Head Above Water (Gemini: A Black Dog #2) by Hailey Edwards Page B

processes were ruthlessly efficient. Dell was with me because he trusted her, because she was capable, and as evidenced by Aisha and Imogen’s total dismissal of her, because no one except Graeson appeared aware of the ferocity hidden behind her stooped shoulders and bowed head.
    Shaking off those thoughts, I focused on what I hoped was the first good news I’d heard all week.
    “All right,” I spoke into the phone. “What have you got for me?”

    * * *
    T hree hours later , I was wearing a track in the floor of my living room while clutching a rolled-up printout of a mental health facility in my fist. The call from Thierry confirmed that, as far as she knew, Charybdis hadn’t resurfaced. No new drownings fitting his MO had been reported, no new kills that might hint at sinister intent had been discovered. The loss of his avatar seemed to have slowed him down. I held tight to the thin hope that loss didn’t mean Harlow had gotten promoted to fill the spot.
    The downside to no new crimes was no new direction either. Time kept ticking, and I had no clue where to look.
    “Well?” Dell poked her head inside the trailer. “Did your friend have good news?”
    “Yes. Well, maybe.” I hadn’t decided yet. “How is Meemaw?”
    Dell had dropped me off then zipped home after a ripple in the pack bond set her on edge.
    “Meemaw is fine. She took a spill while she was gardening and sprained her ankle. It was already healed by the time I got there.” She put a hand to her chest. “She’ll probably outlive me, but you know how it goes.”
    I was more prone to fearing life than death but could appreciate the sentiment.
    “Have you seen Graeson?” Hours had passed since I’d abandoned him to the clutches of his ex, and I hadn’t seen or heard from him. “I expected him to stop by with questions.” Eager for fresh leads, he would be curious about anything newsworthy I unearthed. “Dell?”
    “He went home with Imogen.” She kept seesawing her front teeth over her bottom lip. “I saw him go inside her cabin on my way to Meemaw’s.”
    “Oh.” A brittle thing fractured in my chest, and my voice came out broken. “I see.”
    “They were probably talking,” she told her toes, unable to meet my eyes.
    “You’re hardwired together,” I pointed out. “You know what he’s doing.” Which probably explained the guilt seeping from her pores. “It’s okay, Dell, really.”
    But that crackle over my heart kept spreading as the ridiculous impulse to grab her hand, take her blood and see for myself how he was spending his afternoon shivered through me. Graeson wasn’t my mate or my boyfriend. Not really. To willfully believe in a lie is to welcome hurt. We were…friends. People who had bonded over shared pain. I liked him as often as I wanted to choke him. The ability to resist murdering one’s partner wasn’t a solid basis for a relationship. Even when I didn’t want to kill him, he frustrated me with his constant scheming and truth-twisting.
    “I can feel him.” Her bottom lip reddened to the point of bleeding. “Right now he’s—”
    “I don’t want to know.” I whapped the roll of paper across my palm for emphasis. “Let’s just forget I asked, okay?”
    “Okay,” she agreed readily. “What’s with the map?”
    I tapped her on the shoulder with it. “This is the most solid lead I’ve got.”
    Cabin trysts forgotten, her eyes brightened. “That’s great.” She poked it with a finger. “What is it?”
    “Blueprints for a mental institution in Kermit, Texas.” I elaborated as her eyes rounded. “One person was present when he—”
    The tingle of magic suppressed what I had been about to say. I had made a blood oath to Thierry, and certain facts were off the table except where others who were already in on the secret were concerned.
    “This person may have interacted with Charybdis prior to his killing spree,” I amended. “All attempts to question her failed because she fell off the