All sound bled away with the rapid beat of my heart. After abandoning me for three weeks, my mom was back. Excitement coursed through me. Annoyance immediately followed. How could I be excited to see the person who left me without a word? Correction. With the note that didn’t explain jack. She had better have a damn good reason for ditching me like she had. And for not telling me about what this place was. Or what I was.
Looking at the message again, part of me wondered if she even deserved my time. She’d hurt me over the years with her insistence to call her Paxton and her increasing distance. But, I also remembered who she’d been before that. She’d been my everything. When no one else in the world had liked me, she had. She’d hugged me and told me she’d always love me.
My chest ached with the memory and with the realization that she’d abandoned me long before leaving me in Uttira. The one person who should have been able to love me unconditionally hadn’t been able to.
As much as I wanted to tell her to leave like she’d proven she could do so well, I knew I couldn’t pass up the chance to find out what I was. And, to see her one more time.
I tore my gaze from the phone and waited until I caught Eliana’s attention on the dance floor. Wiping any trace of trouble from my expression, I motioned that I was going to the bathroom. She nodded and kept swaying to the sultry music, oblivious to the incubus trying to gain her notice.
Ducking into the bathroom, I took a moment to check myself in the mirror. The curls Eliana had coaxed into my hair still framed my lightly made up face. If I just focused on my head, I looked good. Like I’d managed just fine without any parental presence. However, from the neck down made me want to cringe.
“One month without supervision, and suddenly I’m a hooker,” I said under my breath. Knowing Mom, she’d celebrate my choice of clothes instead of scolding me for it.
After waiting a few minutes, I slipped out of the bathroom. No one noticed as I made my way to the back door because everyone was focused on Trammer, who was glaring down an incubus at Ashlyn’s table.
Closing the door on the music, I took a moment to let my eyes adjust to the dim light that cast shadows in the alley behind the Roost. The rank air from a dumpster that desperately needed to be emptied had me covering my nose as I looked around. Why in the hell would Mom want to meet me out here? I glanced toward the entrance. No one. I checked the time on my phone. One minute early.
Something buzzed to my left. I glanced toward the dark dumpster and caught sight of a faint outline of light on the ground. Someone’s phone? I went to pick up the buzzing device, and my fingers touched something wet. I cringed in disgust but didn’t drop it.
“Can this get any grosser?” I said to myself, turning the phone over.
A missed call from a private number showed on the screen.
Frowning, I looked at the mouth of the alley again. Was this Mom’s phone? Had I already missed her? Why had she dropped it?
Looking back at the phone, I caught sight of the dark stain on my fingers. At first, I thought oil. Then, I brought my hand closer to my face.
Blood.
Fear wormed its way into my stomach, the feeling unfamiliar and unwelcome.
I turned the phone over and used its weak light to illuminate the ground. A puddle of blood pooled near where the phone had lain. More blood dripped onto the ground near the dumpster. Images of mom the last time I saw her filled my head. Slowly, I lifted the light of the phone.
Lifeless eyes of the corpse lying on top of the mounded garbage stared back at me. It wasn’t my mom but a girl not much older than me. Exhaling in relief, I took in the dull brown hair that partially covered her neck, but not enough to hide the unmarred skin.
This body hadn’t been eaten. I turned the light, trying to figure out how she’d died. When I got to her middle, I struggled to breathe evenly. She’d been gutted.
Trammer’s loud voice shattered my fragile control.
“Drop what’s in your hands,” he barked.
I turned on him, rage heating the blood in my veins.
“Shit,” he breathed, fumbling for something at his side.
While he struggled, I flew toward him. Everything inside me screamed to give the man a beating he wouldn’t easily walk away from.
Before I reached him, he freed an object from his belt. An instant later, something invisible punched me in the chest. I flew back and landed hard on the ground, convulsing. My anger didn’t seize with my muscles, though.
While I lay locked in convulsions, Trammer used his foot to turn me over. I barely felt the cool metal of the cuffs as they clicked into place.
“Not so tough now, are you?” he said.
A moment later the convulsions stopped, and Trammer pulled me to my feet. The probes of his Taser stayed embedded in my flesh just inside my right shoulder and below my collarbone. I rolled my shoulders, feeling the ache.
“Take them out,” I said.
“I don’t think so. Try anything, and I’m juicing you again.”
He gripped my arm and led me toward the front of the building where his car and niece waited.
“Ashlyn, you’ll need to ride in front,” he said. He opened the door and proceeded to shove me into the backseat.
I met Ashlyn’s wide-eyed gaze as he yanked the probes from my chest.
“It’s okay. I’ll walk home,” she said.
Trammer grunted an acknowledgment and shut the door. Ashlyn stayed by the entrance of the Roost as her uncle got in and started the car.
With lights flashing but siren silent, he pulled away from the curb. Ashlyn’s pale expression made more sense when I caught my reflection in the glass of the back window. Blood matted my hair and smeared my ear and cheek from when Trammer had rolled me over. Asshat.
When I looked back, Ashlyn had already disappeared. Facing forward, I looked at the guy I wanted to hit.
“Why am I in handcuffs?”
“You tried to attack an officer after being found at the scene of a crime.”
“Speaking of the scene of a crime. Don’t you think another dead body is a bigger concern than a teenager with anger issues?”
“Yep. That’s the other reason you’re in the back seat.”
“What? You can’t be serious. I didn’t kill that girl.”
“Then why were you in that alley?”
“Because I got a text from my mom.”
He laughed. “Nice try. We both know she’s not coming back. They never do here.”
“I didn’t kill that girl,” I reiterated. “Do I look like a killer?”
“For all I know, you’re just another flesh-hungry monster disguised as a human.”
“Nice. Don’t be afraid to tell me how you really feel,” I said.
“We’ll see how smart-mouthed you are after the Council deals with you. Human killing inside Uttira is forbidden.”
“I didn’t kill her.”
“Right. You were just taking in the night air in a dark, back alley that happened to have a dead body in it? Nice try.”
He didn’t say anything more as he navigated the streets for several minutes. I stared out the window and wondered how long I would need to sit in jail before he actually went back to the scene of the crime and looked at my phone.
The idiot needed to do his job. Although, to be fair, I had tried to attack him. And I still wanted to. In fact, I was pretty sure he’d be feeling some pain as soon as these cuffs came off.
The car started to slow, but I barely noticed the pathetically small building labeled “police station” that he pulled in front of. Instead, my entire focus fixated on the partially clothed Oanen, who stood before the place. With his arms crossed and a frown pulling at his normally stoic expression, he looked wildly fierce.
When his gaze met mine, some of that fierceness softened for a brief moment before Trammer made a sound of annoyance and opened his door. Oanen looked up at the man.
“What do you think you’re doing, Trammer? Let her out.”
“Not happening. I found her in the alley right next to another dead body. When I told her to drop what she had in her hand, she tried to attack me.”
Oanen glanced at me and exhaled in obvious frustration when I gave a slight shrug.
“She can sit in a cell until the Council gets here.” Trammer opened the back door. But before I could lurch toward him, Oanen was there, offering me a hand.
“Oanen,” Trammer said from somewhere behind the wall of protective muscle helping me from the car.
Oanen’s gaze missed nothing, including the two bleeding spots just above my right boob. He turned away from me but kept a hand around my upper arm as he spoke to Trammer. The cocky cop was looking far too pleased with himself.
“Did you call them?” Oanen asked.
“Of course not. My first priority is to secure her. Then, I need to go back and secure the scene.”
“Good thing I called for you. They should be here shortly. Would you like to wait inside?”
Trammer’s face flushed.
“I’m not waiting. I have a suspect and a crime scene to secure.”
Trammer reached for me; but before his hand could close over my arm, Oanen once again stood in front of me.
“I’ll help her inside.”
With Oanen’s hampering hold keeping me from Trammer, we moved as a group toward the tiny building, which looked more like a small-town post office than a police station. A desk sat in the tight space just inside the door. Beyond that, a single cell beckoned.
“She goes in the cell,” Trammer said, moving past us to slide open the narrow-barred opening.
Oanen led me forward but stopped just before we reached the cell. I looked up at him, trying to ignore the gentle swipe of his thumb on my upper arm.
“I’m sorry, Megan.”
“For what?”
His lips twitched slightly.
“That you’re here.”
“Don’t worry about it. As soon as Captain Duffus checks my phone, which I dropped in the alley when he zapped me, he’ll see I was telling the truth.”
“Get in the damn cell,” Trammer said angrily.
I stepped in and listened to Trammer shove the door closed behind me. The lock clicking into place admittedly worried me. What the hell was going on? Who had texted me to meet in the alley? I no longer believed it was my mom. Trammer at least got that right. She wasn’t coming back, and I’d been stupid to think that for even a minute. My stupidity only added to my anger.
Someone had set me up. Who and why?
“I thought you couldn’t wait,” Oanen said. I turned and found him staring down Trammer just outside my cell.
“You need to leave.”
“No. I’ll stay and keep an eye on things here while you go bag the body. The Council will want to know what happened to Camil.”
“Who?” I asked, unable to help myself.
“Are you sure it was Camil?” Trammer asked, going pale.
“Yes. I looked before flying here. There were no bites like the last time, but pieces were missing. Heart. Liver.”
Trammer swallowed hard, and his eyes widened.
“Ashlyn,” he said. With that he disappeared out the door, taking a good portion of my anger with him.
I gripped the bars and looked at Oanen.
“Why is he worried about Ashlyn?”
“Camil was human. Just like Jesse. Someone in Uttira seems to have developed a taste for them.”
A shimmering hole appeared inside the cell.
“Yes,” Adira said, stepping through. “And that someone is very bold leaving a body at the Roost.” She looked at me. “How are you, Megan?”
Was she serious?
“Not good. I’m covered in a dead girl’s blood, and Trammer thinks I killed her.”
“Unlikely or he wouldn’t have left in such a concern for his niece.” She set her hand on the lock. It clicked softly, and Oanen reached out to slide it open.
“Are my parents here?”
“No. They sent me to release Megan. They’re at the Roost. I need to find Raiden before it rains.”
A soft rumble from outside punctuated her words.
“You’ll see Megan home?” Adira asked Oanen.
“I will.”
Another circle opened and Adira disappeared through, leaving us alone. Oanen stepped close and gently moved part of my torn shirt to look at the two holes in my chest. I glanced down at them, too. Stupid Trammer wrecked my shirt.
“Eliana liked this top,” I said, annoyed.
The tip of Oanen’s finger brushed over the unmarred skin, just above the marks. A tingle of awareness coursed through me and set my pulse racing. However, when I looked up, his expression was once again closed off, making it hard to know what the touch meant.
“If it’s okay with you, I’d like to leave before Trammer comes back,” I said.
Oanen nodded and moved to hold the office door open for me. I quickly stepped out, desperate to leave before someone changed their mind about keeping me locked up.
Outside, the wind had picked up, and I shivered slightly.
“Eliana is coming from the Roost,” Oanen said as we started walking in that direction. “She’ll have your coat.”
“Thanks.”
“Are you all right?” he asked after a moment of silence.
“Not really. Trammer’s convinced I’m capable of murder. And you know what? I have no idea if I am or not. I’m covered in blood and more annoyed about it than grossed out. I’ve seen two dead bodies in less than a week. Shouldn’t I be upset? Shouldn’t I be having some sort of an emotional breakdown? If I were normal, I would be. But, as everyone here has made very clear, I’m not normal. I’m not human. So, how can anyone be sure I didn’t do it when I’m not even sure what I’m capable of?”
Thunder rolled through the skies, and Oanen paused his barefooted stroll to look down at me. Silent, serious Oanen. The streetlights cast shadows on his bare chest, and I didn’t know how he wasn’t freezing.
I shivered again.
He stepped closer, his gaze holding mine.
“I think you do know what you’re capable of,” he said softly. “You’re just afraid of facing it.”
