Page 21 of White Raven (Nevermore Duet #2)

“The other birds were Starlings. Starlings don’t pluck people’s eyes out, Athan. He knows you have a pet raven.” Her eyes went straight for the cage. “Where’s pigeon?”

Sarah straightened, waiting for his answer, and meeting his eyes when he turned his head towards her. He looked…sad. “He’s gone.”

“You need to start talking. Now. Because this isn’t gonna be an easy one to cover.

What the hell happened? And why was that bird attacking this vic?

” Rhaena tossed the shoe to the floor and Sarah jumped at the sound it made when it hit.

Athan growled at his partner, setting Brandon on a protective path in front of his woman.

Rhaena’s arm sliced through the air moving him aside and faced off with Athan as they stood in the middle of the apartment.

“Stop your shit . I’m trying to help you.

We’ve got a lot more than this situation that we need to talk about tonight, and as you’ve chosen to part ways with the precinct right now, you’re throwing all this on me .

Growl at me again, Athan Kane, and I’ll walk out that fucking door and you can clean up your own mess. ”

They stared at each other for what seemed like forever, and Sarah eased off the bed, clutching the blanket around her and making to step between them.

“Stop. Both of you. I did this.” She reached for Athan’s hand, pressing the watch into his palm.

It was like whatever snapped in him for a moment, instantly shattered and what was left in its wake was an aching calm.

His shoulders sagged and his eyes returned to that blue that dried her throat.

“She’s right. We need to lay everything out and see what connects, if anything.

The common denominator in this shit is John Allan.

I don’t think my sudden urge to hack somebody apart had anything to do with him, but it definitely adds to the chaos.

” She turned towards Rhaena. “I refuse to let you clean up my mess. So, let’s sit the fuck down and figure it out. ”

Deep breaths sounded around the room and Athan took a spot next to Sarah on the end of the bed, while they faced Rhaena and Brandon, who lowered themselves onto the leather couch. “Sorry, Rhaena,” Athan sighed, shaking his head.

“I’ve dealt with worse from you. Sorry I snapped off.”

There was a short pause, and he leaned his elbows on his knees.

“Sarah lost control in the car when we were heading home. I didn’t know what else to do.

If she got out of that seatbelt, she would have attacked the first person she came across.

So, I made a hasty detour to the subway.

I know uniforms have arrested dealers, and several junkies that have offed each other for drugs down there.

I thought it’d be a safe bet that whoever she got to wouldn’t be missed.

The vic was huddled up against the wall in his newspapers, and before I even let go of her, Poe came out of nowhere and attacked the guy. ”

Rhaena’s face crumpled in confusion. “But why? How?”

Athan shrugged. “I have no idea. It surprised the fuck outta me, too. As soon as he dove, Sarah went for the man.”

“Wait,” Sarah interrupted, raising a hand between them. “I have flashes of that. I spoke to Poe before we…” She couldn’t find it in her to finish.

“You did. You recited a line from The Raven . Asked him what his name was. He answered you, and then you were gone.”

“What do you mean he answered her?” Rhaena asked.

“Christmas morning, after Athan tried to burn down the house, Poe spoke,” Sarah offered, tugging the blanket down her arms. “He said the word ‘nevermore’ before we left to head to your house. I was so proud of him. I told you; ravens are extremely intelligent. That’s what he said when we…

killed the guy.” She bit down on her lip.

“I didn’t realize ravens could mimic,” Brandon said, raising his brows.

“Most don’t, but they can. In all the years I’ve had him, he’d never done it before that morning.

Just his regular racket.” Athan glanced longingly at the empty cage, and then back to their friends.

“Sarah started feeding and Poe flew behind me…back towards the exit. Sykes was standing there. It’s like he knew her.

I’m guessing she followed us, I’m not sure. But she definitely isn’t a cop.”

“I knew there was a reason,” Rhaena bit, shaking her head. “I didn’t feel right about her ever since she strode to my desk that morning and looked at me like a snack. What did she say to you?”

“She must know something about vampires. She outright scolded me for not thinking to let Sarah feed from a human host. I drew my weapon, and she didn’t seem scared at all.

Said she wasn’t there to hurt us, and when I tried to get Poe to return, she made it sound like he’d never been mine.

She mentioned something about him being finished with his assignment and that he’d go back where he came from.

Seeing as he’s not back…” He trailed off sadly and hung his head.

“Assignment?” Sarah echoed, meeting eyes with Rhaena who seemed to concur the question. “What the hell does that mean?”

“It means she’s telling you that the bird was dispatched . Sent to you for a reason?” Brandon shuffled the idea around them, studying everyone’s faces. All of them ended up focusing on Athan, who suddenly seemed like he understood.

“John fucking Allan…” he growled, forcefully raising from the bed and pacing towards the kitchen area.

He turned himself in a circle with both hands behind his head.

“I’ve had Poe for almost twenty years. He landed on my knee one night on the rooftop of the tavern.

When it was clear he wasn’t planning to leave, I convinced Dahlia to let me keep him.

I brought him with me when I left the coven and started at the precinct.

Sykes specifically said, ‘ he led him to you .’ She used the word ‘ mates .’ She’s been watching us.

Said that she was glad…” He paused and zeroed in on Sarah.

“She was glad to see you so taken with me. That we were a pleasure to watch and ‘fucked like gods.’ ”

Sarah stood, dropping the blanket and her coffee on the floor. “She watched us f—she watched us…” Her mouth hung open and the realization hit her like a tank. “It was her. She left the fucking box by the door. That’s who she works for.”

“It couldn’t have been,” Brandon interjected. “The prints weren’t in the system. She—” His face jerked toward Rhaena.

“She fucking ran them herself!” Rhaena barked, snatching her laptop bag to her lap.

She pulled a file out and skimmed over it with her finger, following down the page and then flipping it over.

Her eyes slowly closed, and she sighed loudly.

“Only one set of those prints weren’t in the system.

” Brandon’s face leached of color. “The other set is hers. She lied.”

“But her recommendations!” Brandon yelped, turning his body towards her. “Cap said she had glowing praise from her prev—”

“ Cap …isn’t as trustworthy as we thought, now is he?

” Rhaena argued. “The man you are is why I love you, Brandon. But you’re too fucking sweet.

You put way too much faith in people.” Rhaena’s hand smoothed over his cheek, and she pinched the stubble on his chin.

He looked like she’d slapped him instead.

“Why do you feel like you can’t trust him?” Athan asked, stepping closer and taking Sarah’s waist. “What happened?” Rhaena pulled another file from the bag and handed it across the coffee table.

“Sykes gave me that on her way out. She had asked what it was gonna take to be part of the club. I guess she was trying to win my affection with this. She researched some cases involving the black birds. One of them, obviously, is ours. The other…is old.” Athan flipped a couple pages, and Sarah leaned over to peer at them.

It was a redacted police report. She couldn’t make out most of what it said, and truthfully, had no idea what she was looking for, but the blank expression on Athan’s face told her it wasn’t right.

“Why’s it hacked?” he asked, still looking over it.

“Good question. Look at the signature.” Rhaena crossed her arms and leaned her back against the couch. Athan’s eyes popped over the file to stare at her.

“Lindsay Trainor?”

“The one and only. And her partner was none other than—”

“Foley,” Athan finished, blowing a frustrated breath and running a hand through his hair. “This dates back to months before she was killed. It was in May of that year.”

“Right…and that means he knew more about vampire attacks than he let on. If that report was redacted, ours aren’t far behind and I’m guessing Foster’s team of supernatural know-it-alls covered that too.

Likely without even having to come out here.

Although, if they did and he didn’t tell us about it, I don’t think that would surprise me at this point. He’s hiding it for a reason.”

“While my serious lack of judgment puts me in a position where anything I say is moot for right now, I feel like I also need to point out that if we wanted to look into it, the only one with that kind of clearance would be Foley, himself.” Brandon looked defeated but made an excellent point.

Rhaena rewarded that with a squeeze to his thigh.

“We need to find this bitch,” Sarah added, crossing her arms. “If she’s the one that left a dead bird on my doorstep, there’s words that need to be exchanged. And I want our fucking bird back.”

“Where do we start? She’s gone ghost. If she revealed herself to Athan, and she’s not answering my calls, then she must know I’m onto her too. None of us know her well enough to figure out where she’d run off.”

“Seattle!” Athan snapped his fingers. “She said Poe would go back where he came from. What if it’s the same place she came from? She said she was from all over, but—”

“But she settled down in Seattle for years. That’s brilliant, Kane.” Rhaena gave him a proud smile.

Everything got eerily quiet as they all stared at one another.

Seattle.

Sarah hadn’t stepped foot in Seattle since her mother died.

The unspoken truth was on every single face in the room.

They’d be the ones going after Sykes. No matter if they’d put Rhaena on this case or not.

John Allan wanted her . Likely wanted them …

now that she was mated to Athan Kane. If he had sent Poe to Athan to draw them together, then it was clear that the two of them were in some way being summoned to wherever he was.

Maybe he was in Seattle. Maybe he wasn’t.

But damn if it wasn’t the only place they had to start.

And at least…she knew Seattle, Washington like the back of her fucking hand.

There wasn’t a more painful…or familiar place.

“Sarah…” Athan started.

“Two days,” Sarah cut him off, holding up two fingers.

“I’m giving her two days to show herself.

If we haven’t found her by then…” She twisted in his arm and pressed herself against his chest, staring up at eyes that devoured every single one of her emotions.

“Then I guess you’re gonna have to experience your first plane ride, Athan Kane. ”