Page 94 of White Raven (Nevermore Duet #2)

Wren scratched the sides of Denver’s face. “Hence the name,” she smiled, nodding towards the rotten cat. “I thought it would be a good place to start. It’s also a good distance from my fucking mother .”

Brent chuckled through his nose. “You don’t think Miss Peggy will follow you from Andover? She did move there to be closer to you, didn’t she?”

“She did, but Mom hates Denver. I think she just used me as a good excuse to leave. She’s very good at excuses and bitch fits.”

“It’s perfect. When do you wanna go?”

Wren snuggled in a little closer to him and pressed her forehead against his shoulder. “No rush…leaving’s gonna be hard, Brent. You know that right?” Brent leaned down, kissing the top of her head gently.

“Not as hard as staying, I think. One day at a time, yeah?”

“One day at a time.”

Rhaena’s back faced him, and he coiled around her, grazing gentle fingertips over her shoulder, and kissing every spot left bare by her tank top. She didn’t move. Didn’t respond to his touch. Brandon rested his chin on the crook of her shoulder.

“Hard to sleep with the two of them howling upstairs, isn’t it?”

Rhaena stared forward at the wall. “That’s not what’s keeping me awake.”

He sighed, and wound an arm around her waist, pulling her closer. When she closed her red-rimmed eyes, he heard her sniffle softly, and he pressed a kiss to her neck. “Rhaena, you know he wouldn’t want this. We gotta let him be at peace.”

She scoffed, and it sounded wet. Her body heated in anger, and he slid his palms gently down her arm to calm the beast that wanted to come out.

“Yeah right…” she whispered. “I don’t think Malcolm Foley was ever at peace a day in his life. I failed him, Brandon. He just wanted to find his place in the world…and I sat there, and fucking denied him at every turn.”

“Babe, no…you didn’t.”

She turned onto her back, and he looked down at her as she swiped her hands down her face.

“Didn’t I?” she sniffed. That lip quivered, and he died not kissing it.

But she needed this moment. This outlet to free it.

She’d never break the glass surface if she didn’t, and he wasn’t about to let her hole up in her grief like Wren had.

“He served in the military, tried to find his purpose. That backfired. He tried to join the force…got partnered with a sheisty bitch …that not only stained his reputation, but it hurt him. In losing her, he felt like a failure, blamed himself for years for her death without knowing the truth… and …he ended up doomed to spend the rest of his life a werewolf because of my fucking uncle!” She let out a heavy sob, wiping her nose on the blanket.

“If that isn’t bad enough, he finds out he’s not alone, wants to find more like us just to be accepted!

For once in his life! To belong! And I fucking pushed him away! ”

“Baby,” Brandon whispered, trying to pull her hands from her face. She jerked away.

“No!” Rhaena sobbed, heaving a sharp breath.

“I danced around the possibility of having to face my mother! I was the one that refused to work with Ryan Sykes! If I hadn’t done all that shit, he might still be alive!

Now Athan is gonna leave, and I know he basically told me what Cap used his dying breath to tell me the other night.

They want me to lead. How the fuck can I lead them, Brandon?

How can I lead them, when all I’ve done is wreck everything I touch? ”

“Rhaena, you couldn’t have known about Sykes. Not the biggest picture, anyway. We were onto her before, we just didn’t know what we were dealing with. That isn’t on you.”

She threw her hands to her sides. “Isn’t it?

!” Her eyes were so red and puffy, that beautiful face just littered with heartbreak.

It hurt. Deeply. “If I’d just done what he asked, I might have been the fucking detective I was supposed to be and figured her out sooner!

Not only would that maybe have saved his life, it would have damned sure stopped her from fucking burying my partner alive! I’m a disgrace, Brandon…”

Her eyes flashed with the presence of that wolf that was howling beneath her skin, and he challenged it.

Dared it. “You’re a disgrace?” he huffed a laugh.

“Yeah…you’re a real piece a work, Rhaena Northwood.

You’ve played mother hen, judge and jury, best friend, lover, good cop, bad cop…

you’ve orchestrated an entire regime to keep your animal form restrained to protect people you swore an oath to.

You’ve bailed every single one of us out of countless situations, you’re determined to always have the last word, you call a man out on his bullshit, even if he’s five heads taller than you…

and I’ve never once seen you flinch. You box like Ali, you kick like an infuriated mule, you can put away a triple cheeseburger in less than a minute, and you drink more water than Boston can filter in an hour.

You’re strong-willed, loyal…you’re incredibly smart.

You’re sometimes a cheap shot, but a damn fine one regardless.

You fight hard, you love even harder. You’re right …

I don’t see what the hell our captain saw in you. ”

She sat up, staring him down and narrowing her eyes at him…

and within seconds…that face crumpled. Her shoulders sagged in surrender, and her heart spilled out.

Brandon caught her in his arms as she collapsed into soul-crushing sobs, and he gently rocked her back and forth.

“Why did he have to die?” she wept, grasping his shirt in her fists.

“We all do, babe…but he went down a hero…protecting the one he cared about most. The same one I’d die for.

The one thing he was most proud of…if you don’t take that exam for yourself…

do it for Foley.” His hand ran through her hair, stroking gently while she let it all out.

“You are a leader. You’re an alpha . That’s what he was trying to say, babe.

And you’re so worthy of this.” Rhaena peeled back, and he took her face in his hands, wiping away her tears with his thumbs.

“He’s never seen you back down from a fight.

Neither have I. None of us have. Cause you don’t .

You’ll get through this. I know you’re tired, but this round is just starting.

It’s just getting good ,” he smiled. “Lay it out on the mat, Gloves .”

Rhaena sobbed, pressing her forehead against his as she nodded, and tried to get her shit together.

That’s his girl.

“Fuck, yeah…” she choked through ragged breaths. A broken smile crept across her mouth, and she nodded a little more forcefully, meeting his proud gaze. “I couldn’t have asked for better in my corner, Brandon Jenkins.”

“Always, baby… always .”

Rhaena’s apartment felt…cold. Like the dark he used to live in before Sarah came into his life.

Empty, and dead…unforgiving and haunted.

Sarah was a bit reluctant to let him out of her sight since they’d returned to Boston, but she allowed him some time to be here alone with his guilt.

With this gnawing hole in his spirit at the loss of a man that should have been allowed to live the rest of his life in peace.

It was because of what they all were that had put him in a grave too soon.

The thought of his captain in a refrigerator made his skin crawl.

Athan stood silent in the doorway of Rhaena’s kitchen, taking in every bullet hole in the walls…

the remnants of dark blood staining the floor. Gaping claw marks…

One slightly brighter blood stain in the carpet.

“This is all my fault,” Athan whispered, pinching the bridge of his nose and squeezing his eyes shut. “Forgive me, sir. You didn’t deserve to go out this way.”

“Only a good man would try to shoulder the responsibility for something that was out of his control.” Athan glanced up, turning around to see Rachel Foster leaning against the wall by the front door, arms crossed and offering a sympathetic smile.

“He didn’t realize he was that man, too. This isn’t your fault, Kane.”

“I didn’t come here for your pity.”

She pushed off the wall and her heels crunched over the dried blood in the carpet.

“Yeah, well…I didn’t come to pity you. That’s not really my strength.

Most people consider me a soulless bitch.

Or…I’ve heard the term ‘twat’ is a pretty popular alternative.

” She smirked over her shoulder at him, and then lowered her eyes down to where he knew Foley’s body had been.

“Foley carried a weight for such a long time that he shouldn’t have.

It must have been hard to learn all these years later that Lindsay Trainor had betrayed him like that.

A woman he loved, no less. All those years that he blamed himself…

seems so pointless now.” Foster turned to face him, narrowing her eyes pointedly at him.

“Don’t make that same mistake, detective. ”

Athan shifted, turning his focus away from her face, and trying to heed her warning. Maybe it was too soon. “I appreciate it. Rhaena said—said you were doing your part to cover it up?”

“Yeah,” she sighed heavily, retracing her steps and claiming her spot against the wall.

“I approved his body this afternoon. He looks good. Neck looks like it never happened. The funeral home will make that even less noticeable. The reports have been fixed, and his cause of death reflects his dutiful response to gang violence. My team has been leading the press to believe what we tell them to believe. Your secrets are all safe, and his dignity upheld. Rest assured.”

“And Sykes?” he asked, trying not to let on how hard he clenched his teeth.

“Reports from some of my Seattle team say she’s alive, but I’m not sure about her family…or Northwood’s mother.”

“Who’s gonna be dealing with her? From what I understand, you’ve been tailing Ryan Sykes for a long time.”

Foster sighed again, this time a bit more sharp, and slowly shook her head. “I’m gonna take that responsibility too. Now you understand why we all feel a harsh little blow of that blame?”

Athan saw a flash of pain in her eyes, there one minute, and gone the next. “I understand.”

“I meant what I said months ago,” she scoffed.

“You people really load me down with work, and you can kiss my ass for it…but this is what I do, Kane. I’ve dedicated my life to making sure the illusion stays an illusion.

To try to uphold the balance, and ensure the other half stays in their blissfully ignorant bubble.

Sometimes the cost is too much. But no matter how much pain you guys shove up my ass…

it’ll never make this job any less important to me.

The cost will never outweigh the reward of being able to do this for the people. For you guys.”

“You really need to get laid, Foster.”

She snorted, and a grin stretched across her mouth as she rolled her eyes. “I’d ask if that was an invitation, but you get around, dude.”

Athan smirked, tossing his hair over his brow. “Not anymore. And you’re not really my type.” She chuckled through her nose and glanced back at Rhaena’s dark living room.

“My work is my significant other. Sad as that sounds, I’m happy with that. Plus…you know,” she shrugged. “Late nights and long stretches with a few horny teammates…it’s not always so…dry…in that department.”

Athan’s turn to snicker. “Thank you…for everything. And for being there for my partner when I couldn’t be. I’m in your debt.”

“No, you’re not. Before Foley got that phone call, I watched him clean rib bones with his teeth.” A sad smile. “Northwood was on his mind before the phone even started ringing. It’s strange to even think about how fate can rear its head. I had just finished asking him…if he loved her.”

His chest felt tight, and achy. “Do I want to know his answer?”

“He said she was like a daughter to him. I don’t think there’s a single thing he wouldn’t have done for either of you.

But especially Rhaena Northwood. He was very proud of his men.

You’re not in any debt to me, Kane. I was honored to wear a badge and serve next to Malcolm Foley.

Even if we weren’t in the same line of work.

” They held each other’s stare for a long silent moment, and then she started for the door. “See you at the service, detective.”

“Foster?” Athan called, causing her to glance over her shoulder in the doorway. “Did I interrupt whatever you came here to do?”

She smiled softly and dipped her chin at him.

“I did exactly what I came here to do.”