Chapter 20
“Hmmm, I knew someone was on my turf,” the demon said under her breath when I sat down next to her to get my pedicure done. She shot me a sideways look. “Another of you disgusting leeches.”
Was this bitch for real? She was a fucking murderer and she was calling me a leech?
“I think you’re a bit confused,” I hedged as I shot a look to the human women who were fully able to listen in.
She ignored me and rolled her neck to focus on me. “Look, child, get out of my area before you get hurt. I don’t share or—”
“Or stay long normally, so why are you so possessive of it?” I asked, genuinely wondering if we had the wrong person.
Kyle’s team had had to put in serious hours on this one because this killer was actually smart. She didn’t use the same spa. She didn’t even use the same club. No, she had different glamours and danced at different clubs. Different spas. She really put in the time.
Honestly, it was fucking impressive if it wasn’t to murder men.
She narrowed her eyes at me. “That’s not your business, and I won’t be lectured by one without purpose who only takes but doesn’t give back.”
I couldn’t get a lock on her desires or anything. She was too… Chaotic? Weak but also—I had no idea. But very weak. So weak she read almost human which was why it had been so difficult to lock in on her.
“I don’t understand how you—” I started to say.
“I can feel your aura,” she hissed. “Enough. Get your nails done and go. People like you disgust me, but I can’t fight against you when you’re greedy and—enough.”
What the actual fuck?
“No one was hurt in me getting this aura,” I said after a few minutes. I frowned when she snorted, still not able to lock on anything from her. “Do you not know what you—”
“I know who I am,” she snapped. “I know my purpose and calling.”
This was getting weirder and weirder. Honestly, I got a bit lost in trying to get a read on her. I texted my team who was outside just in case she fled and none of them could read her either.
None could sense her.
“No, you’re not getting your nails done,” I warned her when she finished her pedicure.
“You don’t tell me to—” she started to say
I gave her a look of warning. “We’re going to have a frank conversation away from ears or we’re going to have a fucking problem, savvy? And as you said, you can’t win. So take my deal.”
She ground her jaw but then nodded, having no idea I was lying.
Fine, I was too powerful for many to read, but people could. She was clueless.
I texted the team to hang back. I wanted real answers without doing what demons did to get them. I—the puzzle wasn’t filling in as it should be. And given how my mind worked, that was actually most important to me right then.
There was too much weird going on when I wasn’t someone in the dark or who kept their head in the sand. Vamps designing drugs to wipe our power and leave us human weak. Finding demons who were still human and hadn’t turned yet.
Just… Weird. Too many weird things.
I finished my pedicure, noting it wasn’t great, but still tipping well and heading outside with my new friend. I rolled my eyes as she stomped over to her vehicle, but I blocked her from the door just to be safe.
“Say what you need to and then—”
“Are you having a fucking laugh?” I demanded, not holding back anymore. “You judge me when you kill? I’ve been looking—”
“We all kill to feed,” she sighed. “Don’t act like you don’t, or do you just close your eyes and walk away to pretend that they’re still alive.”
I slowly blinked at her. “No, we don’t.” I held up my hand to her when she opened her mouth. “I killed when I changed. Yes. I’ve killed to survive and killed bad people.”
Her face changed. “Oh, then you’re like me, not the other leeches.”
“Vampires?”
She snorted. “No, demons. They only drink blood. Demons feed from life and—”
“You are one!” I blasted.
“I can’t help what I am, only what I do with it,” she threw right back. “I don’t feed like others and—”
Nope, nope, nope! I was done.
I shoved her against the vehicle and pinned her there. “You’re a mass murderer. I’ve been chasing you for years. You are the monster I’ve been hunting, not other demons. We feed all the time and no one dies.”
“That’s not possible.” She scoffed but then slowly started to frown. “No, that’s not—I’ve met other demons. I’ve known other leeches who—”
“Yes, we can accidentally kill our first time,” I told her firmly. “A lot don’t. I did on accident because three men tried to rape me and it just all happened. Some demons can’t even kill in a feed.”
She was almost with me until that last part and then she snorted. “Like you’re some sort of authority or—”
“Yeah, I am,” I assured her. “I’m with the newly formed demon council.” I blew out a long breath when she snorted again. “What rock have you been living under?” I felt better when she flinched at least. “Yeah, I’m not the one out of the loop here. You are.”
She swallowed loudly but then tried to muster up some courage. “Look, I don’t have to listen to you and—”
“You do actually,” one of our guys said as he came over. “People got nosy, Councilwoman. We’re handling it.”
“Good work,” I praised. “Let’s get her out of—”
“No, I still have one more to finish,” she argued.
“One more to murder,” I hissed. “No, you’ve killed enough.”
She made the mistake of trying to fight and run, so I knocked her ass out and glamoured us.
Idiot.
Then again… I would never have given up either. It just wasn’t in me.
Then again, I would have been caught by bad people, not picked up for being a murderer.
Thinking that made me swallow, memories of Dylan coming to investigate me swarming me. Part of me wanted to record her bullshit and send it to him and show him the difference.
Put him in the past, not a reason to become pettier.
We brought her to home base and locked her down before I fed her enough power so she could heal and wake back up. To say she was pissed was an understatement.
“You’re not killing another dipshit,” I finally cut into her rant. “You weren’t killing pedophiles or mass murderers like you. You were killing jerks. Oh yeah, your mission was awesome.”
She bared her teeth at me. “Men who thought hitting women who were weaker than them is acceptable. Then I showed them that I wasn’t weaker. Three feedings a year to live and save other women.”
“Except you didn’t have to kill,” I threw right back. I sighed when she went off again. “I can’t get a lock on her and this—we need Elijah or Ally.”
Because this woman was definitely full of wrath and pride.
“Fine!” I exclaimed when she wouldn’t shut up. “They hit women. Okay, I will believe you on that. What we found was they were just jackasses. I’m not going to dispute that. And yes, men who hit women should be punished.”
“Not dead,” one of the other demons muttered. “Prison. When they kill, you kill them.”
I thumbed my finger at him to say I agreed.
“How do you know they didn’t kill?” she challenged.
“Do you have proof or know they did?” I snorted when she just growled at me. “You don’t. You assume they might or could escalate. Hey, you don’t have to convince me that abusive men escalate. That they’re filth and I would love to fucking launch them all into space. They’re a plague and bugs.”
She settled down and frowned.
“But they didn’t kill people. You did and you didn’t have to. We don’t kill to feed. I feed dancing and they’re fine. I feed other ways. The wrath demons feed from anger off the clubs and—”
“You’re serious,” she whispered, seeming more confused than anything. “All the other demons I met killed. They were also more powerful, so that’s why I always hide from the leeches.”
“For one, that’s vampires, but offensive,” I muttered as I plopped down on a chair. “And just because some demons kill doesn’t mean we all do. Yes, I have accidentally killed to feed.”
“Then don’t judge me,” she whispered.
“I will because I’ve done a lot more to make sure I never hurt anyone and saved ten times as many as I’ve accidentally hurt,” I told her firmly. “You just—how could you not try to feed without hurting and—”
“You take their lifespan still. How is that better than just killing them? Years versus—”
“Jesus Fucking Christ,” someone else muttered. “She’s completely in the dark. How old are you?”
“Two hundred years and change,” she muttered.
“And you’ve been killing three men a year to feed since you were a teenager?” I checked. I wasn’t the only one who whistled when she nodded.
Well, that was quite the pill to swallow.
“I hear we all owe you an apology and the killer is a demon,” Elijah said as he joined us.
“Yeah, but it’s complicated,” I grumbled.
He snorted and locked his stern gaze on me. “When is it not when it involves you, child?”
“Pot, kettle, black.”
He got a bit annoyed at that. Not much, but we all felt it—used it.
She started crying. “What is he? No, I can’t—you’re going to let other leeches feed from me.”
“Okay, so clearly she’s never been around an ancient or anyone super powerful,” I said with a sigh. I glanced at Elijah’s shocked face. “Yeah, like—chill and listen to this crazy.”
The bored glance he gave me was hysterical. I practically saw the “are you fucking kidding me?” cartoon bubble over his head.
Yeah, I felt the same.
“Before we get started, I’m going to assume you have no idea how demons interrogate each other and make each other confess,” I told the woman, waiting until she confirmed it.
Then I showed her. I used video from what I was party to when interrogating Dylan’s ex-lover actually. It just happened that was what I had the quickest access to.
The woman was beside herself then. The terror was overwhelming and I wasn’t even a shifter who could sense it.
“So let’s start at the beginning,” I told her. “What’s your name? Your real name, not what you’re going under. We know that.”
“Sam Mopps. Samantha,” she blurted, horrified still at what she’d seen.
I glanced at Elijah. “I can’t get a read from her. She’s too chaotic.”