Simon eyes the photo and I sheepishly hand it to him. “I knocked over this journal and it fell out. I promise I wasn’t trying to snoop.”
He nods and hands the photo back to me. “That’s Leighton.”
“Is she…” I find I don’t want to voice my question. “Are they dating?” The picture is obviously old. And this room, while niceand definitely several steps up from looking and smelling like a boy’s room, doesn’t have the feminine touch I would assume a girlfriend would bring. There are no women’s clothes in the closet, no evidence a girlfriend ever stays here with him. It’s dumb of me to assume he’s single, though. How many times has a bond interrupted a couple already together?
Simon shakes his head. “No, she died.”
I almost drop the photo, but I don’t. Instead, I reverently put the picture back into the notebook as carefully as I can. “Stars, I’m so sorry.”
Simon nods, going to sit on the bed. “It was a while ago. Before Pisces was turned. They’d been dating for a few years. But God, they were horrible for each other. And to each other. You ever know that one couple that just brings out the worst in each other? That was them.”
My stomach drops at hearing that. It’s not exactly what I experienced with Jordan, but I could relate to the toxicity.
“And she died? While they were together?” I pick up on what he’s not saying and he nods.
“Pisces should probably tell you the rest. But it fucked him up. And just as he was starting to put himself back together, that song wraith showed up. Turned him but also left him to die.”
I think I’ve heard that from somewhere. That’s why there aren’t many sirens. They usually die when turned and also song wraiths aren’t common as it is.
“Fuck.” It’s all I can say.
I go and sit next to Simon, throwing an arm around him. “We’re gonna get him back,” I say. I sound so sure. But my stomach is a knot.
We sit like that for a little while until Simon leaves and I decide I should try to get some sleep despite the jet lag. I know they probably have a potion somewhere around here andLiz brought her own, but since I haven’t been sleeping much I probably won’t even need it.
There’s a hoodie hanging on the back of the desk chair, and I can’t help myself. I take it and cuddle up in Pisces’ bed with his hoodie, breathing in the scent of him and trying to imagine what it would be like if he was here.
I can feel the bond purring but also tugging at me. It wants me to go to him. I could probably follow it to the fae council, where they have him locked up still. But for now I’m content to breathe him in. I just wish he was in the bed with me, with his arms around me.
The longing feeling brings tears to my eyes and I let them fall.
I cry and cry even as the bed dips and I feel Reese and Amelia slide in on either side of me, holding me closely as I finally drift off to sleep.
CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
BLISS
With Liz at the helm,planning it out, it didn’t take long to gather everyone. After a few reluctant meetings at the Voracious Maw church with Grim, we formed a plan. A pretty good one at that. And with a bit of luck, perhaps a little bit of persuasion on my part—though I didn’t have much to spare—we were able to get Grim to agree to release Pisces in order to lure Jordan out.
In the weeks since Pisces and I were arrested, Grim’s team managed to narrow down where Jordan was hiding. It seemed he’d fled to Barcelona, Spain. And so that’s where we meet up, gathering in a hotel room.
“We’ll set up our trap in Ciutadella Park. There are tiny fae sectors within the park but no portals, so as long as we have it surrounded, he won’t be able to escape once he’s there.” Grim points out the sectors on a map that’s spread out on the coffee table. Sectors are just smaller versions of districts and often don’t have names of their own. I’ve already seen the map, so I don’t crowd around the table like everyone else.
When Grim arrived with Pisces, I’d hoped that we would have some time to talk, for me to explain, but he ignored me every time I tried. So I’m left to study his features as he looksover the map in concentration, perhaps trying to memorize where all the sectors are located. I can feel my bond growing excited to be so close to him again. Thoughts of touching him and kissing him andmorekeep interrupting my mind and I have to force myself to focus on the mission at hand. I remind myself constantly how inappropriate it would be to try to seduce him when he’s still mad at me, and we are here to catch a literal murderer.
That seems to take the wind out of my inner succubus’ sails, but only just barely.
I still let my eyes drift over the lines of his face, the straight long nose that ends in a soft point. His ears that peek out from underneath his hair that’s grown out since I first met him. The way his mouth is always betraying his emotions in the way it’s set. My mate.
He’s my mate.
When I look at him, it all makes sense. Of course he’s mine. He couldn’t be anyone else’s. And I find I want to belong to him. I want him to want me and call me his.
The ache in my chest swells. And I let it. Because it’s a reminder of everything that’s happened.
Grim continues to lay out the plan. In a matter of minutes we are packed up and headed out to the park. Dusk fell quite some time ago and a warm breeze blows about, caressing and calming.
The park is closed, of course. It’s late, almost midnight. But Benny gets the gates open quickly and we all slip inside. He closes the gate almost shut, leaving an unnoticeable gap so that when Jordan makes his way here, he won’t get stuck outside the park.
