Page 28 of White Raven (Nevermore Duet #2)

The tip of his pen tapped against the edge of his desk as Malcolm Foley chewed his bottom lip and watched his fellow werewolf exit the elevator and blatantly ignore him as she walked past his office window.

Northwood was avoiding him. Something was wrong.

And it was something that held a completely different reason than the fact that no one in Ryan Sykes’ entire previous precinct could recall a single thing about her when he went to them for answers about where she could possibly have disappeared to.

That could only mean one thing as far as he was concerned.

Detective Sykes was indeed not who she claimed to be.

And he let her walk right in. It also meant he was wrong not to trust Rhaena’s instincts when she practically begged him not to partner her with the fraud.

He’d been a callous asshole, and Gloves was making him pay dearly for it.

Now he was battling with another problem—does he, or doesn’t he—tell her what he’s found since digging into the small file she shared with him about what they were?

Regardless of whatever animosity was clearly stirring between them, Foley rose from his chair, dropping the pen to the stack on his desk, and making for his office door to confront her.

Jenkins gripped her shoulder and nodded to him on his way towards his own desk down the hall, and Rhaena made a good show of pretending that she didn’t see him approaching as she swiveled in her chair and sipped from the straw in her tumbler.

“Morning, Gloves,” he said softly, trying not to sound too much like he was questioning his leadership.

“Captain,” she replied without looking away from her computer screen.

So it was gonna be that kind of conversation. Fine. “If you have a moment, I’d like—”

“I’m a little busy.”

Frigid. She was giving him the iciest shoulder she could muster.

Fuck this. “My office, Northwood. Now .” He didn’t look back as he stormed toward his office, earning several pointed looks around the precinct at his tone.

Rhaena’s heels clacked softly behind him, and he rounded his desk, nodding towards his door as she entered.

“Close that.” She stood silently for a moment after the door clicked shut and folded her arms across her chest. “Have a seat.”

“Is that an order, boss? ” she asked, raising a brow.

He scoffed, “Fine. Don’t. This conversation will only be as uncomfortable as you decide to make it.”

“Let’s get on with it, then.” She didn’t move from the spot she was standing and tightened her mouth as if she were preparing for the worst.

Foley leaned back against his chair. “You know where your partner is?”

“Yes. He’s packing for a trip with his girlfriend.”

“You know that isn’t the partner I’m talking about, Rhaena. Are you withholding information about Ryan Sykes?”

She smirked and leaned against the door. “Are you withholding information about your old partner? Some things about what really happened with my uncle, or any other tidbits I might have deserved to know?”

His eyes immediately flashed to the flag folded neatly in the glass case on top of his bookshelf. “What are you talking about?”

“Don’t do that to me, Malcolm. Whether you’re my captain or not, shouldn’t matter if it means that the truth about what we are is more than what we expected, especially if you’ve been hiding things from the only other person that could understand what you’re going through!

” The betrayal and anger in her voice permeated every line of tension in her face.

“I have absolutely no idea what you mean by that. Why would you suspect that if I took a blow to my pride as a man , and asked you to help me find other members of our kind?”

“So, you mean to tell me you had no idea that Lindsay Trainor had been investigating vampire attacks that were well outside our jurisdiction, months before her death?” Something in his chest pulled tight as a drum, and his own overwhelming sting of betrayal started to set in.

“You knew, didn’t you? You knew, and you made me believe that telling you the truth about my uncle was news to you.

Do you have any idea how terrible I felt? ”

“I have absolutely no idea what the hell you’re talking about, Northwood. And you’re walking a real fine line of suspension, implying that Lindsay would go behind my back. She’s obviously not here to defend herself.”

“Threaten me. That’s fine. I’m also walking a real fine line in whether or not I wanna associate myself with a team that would keep something this important from me.

You’re right. She’s not here to defend herself, but that doesn’t change the fact that her signature is on redacted reports that are way too similar to what we both know is real, despite the public’s knowledge.

So did she, in fact, go behind your back?

Or are you just trying to cover your ass?

Because if you are, I’ll find out. And that’ll determine whether or not my future at this precinct is a possibility.

Not because you let me go, but because I refuse to put my trust in anyone that could do that to me! ”

Foley forcefully stood, bracing his hands on his desk. “I find it abhorrent that you would think that little of me, Gloves. If what you say is true, and she did something unfavorable, then I can assure you, I didn’t know about it. I’d like to see these reports.”

“Fine,” Rhaena bit, stepping forward and dropping her arms. “A truth for a truth. You wanna see them? Give me something that’ll earn that trust. Why did you ask me about Sykes?”

“Because since her disappearance, I’ve reached out to her old precinct, and strangely, not a single person, including her captain , who gave me all the finest recommendations, seems to think she ever existed.

Which, in turn, means I owe you one hell of an apology.

How’s that for truth?” His instincts to transition hummed under his skin with rising anger and sweat beaded on his forehead.

She noticed. Her face paled and she looked out the window, making to shut the blinds…

as if it would hide anything if he lost control.

“Get it together, Cap,” she whispered, turning from the masked window, and facing him again.

“Sykes is gone. If that’s even her real name.

She’s been watching Athan and Sarah. We believe that’s why she came here.

We confirmed she was the one who left the bird in the box, and Kane thinks she took off to Seattle.

Jenkins followed up with her through camera feeds and software at the airport, and that’s where she’s headed. She’s not human.”

“Well, I guess that explains her precinct’s lack of knowledge. She fabricated it.”

“Yes. How she did it, we have no idea. But the man she works for could possibly be a very powerful vampire elder, and we have very little else to go on to know what we’re up against. Kane and Sarah are about to walk into a potentially serious situation.”

Foley dabbed his forehead with his sleeve. “Then why is he letting her go?”

“He’s going with her. This man is supposedly Sarah’s father.

While the possibility of harming her is there, it doesn’t seem likely that he’d go to these lengths to kill her.

What he wants with Athan is anybody’s guess, but I’m confident he can handle himself.

And he’d never let anything happen to his girl.

They need this opportunity for answers.”

“We deserve that, too.” His voice lowered and tension strung like a bow string between them as their eyes met.

“I have been keeping something from you, but it wasn’t because I was trying to hide anything.

It was because you haven’t given me the time of day.

Now I understand why, but before we go into what you’ve found…

you should know I’ve found something too.

” He slid Rhaena’s file towards her and she hesitated before looking down at it. “This is your mother, Northwood.”

Her hand shook as she lowered it to the paper, turning it, along with the clipped photo of a woman who looked almost identical to her, and staring down at it like she’d jump through and hold her. Some part of him broke. “I know who she is.”

“You do?”

“I have an old photo of her at my uncle’s cabin. The only one I’ve ever had of us together. I was two.” Her lip disappeared between her teeth, and she pushed the paper back towards him and raised her face.

“Do you know what happened? Reports say she disappeared. No one ever found a body.”

Rhaena’s shoulders slumped, and she turned around, giving him her back. “They won’t. The bond through our bloodline is still there. My mom is still alive. My dad isn’t.”

“I don’t understand. A bond?”

“My uncle explained it to me when I was young. Not in great detail, but simple enough for a child to understand. Being born into a pack secures a bond. Especially with immediate family. It’s how I knew my uncle was dead.

I can feel her.” She turned her face over her shoulder.

“She’s the only one still out there that I can sense that tether to. ”

Foley leaned a little harder on the desk. “So, there isn’t a bond for wolves like me?”

“Not that I’m aware. And even if there was, the one who turned you is…”

So that’s it then.

He truly is a lone wolf.

“If you know she’s alive, why haven’t you tried to find her, Rhaena?”

She turned back to him then, shoving her hands in her pockets. “I told you. I was afraid of what I’d find. How it would make me feel. If she’s alive, she abandoned me, Malcolm. I haven’t decided yet if I want to know why.”

Now that he understood. Suddenly his need for answers seemed selfish. Maybe this was enough for today.

“Show me Lindsay’s report.”