by Синтия Иден
“I’m asking you.”
A shrug. “The ADA. The reporter. You obviously know about Cam.”
“Any others?” He bit out, impatient. “Come on, Niol, you’re the one who knows this city. Tell me who I’m up against so that I can damn well make certain Cara is safe.”
The black eyes widened in just the briefest show of surprise. True emotion—finally. “You care for her.”
Well, shit, of course, he did. He wasn’t a fucking idiot, but he also wasn’t about to have some kind of soul-baring fest with Niol. “I’m doing my job. Stopping killers and protecting the innocent.”
“How great for you.” The emotion was gone and—again, it didn’t seem like Niol particularly cared.
Cara’s mouth tightened. “Who else is hunting in the city?”
His gaze raked her. “I must say I’m a bit disappointed in you, Cara. Taking up with a human like him—he’s so beneath you.”
Yeah, Todd knew that, had known for a while now that he wasn’t good enough for her, but hearing the demon say those words enraged him. Cara was a damn goddess—and he was a detective who’d struggled too long with hell on the streets.
“You don’t deserve her,” Niol snapped. “You’re not strong enough, you—”
Todd was on him. He’d dodged around Cara in a flash and then locked his hands on the demon. He slammed the asshole into the bar. Balled the front of the demon’s T-shirt in one fist and raised the other, more than ready to punch the asshole right in the face. “I’d give my fucking last breath to protect her.” Yeah, okay, so he wasn’t a level-ten killing machine, but he wasn’t going to back down from anyone.
And he sure as hell would never let anyone or anything hurt his woman.
Not when he’d just found her.
“What would you do for her, cop?” Niol’s voice was pitched low, and not a hint of fear or worry so much as flickered in that icy pool of darkness that was his gaze. “Would you lie? Break your precious laws?” His voice deepened. “Would you kill? Die?”
“Anything for her.” The words were ripped from him, almost helplessly, as Todd found himself unable to look away from that darkness. Trapped.
Good. Right answer, human. The words were in his mind, but Todd knew Niol hadn’t spoken. Not out loud, anyway.
Shit.
“Don’t hurt him!” Cara’s fierce demand.
But was the demand given to Todd—or to Niol?
The demon smiled. “You should let go of me now, cop.”
He didn’t want to. He wanted to punch the bastard right in his smiling lips, but—
Todd found himself stepping back, dropping his hands.
“You’re a strong psychic,” Niol murmured, “but not strong enough to fight me.”
The glasses behind Niol began to shake, just a bit.
“Stop it!” An order from Cara. “I’m not in the mood for your shit right now, Niol.”
Neither was he.
“Just tell us the names of the others—”
“The sex demons?”
“Incubi.” Todd snarled.
“Um…” His lips twisted. “I suppose there could be a few male strays who’ve snuck into town. I’ll have to check my sources—”
“You mean you don’t know?”
“I’ll know by nightfall.” Absolutely confident. “Come back to me then, Detective, and I’ll tell you the exact location of every incubus in the city.”
Not much of a choice. “I’ll be here.” He glared at him. “And you better have the information.” He finally asked the question that had been nagging at the back of his mind. “And where the hell is everyone?”
A shuttered expression. Then, “Hunting your sex demons, of course.”
“What?” No way, that would be—
“Really, Detective, I did know you were coming.” A shrug. “My men will be back, by nightfall as I told you, and we’ll find your murderous demon.”
Yeah, well, Todd was pretty sure he was staring at a murderous demon.
Why did Cara have a soft spot for the guy? Couldn’t she see that he was ice cold all the way to the soul?
Todd straightened his jacket. Felt the reassuring press of his holster against the small of his back. “Let’s go,” he said to Cara.
Her gaze was on the demon.
A prick of jealousy stirred inside Todd. Those two—they shared a bond, a magic, that he’d never know. Did Niol understand Cara better that he did? Better than he could?
“You’re making the same mistake she did.” Niol spoke to Cara, voice ragged, as if the words had been torn from him.
A slight tremble rolled the floor.
Cara just stared at him. “Am I?”
“Humans can’t be trusted, Cara. You saw what happened to Nina.”
Oh, no, the bastard had better not be saying he was like the murdering prick who’d attacked her sister. “Watch it, demon.” No way would he ever hurt Cara.
“I don’t need your warnings,” Cara said at the same moment. “And I am not my sister.”
“No, love.” A touch of sadness there. The wisp of a memory in the blackness of his eyes. “You’re not.” Then he blinked, and Todd wondered if the emotion had ever been there. “But like her, you want something that demons, well, we don’t always get to have.”
Cara’s gaze flickered to him—and Todd saw the yearning in her stare.
For him? Didn’t the lady know she already had him? Every damn piece of him, good and bad?
“Don’t trust the humans, not with your life.” Niol sauntered forward, reached for his glasses. “I’ll watch your back, just as I’ve always done.”
Yeah, and he’d be watching her back, too. Front, back, every inch of her. “No one’s going to hurt her,” Todd said clearly, just in case the old demon wasn’t understanding so well.
“No, they aren’t.” A certainty from Niol. “You protected me, I’ll do the same for you.” The words were directed to Cara.
Her head moved in a brief nod.
Niol pushed by him. “You know your way out, Detective.”
“Yeah, I do.” And his way right back in.
Because he’d be back at nightfall—and the demon had better be ready.
The Channel Twelve newscaster’s face flushed dark red. “What the hell am I doing in here?” He demanded.
Colin leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest. “I’ve got a few questions for you,” he said.
If possible, Trey Barker’s cheeks became even redder. “I’m the fucking anchor for Channel Twelve! We’ve got the largest market in the city—I am the damn market! You don’t call me in here like I’m some punk off the street, you got that, Detective? You don’t send your boys into my office to pick me up, you don’t—”
Colin raised a brow as he listened to the guy rant. Yeah, this one looked like an incubus. Too good-looking—well, he would have been good-looking if it weren’t for that crazy skin thing he had going on. Wide blue eyes. Dimples.
Perfect face, but his scent was off. Too strong. Overpowering.
Incubus.
“I’m a fucking star in this town!” Trey shouted, and his gaze darted around the interrogation room. “I’ll have you walking the streets again, giving old ladies parking tickets, I’ll—”
Colin exhaled. “I know exactly who you are, Trey. Or rather, what you are.”
That shut up the newsman. Colin saw the guy’s Adam’s apple bob as he gulped. Then Trey muttered, “I-I don’t know what you’re talking about.”
“Sure you do.” Why was the guy even gonna waste his time with denials? “You’re an incubus.”
Trey flinched, then managed a faint, scratchy laugh. “Don’t be ridiculous, I’m not—”
“You were using your scent on the female officer who brought you in to interrogation.” And that annoyed him. “I gave orders only men were to escort you to the precinct, but I should have made sure the women stayed away once you got here.”
“I wasn’t doing a d
amn—”
“Bullshit.” Colin said calmly. “You were pumping out that sick scent and trying to trick her into telling you about this case.” He nodded toward the files spread before them.
“I wasn’t read my rights! I wasn’t asked if I wanted an attorney present—”
There was one sitting in the next interrogation room. But Colin would get to him, next. “Did you really want the cops telling everyone at the station that you were a demon and you were being brought in because you might be connected to a series of sex murders?”
The guy seemed to shrivel. His shoulders slumped. His chin fell to his chest.
Yeah, that was the way it always was. The ones who blustered the loudest fell the fastest. “So…” Colin drawled out the word slowly, aware that his captain and Emily were watching. “You admit you’re an incubus.” McNeal had called Emily in as soon as the incubi were found. The captain wanted her take on them. McNeal had stationed her in the observation room so that she’d be able to see their reactions to Colin’s questions.
And Colin was damn interested in his doc’s analysis of the guys. His Emily had a talent for getting good and deep beneath the skin of the Other.
“Do you admit it?” he asked again, still keeping his voice easy and calm.
A quick nod from Trey. A frantic glance up at the interrogation mirror.
He knows they’re watching him. Just like Cara had known. Demons always made his job so much harder.
“How—how did you find out?” Trey asked.
“Doesn’t matter.”
“Are you…going to tell everyone?” Horror, in his voice, on his face.
“Depends.”
Another bob of the guy’s Adam’s apple. “On what?”
Colin leaned forward. Opened the file and shoved the pictures at the demon. “On whether or not you’re a killer.”
“Not him,” Emily said as Trey Barker vomited into the garbage can.
“You sure? Maybe he’s just faking his reaction. He knows we’re here, he could be—”
“No! No! I didn’t do this!” Trey’s frantic voice broke across the captain’s words.
Colin began to rattle off the dates of the killings.
“No! Listen, damn it, listen to me!” He shoved the pictures away, looked like he might vomit again. “I didn’t do this! Shit!”
“Then give me an alibi. Make me believe you.” Colin started talking about the first victim, the date he’d been found and—
“I was in Boston!” Relief lit Trey’s eyes. “I was interviewing for a job up there—call them! At Station Seven. I flew up and I—”
McNeal leaned forward and adjusted the volume control for the interrogation room. His gaze met Emily’s.
“Not him,” she repeated again, and he gave a slow nod.
“Then let’s try demon number two.”
“I’m not the Bondage Killer,” Jody Rain said the minute Colin walked into the second interrogation room.
Colin blinked. Way to cut to the chase.
Jody shrugged. “I’m not an idiot, Gyth. You know what I am and I—” His lips curved. “I know you’re not human, and that’s about damn all I know.”
Colin lowered himself into the chair across from the incubus. Jody Rain was tall, muscled, with skin tinted gold by the sun. No lines marred his face, so his age was close to impossible to guess.
“I wouldn’t say that’s all you know,” Colin murmured, aware that he had to tread very carefully with the ADA. Jody was smart, tough, and not generally one for bullshit. “You know about the Bondage Killer, after all.”
One dark brow rose. “I have my sources.”
Colin wasn’t really one for bullshit, either. “Or else you’ve been draining men dry in the city.” A deliberate pause. “If you’re the one killing the bastards, then, the way I figure it, you’d know exactly what was happening.”
A bark of laughter. “I’m no killer.” The smile still curved his lips as Jody said, “I know about the case because my boss knows—and my boss has a big mouth.”
Yeah, that was true enough. Everyone knew the DA needed to learn how to slap a gag order on himself.
“Look, let’s just cut the shit, Detective. I know when the men were killed, and I can provide airtight alibis for all occasions.” That brow was still up as he murmured, “You ready for ’em?”
“Damn it.” McNeal’s only response as Jody Rain began to rattle off dates and locations—and, far, far too many names to back him up.
Emily watched the ADA quietly. She could a feel a hum of energy pulsing off him.
This one was dangerous. Much, much more dangerous than the last demon.
She had to point out, “Demons lie well, you know. And they can get humans to lie for them, too. A simple suggestion, the magic of an incubi’s hypnosis—people would back up his alibi even if they didn’t know who he was.”
“Working these cases can be a bitch,” McNeal grumbled, rubbing a tired hand over his face. “And, yeah, Doc, I know, if they’re strong enough, demons can make the whole world lie for ’em.”
Colin continued to grill the ADA about the alibis, asking question after question, and Jody never even came close to breaking a sweat as he replied.
“Shit.” McNeal ground his back teeth together. “Where’s the last asshole?”
Cameron Komak sprawled back in his chair. His face was hard with anger, belying his easy pose, and the eyes that locked on Colin’s were narrowed.
“Where’s your partner?” Cameron demanded.
“Doesn’t matter.” Colin stalked across the room. “You’ll be dealing with me today.”
Cameron leaned forward, eyes assessing, and after a moment, a wide grin broke across his face. “Good. I’m tired of those fucking humans.”
Colin never changed expression. “Wanna run that by me again?”
The demon rolled his eyes. “Come on, I know you aren’t like them. I’ve known from the first night when you came in with the sexy little Monster Doctor.” He glanced knowingly toward the mirror. “She’s watching me, isn’t she? I can feel her.”
The beast Colin carried roared to life. He clenched his hands—the better to leash the urge to punch the demon.
A laugh, high and grating, burst from Cameron’s lips. “Ah, man, come on, I mean—you know what I am, right? If you didn’t, well, you wouldn’t be in here with me. One of them”—disgust laced the word—“would be.”
Okay. So the guy wanted to play it with gloves off. Fine with Colin. “You don’t like…them…too much do you?” His voice was without any inflection. Not good cop, not bad.
Not yet.
“They’re weak.” Cameron’s lips twisted with distaste. “And they don’t even know it. They go around, acting like they rule this damn world—and they don’t even have a clue what’s really happening.”
“Or who is really running the show,” Colin finished softly.
“Right! Yeah, that’s right. They don’t know.” He nodded quickly, dark hair glinting under the light. “They think they’re the smartest, the strongest things ever put on the earth.” A hard exhalation of air. “They’re dead wrong.”
“Hmm.” Colin pulled out the photos of Michael House, Travis Walters, and Simon Battle. “And sometimes they’re just dead.”
Cameron shot back in his chair. “What the hell?” His eyes almost doubled in size as he stared, almost helplessly, at the dead men.
“You hate them, don’t you?” Soft voice, no pressure. Colin just watched the demon, and waited.
“I don’t even know these guys!” Cameron shoved the photos away. “Is this why I’m here? You think I had something to do with those stiffs?”
“Humans,” Colin drawled out the word, deliberately not answering Cameron’s questions. “You hate all of them, don’t you?”
The demon blinked. “Don’t hate ’em,” he said slowly. “Just don’t really care about ’em at all—”
“So you don’t care that these men are dead?”
“I don’t know them!” His fist slammed onto the table.
Ah, so Cameron had a temper.
And an obvious dislike of humans.
But did he hate them enough to kill?
Colin shifted gears, fast, needing to keep his suspect off balance. “What about Cara Maloan? Just how do you feel about her?”
His lips parted. “Cara? What—”
“How do you feel about her?” Colin pressed.
“I’ve known her for years. She’s like—like a sister to me.” Real worry appeared on Cameron’s face. “Is she okay? Has something happened to Cara? Hell, I knew she shouldn’t be dating that cop friend of yours! I knew it would be trouble—”
“Why?” Still soft.
Cameron swallowed. “Because humans and demons don’t mix. Humans can’t know anything but fear when they’re with us. They aren’t strong enough for more.”
Colin thought of his Emily, and one word immediately sprang to mind. Bullshit.
“He’ll hurt her.” A fierce shake of his head. “I’ve seen it happen before. He’ll take everything she has to give, then he’ll destroy her.”
As Cara’s sister had been destroyed?
“Humans are weak,” Cameron repeated. “They can’t be trusted.”
“So they just need to be killed?”
“No!” Cameron shot to his feet. “Damn it, stop putting words in my mouth! I never said—”
“Why did you think you were brought down here today?” Another rapid-fire question shift.
A blink from the demon. “I-I…don’t know. Thought that Brooks bastard was trying to start trouble for me—”
“Why?”
“Cause he’s always in Paradise, and the guy knows he’s not wanted there. Not by Niol, not by me—”
“But he is wanted by Cara.”
Cameron’s mouth snapped closed. The handsome face turned almost ugly for a moment. “He’s what she wants…now.”
“Ah, so you don’t think that…wanting will last?”
“Not for Cara.” Absolutely certain. Then his gaze sharpened. “Wait, you never said—is Cara okay? Is she? Or has that asshole cop done something to—”
“She’s fine.”
His shoulders relaxed.