19. Murdery Things
Murdery Things
I’m not sure what I expect his reaction to be. He never gives anything away that he doesn’t want to.
Micah stands to his feet, elegance, grace, and restrained power in every line of his body. He glides smoothly to the windows, the sun gilding him in gold, his shadows nowhere to be seen.
Ruby and Tim are looking between us with raised brows, but they stay silent.
‘I do not know who it is that is committing these atrocities.’ His words are careful, measured. Pure semantics. He knows something.
I stand and march over to him, no elegance in my movements, only frustration.
‘This is my investigation,’ I remind him, my voice as cold as his words. ‘If you know something, you need to tell me.’
He shifts his gaze down to mine, face shadowed despite the sunlight flooding in. A trick to hide what he’s thinking and feeling. He’s giving nothing away.
‘I have an idea of who it may be. But I have no proof.’ He sighs and runs his hand through his hair. It’s such an unexpectedly human gesture, and it reminds me he wants this murderer caught as much as I do. I know he feels responsible for Lila’s death.
‘Yet,’ I challenge. ‘Is that what you’ve been doing these past few days?’
Not that he has to let me know anything he does, unless it impacts my ability to do my job.
I flick a glance back toward Tim and Ruby, silently waiting.
Normal for my partner. Far less so for my bestie.
I can almost feel her questions hovering in the air between us.
I’m surprised she hasn’t flickered me so we can have a silent convo.
‘I have been following some leads.’ Micah turns from the window and leans his hands on his desk. ‘The same as you have.’ He includes the others in his statement, and Tim dips his head in acknowledgment.
‘Was Lila?’ my partner asks the enigmatic Vampire across the room from him.
My heart slows, blood sluggish in my veins, as I turn toward Micah, dread pooling in my stomach. He’s a fallen angel in the newly risen sun, head bowed in sorrow and loss as if before a tomb.
Standing straight from the desk, he puts his hands in his pockets and breathes out through his nose.
Part of me can’t help feeling a small sense of relief that this is affecting him as much as it is us.
No matter that he’s likely witnessed thousands of deaths- many at his own hands- he still feels loss deeply.
I’ve always searched for signs of his humanity, for the man beneath the ruthless monster he has to be.
Cold, calm, calculating. The angel of death. Ruling this city from the shadows.
I think I am the only one who ever saw him as more than the part he plays. Me, and perhaps Lila.
Slowly, he dips his head, his midnight hair falling forward, casting shadows onto his cheekbones.
‘Yes, Lila was digging for information. And it got her killed.’ He doesn’t bother to hide the raw anguish in his voice, even though we’re not alone.
I can’t help but admire him for it. To show vulnerability is a strength.
‘This murder was personal,’ Ruby is thinking, calculating. I can see it in her frown, the way she’s looking into the distance with unrelenting focus. ‘The others may have been as well. But Lila’s was extreme. Was it a warning?’ Her focus hones in on Micah.
‘I believe so.’ His words charge the atmosphere. Clouds before a storm, heavy with impending rain.
‘She was killed somewhere else and moved to your front steps, to your home.’ The Chief Medical Examiner of New York’s words are certain. ‘There was a lot of blood, but she was drained elsewhere. The blood on her, and on the steps, was for show.’
‘Not home,’ Tim disagrees, shifting in his chair, automatically adjusting his cuffs. ‘This Coven, it’s your position of power. Your authority is being challenged.’
Micah’s bitter smile tells us that my partner’s supposition is correct. He’s come to the same conclusion.
I move in front of Micah so that he has to focus his attention on me.
‘Who?’ I demand, my hand on his chest forcing him to look at me. ‘I can’t do my job if you don’t tell me who we’re after.’
‘If I am correct,’ he speaks each word slowly, drawing them out, ‘you are not going anywhere near them.’ His eyes bore into mine with such intensity I almost flinch back.
‘Try and stop me,’ I say, which is stupid. Sheer bravado. Empty words.
He looks as if he’s about to challenge me on it. Instead, his lip quirks up, and he lifts a brow.
He said I’m still under his protection. That I always have been.
What is it with these Alpha males who think I’m in constant need of protection? First Jake, now Micah.
It’s different with Micah, a small traitorous voice whispers.
‘It has nothing to do with your capabilities, Evangeline. You are human. You are breakable.’ I see fear flash through his eyes like lightning before he shutters them again. It flares down my spine, spreading warmth through my veins.
I want to argue that I can take care of myself.
But right now I don’t even have my gun on me.
I didn’t bring it because I’m with Micah.
Deep down, I know I’m safe with him, that he will protect me.
And he’s right. I am human. And this monster…
monsters…killed a Werewolf and a Vampire with seeming ease.
‘You’re right.’ I know when to bow before an unassailable truth. It doesn’t make me any less badass or good at my job. Accepting help is not a weakness.
Vincent Rodriguez, Janus, Jake, Micah…they all have a stake in this. He’s not throwing shade on my abilities, and I can’t take it personally. Because it’s not only about me, it’s also about Tim. We’re a team, working together, leading the PPS.
Micah gives me a faint smile, acknowledging how rare it is for me to admit that. I can’t help but mirror it with one of my own.
‘So what now?’ Tim asks, shifting in his seat.
It’s a valid question. And another reason we work so well together. Tim is an excellent detective, but he knows when to defer to authority far more than I do. He’s less stubborn, less arrogant than I am. He knows when to ask for and accept help.
‘I’m going to New Orleans.’ Micah says tightly, hands in his pockets again. A shadow plays across his cheekbone, a contrast to the sun gilding his dark hair.
‘I’m coming with you.’ If he didn’t want me there, he wouldn’t have said where he was going.
‘I know.’ He smiles, but there’s no humor in it. ‘And so is Ruby Blue.’ It’s a statement, but he’s looking at my best friend with a question in his eyes. If he wants her with us, there’s a damn good reason for it.
For a moment, I think I see sheer terror in her eyes, but it’s gone so fast I’m sure I must have imagined it.
‘If I’m needed, I’m there. What are we chasing? Obviously not a rogue Vampire,’ she says wryly.
She looks excited, and I can’t blame her. It’s not often she gets to be in on the action. She loves her job, the morgue, and her lab. There are few as talented as she is at reading the dead, at coaxing answers from them. But she’s also vibrant, outgoing, alive.
‘We’re going after the other half of the dynamic duo,’ I say, and it’s my turn to quirk a brow at Micah. He was the one who made me watch those old movies about superheroes and villains.
‘You’re going to see the Witches,’ Tim says, incredulous. He’s on his feet, eyes darting between the rest of us, looking as if he wants to say more. Instead, he clamps his mouth in a tight line.
‘You think a Witch is involved?’ Ruby asks Micah, her brown eyes wide with surprise as she stands.
‘I think a Witch will have a better idea of who the other half of the dynamic duo is.’ A glance at me. He’s holding a lot back, but now isn’t the time to challenge him.
‘When do we leave?’ I ask before a discussion can break out. If Micah wants to chase this lead, if he thinks it’s worth our time, I’m all in. The irony of his not wanting me to chase a rogue Vamp, but that he will take me into arguably the darkest place in America, is not lost on me.
Witches can live anywhere, and some do. But they are only allowed to practice magic in one place. They have been chased from all other cities, at least in this country, after unanimously refusing to sign the World Treaty holding all Paranormal beings to a set of rules and laws that protect us all.
Their excuse was that they are human, and Magic is supernatural, but not Paranormal.
That it’s through bloodlines, not being Changed.
The World Council disagreed. The punishment for using magic, spells, and potions is harsh and unforgiving.
New Orleans is a haven for those who practice, without demanding any accountability.
I’m not sorry that the dark arts are no longer found within my city. Even Vampires fear the Witches, to a degree. That Micah wants to go there and voluntarily seek them out tells me that either he’s desperate, or he has a relationship with at least one Witch willing to help us.
‘As soon as it’s dark,’ he answers my question. ‘Do whatever you need to do this afternoon to prepare.’
‘Can you chase the supps lead?’ I walk over to Tim to confer quietly, detective to detective.
Of course, Micah can hear every breath, and Ruby is still standing beside my partner.
But I need to make a show of being professional.
We have already broken too many rules to keep track of in this investigation.
If I thought for a moment it would make it into a courtroom, I would be far more circumspect. We both would.
‘Maybe talk to Jason’s ex again. Rodriguez is currently being helpful, but I know he’s very protective of his enterprises, and he could close ranks at any time if it’s in his best interest. Also, talk to Janus.
His guys may be more forthcoming about the realities of illegals for the Weres.
We need to know if they have any effect. ’
‘It won’t be a betrayal for him,’ my partner agrees.
Meaning, it’s not his Pack’s reputation on the line.
‘And Jake?’ he asks carefully. He’s wondering if I want to question him myself, or if there’s a reason not to.
He’s very intuitive, my partner. Or maybe he just knows me well after working together for over three years.
I sigh and smile ruefully. ‘We had an argument last night. But yes, do everything you normally would in an investigation. Call it official police questioning if you have to.’
I can’t pander to Jake’s sensitive male ego, and neither can Tim.
If the Alpha knows more than he’s sharing, we need to find out.
Everything counts, and it feels like a ticking bomb that started to accelerate more rapidly with Lila’s death.
We’re racing against the clock, and none of us knows how much time remains.
‘Take Green and Gold. And plenty of ammo,’ I say seriously, placing my hand on his arm.
Not for Jake. Or Janus. For whatever is out there hunting. They’re not done yet.
Tim covers my hand with his and gives me a half-smile of understanding.
Ruby’s eyes are moving rapidly, her wrist flickering with incoming info. She’s probably checking in with the lab and morgue about what they’ve ascertained from their crime scene collection earlier, and informing them she’s going to New Orleans.
‘I have a question,’ Tim says to Micah.
Micah turns smoothly, and I can tell Tim immediately wants to look away again, but he stands his ground.
I forgot the effect Vamps have on humans.
It’s hard to hold their gaze for too long.
Even without the threat of Compulsion through Mesmerism, the power that leaks from them can be overwhelming.
And Micah’s power is off the charts. He’s not trying to be intimidating; it’s just who he is.
‘Ask,’ Micah says, and the authority he carries so effortlessly, honed over centuries, slides through the room.
‘I know that we’ve ruled out Werewolf involvement. But what would a Vampire gain from framing Jake and staging Evan’s murder in Janus’s territory? It seems as if it’s all about starting a Pack war.’
Micah blinks once. It’s enough to let me know this hasn’t occurred to him either. He runs a hand through his hair and looks up at the ceiling.
‘I have no idea,’ he admits, and I give him props for both the admission and the wry smile that accompanies it.
Something Micah Saint James doesn’t know. I can’t help my smirk, even though it fades fast.
‘What if Evan lured Jason to that alley, planted Jake’s hair and print, and then he was killed to tie up a loose end?’ Tim theorizes.
‘Are you suggesting that Evan was working with this rogue Vampire?’ Ruby asks, her micro no longer lit up, eyes fully focused on the Vamp standing a heartbeat from me.
‘All we have are theories right now,’ I say in frustration.
‘Anything is possible,’ Micah concedes, but he doesn’t look convinced.
‘Keep in mind that until the not-too-distant past, Vampires and Werewolves were mortal enemies. We could barely tolerate being in the same city. The Treaty has changed much between us, but we still don’t trust each other, despite the cease-fire.
I cannot imagine a Lycanthrope choosing to trust a Vampire. ’
‘But it could be possible.’ My mind is spinning.
Maybe we’re looking at it all wrong, and Evan was part of the serial killer team.
How do we know if he was loyal to Jake? There were no defensive wounds on either of our vics.
We put it down to the other killer with claws that held them captive. But what if it was more than that?
‘I think we need to find out,’ Tim says heavily.
Silence falls as the weight of everything we don’t know rests heavily on each of us. And that the upcoming trip to New Orleans could make or break this investigation.