Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(103)

“That French bastard doesn’t know shit,” the other guy on the sofa said. “I beat the crap out of him. If he knew where she was he’d have

told me.”

She? French? Anthony? Was Tabitha not here? But wasn’t Tabitha’s scent here?

Perry slithered from under the cabinet and headed to the back room. He stayed as close as he could to the dirty corner molding, hoping not to

be seen. Once out of sight, he let his tongue out, flickering it up and down to catch the scents.

Immediately he wished he hadn’t. The stench of blood and death flavored his tongue.

He eased down the hall. The door was shut, but it had a hole in it that looked as if someone had kicked it in.

He eased through it, and a piece of wood splintered off and clattered to the wood floor.

One of the goons must have sensitive hearing because the floor creaked with heavy weight.

“Where you going?” a voice boomed.

“I heard something.”

Perry shot the rest of the way through the hole, ending up in a dark room.

Footsteps echoed down the hall.

His snake heart pounded. He searched in the darkness for something to hide under. He spotted bars, separating the room. No furniture offered

cover.

He slid through the cold metal poles that made up one jail cell. He saw it. The only thing that offered him any cover was a body.

One as cold as, if not colder than, the reptile form he’d taken on. The door to the room swung open. Light flooded the room.

With no choice, he eased into the ripped and bloody shirt worn by a corpse.

But he hadn’t made it in time.

The man screamed. Bullets started exploding.





Chapter Thirty

Holiday had left to take care of Hannah and the baby. Miranda, Kylie, and Della all piled into Della’s bed. They didn’t sleep, but they didn

’t talk much, either. They waited.

Waited to hear from Burnett.

Della shot upright. Miranda knew what that meant. She bolted up and ran into the living room.

She’d opened the door when Perry stepped onto the porch.

One look at his face, at his eyes, and she knew … knew he had bad news.

“Don’t tell me she’s dead!” Miranda started backing into the cabin. “Don’t you dare tell me she’s dead!”

Perry moved in. To hold her. To comfort her. She didn’t want comfort. She wanted her sister to be alive.

He started talking, but she refused to hear it. She jerked loose and put her hands over her ears.

“No,” she screamed.

“Miranda stop. Listen to me.” He pulled her against him. “We didn’t find Tabitha.”

Miranda caught her breath. “Then what’s the terrible news that you have to tell me. And don’t say you don’t have any. I can see it.”

He nodded. “I’m not going to lie to you.” He moved her back until she hit the sofa and she dropped down. He sat beside her. So close his

thigh pressed against her leg.

“The address … there were three of Jax’s men there and some of their victims.” He took her hand. “Anthony is hurt, pretty badly, but he’s

in our care. One of Jax’s men confessed. Tabitha was handed over to an underground gang of Wiccans.”

“Why would they want her?”

“We don’t know. But we’re almost certain that it’s not just her they want. They want you, too.”

She heard him. It should scare her, but all she could think about was how scared Tabitha must be. The last time they were in trouble in Paris,

they had each other. Now her sister was alone.

“I don’t understand. What have we done to them? What do they want with us?”

“Burnett and Shawn are looking into it.”

Emotionally spent and exhausted, they sat there on the sofa. Kylie and Della went to bed. Miranda asked Perry to stay the rest of the night. Or

maybe she begged. She didn’t care. She didn’t want to be alone.

She changed into a pair of light blue pajamas. He came in later and took off his shirt and crawled into her twin-size bed with her. They didn’

t make out, didn’t kiss. It wasn’t that kind of night.

They lay close, holding on to each other like two people needing something. Needing each other.

She rested her head against his bare shoulder. His hand rested on the curve of her waist. In his arms she finally felt safe. In his arms she

finally fell asleep.

*

“How’s Anthony?” Perry dropped into the chair across from Holiday’s desk. Burnett had his own office, but if Holiday wasn’t there, he’d

use his wife’s. Her office was bigger, but Perry suspected it wasn’t the space that the vampire cared about. The essence of his wife was in

this room. Color, crystals, family photos, and live plants. The room even smelled like Holiday. Like love. Everyone loved Holiday. But no one

more than Burnett.

Burnett frowned. “His heart stopped beating last night, but they were able to pull him back. Doctor said his blood pressure looks better this

morning.”

“Good.” Perry had told Burnett he’d meet him at the office before he took off. The sun hadn’t risen when he left Miranda’s. Perry would