Page 61 of White Raven (Nevermore Duet #2)

GOOD OLD-FASHIONED LIES

It had been hours, and all he felt was a gnawing in his stomach as he watched Rhaena sleep.

She hadn’t so much as fluttered her eyes since they’d gotten her back home, cleaned her up, and dressed her in something loose, and comfortable.

Her skin had gone ghostly pale and was damp with a light sweat.

Foley made himself known in Rhaena’s bedroom doorway, handing him a hot cup of coffee.

“Still nothing?” he asked, staring past him at her motionless body.

Brandon sipped from the mug, and returned his attention to her, taking her cold fingers into his hand. “No,” he breathed.

“You didn’t tell me that you two might be expecting.” The captain palmed his own mug and inched into the bedroom to lean against the wall.

“False alarm,” Brandon replied, deciding not to let his captain see the disappointment on his face. “I have every reason to believe this was why she thought she was in the first place.”

“What do you mean?” he asked, cocking his head.

These silent, tense hours had given him time to be the detective he was, and search for every available explanation.

“‘Do you remember when we were both in the dark about what she was, Cap?” Foley didn’t answer, instead slowly nodding.

“She used to be so moody, and somehow, I knew it wasn’t always around that time of the month…

but a different time of the month. Maybe that was when I started to realize how hard I fell for her…

and she didn’t even notice me then. Back then I was pretty sure she only had eyes for Kane. ”

“I think she was more at war with herself about what she may or may not have felt for him. Kane didn’t make it easy on her in that aspect.”

“I don’t think that’s true.” Brandon gripped her hand, turning his face to look at Foley, who lowered his brows. “Athan is as morally gray as they come, but he’s unapologetically himself. He never led her on. She knew exactly what they were, and he never gave her any reason to think harder on it.”

“You’re a better man than me, kid.”

“No, I’m just a realist, sir. Kane is straight-forward.

It’s his blessing and his curse. I see it for what it is.

Two consenting adults. One fell, while the other refused to toe the line.

I don’t hold him in any contempt. I guess that’s why the possibility of her having his baby didn’t bother me so much.

” Realization rose in Foley’s eyes, and he nearly lost his grip on his coffee.

“You’re kidding…”

“I’m not. But it doesn’t matter, because she’s not pregnant. Which brings me back to why she thought she was.”

Realization turned to understanding, and the captain looked to have been putting all the pieces together. “St. James. You think it was because of the blood. Her body was changing.”

Brandon nodded slowly.

“Every month, before Rhaena told me the truth about what she was…there were two times a month that she’d nearly take your head off.

One time a month that she was never at work.

And before every one of those little vacations , she showed a lot of the same tendencies as she has for the past two weeks.

Raging appetite. Short fuse. She’d be in that break room filling that cup a thousand times a day and sweating like a mule in summer. ”

“It’s my fault,” Wren cut in, trudging softly through the bedroom door. “I drove her into panic mode that night. Athan caught the brunt of it when Rhaena lost her shit. I stirred a stinking pot of fucking chaos. I’m so sorry.”

“You don’t have any reason to be sorry, Wren. You’ve been a damn good friend to her. One she needed. You know she cares about you a lot. You and Sarah both.” Brandon locked eyes with the redhead, who looked just as weary as they all were beginning to feel.

“It didn’t take her this long last time, Brandon. Why won’t she wake up?” She dragged a hand through her hair and sighed heavily.

All he could do was shake his head. “I dunno.”

They all stared at Rhaena who continued to breathe steadily but showed absolutely no movement at all. “I still think we should take her to a hospital,” Wren argued.

“We can’t,” Foley said, continuing to stare at the only known member of his pack. “If we take her, they’ll know too much. She wouldn’t risk it.”

“What about Athan?” Her eyes darted between him and the captain.

“Rhaena said that whatever you guys were working on where it concerned the missing wolves, had something to do with this case with John Allan, and Ryan Sykes. Brent made the suggestion that we get a board started, and Sarah agreed on that before shit hit the fan at her apartment.”

It was clear that Foley wasn’t thrilled about that being common knowledge, and something about it rubbed Brandon the wrong way.

“With respect, sir…if you know something, I highly suggest you say something. Kane is missing, and now Rhaena’s…

” His chest ached, and he looked her over, thumbing over the simple diamond on her finger.

“She means everything to me. I’ll throw myself into this case on her behalf.

She’d never let Kane wait.” He glanced at Wren, and then at Foley. “She wouldn’t let any of us wait.”

“Where is St. James?” Foley asked Wren, who sank under his hard stare.

“She’s at my place. Next door. I couldn’t let her stay in her apartment. Not after…”

He downed his cup of coffee, sucking air through his teeth and nodded once. “I’m going back to the office. I’ll bring back a board, and everything we have on this case. You two make sure we have whatever we need on Kane and Sarah’s end. Meet back here in an hour.”

“Yes, sir.” Brandon dipped his chin.

“You got it.” Wren turned and rushed out, Foley following behind her.

Seeing Rhaena in this state was harder than seeing her change into the animal she couldn’t tame.

As painful as it seemed for her, at least changing, she knew what to expect, and for how long.

This was something else entirely. It wasn’t until he raised her hand to his lips to kiss her knuckles that he noticed the veins in her arms had turned darker.

Like her body was being invaded by poison… or worse…

It hadn’t happened last time.

And last time…Sarah St. James wasn’t a vampire. Not fully.

It dawned on him then.

There was a damn good chance his fiance was… turning . But turning to what?

“Oh, fuck…” he whispered under his breath, his mouth dropping in panic.

“ Fuck… ” He turned around, his eyes catching the file on top of her dresser and reached back to grab it.

Tearing through it, he searched for any answer, finally coming to a theory as to why someone like Dahlia Van Hausen would experiment on werewolves.

His breath caught in his throat as he lifted his eyes to Rhaena’s pale face.

“She was trying to create hybrids…”

Nothing but the sound of silence in the trunk of her jade green rental.

Ryan puffed on a cigarette with the icy air whipping through the car as she smirked at the ‘no smoking’ sticker on the dash.

They were only a couple of hours into the nearly eight-hour trek south, on I-90.

Kane was strong. But…snapping his neck would still keep him down for several more hours, if not a full day.

There were ways to kill vampires, but that wasn’t one of them.

Well—technically speaking, he was dead. But he wouldn’t stay that way.

And odds were, when he finally did wake up, the ways that one did effectively kill vampires, would be executed in careful precision by this unfairly attractive man.

She didn’t enjoy this. In truth, she felt pity for both Athan Kane, and Sarah St. James.

They were simply reeled in from the same fucked up pond that she was—and with a much more daunting purpose.

It would never matter how stunning she thought they were, or how much she admired…

and maybe envied…their bond. The one thing her master never allowed her to forget was their story .

And once, told…no one else would soon forget it either. The thing about stories, though…

Every individual has their own tendencies.

When some devour a story, they go in blind.

Some like it spoiled. Some prefer to pick apart every little detail.

Some even read the last page before they begin the first line.

Others like to take it one chapter at a time.

Ryan? She was a sucker for trying to figure out the ending, all the while refusing to spoil it for herself, if for no other reason than to prove she was right.

So this, unfortunately, was far less entertaining.

She already knew their ending. She supposed the only mystery left to solve was how her own story would end when they figured out the truth.

Images of pink hair, and facial piercings flittered through her mind, and for much of the drive, she wondered if Leigh had already spotted the single red rose she’d left in her car when she snuck over to watch her at the tattoo shop.

It took every ounce of her not to join her in the back alley when she’d taken a cigarette break.

Something about that girl had seasoned her with unfamiliar longing, and there was no stifling it.

After taking the risk of calling her from Seattle, Ryan was almost positive that Leigh would tell pretty Detective Northwood that she was somewhere in town.

Rhaena would connect her to Athan Kane’s disappearance, and the hunt would be on for the culprit.

Based on what Leigh thought she knew, they’d probably be making a break for the west coast.

However…Rhaena Northwood was a force to be reckoned with.

It was sad that even Rhaena, herself, didn’t even know where that force came from— yet .

But she would. And this test of her strengths to get her partner back—and Sarah’s determination to save the love of her life—was going to prove interesting.