Sapphire Bones

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Song: Vampire's Kiss by John Gold

UPDATED: 2/14/2019

Corvo

The other Alpha in the room took a large step back away from me but didn't return to his seat in front of the oversized desk in the middle of the room. Instead, he made sure to keep his gaze solely on me while he found an appropriate distance to which he would continue the conversation, just on a separate topic than the pack merger. His dark hands played at the buttons on his shirt cuffs. I waited by the door for him to continue talking. Zane perked up in my head at Tyler's cryptic subtitle, but otherwise, my wolf stayed quiet while he watched from behind my eyes.

"I got your attention," Tyler said, a smug grin played across his dark, purplish lips. I watched with narrowed eyes while he settled on words in his head, but he kept them to himself and instead teased at his idea of assistance with the ridiculous smirk of his. Half of me knew what he was about to say but I needed to hear it before I allowed myself and Zane to jump to any conclusions that could possibly send both of us off the edge.

"What kind of help?" I ignored the sly look and cocked my head to the side. Tyler found a comfortable spot near the floor-to-ceiling window on the back wall. He peered outside and let the tips of his fingers fall onto the glass. A quick moat of fog formed around his pressed fingers but dissipated into nothing soon after.

"The girl? You're dying to know about her, and I have information," he brought his hand away from the window and rubbed his chin with his cooled fingers. The mere mention of L made my heart sink into a deep pit at the bottom of my torso while simultaneously suffocating me from inside my lungs. At his words, I leaned forward with eyes widened in a weakened state I couldn't control. L shot forward into the front of my head and flashed in front of my vision. Her long dark hair, blurred eyes covered in a milky film, and the scars, young and old that littered her skin like sunspots. The last time I saw her, Peter dragged her away by the collar of her smock. The man who sought to torture her for the rest of her life, and I did nothing to help. I stood frozen in a field, above my father's dead body. The scene burned a hole in my memory, a wound destined never to heal. No matter how many times Zane pushed gauze onto the bloodied scratch on my memory, it refused to scab over.

"Prove it," I hissed and lowered my gaze. Zane emerged from the back of my head, his mouth foaming at the mention of his absent mate.

"My sister works for the council. She's been assigned to L," Tyler didn't let up on his enthusiastic smile that reached from ear to ear. He got the look from his father, who spent his entire life holding bait in front of others and watching them squirm beneath it.

Her name hit my eardrums like a couple rusty nails lodged deep into the narrow canals in my head. A growl bubbled up in my throat, the acid scratching at the sensitive flesh on the inside of my esophagus. Months without information passed and her minute connection to me continued to shred, a thin rope holding up too much weight. Bits and pieces broke off each day and I feared our bond would vanish as quickly as it came. If I had only put the puzzle together sooner, that the intense heat shared between us whenever we touched was a signal that we were mates, I could've saved her. I could've done anything except stand there and watch her be dragged away by the government intent on pinning an entire massacre on her head.

My forehead wrinkled and I bobbed my head left and right. "What do you-,"

"Peter's out – after the incident over the summer they figured he couldn't handle a high-profile criminal."

"She's not a criminal."

"I'm quoting Mia,"

"Don't call her a criminal," I barked. "Who's Mia?" I could barely hear him through the ringing in my ears but I fought to isolate his voice.