Prologue

Dr. Ethan Weiss

There are three types of sinful criminals in this world: the Hummingbird, the Raven, and the Eagle.

The Hummingbird is the most forgettable (and by far the most irritating) of this bunch. It flutters from one petty crime to the next, breaking the law without any real meaning or purpose: shoplifting perfume and lip gloss, trespassing places after closing hours, or trying to cash bad checks that don’t even look real. 

When it finally gets caught and caged, it panics. It sheds its cowardly feathers, swears it’ll never taste crime again, and then it spends the rest of its life blending in with the rest of society.

In other words, it’s a boring-ass bird, and I avoid taking therapy appointments with it at all costs. 

Now, the Raven… the Raven is committed to its unique brand of insanity.

Reckless and untamed, it flies however it damn well pleases—never caring about consequences. Hell, it doesn’t even believe in them.

In its mind, the crimes at this level are responsible for keeping the police force in business: Illegal drug labs in motels, million-dollar money laundering through donut shops, and high-level robbery of diamonds, government documents, and identities.

The Raven gets caught plenty of times, but it never flinches. Never cries about it. 

It honestly can’t help the way its brain is wired, and the merry-go-round of ‘freedom-to-court-to-prison’ is too fun to ever get off. 

There’s something intoxicating about the way it behaves, the chaos it leaves in its wake.

I’ve studied this “bird”  for years and always found it fascinating, but never quite satisfying. It can never give me enough. (Well, “he.”)

Or she…

But then there’s the Eagle…

The Eagle is the one we never see coming—the one everyone always underestimates until it’s far too late. 

Her flight is steady, silent, and seductively strategic.

She doesn’t need to be reckless because she’s always in control. Her crimes are meticulous, planned years in advance, and executed with a grade of grace that makes you forget they’re illegal.

She never gets caught or caged, never even comes close.

Whether she’s a naturally-born psychopath or a perfectly sane woman playing the part, she’s untouchable—and that makes her lethal.

And fucking irresistible for someone like me…

She’s my favorite species to study, the one I’ve always longed to see up close.

But the Eagle refuses to land for anyone.

She circles from above, watching and waiting. And the second you think she’s yours, she vanishes.

Still, I’ll keep hunting her.

Because whenever I do catch her, I won’t just pin down her wings for a research study.

I’ll make damn sure she never flies away from me again…

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If you missed the previous two sneak peeks, click here for the ‘breaking news’ snippet and here for chapter one.