Black bird a nevermore d.., p.58
Black Bird: A Nevermore Duet, page 58
“They’re after her because of her blood, sir. That’s what they’re in there talking about. That’s the reason she’s alive … and it’s the reason I’m different. She changed me. In every possible way, she’s changed me. I just want to stop them from getting to her.”
“You don’t deserve anything,” Brent spat, clenching his teeth. “You deserve her less than I do.”
“She’s not safer with you, Brent,” Rhaena finally spoke. “Your father still wants her for the same thing. Athan didn’t choose to do what he did to her. But you did. Sarah understands that. She loves him.”
“I could care less who loves who,” Foley snapped, earning their attention. “Our job … is to protect the people. Our job is to find the pieces of shit that wanna do harm, and now you’re telling me I’ve got one detective that’s dropped a body of his own, another that helped him conceal murder, and a senator’s son—who happens to be a lawyer—that’s landed himself right smack in the middle of a case … where his father is apparently more hungry for that girl’s blood than a mob of vampires in a club? Do you know how insane this sounds?” Foley slid both palms over his bald head. “This gets out and we’ll be the laughingstock of the fucking nation.” He looked back at Kane, who crossed his arms and stared at the floor. “How many more murders have you covered up that were yours, detective?”
Rhaena swallowed around the swelling knot in her throat, tightening her fists at her sides. Athan didn’t look up from the floor. “Twelve, sir. Since I started at the precinct.”
“Jesus …” Foley whispered under his breath. “Give me your badge … and your gun.”
“Sir,” Rhaena choked, blinking back tears. “Please don’t. We still have to stop these—”
“Yours too, Northwood!” Foley snapped his face towards her. “You’re both suspended until further notice.” Kane’s face popped up and he and Rhaena stared at each other. “Now.” He held his broad hand out. Rhaena un-clipped her badge from her belt, and handed it over, along with her pistol. Athan did the same, taking his badge from around his neck and staring at his weapon as Foley took it. For a split second, Rhaena remembered that gun being a part of the very first intimate moment Athan and Sarah had ever had. “I don’t want either of you near this case. Stratford, unless you want to catch charges of your own … stay the hell away from all of them. None of you better leave town. Jenkins … I’m not gonna ask you what you know. I need at least one person to help me figure out a way to work through this shit heap.”
Foley gave Rhaena a long, hard look. It felt like getting scolded by her uncle when she was little. Her chest ached, and she couldn’t bring herself to look away. “I’m sorry, sir.” A tear fell from her eye and streaked down her cheek. “I’m a good cop. I want the same things as anyone else that takes that oath. I want you to know that.”
He swallowed and slowly nodded. “I believe you, Gloves. I know what it’s like to be in a tough situation … but all our choices have consequences. I’m sorry.” He lowered his eyes to the floor. “You both can wait for St. James at your desks. When she’s done, go home. All your phones will be returned to you. Clear out.” He slowly put his hands in his pockets and turned to face the window where Sarah and Foster had sat back down and were continuing to talk.
Rhaena glanced at Athan, and then at Jenkins who offered his hand. She took it and they all moved past Brent, who stood eyeing Kane as they passed. She turned around one last time, clearing her throat as she looked at her captain. “Can I ask you something, sir?” Foley turned his head in silent reply. “Why didn’t you seem surprised?”
They had all stopped, waiting for his answer, and he took a long moment to give it. “I told you before, Northwood. You don’t get involved with your partner. It’s trouble, and it never ends well. It didn’t end well for me. I’m a good cop too … but I should have been a better one.” He stared at her for a moment before returning his attention to the interrogation room. “Go.”
It was a silent walk back to their desks, which were now clear of all Agent Foster’s crew. Their board had been taken to the room with the rest of their shit, and Rhaena pulled her chair out, slowly sitting down as Brent stopped a few feet away. Athan rounded his own desk, observing all the trash and bullshit left behind. Jenkins sat on the edge, offering her silent comfort.
“I’m not sorry,” Brent started, staring a hole through Athan’s face. “We’ll have our time, detective. Boston shouldn’t have a monster like you looking after them.”
“I gave Sarah truth. I gave her space. She chose me on her own, Stratford. I let you have your moment. There won’t be another. Whether you approve or not, Sarah is mine. She doesn’t need your permission to live her own fucking life or make her own decisions. I didn’t take her from you. It doesn’t take a detective to know she was done with you before she’d even met me.” Athan’s eyes started to narrow, and his jaw feathered. “Because she cares about you, and because you helped her … I’m not gonna lay a hand on you. But if you so much as make a move towards me … or her? I’ll show you how much of a monster I can be.” His eyes went black, and Jenkins pursed his lips, looking anywhere but at the unfolding situation.
“That’s your cue to leave, Brent,” Rhaena warned, without looking at him. Brent stood, staring him down for a long moment before turning and running a hand through his hair as he walked to the elevator. One of Foster’s uniforms approached them with an evidence bag that held all of their phones.
“I was told to give this to you,” the man said, handing Jenkins the bag. He didn’t say anything else before turning back down the hall and making himself scarce. Jenkins opened it and started passing out the devices.
“What do we do now?” Rhaena dared ask as Athan lowered himself into his chair. It screeched loudly when he turned it and Rhaena ground her teeth.
“I’m not leaving without her. I dunno what’s happening in there, but whatever Foster is filling her head with, she hasn’t tried to communicate it. When they’re done, I’m taking her out. Somewhere she can relax and clear her head.” Athan leaned back in his chair.
“That’s not a bad idea. I could use another day off,” Jenkins added, teetering Wren’s phone between his fingers. “We need to go find her and get your truck, anyway.”
“Go. I’ll wait for her.” Athan’s head nodded towards the elevator. Rhaena softly smiled at him.
“I’m sorry …” she breathed, hanging her head.
“You don’t have anything to be sorry for. It’s my fault. All of this is my fault, and I’ll make it right, Rhaena. Call me. I’ll meet you back at the apartment. We’ve got a lot of cleaning up to do.”
“Fuck,” Rhaena grumbled, forgetting about the mess she wasn’t ready to see. She hopped up from her chair, grabbing her stuff. Jenkins palmed her back as she turned. “We’re gonna get through this, Kane. All of us.” He toyed with the stubble on his chin and nodded once as he stared off. “I’ll see you later.”
“Do you have any idea how much of a relief it is that you know the reason I’m here?” Foster asked, situating herself in her chair. Sarah nervously leaned forward, staring at her. “I have nothing against you, Sarah. If I’m being honest, I even like you a little … but you’ve been a royal pain in my ass.”
Sarah scoffed, rolling her eyes. “I’ve been a pain in your ass?” She slapped her hand to the table. “Ever since my mom died, I’ve been trying to get away from you people. I’ve been left completely alone. My mom’s parents died when she was young, I have no siblings, and then I was an orphan with no fucking money. If that wasn’t bad enough, I didn’t even get to say goodbye to her, or give her the funeral she deserved. Nobody would give me answers, nobody would help me … and then I was kidnapped, and injected with God knows what, just so you fuckers could track my every move and use me like a guinea pig. Go fuck yourself!”
Foster shook her head and crossed her arms. “You have no idea.”
“Enlighten me then. Who the fuck are you?” Sarah crossed hers as well, leaning back in the seat.
“I’m part of a special team. Honestly, I do a lot of the same work you do, only I have to play cop more often than I’d like. It’s not the part I enjoy most. I prefer working with my hands. That being said, we didn’t inject you with anything.”
“Try again. I woke up on a table with bright lights, and my arms strapped down. When I thought I was delusional the next morning, I saw several needle pricks on my arms. What the hell did you do to me? What happened to my mom?”
Foster sighed. “You weren’t delusional, and yes…that was us. I’m sorry for that. But we didn’t do anything to you. We drew blood from several places on your arms. All we did was draw it and test it. That’s it, I swear it.” She held up two fingers. “As far as the shit with your mom, you’re gonna have to give me something first.”
“Not happening. You get nothing until I get what you promised me. Unless Brent was right, and you’re full of shit.” Sarah pressed her lips into a hard line.
“You still think that?” Foster scoffed, rolling her eyes. “Fine. Tell me … what do you remember about the night you were attacked? What did it feel like? What did it do to your body?”
“I don’t remember anything but the pain. I didn’t see him.”
Foster’s eyebrows jumped up and she grinned. “Him …”
Fuck …
Sarah swallowed, dismissing it, and willing calm into her face. “I felt pain, and then … vaguely remember a feeling of euphoria, and then … nothing. Black. Empty … peaceful. When I woke up in the hospital it was excruciating, but I was mostly just weak and faint.”
“You wanna know why?” Foster smiled. Sarah shrugged in reply. “Because you were drained to the point of death. You died because there wasn’t anything left to fuel your heartbeat. You didn’t die from the venom of the bite itself. Vampire venom is lethal. Your blood is … familiar with it. Resistant. Practically immune.”
Sarah tried not to look surprised. “You say that like it shouldn’t sound absolutely nuts.”
“Oh, for God’s sake, St. James. Are we gonna do this? When I said I was part of a special team, I didn’t mean some special ops military that fishes out terrorists. I’m part of a paranormal organization that keeps the lid on shit like this. Yes … I know vampires exist. I know plenty. I know your sexy boyfriend is one. Good job, by the way. Furthermore, I know he’s the one that killed you … and I know what coven he belongs to, and what your blood did to him.” Sarah’s skin prickled with her admission, just as a loud thud sounded against the mirror, scaring them both to death. They jumped up from their chairs.
“I thought you turned the sound off,” Sarah panicked.
“It is off. It’s gotta be something else.”
“Should we go check?” Sarah squinted, trying to see through the glass, but of course … that wasn’t happening.
“Let them handle it. We’ve got cards to lay out.” Foster gestured for her to sit back down, and Sarah did while the agent dropped back into her chair.
“Athan didn’t kill those girls,”’ Sarah said, giving her a hard look.
“I never believed he did. But he sure made a spectacle out of you. And now that he has, certain others know things about you that we’ve been trying to keep quiet. It didn’t help that you continue to shine that spotlight on yourself. Now look at the mess we’re in. Bodies are stacking up, you’re compiling a list of vultures, and you’re threatening to expose everything we’ve worked for years to conceal from the public eye. Like I said, it’s not that I don’t like you. You’re just a pain in the ass.”
“I didn’t ask to be this way!” Sarah spat, glaring at her.
“Yeah, babies usually don’t.” The sympathetic look that flashed across Foster’s face was unmistakable.
“What?”
Foster took a deep breath and leaned forward, seemingly trying to soften whatever it was she was about to hit her with. “Your mother didn’t die from a virus, Sarah. We classified it as such, so that the public wouldn’t know. Katherine St. James was killed … slowly, and tortuously … by vampire venom. She was bitten. And not just bitten to be fed on. Whoever did it never took a drop from her. They murdered her. They bit her solely to kill her in cold blood, and nothing else.”
She thought she’d be sick. Her mother’s face as she lay dying, flashed in her memory. Sarah’s mouth slowly fell open, but no words came out. It made all the sense in the world—except—who? Why? Who would do such a thing to such an incredibly kind woman? Her mother had always been a bright, bubbly, humorous person. She’d have given the shirt off her back to anyone. She rarely even got mad, even when she had every right to be … especially in Sarah’s teenage years. Sarah stared at the table.
“After she passed, we watched you. We were ordered to go get you … discreetly. We brought you to the lab in northern Seattle and tested your blood against your mother’s. They wanted to be sure about everything before we put the case to rest … but then we discovered something.”
“My blood was different,” Sarah answered.
Foster nodded. “Similar … and yet, not. We compared them to your records from the time you were born up until the age you were when we drew your blood that night. You were born this way. As you grew, your blood mutated itself from the vampire blood that you share—with whoever your father is.”
“So … you’re saying …” Sarah paused, swallowing down the bile that was creeping up her throat.
“You’re half vampire. We were never after you. We’re trying to protect you. Keep everyone from knowing what you are. What they are … and you can just about imagine what would happen if the wrong people find out what your blood can do. We’re not trying to exploit you, Sarah. There’s no magic potion that can cure everything. Even if there is … do you understand what I'm saying?”
Sarah felt her body slump in the seat. “You’re saying the government doesn’t want a cure-all …”
“It would be more mass hysteria than finding out vampires and werewolves exist among them. People die of illness, yes. It’s sad … but it’s natural, Sarah. That kind of imbalance would alter the world. And maybe not for the better. Plus … imagine the kind of life you would have after that. Would you really want that for yourself?”
She thought about that little girl on the TV. The diminished hope in her eyes, and the anguish that wrecked her mother as she sat next to her in that hospital. The thought also crossed her mind that had she known about the effects of her blood sooner, she would have been able to save her own mother. Then there was Rhaena. How taxing her transition had been on a body that was well-trained. Hope ran through her very veins, yet … giving that hope to others was also such a fickle thing. One that Foster was begging her not to consider. It wasn’t that Foster wasn’t correct … it just didn’t feel right. Her mind flooded with so much that a headache started blooming at her temples. Sarah reached up, massaging them in circles.
“I know it’s a lot. I’m sorry.” Foster did her best to appear soothing, but it just didn’t suit her personality. “You’ve gotta keep this to yourself, Sarah. Stay out of the spotlight. Tell me who I’m looking for, so that we can take care of the threat. Work with me here.”
“So … my father. He’s a vampire? Mom never told me much about him. All I’ve ever been told is that it was a one-time thing, and she didn’t know where to find him.”
Foster’s mouth tightened in sympathy. “Yeah, he is. Sorry, but I don’t know more than that.”
“But that means there’s more out there. Mom lived in Seattle since she was a kid. The house I sold belonged to her parents before that. There are other covens. Some in that area?”
“Sarah, there are covens spread out all over the world. I do know of one close to that area, but they’re in Oregon now. Finding your father, as harsh as this sounds, isn’t on the top of my priority list. I was sent here to fix this problem.”
Athan’s story from this morning came to mind. How they’d docked in Jamestown and how the residents had already apparently had their issues with vampires. It was a wonder that less people knew about the truth. Now, vampires were just sexy, or scary stories that people made money off of in show business. “What do you wanna know?” she asked quietly.
“I want to know what you know. Don’t leave anything out. And before you try to deny it for her protection, yes … I know that Rhaena Northwood is a werewolf. Give me what I need, and both their secrets are safe, and you all can exist in your little love triangle however you want.”
Sarah huffed, rolling her eyes. And then she told her everything. Foster didn’t take notes or interrupt her with questions. She only listened, taking in every detail and occasionally narrowing her eyes like she was piecing it all together. When she was finished, she felt winded, but somehow lighter. Like a tremendous pressure had been lifted off her shoulders, but replaced with the slight weight of a truth she wasn’t sure how to deal with.
“Do you know anything about the kid that disappeared?” Foster asked.
“I don’t. I know Athan had suspected the same thing, but he hasn’t been back to the club.”
“And Nick Specter? Your boss?”
“I’ve not spoken to him in quite a while, though I’d like to beat the shit out of him for his part in all this.” Sarah cracked her knuckles under the table.
“I don’t blame you … but you need to keep a low profile right now. When you leave this building, please for the love of God … don’t make my job harder. I’m begging you.”
Sarah stared at her for a few long seconds, but then nodded—knowing full well that keeping a low profile was the last fucking thing she was planning to do. She was done depending on other people to look out for her. Even if they were more experienced. Foster slipped a card across the table and Sarah took it between her fingers.
“I want you to call me if there’s anything else I need to know, or if you need help. Understand? Don’t leave me in the dark, and I’ll extend the same courtesy. This will all go so much smoother if we work together.”
