Midnight Hour (Shadow Falls: After Dark #4)(36)

She didn’t show any outward signs of lying that time, Perry realized.

“Why were you running out of town?” Impatience deepened Burnett’s voice.

Her fingers started dancing on the table again. Even through the speakers, Perry heard them tap-tapping on the metal top.

“Come on,” Chase said. “Just spill it.”

Perry waited.

She finally lifted her eyes. Her fingers stopped dancing. Silence hung for a good thirty seconds.

“Did you see the people who robbed the store?” Burnett asked.

She blinked. Dark, almost black lashes, fluttered against the pale skin beneath her eyes. “Barely. And they … they were wearing masks.”

Her voice lacked the ring of confidence she’d had earlier.

“But you’re part vampire,” Burnett said. “Don’t have the gift of scent?”

“No,” she said, then her lips shut tightly as if regretting it.

“Now she’s lying,” Chase said. And Perry concluded he was right.

“See, she’s lying,” Shawn said to Burnett. Then the warlock moved closer to the table. “You caught my scent before you ever saw me tonight.

”

Lily folded her arms on the table and dropped her head down.

“Start talking,” Lucas said at the same time Burnett did, but Burnett’s came out as a severe warning.

Lily raised her head. Her eyes said she was about to spill.

“I had nothing to do with the robbery.”

The girl’s lips quivered ever so slightly.

“Then why didn’t you try to stop them from hurting him?” Shawn put out there.

The girl twisted her head, fury showed in her eyes. “I was in the back, by the time I got up to help they’d stopped.”

Burnett leaned back in his chair. “You aren’t guilty,” he said. “But you know who is. Don’t you?”

She didn’t say anything and the chair seemed bigger as she shrank down deeper.

“Jax,” Shawn said. “It was Jax?”

Jax? Perry edged closer to the mirror. A coincidence. But Jax wasn’t a common name.

“Who’s Jax?” Burnett asked Shawn.

“I don’t know,” the warlock answered, “but I just remembered she asked me if Jax had sent me. I think that’s why she was afraid.” He

faced the girl again. “Who is he, Lily? Why are you afraid of him?”

Perry looked back at Lucas and Chase. “Are there shape-shifters involved in this?”

Chase nodded. “Yeah, that’s why they were called out there. The three guys who robbed the place ran into the back and somehow escaped through

a locked door. Why?”

Perry’s mind still tried to deny it, but …

Shit. It really could be the same Jax!

“Who is Jax?” Burnett demanded.

“I’ll tell you who he is!” Lily spurted out. “He’s someone I never want to see again!”





Chapter Ten

“It’s just a broken arm, Mom,” Miranda repeated into the phone for the fifth time. Her parents’ plane had landed in Houston, and they were

on their way to the hospital. Her mom sounded like a mess, all nerves.

Sort of how Miranda felt. Between a growing tattoo, a sister who might be in love with a French scoundrel, a possible drug conviction, and now

the whole Perry problem, Miranda could use a break. And that wasn’t even mentioning her school problems, or rather her dyslexia problems.

She’d studied ten times more than Kylie and Della for the SAT test and even had an assistant read the test to help her. Both her roommates had

scored high. Miranda hadn’t met the school’s score requirements.

Holiday knew someone who knew someone who knew the dean of the school, and they were allowing her time to retest, in spite of it being past the

cut-off date. The thought that she might not make it into the school of her choice was a life changer. She had plans with Della and Kylie. They

were all going to the same college.

She had to pass!

“Are you listening?” her mom asked.

No. “Yes.”

Her mom let out a deep gulping sigh. “So I guess you’ll have some answers for us when we get there.”

“Answers?” Miranda asked, noting her mom’s voice had gone from worried mom to disciplinarian mom.

Had Holiday told her mom she’d failed to get the school’s required score?

“Like why a DEA agent left a message and informed us that they are looking at you and Tabitha for drug trafficking.”

For a second, Miranda wished it had been about her SAT score after all. “You know me better than that.”

“I don’t know Tabitha!”

Miranda sighed. “Didn’t Burnett or Holiday explain things?”

“All they said on the voicemail was that you and Tabitha were in the hospital due to some explosion. When I called back, the reception at the

airport was terrible, but I’m pretty sure I’d’ve heard if they told me the part about it being a drug house.”

Miranda searched for the right thing to say. Truth be told, she didn’t know how to explain anything, because it didn’t make a lick of sense.