Was he all right? He’d just killed another being. Not human, perhaps, but what did that matter? “I had to stop him.”
“Of course you did.” Nuala hugged him tighter.
So why didn’t he feel better about it? He’d become a cop in response to his own brother’s murder. He’d grieved Mike’s death, Shade’s death, and even Diablo’s. He’d been horrified when Cezar had taken care of Shade’s murderer in a particularly gruesome way.
For Haider, he felt nothing. Just a foreign emptiness he couldn’t quite grasp. It was going to take some time for him to accept his part in this. When a cop killed, wounded, or even fired a gun, the department got him counseling. That wouldn’t happen this time. No one in the department other than Isabeau could ever know about Haider.
Nuala let go of her death grip on him, saying, “I don’t understand how you used supernatural means to stop such a powerful Kindred. How?”
“The blood connection.”
“That allowed you minor abilities,” she said. “Not what you did here.”
“I now have a tattoo created from both Kindred and Powers blood.”
She gaped at him. “Powers… no wonder you could defeat Haider. I’ll have to thank Skye for her help.”
Ethan didn’t correct her. Isabeau’s true identity wasn’t his to share.
And then he realized her father was standing there behind her, giving him a look that probably should terrify him. After what he’d just gone through, nothing could intimidate him.
“Cezar.”
“Thank you for saving my family. If you ever need a favor, I owe you.”
Not that Ethan wanted to take him up on that. “I’m a cop. Saving people is part of who I am.”
Cezar touched Nuala’s shoulder, turning her to him. “Maeve is at The Ark waiting for you. And Dr. Botis should take care of your brothers as soon as possible. We need to leave now.”
“You’ll come with me?” she asked Ethan. “We can pick up Maeve and—”
“You’re not going anywhere tonight,” Cezar interrupted. “And not until we make sure all this mess is cleared up and we don’t have to worry about anything Haider might have done. Luc or one of his security guards will clear your apartment before you return. Make sure it’s safe.”
“I’ll be safe now, because Ethan will be there with me.”
“No, I won’t. Not tonight. Your father’s right. This isn’t finished. Who knows what or who else Alec Peterson has in the works. He started this whole thing. I’m going to finish it. After I do that, we’ll talk.”
Nuala frowned and seemed about to argue with him, but then relented. “After. We have a lot to talk about.”
Ethan nodded. More than she even knew.
Chapter Twenty-Six
They all sifted back to The Ark where, to Nuala’s disappointment, Ethan insisted on taking a taxi the rest of the way. Her brothers thanked him for intervening. For once, Nik seemed to accept Ethan as someone he could trust. Then Ethan gave her one more quick kiss and was gone.
Nuala’s stomach knotted. She didn’t like being separated after everything that had happened. After everything Ethan had done for her. The lengths he’d gone through to rescue her and Maeve and her brothers had been extraordinary. He’d put his own life at risk. And more. She knew how he’d felt about the city’s supernatural underground. A week ago, he would have said he did it all for Shade’s memory. But he’d changed and had done all this for her. She’d changed, too. And now he’d captured her heart.
With Dr. Botis’s assurance that Nik and Luc would be just fine in a day or two, she took her sleeping daughter to her old quarters where she found a photograph of her and Shade together. She touched his likeness and shed new tears. Shade was her past. Now she was going to look to her future, and she was certain he would approve. Before Shade had moved on from this life, he’d told her find happiness with someone you can love here on earth, someone who would make a good father to our daughter… someone like Ethan…
Ironic that the first man she’d loved had known exactly the right man for her now.
But even with his new abilities and her heart being captured by what he’d done for her, Ethan was still human. She wanted to do something equally moving for him.
She slept on it and the next morning, left Maeve with Nurse Leah again and found Pop in his office. He was at his desk, already working on his computer. He was going to hate what she wanted him to do, but she wasn’t going to back down.
“Morning, Pop.”
He took one look at her determined expression and said, “You can’t go back to the apartment yet. Don’t worry. Nik is already checking on Haider’s recent activities. And after he gets some sleep, Luc will make certain your apartment is safe. He’ll install a security system to keep it that way.”
“That’s great, but it’s not why I’m here.”
“You want me to reward Grainger?”
“Thanks, but I have plans for that myself. Starting with my soul.” His visage darkened as she went on. “I want you to remove the human soul I’ve been using and return my own soul.”
He flew to his feet. “What are you thinking? That will make you mortal again!”
“Exactly. Ethan did something he never would have done if not to save me and Maeve. I love him, Pop, and I know he feels the same or he never would have made such a sacrifice. He deserves to have a woman who will live a normal life with him, even if she’s not human. Plus, a mother should never have to bury her own child. I want to do this for both Ethan and Maeve.”
“Then when you die, I’ll have to bury you!”
“We all make our own choices, Pop. You can do as you please. I’ve made my choice, but I need your help. You know I can’t do it myself.”
“So, does this mean you’ll keep your daughter away from your family—from her heritage—so that she won’t ever give up her soul?”
“No, of course not, but I want Maeve to know that she can choose the way she lives her life the way Luc has.”
She could tell Pop wasn’t happy about the idea even before he said, “I won’t do it, Nuala.”
“Then if time runs out for the soul I have now and I don’t get a new one, I will still die, and I will do so believing that you don’t love me enough to honor my wishes.”
“Of course I love you! That’s why I want to keep you with us forever!”
“Forever isn’t something I want, Pop. Look what happened to Haider. He lived many lifetimes. Maybe forever made him what he was.”
Cezar sat back in his chair. As he ran his hand over the sea glass desk, souls blinked in response. He stopped his hand over the heart of the desk where a single soul stayed lit and grew brighter as if in recognition of its true owner.
*
Ethan barely slept. The first thing he thought about upon awakening was Nuala. He wanted to be with her in the worst way, but not until he’d finished what he’d started. After showering and grabbing something to eat, he reported to the Area North offices.
The tattoo was nearly healed and it had changed him just as Vadoma had said it would. He felt… different. He was still himself… but more. More alive. More aware of light and dark in everyone he passed, more aware of every noise and movement around him. Without asking anyone, he knew exactly where to find Isabeau. In the coffee room. Alone.
When he joined her there, she gave him a thorough once over, her gaze ending on his battered face. “Ouch.”
“Good thing no one looked my way when I came in the door.”
“You’ll heal quickly.”
“So I’ve been told. You should have seen it last night. With the broken nose.”
She took a more thorough look at his bruises and contusions. “Impressive.”
“Let’s get out of here. Take a drive where we can talk over the case freely.”
Isabeau nodded, grabbed her coffee and followed him outside to the car. “It must have been something last night. So, where is he? The other guy?”
“I w
ouldn’t know.” He started the car and headed for the street. “Where do dead Kindred go? Someplace in the ether I suppose.”
“But his body?” she asked.
“There wasn’t one to clean up.”
His explanation of what the spear had done to Haider made her go silent and thoughtful, but once they were on their way, she asked, “So the three of you worked together? You and Luc and Nik Lazare?”
The way she said his name made Ethan think she didn’t like Nik. “You know Nik Lazare?”
“Of him. We’ve never met.”
“I can introduce you.”
“I’ll pass on that. For now.”
So what was that about? No doubt Kindred kept track of other Kindred clans. And he wouldn’t be surprised if Nik had a reputation.
“Haider makes one criminal down,” he said, “and we have one to go.”
“You’re going to kill Peterson?”
“Of course not.” Ethan smiled and stopped at a red light. “Rumor has it that he’s human, though I’m not really convinced of that. I’m going to interview him, let him confess to his crimes.”
“Ah, you mean using Kindred influence.”
“Which you could have done a couple of times in the last week,” he reminded her.
Her voice was rich with regret when she said, “Maybe I should have. It might have saved Diablo. So we’re headed for the ward office?”
“You got it. I’ll do the talking, but I want you to record everything on your cell. I don’t want this to be a ‘he said,’ ‘no, I didn’t’ case.”
Nodding, Isabeau pulled out her phone, her fingers flashing over the screen. Then she put it in her top jacket pocket and sank back into a thoughtful silence, which gave Ethan time to go over his strategy. He was more than prepared when they arrived at the ward office where a young woman was working diligently at something on her computer.
Ethan stopped at her desk. When she didn’t so much as look up at him, he cleared his throat. “I need to see Peterson.”
She sighed and stopped typing. When her gaze hit his face, she started. “Uh, do you have an appointment?”
He pulled out his ID and star. “I don’t need one.”
The young woman huffed. “Who should I tell him wants to speak with him?”
Apparently she hadn’t read his ID. “Detectives Grainger and DeClercq.”
Rather than calling Peterson, she stood and disappeared into the inner office for a moment, then came back to her desk. “He can give you five minutes.”
“Or the rest of his life,” Ethan muttered.
Isabeau poked him in the back as they strolled into the alderman’s domain. He was sitting back in his chair. Annoyance quickly crossed his features. Then he noted Ethan’s face and adopted an amused expression.
“Who did you irritate, Grainger?”
“Someone who crossed too many lines.” Ethan glanced at Isabeau as she reached into her pocket to start the recorder, then said, “A lot of that going around.”
“What do you want?”
“To go over Alderman Booker’s murder.”
“You already have the man who killed him!”
“Oh, Moody didn’t kill him.”
Peterson immediately straightened in his seat and his fingers curled into fists. “Why come to me with this?”
“Because you know who did.” Give us his name and how you got him to work for you.
Peterson shifted in his chair and frowned like he was fighting the influence. “I have a busy day ahead of me. I don’t have time for nonsense.”
“I don’t either. Who killed Booker?” You want to tell us.
Starting to sweat now, Peterson loosened his tie and fought saying anything.
You won’t have a moment’s peace until you give us the name of his killer and how you got him to work for you.
“Marc Madera. Marc Madera had his wolf dog kill DeAndre Booker!”
Ethan exchanged heartfelt satisfaction with Isabeau, who gave him a thumbs-up. He went back to his inquisition.
“Why did Madera want Booker dead?” The whole truth!
Peterson was fighting him again. He started straightening a pile of folders on his desk. “I have work to do. I told you what you wanted to know. You need to leave!”
“I want to know everything.” Your heart is beating unnaturally. You feel like you’ll have a heart attack if you don’t get it out. “Why did Madera set that animal on Booker?”
Peterson gasped for breath and rubbed at his chest. His face contorted and he fought to control his mouth, but he finally blurted it out. “Because I told him to. It was part of my plan to become mayor.”
Tell me more about your plan.
“I wanted to control the city. Things were humming along nicely with my appointment as vice mayor, but I wasn’t getting any damn pleasure out of it.”
Isabeau paused her recording before saying, “Because you gave up your soul.”
“I wanted mine back, but Lazare wouldn’t give it to me. I told him I would take any soul, give him whatever he wanted, but he refused.”
“So you were out for revenge?” Ethan asked.
“I wanted to take from Lazare the thing he held most dear. His business.”
Ethan nodded to Isabeau to start recording again. He continued to use influence to get it all out of Peterson. Booker. Madera and the wolf hybrid. Diablo. Every detail other than Kindred involvement. He made sure to steer Peterson away from talk about shapeshifters or supernatural powers while Isabeau’s cell was recording his confession. Ethan didn’t want Peterson to get off by being put in an asylum for being criminally insane rather than spending the rest of his life in prison where he belonged.
The truth forced out of Peterson left him a shaken man. For the moment. Ethan was sure he would recover. Before that happened, he needed to hear the rest.
“What about my brother Mike?” Why did you hate him enough to see him dead?
“Little asswipe was ruining my plans to run for student council president. He was going to write an article about how I was stirring up the gangs, starting a gang war. I had to stop him.”
“By killing him?”
“He wouldn’t listen to reason. And I couldn’t bribe him. It was the only way.”
Ethan needed air. He backed away from the desk toward the door. “Read him his rights, would you?” he asked Isabeau.
“My pleasure.”
She pulled out her handcuffs and leaned over the desk. You will not remember anything about the Kindred. Haider was just a hired hit man who disappeared. You’ll think you got rid of him.
And then, as Ethan left the room, Isabeau read Peterson his rights.
Chapter Twenty-Seven
Ethan thought about the satisfaction he got in their arresting Alderman Alec Peterson and bringing him in. More satisfaction from the shocked faces of his colleagues. And having the commander calling the mayor to fill her in on Peterson’s nefarious plans to get her job and the four counts of murder being held against him was a high point. It was a long day, but one filled with atonement. He couldn’t bring Mike back, but at least he finally nailed his brother’s murderer. And he’d called his mother and told her that at last he got justice for Mike.
At the end of the day, he and Isabeau could leave knowing they’d done good. Nuala had returned to her apartment with Maeve and was waiting for him to have that talk they’d agreed on the night before. He wanted to be with her in every way, wanted to hold her, kiss her, drive himself inside her, but not until he told her everything. And assuming she still wanted him afterward.
But first he and Isabeau needed to have a private moment.
Out in the parking lot and away from prying ears, Ethan could be direct. “I can’t tell you how much I appreciate your helping me last night.”
“I didn’t do anything but give you an introduction.”
“I owe you.”
“You owe Vadoma.”
“And I always pay my debts.”
“Good to know.”
“One thing,” Ethan said. “If we’re going to continue working together using a certain set of skills unique to us, we need to be completely honest with one another. Did you really have somewhere else to be last night? Or was there another reason you chose not to see it through with me.”
“We need to be honest where work is concerned,” she agreed. “I don’t owe you a thing when it comes to my personal life.”
With that, she headed for her Harley, leaving Ethan wondering what she was hiding from him. As he got into his car, the only thing he cared about at the moment was Nuala. He couldn’t be with her fast enough. The closer he got, the more his pulse sang. And the more his nerves competed with his anticipation of being with the woman he loved.
When he slowed near her building, it was to find a vacant parking space directly in front. For once he didn’t have to double park—a sign this was his lucky day? He hoped so. By the time he raced up the stairs, the apartment door was open and Nuala was waiting for him. Appearing more beautiful than ever, she wore a long, silky garment a shade darker blue than her eyes. Her hair around her shoulders was wild and free as was her expression.
“Finally,” she murmured, spreading her arms in welcome.
Ethan stepped into her embrace and kissed her the way he’d been wanting to do for what seemed like forever. A deep soul-searching kiss meant to tell her how he felt about her, how he hoped she wanted him as much as he did her, how he prayed what he had to tell her wouldn’t end things between them before their time together even had a chance to begin.
Still in lip lock, he backed her into the apartment, closing and locking the door behind him. She was pressed against him, her thighs parting slightly to accommodate his erection. His head went light and he rubbed against her, wanting in the worst way to be inside her at last. He wondered what sex with her would be like, whether the tattoo would change things for him. Whatever it was like, it was sure to be memorable.
If they got that far…
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