10. Oh No, Another Murder #2
A new Werewolf from one Pack, killed in another Pack’s territory. A Cartel revenge dump? It seems unlikely. Our forty-eight hours are almost up, but this is way off-book for Vincent Rodriguez. It’s not his style, and he doesn’t want a Lyco war any more than we do.
But someone else clearly does. I can almost guarantee no one from either Pack is responsible for these murders. Plus, Vamp bites are almost impossible to mimic. Yet I know in my gut that somehow these murders are linked.
‘What was he doing here?’ I ask, almost to myself. No one has any answers yet.
‘I assume his neck is why you wanted me here,’ Micah’s voice close to my ear as he runs his eyes over the body, as if he can tell who did this from bite marks alone. Maybe he can.
I’d almost forgotten he was here. Liar.
‘Puncture wounds in the neck and wrist,’ Ruby confirms. ‘Loss of blood not from any other place.’
So, unlikely it’s a Vamp killing staged by a Were from either Pack, or the Rodriguez Cartel.
‘That’s not all,’ Tim says heavily, pushing his hand through his already disheveled hair. ‘It gets worse. It looks like you’re right, Eve.’
‘About what?’ I need to get out of my heels. I’m on the verge of taking Micah’s arm to stay upright.
‘The possibility of two perps. Ruby?’ Tim gestures to Evan Reynolds’ body.
Ruby floats two holo-lights closer to the body as she crouches and carefully tilts him to the side. Micah holds me steady as I lean in for a better view. I steadfastly ignore the way his hands feel on me through my clothing.
‘Claw marks?’ My confusion and trepidation are growing by the moment.
This really is getting worse and worse. The shoulders show clear evidence of having claws dug- no, ripped- into them, shredding t-shirt and skin on his back, but not enough to kill him.
As if someone held him in place. Exactly as I’d theorized to Tim with the first murder.
Only with this vic, it looks as if a Werewolf held him down while a Vampire drained him of blood.
‘A Were and a Vamp killing together?’ My question underscores what we’re all thinking: how unlikely it is. Damn near impossible.
‘Not one of mine,’ Micah says with complete conviction.
He would know. Rogue Vampires are rare, but they are out there.
No loyalty to a Coven, they tend to be old- several hundred to thousands of years.
They were the ones who were against the Treaty.
But I know from experience they don’t go undetected in this city for long before Micah becomes aware of their presence and does something about it.
Could a rogue Vampire have killed two men within three days?
‘No,’ I agree with him, straightening but not moving away. His immovable, immortal presence is steadying in a way it shouldn’t be. ‘But we’re thinking the two murders are by the same assailants?’ It’s not really a question, and I don’t expect an answer.
But would a rogue Vamp team up with a Were? What is the significance of the vics, and of where they died? Jason is Cartel, Evan is a Lyco. Merely crimes of convenience? Wrong place, wrong time?
We need to know why Evan was in Devil’s Edge territory, and if the vic’s knew each other.
I don’t believe in coincidences, and this doesn’t feel random.
These killers are meticulous planners, planting Jake’s partial print and Wolf fur.
Therefore, it stands to reason that they chose their victims carefully
‘I need to get the body back to the morgue to see if these claw marks are the same as the others.’ Ruby signals the waiting bots, then looks at Micah as if unsure how much to say.
‘If you want my help, you need to tell me everything,’ Micah uses the voice that makes people want to do anything he asks. It’s persuasive, uncompromising, and seductive all at the same time. ‘I’d suggest informing both the Sin City and Devil’s Edge Alphas as well.’
‘Agreed,’ Tim replies. ‘There’s nothing more we can do tonight.’
‘Autopsy first thing tomorrow?’ I ask the chief medical examiner, shifting my feet to ease the ache that’s making its way up my legs. Heels are not made for crime scenes. Neither is my dress.
‘Meet me at the morgue at 7 am.’ Ruby moves away to organize the removal of the vic.
‘How much of this can we keep contained until morning?’ Tim asks both Micah and me.
‘I’ll let Jake know what we found, if you tackle Janus.’ I turn to my partner. ‘Do we know if he has a mini-holo?’
‘Yes,’ Micah answers me. I don’t ask how he knows that. They’re both leaders in this city, and Lila probably informed him.
He hasn’t moved an inch except to put his hands in his pockets.
His midnight hair sucks the small amount of light from the already dim alley.
I can’t tell if his shadows are out, or it’s only the way the light is casting him in stark relief.
I have to stop myself from leaning into him due to the sudden exhaustion that threatens to overwhelm me.
‘Then let’s do that. Bare bones info for now. We’ll need to set up a meeting with both Alphas tomorrow, along with Vincent Rodriguez.’
‘Done. I’ll see you tomorrow.’ Judging by the dark shadows beneath my partner’s eyes, I’m not the only one this case is taking a toll on. He follows Ruby out of the alley as the bots move to get the body.
Turning back to Micah, I find myself almost flush against his hard body.
His fangs flash in the holo-lights as he reaches up and tucks a strand of dark hair behind my ear.
I tilt my head back, and even with heels on, he’s several inches taller than me.
I hate that I’m imagining the once-familiar comfort of his arms wrapped around me.
This case feels personal in a way I can’t define.
And I feel almost fragile, something I haven’t felt in a long time.
‘Not exactly the night I was hoping for. A thought for a thought,’ he says softly, midnight eyes trapping mine.
My heart clenches in reply. It’s what we used to say to each other. It started as a way for him to gauge my mental health status and became a way of saying we cared, of sharing the deepest parts of ourselves.
‘That I’m tired,’ I tell him honestly, placing my hands against his chest, feeling the hard muscle beneath his shirt. It’s been forever since I was this close to him. Since I’ve touched him. ‘But also that this wasn’t the night I expected.’
Micah laughs, low and intimate, and I lean in, just for a moment. It’s the two of us alone in an empty alley, the bots having swiftly done their job of removing the body.
His arms band around me, and I lean my cheek against his chest as I’ve done so many times in the past. It’s a familiar comfort. But one that’s no longer mine to take.
‘I’m thinking,’ he stops and shudders against me. If I didn’t know better, I’d think he was unsure. ‘I was thinking how much I’ve missed you. And how fucking stupid I’ve been for far too long.’
This is the Micah I used to know, the side of himself he shows to very few. The raw honesty, the vulnerability that catches at my heart, moving through my veins like warm honey.
I’m suddenly afraid, my heart pounding out an uneven rhythm. They’re words I dreamed for so long he would say. But those were the dreams of a much younger me. A much different me. And maybe they don’t mean what my treacherous soul wants them to.
So I pull away, not looking at him as I tug down the skirt of my dress, aware of how low the tight bodice dips in the front.
Micah tips my chin up, his face starkly beautiful in the mix of light and shadows. Stars drift through his eyes as he traces the curve of my cheek, his thumb stopping beside my mouth.
‘Eve,’ Ruby calls, breaking the spell. I let out a breath I hadn’t known I was holding.
‘I’ll see you tomorrow,’ Micah says softly. I felt the brush of power against me as his wings flare wide behind him. He takes to the sky, the moon gilding him in silver, before he disappears into the velvet darkness.
‘What the hell was that?’ Ruby is waiting for me beside her autocar. She has her own because she needs to get to crime scenes. The bots have left with the body, the street silent around us, making me aware of how late it is and how long this day has been.
‘What was what?’ I ask distractedly. I have far more questions than answers right now, and my feet are throbbing. These heels are for show, not to traipse around a dark alley in.
‘You could cut the sexual tension between you and Micah with an autopsy laser,’ she says, her brown eyes cast golden in the street holo-light as they rest knowingly on me.
‘You’re imagining it. We were having dinner when Tim holo’d me. I owed him dinner for paying Jake’s bond, that’s all.’ I brush it off, but I know I look uneasy and unsure.
‘Dressed like that?’ She raises a brow in question.
I can’t blame her for being incredulous. But I’m not in the mood to explain myself, not when I’m not sure what I was even hoping for from tonight. But murder was not on the list.
‘Were you trying to get a reaction out of him? Show him he’s made a mistake?’ Ruby continues, not letting me off the hook.
Damn her for knowing the whole sordid tale, and for knowing me so well. But I can’t explain it to her when I have no idea myself.
‘I don’t want to talk about it,’ I say bluntly, kicking my heels off. One falls into the gutter behind my tire.
‘Fine,’ she concedes with a sigh, lips pressed tightly together.
All the words she doesn’t say hang between us anyway. That she’s here for me. That I’m in a relationship with Jake. That I’m playing with fire. That there has always been unfinished business between Micah and me, I’ve just been pretending otherwise for seven years.
My best friend pulls me in for a quick hug and then leaves to make sure the bots deliver Evan’s body safely to the morgue.
Retrieving my shoes, I wearily drive myself home, thinking about how Micah loves to fly. To feel the air rushing past him, to view the world from a different perspective when he needs to get away from everything, even himself. And how I wish I could do the same.