She pulled her phone out and turned it toward Rhaena.
“What the hell?” Rhaena breathed, taking it from her and staring at the photo of Conrad Stratford behind yellow tape.
“Exactly. You’re the detective, so you tell me. Does that look like a person that wanted to be photographed?”
“No … no it doesn’t.” Rhaena cut her a look. “Can you stick around? I’ll be right back.”
“Sure. This is fun.” Sarah snorted.
“Grab yourself some more coffee. I’m gonna go dig up your crime scene photos. I’m not sure how much you wanna relive.”
“I’ll be fine. Thanks anyway. I won’t go anywhere.”
“Okay,” Rhaena said, shuffling from her chair and heading up the hall to find Jenkins. Damn, this girl was onto something. She almost felt stupid for not putting it together herself. But it was definitely something worth investigating. Whether or not it was connected to Sarah’s attack was a different story … but if it wasn’t related, then why was this man at her crime scene? And why go, but not offer a statement about the family’s position on the matter? Sarah was right, he definitely looked like he was trying to blend into the nosey onlookers behind the line. For the first time since she’d met this girl, she was glad to have her around.
He deserved it. Deserved every bit of the shame he felt leaving her apartment after she’d given him back that ring last night. A massive part of the man he thought he was wanted to tell her the truth when she’d asked why he asked her to marry him. He almost had. He would never be deserving of someone like her. It was never supposed to actually work. Brent kept reflecting on the moments she’d mentioned when she broke it off … he was never supposed to actually fall for her. He couldn’t truly say he did fall for her, but he found himself already missing her. Maybe it was more the friend he had in her, who actually knew who he was underneath the facade, that he was missing as he pulled up to the mansion he used to call home. His father never told him the real reasons he’d forced him to play this game and involve her in it. He was getting some answers today.
Brent slammed his car door shut and hopped up the steps, nodding to the security guard as he let him inside and started toward his father’s office. Halfway down the hall, his mother’s voice called out to him, and he staggered back, peeking into the open door of the library and finding her sitting in her usual spot, a chair she liked with a matching footrest that was covered in floral material. A nurse smiled at him as he walked in, busying herself with something on a tray and then scooting out to give them privacy.
“Hey, Mom.” He smiled sadly, leaning in to kiss her cheek.
His mother, Pat, had picked a vibrant yellow head scarf today. It was the color she liked to wear on her good days when she wasn’t too sick to entertain company. Although she was in good spirits, as she always strived to be, he couldn’t help but notice how frail she was beginning to look these days. She’d had cancer for nearly four years now, and judging by the bag hanging over her chair that was steadily dripping poison into her withering body … any hope they had of beating this was starting to seem bleak.
“You look sad, baby. It better not be because of me.” She cupped his cheek and part of his heart shattered. Two years ago, he’d be taking this out on a keg at a frat party, or some ambitious blonde that wanted his arm for the night. That was before he’d met Sarah. Now she was gone, too.
“Nah … I uh … I got dumped.” He smirked, kneeling eye level with her and tugging her blanket higher up.
“No … the smart one? Why? I really liked her.” She lifted his chin and narrowed her eyes. “What’d you do?” Brent scoffed and rolled his eyes as he smiled.
“Why do you always assume it’s something I did?”
She smiled back at him sweetly. “Because you Stratford men always assume we don’t know how stupid you are.”
Brent took a seat on the footrest and gathered her cold hands into his own. “We’re just … too different I think, Mom. She knows it, too. It’s for the best. She ended it before I could, that’s all.”
“You love her?” she asked gently.
He thought about it for a moment and raised his face to look at her again. “Not like that.” She nodded in understanding.
“Well, it’s better to figure that out before you’re married to that sort of miscommunication. That’s what breaks hearts.”
“Yeah, you’re right.” He sighed deeply and looked around. “He’s gonna be pissed.”
“Who? Your father?”
“Mmhmm … I’m not looking forward to this lecture.” Brent ran a hand through his hair.
“Is that why you came? He’s not here.”
“What? Where is he?”
“Not sure … you know he never tells me much of anything. We’ve seen a lot less of each other lately. I don’t think he can bear to look at me. Especially during chemo. I can’t blame him, though. I do look a bit like a husk.” She chuckled.
“Stop, Mom … no you don’t.” He stared down at the book in her lap. “What you reading?” She lifted it up and smiled.
“What you should be reading. A Bible.”
He swallowed hard and tried not to tear up. “You trying to tell me something?”
“Yeah, I’m trying to tell you I’m reading the Bible.” She chuckled.
“Stop, Ma. You know what I mean.”
She stilled and her smile faded. “It’s coming whether we like it or not, Brent. I need to prepare for that as much as you and your father do.”
He couldn’t think of a way to continue the conversation without bursting into tears. What a shitty week. What a shitty situation. Everything just seemed like it was falling apart. One thing had to go right. Just one. He blew out a deep breath and bent over to lay his head into her lap. Pat brushed his hair back and stroked his face, saying nothing else as the nurse crept back into the library.
“Sir, Detective Kane is here to see you?”
“Shit …” Nick Specter palmed over his face as he held the button down on his desk phone. “Send him in.” The door swung open and Athan Kane stormed in, every inch of him looking as if he’d rip his ass apart. Nick backed his chair up nervously as he continued past the seats in front of his desk and rounded the corner, heading straight for him. He raised his palms and dropped his mouth open, shaking as Kane grabbed him with one fist by his collar and raised him clean out of his chair as if he weighed nothing. “K-Kane! What are you doing? Please!”
His assistant stood horrified in the doorway, gaping at the two men, and pressing her hand to her chest. “Sir! Should I call someone?!” She gasped.
“You can call him a coroner in about five minutes if he doesn’t start talking,” Kane said, bringing Nick closer. His voice was guttural … lethal.
“Close the damn door, Kerah!” Nick shouted, waving her off. She quickly did as he asked, and the door slammed shut. “What is this about? I’ve done nothing wrong!” Nick nearly pissed his pants as Kane’s canines grew longer and he bared them with a growl that sounded anything but deadly. He could have sworn the guy’s eyes even turned from an icy blue to almost black.
“Lie to me again, Nick.” He seethed, hoisting him up until his feet raised from the floor. He was going to kill him … Holy shit, he was about to die. Nick gripped Kane’s forearm and patted at it when he started to struggle for air. “You ready to talk?” Nick gave him as good a nod as he could manage, and Kane dropped him back into his chair. The pride in him didn’t want to allow the detective a chance to see him clutch his throat, but his self-control had already been lost. He gasped for breath.
“What do you wanna know? I already told you I don’t know who broke into the labs, and I answered all your partner’s questions too!”
“Maybe you answered hers, but you haven’t answered mine. If you think the missing blood supply is a problem for you, then maybe I need to be a little more forceful, so you’ll understand your fate when you start fucking with something that’s mine.”
“What are you talking about?!”
