Looking around for the owner of the folder, I peek closerand find something that makes me gasp out loud. “A bloody smiley face?”
Now thatisfamiliar.
Sneaking another glance around, I slip the paper onto the copier and make a duplicate for myself. If Zavier is openly doing this shit again after lying to my face, I need to confront him. My best friend won’t be mated to a liar.
Finishing up the other copies, I take them to Captain Barnes and drop them on his desk. He’s in the middle of his call and mouths a thank-you before I close the door. The picture of the crime scene remains folded away in my pocket, where I’ll use it to interrogate the shit out of Zavier later.
He’ll feel my wrath for lying to me.
“Ava? Valen? What a surprise,” Celine exclaims when she opens the door a crack. I didn’t warn her that we were stopping over but hoped they’d be home.
“Good, I’m glad you’re here. We have something to discuss.” I try to nudge the door open, but she holds it tightly. “Are you okay?” I can’t help but feel like I’m missing something. “Celine? You better not be fucking.”
She looks over her shoulder and back at us. “Totally fine, you just … uh … caught us at a weird time. One second.” Laughing awkwardly, she shuts the door, and I hear her shuffling about on the other side.
“What is happening?” I muse. Valen continues to keep his mouth shut, giving me a shrug in reply, though I’m sure he knowsexactlywhat’s up.
The deadbolt unlocks from the other side and Celine opens the door all the way. She’s dressed in a robe andZavier is nowhere to be found. Her robe lays awkwardly on top of whatever she’s wearing underneath.
I swear if he walks by, dick swaying in the wind…
“Is Zav here? He’s the reason I need to talk to you.” I look around like he might pop out at any time. He likes to show up in random places—like the other day when I got off the elevator and happened to look up at the ceiling and he was just hanging out up there.
“He’ll be out momentarily.” She waves a hand dismissively, and we follow her into the living room. “So, what’s going on?”
Ignoring how odd she’s acting, I get straight to the point. “Zav is killing people again.”
Celine laughs. “Ava, we already know this. Getting him to stop is like trying to stop the world from spinning.”
“Yes, but he lied to my face about it! He said he wasn’t involved in these crimes. That it’s poor quality in comparison to what he does.” I wrestle the folded paper from my purse and hold it out to her. She unfolds it and her eyes widen. “This is his signature, though! He did it.”
“I most certainly did not!” Zav yells indignantly, strutting into the room.
I try to hold in my laughter but can’t at the sight before me. He’s dressed in black boots, tight black pants, and a billowy white shirt that showcases most of his chest. A belt with a silver buckle in the shape of a skull with swords behind it sits on his waist. An eyepatch covers one eye, and Midnight sits on his shoulder dressed in a parrot costume. When we make eye contact, the cat meows at me as if to say, “See the shit I have to deal with?”
“What’s up with Captain Feathersword?” I manage to get out around giggles. My stomach starts to hurt, and I catch Valen cracking a smile.
“Excuse me, I’m a sexy piratecaptain. This is my first mate, Midnight, and my gorgeous pirate wife. Show them your dress!” Zav puffs out his chest and then tugs on Celine’s robe.
“No, it’s embarrassing. I can’t believe you conned me into this.”
She struggles to get away from him but is no match for the persistent vampire. He manages to pull the robe off, and there Celine stands in a bodice ripper-esque crimson dress. She covers her eyes with her hands, and I laugh despite myself.
“This is too good. Care to explain?” I wipe a tear from my eye.
Celine sighs and Zav fluffs up the skirt of her dress. “This one wanted to go to the renaissance convention even though the pirate garb doesn’t match. He said if we didn’t go, he was going to force me to carol around the city, especially at the precinct, and I can’t have that.”
“I wanted to be a pirate! Midnight loves it. Why don’t you?” Zav whines.
“Anyway,” I announce loudly. “Back to the reason I’m here. Why did you do this?” I gesture toward the paper still in Celine’s hand.
Zav takes it, and the look of disgust on his face is humorous. “I didn’t fucking do this. Look!” I inch closer to see what he’s pointing at. He holds the paper out to me and slams his finger against it. “The smiley face isn’t drawn correctly, see the way the eyes aren’t quite perfect, and even the smile is slightly off. The way the bodies are piled on top of each other is so sloppy. I take pride in my work and would never do this.” He waves his hand dismissively at the picture. “This is the most offensive thing I’ve seen. I can’t believe you would think I did it.”
“What you’re saying is you didn’t do this and someone else did? Why are they trying to emulate you? What’s the motive?” We all sober at the thought. “And how would they know your signature? The police never released that information.”
Whyissomeone trying to copy Zav? Is it to draw him out? This doesn’t make any sense.
“Sorry, honey.” Zav shoots a sorrowful look Celine’s way. “Sexy pirate must be put on pause.” He holds Midnight’s paw out, and we all collectively roll our eyes at his pun. “I have something I need to do.”
