by Parker Blue
“Scuzzy?” I repeated. Was this one of those weird male bonding things where they called each other rude names and beat each other up?
“Comes from SCU,” Sullivan said. “It’s what the others call us. There are more of us, but they’re not on duty yet. Gentlemen—and I use the term very loosely—this is Val Shapiro.”
The two detectives folded their arms and gave me short nods of recognition. Curt ones, like they wanted to make sure I didn’t think they were nods of acceptance. Ramirez, on the other hand, smiled and shook my hand. “Nice to meet you, Ms. Shapiro. Would you like to show us what you can do?”
I liked this guy, and it appeared he was the one I needed to impress. I shrugged. “Sure. Got a vampire handy?”
The other two laughed and exchanged amused looks. My face went hot for a moment, then reminded myself not to let them get to me. They had no idea what I could do. But Sullivan did, and he wasn’t laughing.
Ramirez smiled, though it wasn’t a mean one. “I thought perhaps we’d start with some sparring.”
That explained the mats on the floor. “Okay. Who’d you like me to spar with?”
Ramirez made a sweeping gesture that encompassed the three other men. “Take your pick.”
They obviously expected me to go for the smallest guy, Fenton, but I had something to prove. Horowitz was easily the biggest—and the most annoying. “I’ll take him.”
Horowitz stripped off his jacket. “This won’t take long.”
I didn’t say anything—I just peeled off my bulky down vest and laid it next to Fang.
I’LL GUARD IT WITH MY LIFE, the terrier assured me gravely.
Smart-ass. Horowitz rolled his shoulders, looking über confident. Well, he was about to be über surprised.
“Any rules?” I asked.
Ramirez nodded. “This is practice. No maiming. No shots to the genitals . . . “ he glanced at Horowitz “ . . . or the breasts. You’ll go on my mark.”
I sized up Horowitz. He had muscles, but not the bulges of a bodybuilder as I’d expected. He didn’t rely on brute strength, then. He must practice some form of martial arts. Which one?
They moved to the center of the room and the detective stretched his arm and leg muscles. Good—he was taking this seriously. I did the same.
I tried to stay loose and ready for whatever he threw at me. I wouldn’t be able to read his mind like a vamp’s, but then again, he would be a lot slower.
He crouched in a fighter’s stance and I suddenly realized he must have a hundred pounds on me. What was I thinking?
YOU CAN TAKE HIM, Fang said.
Guess I’d have to.
“Go,” Ramirez said.
Horowitz moved faster than I expected, spinning around in an elegant move to land a solid kick to my stomach. Crap, I hadn’t expected that. I’d figured him for some oriental martial arts move, not the French savate.
But as he danced away, he seemed surprised that I wasn’t writhing on the ground. That was one definite advantage of being part demon—I could take a lot more punishment than most people.
“Give up?” he taunted.
“No, just waiting for you to wear yourself out,” I gasped. The other men chuckled and I pretended to be more hurt than I was, watching to see what he would do next. Would he stay with the savate kicks or try something else?
He stuck with what worked and whirled to try the same move again. This time, however, I was ready for him, and grabbed his ankle and threw him to the floor. Just as quickly, he tried to whip my legs out from under me, but I’d anticipated that and jumped out of the way. He surged to his feet, but before he could get positioned to lash out at me again with his feet, I rushed him, hurling punches that he had to block.
He didn’t expect that. I kept it up, chasing him around the mat, throwing my fists as fast as I could while the men hooted and hollered on the sidelines. Horowitz blocked some blows, but not all, and I landed a few solid hits on his face and to his stomach while he was primarily occupied with defending himself. If I could just keep him off balance, he wouldn’t be able to get enough distance from me to use those deadly feet of his.
He got a few licks in past my guard, and one really good one, a beautiful right cross. Ouch, that stung. Lola raged to life, and since this time it was a lust for blood, I let her loose, reveling in the power that filled my body.
Fueled by my secret weapon, I slugged him with a powerhouse that had him staggering away, then used his own technique to batter him with a series of lightning savate kicks in the shin, stomach, and chin.
He went down.
Instantly, I was on top of him, gripping his throat as I pinned him to the mat. “Yield.”
He struggled for a moment, but I had him completely immobilized.
A sudden weight landed on my back and an arm came across my throat, choking me, cutting off my air. Oof.
“Too bad for you he has a friend,” Fenton muttered in my ear. “This is what it’s really like on the streets.”
All of a sudden, he let go with a curse and I spun around to see Fang clamped to his backside.
“Too bad for you I have a friend, too,” I said with a grin. “Good dog.”
Fenton tried to beat Fang off his butt, though he was having a hard time reaching him. Ramirez commanded, “Stand down.”
When both men went still, I took pity on Fenton. “Let go, Fang.”
Fang obediently let go and trotted over to my side. Good work, I told him privately. Thanks for the backup.
NO PROBLEM. HE WASN’T PLAYING FAIR.
No, he wasn’t. Ramirez must have thought so, too—he glared at Fenton. “What the hell did you think you were doing?”
“Helping out my partner.” He sounded defensive. But he couldn’t meet Ramirez’s glare. He looked away, rubbing his rear. “Sorry, I just got carried away.”
“Don’t do it again.” Ramirez turned to Horowitz. “You concede the match?”
He didn’t really have to, but he nodded.
Horowitz was good—very good. The full humans I’d fought in various martial arts classes had never lasted this long against me. Even better, he hadn’t pulled his punches, hadn’t treated me like a girl.
At Horowitz’s sign of capitulation, the demon lust subsided within me, and I took a shaky breath. It was silly, but I envisioned Lola as kind of a sexy genie—a Marilyn Monroe type—who stayed corked up in her bottle until lust blew the cork out. I mentally stuffed Lola back in and corked the bottle. It wasn’t easy, but I could do it. Good. I could handle this. If they’d have me.
Horowitz held out his hand and smiled. “Hell, anyone who can beat the crap out of me like that is all right in my book. Call me Hank.”
Shocked, I shook his hand. Fenton offered his, too. “I’m Mike.”
Sullivan added, “Call me Dan.”
I grinned. It felt good to be accepted. “You can call me Val—and my partner here is Fang.”
They all gave Fang a dubious glance.
Fang grinned back up at them. NO MONSTER HERE. NO SIREE. JUST A FAITHFUL CANINE COMPANION DEFENDING HIS BELOVED MASTER.
I resisted the urge to snort, but it must have worked, because Hank asked, “How do you do that, Val?”
I shrugged. “Trade secret.”
Ramirez looked at Dan. “So, you checked her out, I take it?”
He nodded.
“Tell us about her.”
I thought about protesting, but didn’t want to jeopardize my shot at maybe working with these guys.
Dan Sullivan slanted a glance at me. “Her parents divorced when she was only a few months old, and a year later, her mother married Rick Anderson, the owner of the Astral Reflections New Age Bookstore where she works. Her father died when she was five.”
Damn—I hadn’t known he could be so thorough in such a short time.
He continued. “She was home-schooled until she got her GED—early. She has a younger half-sister, Jennifer, though she attends public school. Val has taken every mart
ial arts and self-defense course offered in the city—including savate—but never stuck with any of them long enough to compete or earn belts.” He slanted a glance at me. “The classes bore you?”
Good guess. “Pretty much.” Once I’d learned the forms and how to combat them, I’d moved on. I didn’t have to actually practice them to understand them. Lola’s influence made me a natural fighter, but I learned a lot from watching the matches of the masters.
He nodded as if he’d expected that answer. “She’s a gifted fighter, but I can’t figure out where she gets her speed and strength. There’s no indication of steroids or other drugs. She keeps her nose clean. It must come naturally.”
YEAH—AS NATURAL AS IT WOULD BE FOR ANY PART-DEMON GIRL.
Ignoring Fang, I asked, “That it?” But I had to admit I was a tad impressed. He’d been busy.
“Not all. You have no close girlfriends, no boyfriends, and your only extravagance is a motorcycle, a Honda Valkyrie. Today’s your eighteenth birthday, and your parents celebrated by kicking you out of the house.”
Well, that last part I’d told him. But the rest—I don’t know how he found that out so fast. No wonder he was a detective. “You’re good,” I admitted.
Ramirez grinned. “How’d you like a job, Val?”
Wow—was it that easy? Getting paid for something I already did for free? “I’m in.”
“Good. With your brawn and his brains, you’d make a great team.”
Whoa—team? That wouldn’t work. Being around the cop all the time . . . what if he found out what I really was? I backtracked quickly. “I already have a partner—Fang.”
THAT’S RIGHT. YOU DON’T NEED ANYONE ELSE.
It didn’t look like Dan was too crazy about the idea either. But Ramirez didn’t agree. “It’s unit policy—you have to have backup before you engage one of the targets. And Dan doesn’t have a partner right now—he lost his last week . . . to one of them.”
It was too risky. I’d been hiding my true nature for far too long. Working alongside a hot cop, letting him get close—Lola was bound to make her presence known. What would happen when he found out what I truly was? I’d probably be classed as a monster along with the vamps. Then what would I do?
I took a deep breath. Hell, I can’t believe I’m about to say this. “Thank you, but I’m sorry. I can’t take the job.”
CHAPTER FOUR
Dan looked annoyed. “What?”
Okay, he had a right to be pissed after he went to all the trouble of setting this up for me. “I don’t think I could do this with a partner,” I said apologetically. Not a human one, anyway.
“Mike just showed you why you need one,” Dan said, sounding exasperated.
Yes, and it was a good lesson. I needed to pay more attention to my surroundings. Well, Fang would help with that. “I know, but—”
The lieutenant interrupted, looking thoughtful. “Val, could I have a moment alone with you?”
Why not? The guy had been nice enough to offer me a job. Least I could do was hear him out. “Sure.”
“Good. Hank, Mike, you can head on out. Dan, you might want to come back a little later.”
The guys all nodded and the lieutenant gestured me to follow him. He closed the door to his office and waved me toward a seat. He didn’t even carp when Fang flopped down at my feet. I wasn’t sure what was going to happen, but this must be what Jen felt like when she was sent to the principal’s office.
I glanced around. Heck, the principal’s office had to be nicer than this. Cheap wall paneling, scarred linoleum, battered metal desk and ancient chairs . . . the department obviously wasn’t spending a whole lot of money on its Special Crimes Unit.
Lieutenant Ramirez rubbed his forehead wearily. “Now, suppose you tell me the real reason you turned the job down.”
I glanced at Fang. I don’t suppose you can read his mind?
NO. IT ONLY WORKS WITH DEMONS, VAMPIRES, THAT SORT OF THING.
Implying he’d met other sorts of things? But I let that slide for now and tried to figure out how to answer Ramirez.
When I hesitated, he added, “And why you seem to have a hellhound as a partner.”
Fang and I exchanged surprised glances. “What do you mean?” I asked cautiously. Was he using “hellhound” as a figure of speech, or . . . ?
He glanced again at Fang. “Well, part-hellhound, anyway. The purple eye-flash when he took on Mike Fenton was a dead giveaway.”
“Oh.” Not a figure of speech.
“And so was yours when you fought Hank.”
I squirmed in my seat. “So, you know what I am?”
“I know you’re part demon, which is why you’re able to do what you do.”
“Uh, doesn’t the special crimes unit hunt demons?”
He gave me a wry half smile. “Not the law-abiding ones. We’re here to serve and protect, not make judgments.”
Well that was a relief, but he sounded pretty calm about the whole existence of demons thing. “Do the others know, too?”
“No. The guys have a hard enough time dealing with the thought of vampires. Demons haven’t become a threat, so until they do, I’m keeping my unit on a need-to-know basis.”
“Then you understand why I don’t want a partner. He’s gonna have a lot of questions about how I can do what I do.”
Ramirez nodded. “I’ll handle that, let him know that I know why you’re so talented without revealing your background.” He cocked his head. “Let me guess . . . succubus, right?”
I gaped at him. “How did you know?”
He smiled. “Need-to-know basis again.”
“Then you know why I don’t want a male partner.”
“In theory,” Ramirez conceded. “But you seem to have it under control, and if I understand right, the hunt satisfies the lust cravings.”
“Yes, but—”
“Just hear me out, okay?”
When I nodded, he went on to explain how the vampires were a small minority whose population had grown significantly larger in the area about a year ago—large enough to come to the attention of the San Antonio Police Department. Gaining incredible power, speed, immortality, and the ability to control mortal minds seemed to strip them of all moral judgment, so they were fast becoming the city’s biggest crime problem. The SCU’s job was to stop them, by whatever means possible.
Wow, I hadn’t realized all this. I’d just been in my own little world, killing vamps and trying to keep Lola under control. No wonder he looked so strained. “How can you stop them at all?”
“We often don’t,” Ramirez said baldly. “That’s how Dan lost his last partner, and why I’ve attended so many funerals lately. It’s also why you don’t see them going through the court system . . . or the hospital. They resist arrest—violently. The only way we’ve found to stop them is to kill them before they kill us.”
Fang approved. THAT’S THE BEST WAY TO DEAL WITH A VAMPIRE.
Ramirez continued. “The key is not to let them take over your mind. And there appear to be three types of people who are able to resist.”
Curious, I asked, “What kind?”
“First, those who are very devout. Regardless of your religion, having a deep, personal relationship with a deity seems to make you immune to having your mind taken over.”
Surprised, I asked, “How many of those do you have?”
“Not very many. They don’t usually gravitate toward law enforcement as a career. The majority fall in the second bracket—those with very strong emotions. Anger, rage, or just plain bullheaded stubbornness seems to make them unable to control your mind.”
I nodded. “Like the guys I just met.”
“Right. And the third are part-demons—people like you.”
Surprised, I asked, “You have others like me in your unit?”
“Not yet, but I’d like to. Three men—good men—died over the last six months, just doing their job. If more of them had the advantages you do, I wouldn’t have to tell th
eir families they died in the line of duty. I wouldn’t have to watch more of them being buried.” He speared me with a glance. “I really don’t want to attend any more funerals.”
Crap. Taking vamps on mano a mano was one thing, but having responsibility for other people’s lives . . . was I ready for that? I was still only eighteen.
Ramirez grimaced. “The number of vampire kills has tripled in the last few months and we’re short-handed. Plus, members of the unit have been hearing about a vein of vampires forming together to plan something.”
A vein of vampires? I hadn’t heard them called that. Ew. “Vampires cooperating? That’s new.” They were usually so self-involved and tripping on their own power that they didn’t play well with others.
“Yeah,” Ramirez said. “But it can’t be good. The sudden rise in vampire kills could be related to this new group. I’m hoping you can work with Dan to locate them, find out if they’re behind this sudden rash of murders and if they are, stop them.”
Like it was that easy. “Uh, it’s not like I chat up the undead before I stake them.”
“You don’t have to. Just continue doing what you have been doing. The only difference is that you may run into small groups of them instead of individuals, which is why you need a partner. I wouldn’t normally hire someone your age, but with your experience and advantages, we could really use you.”
I frowned. I’d only gone after them one-on-one before, so this would be a bit more complicated. Sure, I could kill vampires for them, but did I want to? It would let Lola have more control. Could I handle it without revealing my secret to the world? “I’m not sure . . . ”
“We need you,” Ramirez said baldly. “And I have special hiring authority for this unit. You won’t have to go through the normal hiring and training process, though of course, you’ll work night shift. If you work with us, your pay won’t be great, but it won’t be minimum wage either. Plus, we offer medical, dental, vacation time, retirement—a complete benefits package.”