Page 85 of Bite Marks & Broken Hearts

“Ooh, is your bat sense tingling again?” Rory shot him a beaming grin.

DI Maxwell made a small, exasperated sound, which made Rory’s face fall as fast as a thunderclap.

Seb didn’t look at either of them, continuing, “This doesn’t add up. Vampires wouldn’t send a lesser demon to incubate dark magic within humans—they can’t harvest that kind of power themselves. It would be pointless. There must be someone or somethingelse at play here.”

Though it was all beyond my understanding, this revelation seemed to hang in the air, heavy with implications. Even Freddy paused his coffee lapping to stare up at us, whiskers twitching.

Seb’s expression hardened as he clicked off the projector. “Given these developments, gathering intelligence becomes our absolute priority. All other cases will be temporarily suspended.”

My stomach churned, the air disappearing from theroom.

“They knew Greaves’s schedule,” Seb continued. “They’ve been watching our movements, our patterns. They knew exactly when to strike.” His eyes flickered to me briefly before returning to address the room. “We need to implement additional security measures immediately.”

Kit nodded stiffly. “We should rotate patrol schedules, change our routes. Maybe set up false patterns to throw them off. Plant some misinformation.”

“We need to act as if they’re always watching,” Seb said hollowly. “Every move. Every contact.” His dark eyes swept the room. “They’re waiting for one mistake. One error, one moment of weakness—that’s all they need to destroy everything we’ve built.”

The tension was suffocating. Priya shifted uncomfortably, her usual brightness flickering like a struggling candle. “Well,” she said, attempting a light tone that didn’t quite land. “We could always circle back to using Flynn as demon bait—”

“This is not the time, Priya!” Seb’s voice cracked like a whip, making me flinch. His hands clenched into fists at his sides. “Flynn’s life is quite literally hanging in the balance. I won’t have you making light of—”

“I’m sorry,” Priya cut in quietly, her playful demeanour vanishing. She turned to me, genuine remorse in her eyes. “I was just trying to lighten the mood.”

“But the mood shouldn’tbelight!” Seb snapped, and even DI Maxwell, who’d shrunk back slightly, nodded. “This is a serious matter, and will be taken as such.”

“Of course. Flynn, I apologise.”

I wanted to say I wasn’t fragile, but couldn’t speak. Because Iwasterrified. These vampires had torn someone apart, days after Eliza’s attack. They were watching Seb, watching all of us, waiting to strike.

And they were working with the demon who’d marked me?

Kit cleared his throat. “You said Eliza meant to kill Flynn. But that suggests she didn’t know about Damien’s mark?”

“Didn’t know. Didn’t care in the moment. It’s all unclear.” Seb pursed his lips.

“Let’s take a brief break,” suggested Maxwell. “Any chance of a coffee?”

Kit let out an inelegant snort. “Coffee machine’spermanently broken, I’m afraid.”

“I’ll make you a tea!” Priya jumped up from her chair so quickly she nearly knocked it over. Before Maxwell could even respond, she’d disappeared up the stairs, her braid swinging behind her.

The others drifted away too. I pushed myself up, intending to follow Priya to see if she was okay, but Seb stepped smoothly in front of me.

“Don’t worry yourself about it.” His voice was gentle, at odds with his earlier sharp tone. “She’ll be back down in a moment, and it’ll all be forgotten.”

I glanced toward the stairs. Was this a normal reaction to supernatural horror? Turning it into a joke?

“Sometimes I don’t really get it. Get them. I mean, it’s just… everyone seems so…” I struggled to find the right words, not wanting to cause offence. “Light-hearted? Especially Rory and Priya. Making constant jokes when you’re all discussing murders and dark magic. It feels… strange.”

Seb’s expression softened even further. “It is rather odd, I suppose. I usually don’t mind—they know where to draw the line, most of the time.” He ran a hand through his dark curls. “They work incredibly hard, Flynn. What we deal with here… the darkness we face… Sometimes a bit of humour is the only thing that keeps us sane.”

“Even zombie ferrets drinking coffee?”

A small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth. There it was again, that rare expression that made him look so human. “I must admit, Freddy has grown on me.” He glanced down at the ferret, who was now spinning in dizzy circles, high on caffeine. “Somewhat.”

I watched Freddy’s manic spinning, a warmth spreading through me despite everything. “You know, when I first came here, I thought this place was completelymental. Still do, actually.” I gestured at Freddy, who was now rabidly squeaking. “But there’s something… I don’t know. Something about it all makes sense, weirdly. Like knowing the world is so much bigger and stranger than you thought, and also so much more dangerous, but at least you’re all in the crazy shitshow together.”

Seb’s eyes gazed into mine, and he took a half step closer. “It certainly helps.”

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