Zoe’s tone softens. “I’m sorry. We had to ask.”
“Comes with the territory,” Nathan says quietly, then angles his head to show off the tattoo on his neck. “We got wrapped up in a gang when we were kids. I was fifteen, Greg was just thirteen.”
Nathan falls silent as he scrubs his hands up and down his thighs. “That’s why I know my brother wouldn’t just run off. We got out together. Moved up here together. He wouldn’t have left me.”
This man is telling the truth. I would bet my life on it. “We need you to tell us everywhere your brother might have gone the night he disappeared.”
Two hours later, over mulitas from Tacos El Primo, Zoe and I find a bit of a peace. Perhaps it is distance from this morning’s events, or the food, or the shared desire to honor the anguish of Gregory’s brother. She’s somber, but every few minutes, looks over at me or out at the water. Something in her gaze stirs a distant memory. One stolen from me.
Another pair of eyes, the same emerald green. Another smart mouth. Another set of long, elegant fingers that fiddled with…something. Not a bracelet like Zoe wears. Metal. Fuck. Chains. Thorn's chains.
I can almost see her. Almost touch her. Almost hear her screams as she died reaching for me. The world stops, the plastic fork in my hand suddenly transforming into the whip he forced me to use to hurt her. To hurt all of them. I am no longer with Zoe. I am a prisoner. Chained. Starved. Beaten.
“Do not fear, my love. I will come for you soon,” I whisper as Thorn calls for me and curses my slow response.
A hand wraps around my throat, cutting off all my air, and Regina’s voice consumes my entire world. “You will answer truthfully, demon. Or you will die.”
“I will answer truthfully.” It is all I can do. I am powerless against the Fae, even as my love’s emerald eyes plead for me to fight.
Thorn forces me down to my knees. “You think you can deceive me?”
With everything in me, I try to resist, but Regina’s compulsion is too strong. “Yes.”
He laughs, the sound grating along my spine. “Then you will watch her die.”
“Sin?” Zoe touches my arm, and the fork falls from my hand, tumbling down the stone steps in the breeze coming off the bay. She rushes after it while I am still frozen in place, tosses it in a nearby trash can, and then hands me hers. “Are you okay?” The blue of the sky and the scent of the water chase the memories from my grasp. But a faint vestige remains, and I know now. Why I am so drawn to Zoe.
Whatever she is? The part of her that is other? It may be unique in this world—she may be unique in this world—but another woman centuries ago carried the same power she has. If only I knew what it was.
“Merely lost in thought. Nothing to be concerned with,” I say, hoping she will believe me.
For a moment, she considers my words, weighing their tone, their truth. Apparently convinced, she asks, “What’s next?”
Relief makes my reply easier. “Old fashioned police work. We visit every spot Gregory may have been, and we talk to as many people as possible.”
Her lips twitch into a half smile. “At least that’s something I’m good at. And we’ll be back in the human world for a while.”
Turning to her, I reach across the plates and cover her hand with mine, hoping she will not pull away. When she twines our fingers, something inside me warms. Another familiar feeling I need more of. Much more. “We will be in your world, Zoe. But that does not mean the danger is any less. Thorn and Regina have practiced the art of deception for centuries. Millennia, even. As far as I am aware, they cannot change their physical appearances beyond hair color and clothing, but with their particular talents, they can hide in plain sight. Disappear in an instant. And get to anyone. So I must ask you to do something for me.”
“What?” Her face is so open, so expressive. Concern, curiosity, and a hint of fear all playing over her features on a loop.
“Stay by my side. Do not go off alone. Not until this case is over. No more errands like this morning. And at night, you will stay with me. My apartment is heavily warded, and we will be safe there.”
“Sin—“ Her shoulders jerk back, and she tries to pull away, but I grip her fingers tightly.
“Please, Zoe. You can take the guest room. You do not have to talk to me, or even see me. But after what happened yesterday, we cannot take the chance. I was careless this morning when I let you leave. My anger got the best of me, and I put you at risk. What you found on James Temple’s will? The watermark? Were you able to tell what it was?”
“No. It just looked like some strange curved lines.”
“It was anything but. Once I rotated the images appropriately, it was clear. Thorn and Regina forced Temple to write a new will the day before he shot you.” Zoe flinches, but I have to impress upon her the seriousness of the threat. “The watermark was of an orange blossom.”
“An…orange…blossom…” Her hand goes limp in mine, and I can see the realization in her eyes.
“It was a message. They are coming for me, Zoe.”
“You. Not me,” she says.
“The easiest way to get to me?” I bring her hand to my lips and brush a kiss to her knuckles before releasing her. “Would be to go after you.”
Zoe
The sun is flirting with the horizon by the time we return to Bureau headquarters. I’m exhausted, and all I want to do is spend an hour or two with Sin in private so we can talk. Really talk. The short bursts of time we’ve spent in the car haven’t been enough to have any sort of meaningful conversation.
“The easiest way to get to me would be to go after you.”
When he said those words, I wanted to smack him. The man runs as hot and cold as the ancient pipes in my apartment. But when he’s hot, he’s positively smoking. Possessive, protective, and about as alpha as they come. Yet still one of the most respectful men I’ve ever met.
The bullpen is nearly deserted. Kunchin waves from his desk, and I nod towards the break room. I need to talk to someone other than my partner-slash-lover-slash-most-annoying-demon-on-the-planet. And I need coffee. Now.
I can feel Sin’s eyes on me as I walk away from him, but when I toss a glance over my shoulder, he quickly turns to look at his computer screen.
“You all right, Zoe?” Kunchin asks, then hands me the carton of sweet creamer. “Velma was a powder keg waiting to blow. Good riddance. And I haven’t said that about any other agent in my five years here.”
“I’m fine. Just a little sore.” In truth, my neck aches like a motherfucker, but I managed to cover up the redness with some foundation and powder, and we’ve been so busy interviewing people today, I’ve mostly ignored it. “Is she…?”
“We don’t tolerate that shit here,” he says. “She’s headed to the vamp prison on Alcatraz.”
“There’s a vampire prison on Alcatraz? No, wait. Of course there is.” Shaking my head, I lean back against the counter with a sigh. “I’d ask you to pinch me, but your hands are twice the size of mine and you’d probably break my arm totally by accident.”