“Really?” Haley brightened. “You’re too sweet.”
“It’s nothing.” He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, his gaze focused so intently on that stellar cleavage I worried he might dive right in.
And there’s my chance…
Before I could rethink it, I leaned in and reached for the carabiner hanging off his belt, deftly freeing the attached keyring.
Score.
“Hey, do you have a restroom?” I palmed the keys and forced a bright smile, bouncing on my toes. “I have to pee. Like,superbad.”
“Right around the corner. Just don’t be too long, okay? This one here looks like trouble.” He laughed, his gaze still lingering on her chest.
You okay?I mouthed to Haley.
Go,she mouthed back, and the glint in her eye told me she was actually enjoying this.
Well. That makes one of us.
Twenty-Five
Gray
Deep in the bowels of the building where most had never ventured, Darius waited outside the door to the morgue, still as a statue and just as beautiful. He was impeccably dressed as always—charcoal gray dress pants and a black cashmere V-neck that clung to his lean muscles, pushed up to the elbows to reveal some serious forearm porn.
He sensed my presence and turned toward me, silently watching as I descended the basement stairs, his eyes widening. Any earlier reservations I’d had about going overboard with the outfit—tight red tank under a cropped denim jacket, Sophie’s leather mini, knee-high black leather boots—disappeared in the wake of his desirous gaze.
Maybe they’re into sharing…
Darius smiled, as if he could read my thoughts.
“No demon entourage tonight?” His smooth British accent rolled over my skin like warm water.
“Ronan and Asher are not myentourage,” I said, a little defensively. Then, in a softer tone, “Thank you for coming.”
“Of course.” He stepped closer, his scent floating on the air—like really good leather and expensive whiskey and a richness that wasallDarius. “I was glad you rang. Although, I wish it were under better circumstances.”
I nodded, grateful he hadn’t extended further condolences. I appreciated his voicemail the other night so much, but right now we had to stay focused on the mission: Get in, check the bodies (Darius), check the files (me), and get out—before the guard noticed his missing keys.
“We don’t have much time.” Beneath a frosted glass pane etched in gold with the word MORGUE, I shoved a random key from the ring into the door lock and turned.Bingo.
“First try? You’re charmed, love.” Darius followed me into the dark room, shutting the door behind us. It took a few beats for my eyes to adjust, but of course Darius didn’t wait; vampires could see in the dark, and in the time it took me to fumble around for my phone flashlight, he’d already begun working his way down the rows of drawers at the back of the room.
“What are you looking for, exactly?” I asked.
“Traces.” Darius slid one drawer closed, then opened another. “Scents. Evidence left behind.”
I scanned the surroundings, taking it all in. A row of four identical metal tables bisected the room, with the storage drawers running along the back wall and two desks set up in front, just inside the door. One side of the room had a couple of sinks, hanging scales, and storage cupboards, and on the other side, a row of tall file cabinets loomed.
The metal tables gleamed under the beam of my flashlight, and though they appeared to have been recently cleaned, the one closest to the front was covered in surgical tools, neatly spread on a thin blue cloth: scalpels, pliers, needles. A huge metal blade that could only be for sawing through bone.
I swallowed hard, suppressing a shiver.
“Ah, here we are,” Darius said. “October second. Marisol Cates.” He hauled open the drawer without ceremony.
I glanced up just in time to see a lock of dark hair spill out from beneath a rumpled white sheet, and my stomach lurched.
I sucked in a deep breath and started counting backward in my head, but it was too late for calm thoughts. Oily black smoke clouded my vision, and my legs turned to lead, as though some great evil were fighting to suck me under. Darkness roiled inside me, sweeping away my queasiness as quickly as it’d arrived.
