Blackbird Broken (The Witch King's Crown #2) - Keri Arthur Page 0,17
so. It looked more recent and hurried.”
That raised my eyebrows. “Does that mean you did find something useful?”
“Paperwork similar to the stuff you found in that deconsecrated church they blew up.”
Meaning it was written in elvish. “Have you or the preternatural boys found anyone who can transcribe them yet?”
He shook his head. “However, Ricker remembers—”
“Who’s Ricker?”
“A fellow Blackbird—”
“And related?”
It was a guess, but it made some sense, as Blackbirds were only ever sourced from the Durant line. Their ability to manipulate both light and shadow had once made them the perfect king’s guard—and assassins, if the brief comment Luc had made was anything to go by. Weirdly, there were only ever twelve Blackbirds at a time and, even in this day and age, they were only ever men. It seemed that while Blackbirds might have dragged their chivalrous ways into the twenty-first century, the whole idea of equality hadn’t accompanied it.
“Yes—cousin.” He paused. “Why?”
I smiled, unable to resist teasing him. “Maybe I want to discover whether all Blackbirds have the same ironclad rules when it comes to attraction.”
“Ricker is bound.”
“Meaning married, I take it.”
“Yes.”
“Which still leaves me ten possibilities to explore.”
He made a noise that sounded an awful lot like a low growl. “How about we concentrate on the business at hand rather than your hormones?”
I sighed, even as delight danced through me. “You’re no fun, Luc.”
“Ricker,” he continued, obviously deciding to ignore my comment, “remembers seeing a translation scroll in the Glastonbury archives. He’s been sent to fetch it.”
“Did you find anything not in elvish?”
“A partial phone number. It matches the one you found in Tris’s bag.”
“Meaning it could belong to their controller.”
“Or at least someone else connected to this whole murderous scheme. Jason’s running a search, but considering it’s only a partial, there’s likely to be a ton of matches to check out.”
“I’m dressed if you’d like to turn around.”
He did so. His gaze skimmed me again and, deep in his rich eyes, desire smoldered. “I’m not entirely sure that sweater is much better than nakedness.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment—”
“You should, because the nakedness was pretty stunning.”
I grinned. “So much for chivalrously turning around before you spotted too much.”
“I’m a Blackbird, not a saint or a fool.” His voice was dry.
“Mo would likely debate the latter.”
“That’s because she sees romantic issues through rose-tinted glasses.”
“Romance? Is that an admission that there might be something more than lust happening here?”
He did the eye roll thing again. “Can you concentrate for five minutes?”
I made a show of glancing at my watch. “Five it is. I take it a warrant has been issued for the owner of the car?”
He nodded. “Her name was Karen Jacobs, in case you’re interested.”
“Was?”
“She was killed three weeks ago. Her body remains unclaimed at the coroner’s.”
“How was she killed?”
“Single shot through the head. Now, before my five minutes run out, how about you start answering some questions?”
“Only if you come closer.” I sat on Mo’s bed and patted the space beside me. “And don’t worry, I won’t bite—unless you beg me to, of course, and we both know that won’t happen.”
He shook his head and walked over. “And we both know why.”
“Ignoring fate never ends well, Luc.”
“This isn’t fate. This is everyday, normal human desire and attraction—and it’s something I can’t act on while I’m working.”
The image I’d caught in his mind—an image of a woman in a blood-soaked red dress—rose. “Because you did once before, and it ended in tragedy.”
“Yes.”
I sighed. It was a good reason, and if he’d been willing to explore the depths of what lay between us after all this was over, I might not be so annoyed with the man.
But he wasn’t.
He was more than happy to pursue a sexual relationship, of course, but he’d already stated it would never be anything more than that. And I’d absolutely had it with relationships that were based on nothing more than sex. I wanted more. I wanted the box and dice—a man who loved me, who wanted to raise kids with me, and who, more than anything, wanted to grow old with me.
Tris had never been that man, and Luc wouldn’t even consider the possibility. It seemed my luck with men really was on a roll—in the absolute worst way possible.
I quickly told him what happened at the gate and our discovery of Jules Okoro. “I’m actually surprised you didn’t follow Max to the gate, especially given how little you trust him.”
His amusement rolled across my senses, somehow setting them alight. “Until Jason’s