Chapter 1 #2
“What?!” Bernadette sounded offended, but Sorcha knew better. It took a lot to offend their lieutenant.
“I think that’s Luke’s way of telling me to get off the phone.”
Bernadette snorted. “All right. You two be careful and let me know what’s going on. I don’t like being in the dark.”
Neither did Sorcha. She put her phone down and grabbed her paperback-sized reMarkable tablet from her purse. Turning it on, she pulled up an Infernal Affairs report form and began filling it out.
Luke shook his head. “You’re not really starting your paperwork already…are you?”
“Yeah. Not like I won’t have to do it later.”
“You’re such a suck-up.”
“With you as my partner, someone has to be. Did you ever finish your report from our first case?”
“No. What was I supposed to say? The fairy queen wanted to make me her boy toy, and upset the old world order? I doubt Reyes wants that in print. I definitely don’t want anyone to see it and put me away.”
He had a point. Trying to explain to anyone that they’d solved a paranormal case involving a fey queen, raven mockers, and vampires would stretch what tiny little credibility their agency had.
Sadly, Infernal Affairs was pretty much the laughingstock of all “legitimate” agencies who had no idea what they actually dealt with. It was easier to mock them than accept the fact that there were things in this world that no one wanted to talk about, let alone define or experience.
“So what did you put in your report?” Luke asked.
“That the trail went cold. I listed it as unsolved.”
He snorted at her words. “You think your boyfriend is going to accept that?”
She didn’t miss the hatred in the word boyfriend. Because Luke swore Rory was Nephilim, Luke hated the homicide detective they worked cases with. “Rory’s not my boyfriend.” Though it wasn’t from any lack of trying on Rory’s part.
Since their last date had been interrupted by a crime call, Rory had been asking her for a repeat. There was no real reason not to go out again. She liked Rory. He was handsome, sweet…
And not Luke.
He’s your partner. Don’t even think about it.
She didn’t need the reminder. Even if Luke wasn’t, she still had the Bert Jerk that was never far from her thoughts.
Stupid bastard had damaged her, and she wasn’t sure if she’d ever get past the hurt he’d caused.
Trust had never come easily for her. That was something her twin had traded in.
Siobhan had been an open book who followed her heart wherever it took her.
Her sister had been trusting from the moment she took her first breath.
Right up until some savage animal had taken her life.
Sorcha winced as the loss of her twin hit her anew.
No one knew who had killed her sister, or what had happened that night other than the brutal crime scene that had been left behind to haunt her in pictures she saw every time she closed her eyes.
Her sister’s death had ended any last remnant of trust Sorcha had possessed.
Except when it came to the son of the devil. The last creature in existence she should ever trust.
But it was hard with Luke. He was so open and brutally honest that he made her more comfortable with him than she’d ever been with anyone else.
Other than Siobhan. They had shared a very special bond.
And the one thing she loved most about Luke was that she never had to guess his mood. If she wanted to know something, she asked and he answered.
Bluntly. All feelings be damned.
Luke narrowed his gaze on her. “You’re being quiet over there. Should I be nervous?”
Case in point. “No. Just…my thoughts wandering.”
“To my ass or something else?”
She laughed. “You are not the center of my universe.”
He passed an amused grin at her. “I’m the center of all universes. Just ask my mom.”
Having met his mom, Sorcha agreed. Senka did consider him the center of everything and his mother would beat anyone who said otherwise.
Helly leaned up in the backseat. “How could you ever doubt his awesomeness?”
Great. They’d awakened his other mom. “Meant no offense, Helly.”
“None taken…much.” She flashed her fangs. “You think our feral demons killed the victim we’re heading to?”
Luke winced. “Gah, I hope not. Reyes won’t forgive me. She might even fire me if it’s them.”
He was right. Captain Reyes could be a hard-ass. But like the rest of them, she had a soft spot for Luke. “I think you’re safe.”
“I like the lies you tell yourself.” Luke turned down a long, dark, and winding road.
Sorcha scowled. Where were they? She’d never seen this part of Savannah before. “Is there anything out here?” It was creepy as Hell.
“Old Fort Jackson’s a historical site. There’s not much out this way except the plant and concrete companies.”
Desolate. Dark. Scary. Horrible place to die.
“So no witnesses.”
There was that evil grin unique to her partner that she was used to. “Define what you mean by witness.”
Sorcha wrinkled her nose as she caught his meaning. It was an old historical site…
Effing great. “How haunted is it?”
“Enough to make you crazy.”
If only. “Too late. I was driven there long before this and dumped on the side of the road with a head injury. Why else would I have ever dated Bert?” She shivered visibly.
Laughing, Luke pulled them through the open gates where several police cars and an ambulance were waiting. His butter-colored lights illuminated the scene. An officer motioned for them to stop.
Luke pulled out his badge as the cop shined his light in their faces.
Until he caught Luke’s terrifying glare.
Visibly shaken, the cop quickly put the light on their IDs.
After verifying they were legit, the cop pointed them over toward the ambulance on the left where they could park.
Sorcha scowled, blinking the residual light rings from her eyes. “How is there a police officer on the force who doesn’t know you or this car on sight?”
Luke shrugged before he turned the engine off. “I don’t play poker with all of them.”
That was something he’d never admitted to before. She unbuckled her seatbelt but made no move to exit the car. “Seriously?”
“Oh yeah. Where do you think I vanish to on Friday nights?”
“I would say that I can’t see you playing poker with a bunch of cops, but for some reason…” It was on brand. She could easily imagine him gambling. It would be right up there with his other habits and vices. “You ever bet a soul?”
“Not since my banishment. Back in the day… I lived for a desperate idiot or greedy son of a bitch. Usually the latter. There was always someone willing to give up their soul for next to nothing. But my favorite was trading souls in Hell with demons I hated.”
“What do you mean?”
Helly stood up in the car. “Lucifer’s generals trade souls like Pokémon cards. They get bored torturing the same people all the time, so they trade them out to refresh the hellacious torments.”
Sorcha was aghast at the thought. “Tell me you didn’t.”
“Of course, I did. I needed someone to wash my underwear.”
Thanks to an intimate encounter with Luke that she couldn’t get out of her mind, Sorcha knew better than that. “You don’t wear underwear.”
“In Hell I do. Any idea how much leather chafes in that heat? I always have silk boxers on to keep the boys happy and breathing.”
And that was definitely an image she didn’t want in her mind. He was one of the few men who could make boxers sexy. “This is another conversation HR would have your ass over, you know.”
“Good thing there’s no HR in IA.” He winked at her.
He was so incorrigible. She’d be offended if he wasn’t so incredibly charming.
Helly climbed out of the car over the trunk, then opened the door for Sorcha. “Don’t worry. He only traded for the souls of those you want tortured in the worst ways imaginable.”
“Like Bert?” she couldn’t resist asking.
Luke got out and pulled the tie from his long hair so that it flowed around his shoulders.
“Those who make your ex look like an honest, upstanding citizen…and yes, I’d take Bert out for a spin, given what he did to you.
He could use a little attitude adjustment.
I hope I’m back in Hell when his number comes up. We gonna have a good old time.”
Sorcha cleared her throat. “Now, now. You know how I feel about that. If anyone’s going to torture that bastard, it needs to be me. I’ve earned the right.”
Laughing, Luke headed to where the others were gathered.
Helly leaned against her. “The one thing he doesn’t want you to know is that he’d also trade for those who didn’t deserve what the others gave them. There are borderline souls in Hell who were damned on technicalities. To his father’s extreme fury, Luke often spared them.”
That tracked. For a prince of Hell, Luke didn’t like to see anyone innocent suffer. It was what made him such a great detective.
It was also the same code of honor that demanded punishment for those who did wrong…
That kept him up at night as much as it did her. His hellhound genes came out on steroids and made him track down guilty parties. He didn’t rest until they paid for what they did.
Which made her adore him.
Helly nudged her gently. “His favorite place to gamble was in the Old West. He was quite the cardsharp.”
The image in her mind of him dressed like a cowboy was something she didn’t need at the moment.
Damn.
Thankfully, the three ghosts staring at them drove that thought away. “Luke wasn’t kidding about how haunted this place is, was he?”
“Yeah. I don’t like coming out here. Too much tragedy, even for me.” Helly rubbed her hands down her bare arms as if trying to chase away a chill.
That made Sorcha curious. “Do you think this is another soul-eater case?”
Helly shook her head. “This is something else.”
“How so? I just see the ghosts. What are you detecting that I don’t?”
She twitched her nose around like Elizabeth Montgomery in Bewitched. “Werewolf. It’s a pungent stench you don’t forget.”
Since Sorcha had never been around one that she knew of, she’d have to take Helly’s word for it. She didn’t smell anything other than honeysuckle and humidity.
“I better get out of sight.” Helly vanished.