Black bird a nevermore d.., p.32
Black Bird: A Nevermore Duet, page 32
“So, you didn’t ask me to come here because you wanted to talk about what happened with Kane.”
“No, friend.” Sarah withdrew herself and sat back down on her pillow. “Seems I’ve run out of people I can trust.”
“Well … you’ve certainly gone out of your way to call me out on it. So, what is it that you need to say?” Wren asked, crossing her arms.
“You told Brent to leave me?”
“I did.”
“Why would you do something like that?”
Wren huffed a laugh. “Because, Sarah! The prick drew you into this shit just to use you. So his father could use you. While I didn’t know that detail then, I did know that your relationship wasn’t what you wanted, and you’d be too good of a person to end it yourself. After what you’d been through, you shouldn’t have had to bear that cross.” She waved a hand over the bread on the table. “I’m not a Judas.”
“No, you’re right. You’re a Peter. You didn’t have enough faith in me to think I could handle anything on my own,” Sarah snapped.
“Like you’re handling this situation with a man that actually does love you?” Wren barked. “Look, you can call this whatever you want. If you wanna be pissed at me over what I said to Brent, then I guess I can live with that. I understand that you’re going through shit—”
“You don’t understand shit, Wren!” Sarah yelped, getting to her feet. “You don’t understand how it feels to learn that every single person in your life is either gone, wasn’t there to begin with, or left a knife in your fucking back!”
“I’ve done nothing … nothing but be here for you,” Wren seethed, standing up. Her mouth went dry, and her eyes itched with unshed tears. “I’ve been here through everything! I’ve taken days off work, I’ve slept at the hospital, I’ve killed … I’ve killed because of this, Sarah!” A tear escaped her eye. “And I’d do it all again if it meant that you were safe.” She sniffled, hurt and anger marrying each other beneath her ribs. Wren wiped her nose on her sleeve and plucked her jacket up from the arm of the couch. “Enjoy your bread,” she said sadly, swinging the door open and slamming it as hard as she could behind her as she skipped several steps before barreling out the lower door.
She couldn’t get into her car and drive off fast enough to explode with the built-up sobs that she’d buried in Sarah’s apartment. Once she was a few miles away, she rang him.
“Wren, I’m—”
“You fucking piece of shit!”
“I didn’t know.”
“I hope you get hit by a fucking bus, Brent.”
She hung up and threw her phone behind her into the back seat.
Dahlia sipped warmed blood from her wine glass as she sat naked in her claw-foot tub, Patrick rubbing lavender oils into her back. The glow from about fifty lit candles bathed her in light that made her appear far more beautiful than her rotten insides.
“Would you like to join me, pet?” she asked, a snake’s smile curling over her bare shoulder.
“You get real mad when I say no,” Patrick crooned.
She pouted callously. “That hurts. I would have thought by now that you were quite enjoying the life I’ve given you.”
“I do, mi’lady…I just—” He paused, shrugging.
“Go on.”
His eyes dipped to the bathroom floor. “It probably sounds ridiculous to somebody like yourself, but … I miss my parents. My younger brother. My friends.” He continued massaging her shoulders. “Knowing I’ll never see them again hurts sometimes.”
Dahlia tried—truly tried to find some part of herself that wasn’t empty and cold as ice. It just simply wasn’t there anymore. “If you miss them so much, then why were you trying to sneak alcohol with a fake I.D. at my bar? Alone? Looking like the last thing you wanted were those people that hurt you? Don’t I give you enough?”
“You do. I don’t want to seem ungrateful, ma’am. I wasn’t there that night because of them. I was there because of a girl.”
“One of mine?”
“No, ma’am. My girlfriend. She kicked me to the curb … we’d been together since we were kids. I just—it sucked ass … you know?” He shrugged and hung his head.
“No, I can’t say I do,” Dahlia replied. It was an honest answer, really. She’d never had real love. Didn’t know what it felt like to have her heart broken, or pine for someone. Although, she did understand and acknowledge her fondness for someone she’d sired so long ago. Someone who would practically offer her anything to be able to walk away from her and never look back. She supposed that was what had her clinging to him so desperately. What made her want to hurt him so badly. She took another sip from her glass and her phone started buzzing. Patrick wiped his hands and handed it to her.
“Yes?” she answered.
“Your murderous redhead just came and left in a hurry.”
“Oh?”
“Yeah, she looks pretty damaged. Want me to follow her? I can be a lot more discreet than Tank’s stupid ass.”
“No. I’ve no interest in her. Unless she puts herself in my way. Stay out of sight and keep watching the girl. Make no contact, do you understand?”
“Got it.”
“Oh, and Lorraine?”
“Yeah?”
“Learn to breathe through your nose. You sound like a congested animal. If you’re to be one of us, then carry yourself with a bit more pride for fuck’s sake.”
“… sorry.”
Dahlia hung up and handed the phone back to Patrick, lifting her glass back to her mouth. Years ago, this seemed more enjoyable. But as time kept passing, she found herself bored. There was an emptiness that she couldn’t seem to fill, even when she had everything she could possibly want. She had endless amounts of money, power … an entire coven sired by herself that saw to her every need—yet it still didn’t seem quite enough. There was still something missing. Something she couldn’t place that seemed so far out of her reach. Having a host to give her the impossible was a necessity now. Now that the blood in that bag had worked, she was determined to get her hands on Sarah St. James before Conrad Stratford had a chance to reap the benefits first.
Athan had just gotten out of the shower and lit a cigarette when a knock sounded at the door. He opened it to find Rhaena standing with her arms crossed, a grim expression on her face.
“What’s wrong with you?” he asked, stepping aside to invite her in.
“We need to talk.”
“Okay?” They walked into the kitchen, and she sat down at the table. “If this is about earlier, I—”
“It’s not. It’s about Sarah.” Rhaena frowned. His stomach churned.
“What happened?”
“Wren came home really upset. Sarah asked her over for dinner and made an ass out of herself.” Athan leaned against the counter and furrowed his brows. “Apparently, Wren had mentioned breaking things off to Brent at the hospital when Sarah was still there. She found out about it and basically told Wren she’d betrayed her.”
“Well … I don’t think that’s making an ass out of herself, Rhaena … I can’t say I wouldn’t be upset about it.”
“Kane, look … I understand your feelings for her. I really do. That’s why I’m telling you this is a problem. While it might sound petty and childish, Sarah isn’t in a good place right now. We’ve got two uniforms watching her and this girl just found out that the man she loves is the one that hurt her, there’s an army out for her very blood, she’s got no family, no friends other than Wren, and that friend she feels betrayed her trust. She’s alone. She’s angry and hurt. With her behavior here lately … it gives me reason to worry about what she’ll do.”
He hadn’t considered that. He’d been too wrapped up in his own feelings about everything to see the bigger picture.
“Did she say how she found out about Wren?”
“Wren let Brent hold it on the way home. She’s pretty sure that he told her.”
“So that means they’re talking again? Why the hell would she talk to him about anything?” Athan could feel his temper rising.
“I can think of two reasons, and you won’t like either one of them.” Rhaena shrugged.
He dragged on his cigarette. “Tell me.”
Rhaena sighed deeply and ran a hand through her hair. “Well … for one, she could be reaching out because she’s pissed and wants to get a rise out of you … or to satisfy some … needs.” This wasn’t helping his temper at all. He gripped the edge of the counter until his knuckles turned white. Just the thought of that bastard touching her made him want to rage.
“And the other?” he seethed.
“The other … is that she’s trying to get him back. Revenge. She may be trying to pull some tricks to get to Conrad Stratford. Eye for an eye.”
“Shit,” Athan said, pushing off the counter and pacing into the living room with a hand on his forehead.
“Look, fortunately for you I would assume it’s the latter. Although, with how reckless she’s been lately, and she’s told both of us how difficult it is to control it … I wouldn’t put it past her to do just about anything at this point.” Rhaena’s phone started ringing. Athan watched her through the breakfast nook. “Northwood … yeah, where at?” Her eyes met his. “How long has she been there?”
“What is it?” he asked, not able to control himself anymore. He walked back into the kitchen.
“Stay with her. Call me if it gets worse. I’m gonna head that way.” Rhaena hung up the phone and dropped it to the table.
“Is it her?”
She nodded. “Blakely said she went to some strip club uptown. She’s been there for a couple hours, and she’s slammed. She’s starting to show her ass and the club owner is getting irritated.”
Athan tossed his cigarette down the drain and didn’t bother running the water. He stalked to his bedroom and grabbed his gun and his badge. Rhaena followed him. “I’m going.”
“No, you can’t. Cap wants you off duty for a few days. Let me handle it.”
“She’s gonna get hurt or arrested.”
“All the more reason for it to be me rather than you, Kane. Stay here. Don’t do anything fucking stupid.” She grabbed his forearm. “For once, could you just trust me?”
It took all he had in him. He nodded and hung his head, letting her go. When she walked out the door, he sat down on the edge of his bed. All he could think about was how much he’d hurt her. The way her eyes shone with tears that were his fault. That brilliant life that he’d taken from her and the gift she’d unknowingly given him that he still didn’t deserve. He didn’t deserve her, either. Images of that body flashed in his mind … the crime scene littered with gore and the message on the wall. The way they had cut “HA-HA-HA” into that girl’s abdomen beneath her shirt. He hadn’t even known that detail until the photos came back from the medical examiner’s office. To think that it could have been her … or would be if he didn’t step up to protect her, even if she did hate him. Off-duty or not, he couldn’t sit here and do nothing. He dug out his phone.
“I figured one of you would be calling me.”
“You can’t keep a low profile to save your fucking life, can you?”
“If you just called to rip me a new asshole, I’m really not in the mood.”
“I called because I want answers.”
“About?”
“What did she call you about? And Stratford, if you so much as think about trying to test my patience right now, I’ll show you real quick just how little that immunity paperwork means to me.”
Brent was quiet for a moment. “She wants me to get her into the benefit for the children’s hospital that my father is holding Friday night. I debated whether or not calling you or Northwood would be a good idea, but lately I seem to be screwing shit up further, so I didn’t.”
“What’s her plan?”
“Not sure. I asked if she was gonna kill him … she said not physically. She wants to have a chat. I think she’s got something on him, but I dunno what. If she plans on exposing him, I can’t say I’d be too upset about it. I’d like to help.”
Athan clenched his teeth. “When’s the last time you spoke to her?”
“Yesterday, around noon.”
“If she calls you, I wanna know. Or call Northwood. We may need you but expect that shit as a last resort. You’ll forgive me if I don’t have a lot of trust in you, Brent.”
“Fine … so do I take her to this thing, or not?”
“Get her in. Reserve something for me and Rhaena too, but don’t say anything to her about it. Understand?”
“I’ll see what I can do.”
They hung up and Athan couldn’t sit still. He walked next door and knocked on Rhaena’s apartment door. When no one answered, he knocked again … a bit more forcefully. Wren finally opened, her makeup running and her eyes puffy and red-rimmed.
“What’s up, Count Crapula?” She smirked, wiping her nose with a wadded-up tissue. He couldn’t help but smirk back at her jab.
“Can’t say I’ve ever heard that one. You look like shit.” He pocketed his hands. Wren opened the door and let him inside.
“Rhaena said she was going over to talk to you about it. I guess I don’t have to explain myself.” She shrugged.
“Are girl fights really that serious?” They looked at each other. “Nevermind. Don’t answer that.”
“Honestly … I’m not even really upset that she’s mad. I deserve that. I’m just—she’s gone, dude. The Sarah that I used to know? She wasn’t there when I looked at her. She was like a shell that looked like her but was nothing but frost on the inside. And the way she played it was just so unlike her. It was creepy as hell.”
Athan drew his brows. “What do you mean?”
“She frickin’ made homemade bread and sat on the floor, poured wine, and had communion. Even tossed forty cents at me and got in my face. I would have been fine admitting defeat and just having a conversation about this shit with Brent, but … it was just strange.”
“Listen, Wren … don’t think for one second that I’m sticking up for the guy. I’d like to rip his face off just for looking at her but—I don’t think he meant to out you.”
Wren leaned against the wall and crossed her arms. “Why do you think that? He’s a snake. He knows I hate him. It really didn’t shock me at all.”
“Did you know that Sarah called him yesterday?”
“… No, I didn’t. For what?”
“I called to make sure. Brent said she wanted him to get her into Stratford’s benefit for the children’s hospital. Honestly, I still don’t think the idiot knows why his daddy wants Sarah. I think she’s gonna do something stupid.”
Wren rolled her eyes and shook her head, turning her face up to the ceiling. “Christ … you know, for once … I’d like to imagine that the only thing I needed to worry about this weekend was my period.”
“Fuck me … really, Wren?” Athan snapped, shifting uncomfortably on his feet. She cackled behind her tissue. “Women …” He rubbed the back of his neck.
“So, you drink blood, but you can’t take it when somebody talks about it not coming from her neck?” She howled.
“I’m glad you find it amusing. Rhaena is definitely rubbing off on you.”
“Where is she?”
“One of the patrol officers called her about Sarah. She’s acting out at a strip club. Rhaena went to go shut it down before she gets arrested … or worse.”
Wren scoffed. “And you’re still here? I have to admit, I’m shocked.”
“I’m trying to stay on this case. After the newspapers, she’s right … as bad as I’m itching to go, if I lose my shit … I’ll lose the case and possibly this job.”
“What about the benefit?” Wren asked, narrowing her eyes.
“I think we’re on the same page, Vintorri.” He smirked.
Rhaena pulled up to the dodgy gentleman’s club on the southern edge of Boston. One of the rookies watching Sarah with Lieutenant Blakely was waiting for her at the door.
“Owner wants her thrown out. I told him you were on the way, but you better get in there before Blakely has to cuff her.”
“Thanks,” Rhaena barked, shoving past him and stepping into the smoke-filled club. It smelled like sweat, and smoke … booze and—fuck, how disgusting. Her dinner threatened to creep up her throat with her heightened senses. A thin, older gentleman in a cheap suit approached her with shaggy dark hair that was pulled back behind his head and a thick mustache that curled up on the ends. His neck revealed cogs and clocks tattooed on his skin.
Steampunk idiots. Wonderful.
“Are you the detective?” he asked. Rhaena nodded. “She’s over there eatin’ up my girls’ money. You better get her before I press some charges.”
“You don’t have any charges to press yet, sweetheart. I highly doubt one girl is gonna put you out for the evening. Why don’t you have your girls do their job, and let me do mine, yeah?”
He pressed his mouth into a tight line and Rhaena could have vomited when he basically undressed her with his eyes. “You sure you’re a detective?”
“Look at me like that again, and you’ll find out.” Rhaena curled her hands into fists. He smirked and jerked his head toward the back corner where she could just see a head of raven black hair tossing around beyond the stage. Blakely stood nearby, talking down a few of the strippers and trying to keep his eyes from dropping to their naked breasts. Indeed, the dancers were fired up about their overly friendly guest. Rhaena marched toward the commotion, careful not to touch anything around her. God only knew what was crawling around this place.
Sarah had her tattooed back turned toward her while she danced on some burly guy’s lap in nothing but her bra and unbuttoned shorts. Another man took her hand and turned her around, and she didn’t notice Rhaena as she stood, bending over and pressing her ass into the awaiting face of yet another greasy looking guy. She tossed her hair over her shoulder and smiled at the one still holding her hand. She was absolutely trashed. He handed her a rolled-up dollar bill and sat down in front of her. Rhaena was horrified to see her lean over him, ripping his buttoned shirt open and making a line of white powder on his bare chest. Before Rhaena could stop her, she lowered her face to him, the rolled bill in her nose, and snorted it.
