Getting ready took an extreme amount of time. My thoughts were consumed with everything from what happened the night before to my plan to see the Crone, and what I’d done with Zayne. Not only that, every muscle in my body was stiff as I pulled on a pair of black pants that were more leggings than they were actual pants, but came with handy back pockets. My back protested as I snatched up a sleeveless tunic that not only looked clean, but also hid the daggers strapped to my thighs. Forgoing the sneakers, I laced up a pair of thick-soled boots that had a lot of traction. I figured I was going to need it.

Then I pulled my hair back in a braid, using the time in front of the mirror to find some sort of center. Whatever progress I’d made in terms of bruises had been lost. I looked like I’d face-planted into a brick wall. A nice reddish-blue bruise covered my right cheek and the corner of my mouth. There was a small tear in my lip that hadn’t appreciated the minty toothpaste, but I supposed that was by far an improvement from looking like I face-planted into said wall from twenty stories above.

I turned my head to the side, checking out the lovely imprint of Gabriel’s fingers. Man, his last imprint had just healed—

It was then when I noticed the faint purplish bruise where my neck met my shoulder. Drawing the collar of the tunic aside, I leaned in closer to the mirror. My face flushed hot when I realized what it was.

A hickey.

“Oh, for the love of God,” I muttered as my stomach curled. I tugged the collar back in place.

I returned to the bedroom and looked around. I half expected to find Peanut floating out from the walls, but there was no sign of him. Sighing, I picked up my phone. There was a message from Dez. As expected, there’d been no sign of Zayne, but Gideon had been able to track down the dead guy we’d found in the park the other night. The one Zayne had...dispatched. Apparently he was not a good dude. Multiple accusations ending in charges dropped in court, but plenty of evidence that suggested he’d needed to be imprisoned and on multiple advisory lists.

So Zayne hadn’t lied, and as messed up as it still was, it was good news. Knowing I needed to give him a heads-up about what I planned to do tonight, I texted about how Cayman and I were going to check on a lead today.

My phone rang not even a minute after I sent the text.

He wasn’t exactly thrilled about the lack of details, but I managed to convince him that I wasn’t going out looking for Zayne alone.

It took a while.