Sacrificial Muse (A Sabrina Vaughn Novel) Read Online Free PDF Page A

Oklahoma.
    She placed it on her desk and looked up. Henley was still standing there, looking at her. The expression on his face said he was about to offer to stay and help her.
    Oh, hell no.
    “And make sure the wine has an actual cork, not a screw top, or she’s likely to brain you with the bottle,” she said, the cheerful chirp of her voice hit her ears like fingernails on a chalkboard, but she couldn’t stop—not until he was sufficiently shut down. “See you later. Tell Deb I said hi.” She looked down at the envelope in her hand, concentrating on the contrast of her yellowed latex gloves against the snow white paper.
    “I will … thanks.” He jostled the vase in his arms, letting her know he was thanking her for the flowers before turning and making his way toward the elevator. She didn’t watch him walk away. Instead she performed what had become a sort of ritual over the last few hours.
    Tap. Tap. Tap. Snip. Snip. Snip. She pulled out the card and flipped it open. Words jumped out at her.
    Boyfriend. Beat. Saved me. Hero.
    She instantly rejected every single one of them. She wasn’t saving these women. She wasn’t a hero. She’d barely managed to save herself. Phantom fingers slipped around her thigh and squeezed, reminding her just how close she’d come to dying. Wade’s face flashed in front of her, that boyish grin of his. His eyes alight with joy. Not insanity— joy . Whatever anyone said about Wade in the months following what had happened between them in the woods, she knew the truth: he’d been completely and utterly sane.
    Look at me, Melissa. Look. At. Me …
    Tossing the card into the non-crazy pile, she reached into the bag for another one. The second her fingers closed around it, Sabrina knew the envelope was different than the rest. Pulling it out, she caught a faint floral scent, like the rose sachets Val kept sticking in her sock drawer. It was red, handmade from heavy, expensive cardstock. No postmark. In fact, it wasn’t made out to her at all. The name Calliope was written across the front, each letter perfectly formed in rich, dark ink. She’d bet money whoever’d written it had used an honest-to-God fountain pen.
    She turned the envelope over. It was held closed with a seal—the impression of a rose stamped into black wax. She glanced at the empty space on her desk where the vase full of roses had been only minutes before. Something cold and slow crawled along her spine, snatching her lungs and holding them tight, making it impossible to draw a deep breath.
    “Hey.”
    She dropped the card back into the bag, her head snapping up so fast she felt her brain bounce against her skull. Nickels stood over her, two cups of coffee balanced on top of a pizza box.
    “Hey, what are you doing here?” Looking around the squad room, she saw that while it’d thinned out a bit, most desks were still occupied and more than a few were very interested in what was going on between her and Nickels.
    “You said don’t be a stranger.” He held out a cup to her and grinned, purposely keeping his gaze locked on her face instead of on the bag that stood between them.
    Sabrina took the cup and smiled back. “Nothing better to do?” she said before taking a sip.
    Nickels shrugged, sliding the pizza box onto Strickland’s desk. “A guy can only rearrange his sock drawer so many times,” he said, pulling a pair of gloves from the cargo pocket of his pants and snapping them on. He pulled a chair around, positioning it across from hers. “What’s the system—what’re we doing?”
    She just stared at him. When she didn’t answer, he just shrugged and reached for the bag. She slapped her hand over the top of it, barring him from reaching inside.
    “Nick—”
    “I’m helping you. The only way you’re going to be able to stop me is to start screaming like a banshee or pull your gun on me. Both of which will draw attention,” he said, uncapping a Sharpie and smiling at her. “So do us both a