True Nature by Jae

Author:Jae
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: romance, paranormal, lesbian, shapeshifter
Publisher: Ylva Publishing

Chapter 34

No, not Danny. It’s not him. It can’t be him. The thought ran through Rue’s mind again and again until it became a mantra. She felt as if she had stepped out of her body and was watching herself go through the motions. The car key dug into her hand, and she welcomed the pain. She could barely remember leaving the hotel and walking to the parking garage. Every step felt unreal, as if she were trapped in a nightmare.

The Mercedes looked as it always did, completely normal, making the situation even more surreal. Nothing is normal anymore.

Her hand, cold and clammy, shook as she pressed the button that unlocked the car.

“Let me drive,” Kelsey said, voice soft like a bandage on Rue’s open wounds. She slid her hand down Rue’s arm and wrapped her fingers around Rue’s, clearly expecting her to relinquish the car key.

Rue pulled away and slipped behind the wheel. “No, I’m fine. It’s not Danny.”

Kelsey pinched the bridge of her nose between her thumb and index finger. “Rue...”

“No.” Rue didn’t want to hear what Kelsey had to say. “Go back to the hotel and get some rest while I take care of this.” Her defenses were barely holding up, and she had no energy left to waste on a shape-shifter she wasn’t sure she could trust.

“You really think I can rest when Danny...” Kelsey shook her head. “Rue, I care about Danny. And about you.” She clamped her teeth around her bottom lip as if she had said too much. “I don’t want you to go through this alone.”

“Then get in.” Rue needed to do something, not sit here and talk. Sitting around would leave her too much time to think. She focused on the road and the early-morning traffic and tried not to think about where they were going or what they might find there.

* * *

Detective Vargas waited for them in front of the morgue. Her somber expression and black blazer made her look like a funeral director.

“What happened?” Rue asked, barely able to talk. Her whole body felt numb.

“A demolition crew found the body in an abandoned warehouse along the Hudson River a couple of hours ago,” Vargas said. “Homeless people and runaways often squat in buildings like that, so they did a walk-through before starting the demolition. They found the boy and called an ambulance, but it was already too late. One of the stab wounds nicked his aorta. He probably bled out within seconds and didn’t suffer.”

Oh, God. Rue pressed a hand to her stomach. Distantly, she became aware of Kelsey’s hand resting against the small of her back. The touch warmed her numb body and woke her from her stupor. “Can we get this over with?” The boy in the morgue wasn’t Danny, so she was wasting her time when she should have been searching for Danny.

“Of course.” Vargas gripped her elbow as if Rue were weak and fragile, but Rue wrenched her arm away and strode down the gray corridor without any assistance.

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