Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(16)

“Not a car,” she said.

He blinked and frowned. “A house blew up?”

She nodded.

His eyes widened again. “Wait. Did you say armadillo?”

“Yeah. I know it sounds crazy, but it was there. And it was being held against its will. And when the storm came inside—”

“Storm?” he asked.

“Yeah.”

“At a witch’s house?” By his tone she couldn’t tell if he came closer to believing her or believing she was a few fries short of a Happy

Meal. But she suspected the latter.

Frowning, she found her bed control and raised up a few inches. As her head raised, she flinched slightly as the new position hurt, but the

pain wasn’t nearly as bad as before.

She looked up. “I’m not hallucinating. This happened.”

“Okay.” He paused again. “But what … what were you doing there?”

“The witch was a fortune-teller.”

He frowned. “What kind of magic was she practicing?”

Miranda shifted, the question reminding her that this whole thing could have been prevented if only she’d been more assertive with Tabitha.

Oddly, while Tabitha was the eldest, and high priestess, she wasn’t always the wisest.

“It might have been black, but … but she didn’t seem evil. Tabitha wanted … She’d gone to her before. She was worried about dating

Anthony. Her mom doesn’t want her to, but she has feelings and she wanted to know if it might really be love.”

The soft caring look in his eyes shifted to frustration. He leaned in and his tone lowered. “You know better than to play around with black

magic. And please, you don’t go to someone to tell you how you feel. You feel it or you don’t!”

She wasn’t sure if it was his words or if it was his tone that annoyed her the most. She attempted to push the itch of anger aside, because

down deep she knew he was right. At least about black magic, but … about feelings? No, he wasn’t right about that.

Her feelings for him were a prime example.

Stiffening her shoulders, she met his eyes. “So you’ve never questioned how you felt about someone?”

His brow tightened. “Not enough to toy with evil. You could have been—”

“I told you, she didn’t come off as malicious.” Miranda’s emotions must have sounded in her voice, because before he even opened his mouth,

she heard his apology.

“I’m sorry, I just … hate seeing you hurt. The thought of what more could have happened scares the hell out of me.”

Before Miranda could respond, before she even decided what the ping-ponging emotions meant, the door to her room whooshed open.

A man, potbellied, so much so that his extended gut entered the room before he did, charged into the room. From his body shape and jowls to his

demeanor, he reminded Miranda of a bulldog—one who didn’t like backing up from his food bowl.

The man glared at Shawn, then turned to look at the nurse who’d followed him. “I told you no visitors until I spoke with her!”

The nurse flinched.

The bulldog turned his attention away from the nurse to Shawn. “I snuck in,” Shawn insisted.

“Who the hell are you?”

Shawn’s shoulders tensed, not at all intimidated by the man. “I’m an agent with the FRU.”

The man growled, yes, growled just like a dog. “As I was telling the other agent out there, I don’t give a damn who you are. This is our

case. Back off before I get your asses arrested.”

“Excuse me!” Burnett charged into the room. When he was angry the vampire looked bigger. And right now he appeared seven feet tall.

Miranda noted his normal brown eyes held a golden, pissed-off hue. Then again, they were in the hospital where no doubt the smell of blood

lingered. He held out his phone to Mr. Bulldog. “Someone wants to speak to you.”

“Who?” The cop stared at the phone as if he debated taking it.

“Take it,” Burnett said. “He’s not someone you want to keep waiting.”

“You got my sergeant?” the cop asked, suspicious and maybe worried.

“No,” Burnett answered, his voice a low rumble that sounded dead serious. “Your sergeant wasn’t available. Neither was his boss. It’s the

police commissioner. Take it!” He shoved his phone into the man’s hand, but Miranda could tell Burnett would rather have just broken the man

’s neck.

The bulldog, looking unsure, took the phone. “Yes.”

The man’s face, already a pissed-off shade of red, got redder. “I understand sir, but we have evidence leading us to believe—” His frown

deepened all the way into his jowls. “I understand.”

He shoved the phone back into Burnett’s hand. Now looking embarrassed as well as furious, he growled again. “This isn’t over by a long shot.

”

“I’d say it is,” Shawn added.

Burnett stared down at the police officer. And considering he stood almost a foot above him, it was apparent that he made the cop feel small.

“You can go now.” Burnett motioned him out.