“You know, an elf, a human, and a werewolf walk into a bar ...”
Peyton snorted on a half laugh. “You are not right, man.”
“I’ve had worse said about me.” He flashed his badge at the bouncer by the door, who nodded and stepped aside. “Let’s go catch a bad guy.”
He spotted the vampire within moments of entering the club. The red hair was a dead giveaway, shining even under the low lighting of the bar. The man saw them coming, too, his eyes widened slightly, and what could almost be called an anticipatory grin flashed over his face. He saluted them with his drink, downed it, and then spun for one of the exits.
The energy building up in Jack had a direction, and he let it loose, diving after the vampire. “We have the place surrounded, Gregor. Give yourself up!”
He heard Selina behind him, a spell booming her voice out like a megaphone. “This is the police. I want everyone out of here, right now. Move!”
Screams pierced the air, and general chaos exploded around them. Jack kept his gaze on the vampire. One slip and the man would disappear, and Jack just wasn’t having that tonight. Their case needed a break, and this was it.
His heart pounded loudly in his ears, drowning out some of the squeals of fear and anger around him. From the corner of his eye, he saw Peyton body slammed by a huge wolf who’d half-shifted into a monster. Ignoring it, Jack pushed through the scurrying crowd toward his target, forcing a Fae aside and sending an elf reeling into a chair.
Gregor ducked his head out one door, then jerked back in as the roar of gunfire sounded from outside. People screamed louder, and a few spells zinged through the air. Jack ducked against a wall, taking as much cover as he could as he moved. Gregor spun, saw Jack, and whipped away again. He blinked and the vampire was disappearing into another room, one with thumping music playing and a dance floor where Magickals ran into each other in their haste to get out.
Dodging around running people, Jack hurried after the fleeing bloodsucker. Luckily, his escape was as hindered as Jack’s pursuit. Shooting in this crowd was impossible, though he wished he could, just to slow the bastard down.
Gregor darted through a door marked STAFF ONLY, and Jack ran after him, leaping over a fallen woman. The throbbing music grated on his nerves, but he pushed everything away except catching up with the vampire. He couldn’t match the speed, but he could try to keep him in sight.
He ran through the doorway, his weapon at the ready in case Gregor decided to double back and attack. There was no vampire. Jack had a choice, up a set of stairs to the right or into the darkened bowels of the building. He chose up and bolted toward the staircase.
A shout sounded above him, and Jack ran faster, taking the steps three at a time. The deep roar of a werewolf was followed by a vampiric hiss and a huge crash. He got to the top of the stairs in time to see Peyton exploding into a half shift. In seconds, he was seven feet tall, his face shooting out into a snout with dripping fangs, deadly talons tipping his fingers. He slashed at Gregor, who skittered backward, but not fast enough. Blood sprayed when the ends of Peyton’s claws ripped through Gregor’s flesh.
The vampire’s eyes flashed red, and instead of retreating, he plunged forward and sank his fangs into the werewolf. The two went down in a crash, flailing and slashing at each other with fangs and claws. They moved almost too fast for Jack to track, let alone get a decent shot in, and they took down stacked tables and chairs with them. Gregor rolled to the top, a broken table leg in his hand. He bashed Peyton in the head with the thick piece of wood, crushing his heel down on one of the wolf’s hands, and Jack heard the sickening sound of the bones snapping.
“Laramie!” Selina slid to a stop behind them. Lightning twined around her arms, and she darted forward to throw a bolt of it at Gregor.
The vampire was on her in seconds, backhanding her across the face. She blasted him away from her with more lightning, and Jack took his opportunity.
Wrapping his arm around the vampire’s neck from behind, he drove his fist into the other man’s side. Gurgling a shriek, Gregor whipped around, slamming them both backward into a wall. The breath exploded out of Jack’s lungs, and he wheezed through the pain. He couldn’t match the vampire for strength or speed, so he tightened his grip around the man’s neck. Again and again, Gregor rammed them into the hard wall, until Jack felt it begin to give.
Exhaustion sapped at his strength, and his arms shook with the effort to hold on. Agony flowed in waves up and down his back, sweat sliding down his skin, burning into his eyes. The vampire twisted and bucked hard, and Jack couldn’t maintain his grip. He flipped through the air, covering his head with his arms to protect it. Crashing into the floor, he rolled over and over until he hit the top of the stairs. He grabbed for the rail and caught himself before he could tumble down the steep steps.
Gregor scuttled forward to jump over Jack, but Jack wrapped his hand around the vampire’s ankle and tried to drag him back. Selina’s lightning arced through the air again, blasting Gregor away from the stairs and sending him skidding across the floor. Jack jerked his handcuffs out of their holder on his belt and dove on the vampire, slapping one cuff around the redhead’s wrist and chaining the other to his own. He wasn’t going anywhere without taking Jack with him.
A hiss of frustration exploded from the bloodsucker. The cuffs were bespelled to cut off a Magickal’s power when both were attached to the suspect. At half-power, they just slowed him down a little. Jack would take it.
Wrenching at his wrist, Gregor lifted Jack off his feet, and agony shot down his arm. With his full weight on the shoulder, it was going to give any second. The grinding pop made pain shoot straight to the base of his skull. He gritted his teeth, tensed every muscle, and lunged up to wrap his free hand around Gregor’s wrist and take the pressure off his arm. Drawing back his feet, he slammed them into the vampire’s chest, who stumbled backward. He went down hard, and Jack landed on top of him.
He rammed the butt of his hand into the vampire’s nose, breaking it. Another sharp jab, and Gregor lolled on the floor, unconscious.
As fast as he could, Jack flipped the vampire over and refastened the cuffs to both wrists. His dislocated arm was damn near useless and burned like a brand had been laid to the flesh, but it could be fixed. Jack slumped to the ground, leaning back against Gregor’s prone body. “Everybody okay?”
“I’ll live,” Selina said, picking herself up off the floor with a wince. Peyton grunted and gave her a hand up. His fingers were already starting to heal themselves, and his head looked none the worse for wear, so Jack figured he’d be fine.
“Game over. We win.” More or less.
11
Jack and Selina stepped into the interrogation room. She held a three-inch-thick folder in her hands and let it thunk to the table. Jack had had some quality time with the healer Cavalli kept on hand, so he was fine, thank gods. Selina had healed her own split lip and cleaned up while she let their vampire stew in here for a while. “So. Gregor. Interesting to see you again.”
“Always a pleasure, Detective Grayson. How’ve you been?” He flashed a cheerful smile, despite the blood crusting on his nose and lip. His body had healed itself with the swiftness of his kind, but the evidence of damage would still be there until he washed it away. Bringing him in had been as messy as she’d thought it would be. His clothes were torn and sported claw-sized rips in several places.
Jack settled into a chair silently, letting her run the show. For the moment. She arched an eyebrow, not returning Gregor’s smile. “It’s never a good day when I have to deal with you.”
“Ouch.” He gave an exaggerated wince, as though her words had deeply wounded him.
Yeah, right. If anything fazed Gregor, she had yet to run across it. She tapped her pen against the table, running her gaze over the thick file they had on the man. “You began working for the New Orleans Conclave in 1976, is that correct?”
Forming his mouth into a thoughtful moue, he tilted his head. “I�
��ve worked for a lot of people over the years. I’m sure they were one of the groups.”
She spun around his vampire registration paper from the All-Magickal Council. “This is your signature, isn’t it? It states that you were turned in 1978 by the leader of the Conclave.”
He shrugged. “It looks like my signature, but these things can be faked. I don’t remember this document offhand, but that doesn’t mean I didn’t sign it. That was decades ago.”
“So you worked for them as a human and they turned you. When did you leave their employ?” And was it before or after the dates of the first murders?
His expression remained bland and pleasant, but his tongue flicked out to lick some of his own blood off his lip. “I worked for them exclusively for ten years before I began to take contracts with other clients.”
Meaning he was there long after the murders, but left before the killings in the second city had occurred. She drew in a deep breath and folded her hands tight to keep them from shaking. She kept her face smooth when she looked at him. “You like to kill people, don’t you, Gregor?”
“I don’t like it.” His eyebrows rose, and he shook his head. “It’s just my job to clean up other people’s messes. Sometimes people get hurt in the process.”
She pinned him with a stare. “Some people might find that immoral.”
“Do you?” His teeth flashed in a white smile.
Shaking her head, she tapped her finger against the file in front of her. “We’re not here to talk about what I think.”
“So? I’m asking anyway.”
“I think murder is illegal. That’s what I think.” Her voice was cold enough to freeze a half-shifted werewolf in his tracks.
The chuckle he gave sounded far too charming. “The difference between murder and justifiable killing can often be as simple as who carries a badge and who doesn’t.”
Ouch, there was a direct hit.
“How did you know Jason Mathison?” Jack spoke for the first time, his blue eyes intent on Gregor.
The vampire shook his head, innocent confusion on his face. “I’ve never even heard that name.”
Innocent, ha. She was surprised he didn’t burst into flames for even attempting the lie. She sat in the chair beside Jack. “We have a witness who saw you standing over his dead body. His drained dead body.”
“I haven’t drained anybody in years.” He smiled like a good little Boy Scout.
Jack ignored that and sat forward. “You returned to Seattle a few weeks ago, didn’t you?”
“I come and go.” Gregor flapped a negligent hand.
“We have a string of murders in Seattle that started two days after you came to town. All of them drained, just like Jason Mathison.” Jack rested one hand on the table. “Why don’t you tell us why you came back to this city?”
The redhead snorted. “It wasn’t to murder anyone.”
“You don’t seem to have a problem killing people, Mr. Night. You said so yourself.” Selina pursed her lips. “Why should we believe you had nothing to do with these?”
His genial smile returned. “Believe what you want, but I didn’t kill your Jason Mathison, or anyone else since I came back to Seattle.”
“In fact”—Jack took up the questioning—“we have a similar string of murders that took place during the time you were in New Orleans. And others in about half a dozen other cities in the last thirty years. We’ve got a lot of bodies just looking for a home, and you seem like a good fit to me, Mr. Night. Give me a good reason why I shouldn’t think so.”
“If you had any real evidence that linked me to the crimes, you’d have arrested me already.” Gregor spread his hands. “Are you going to be reasonable and let me go, or do I need to call my lawyer? I’m not answering any more questions for you, and you can’t make me.”
They weren’t going to get anywhere with him. If he lawyered up, they’d get even less. Frustration crawled through her, but she knew better than to push her hand during an interrogation. She could still keep him until the lawyer arrived, keep asking questions, but she knew it would be pointless. He knew this drill far too well.
The door swung open and Delta sauntered in. “Gregor. Long time, no see, sugar.”
Every inch of color drained out of the vampire’s face, his pale skin standing out in even starker contrast to his copper hair. “Wh-what are you doing here?”
The tiniest edge of panic filled his voice. Now wasn’t that interesting? Selina arched her eyebrows, glancing back and forth between the two bloodsuckers.
“Well, you seem to be handling the elf and the Normal, so I thought you’d like to see how you measure up against a vampire.”
“N-Normal?” He flinched and grew even paler, drawing back when she stepped forward, planted her hand on the table, and got into his space.
“I’m a Normal.” Jack raised his hand. “Do you have a problem with Normals knowing about magic, Mr. Night?”
“I—”
“Think carefully how you answer that one, Gregor, since we both know you’ve let people in on magic in not quite legal ways before.” Delta’s violet gaze never wavered from his face. “Haven’t you?”
Gregor’s hands clenched on the tabletop, his eyes going wide. “I—I never meant to hurt you.”
“No, you only hurt people for money.” Her words dripped with disgust, disdain.
He flinched, his jaw working. “You have every right to hate me.”
“Fuck me, fuck me over, take my life, and drop me like I’m a worthless piece of trash.” She snorted. “Yeah. Yeah, I really do hate your bloodsucking ass.”
“I understand.”
“No, you really don’t.” Her fangs extended to their full, deadly length, a hiss rattling out of her throat. The woman looked far more vicious than Selina would have imagined she was capable of. Gregor really knew how to make friends and influence people. Delta’s accent grew thicker when she spoke again. “You’re lucky I have a badge and oaths I swore to uphold, or you’d be a dead man right now.”
He swallowed hard, nodded, but held her gaze steadily. “I’m sorry for what I did to you.”
She slapped her hand against the table. “You don’t get to be sorry, pal. I want you to suffer the way you’ve made other people suffer.”
“I have.” The words were quiet, simple.
“Not enough. Not nearly enough.”
His lips twitched in the ghost of a smile. “You’re beautiful when you’re angry. Almost as beautiful as you are when you’re turned on.”
All the blood whooshed out of her face, then burned in bright red spots on her cheeks. She hissed at him again, fangs bared. “I hope you rot behind bars for the rest of your long, long life.”
His eyebrow arched. “You’ll forgive me if my hopes are a bit different from yours.”
“I don’t forgive you for anything, and I doubt any of your other victims do either.” A smile slashed across her face. “You know, there’s no statute of limitations on turning someone against their will. And I’d make a real good witness in that trial.”
He swallowed and said nothing. No glib remarks, no guileless grins. He looked at Selina. “I’m in Seattle working for Mildred Standish. You can verify that with her, though I doubt she’ll give you any details about what she has me doing. I can assure you it doesn’t call for any wet work. I have correspondence that can corroborate when the job was offered and when I was required to be in Seattle, which is now. That’s why I’m in town. Not to kill anyone.”
“Do you have similar correspondence that will clear you of any involvement in the other murders?”
“Yes.” There was no hesitation. “I don’t go anywhere that doesn’t include a job, so ... yes. My contracts don’t tend to be the kind that leave extra time for side jobs, trust me.” His gaze flickered to Delta when she gave a derisive snort. “I won’t give you the details of those assignments, either, but every one of my employers will vouch for having hired me and when. Give me the dates and the cities you
’re talking about, and I’ll have myself cleared within the hour.”
Selina shook her head, unsatisfied with that. “What were you doing at Jason Mathison’s house?”
“I was in the neighborhood and smelled death. I went to check it out. I touched nothing at the crime scene.”
“You also didn’t report it,” Jack pointed out, stony faced.
“I assumed his people would be along soon to do so. There was no need to involve myself.” His shrug was expressive. “His body was relatively fresh when I got there, so I assure you I have an alibi for the time of his death.”
Delta made a noise that was pure, frustrated rage. She spun on her heel and stomped out of the room. Selina followed and found her bent over with her hands braced on her knees and her butt leaning against the wall, sucking in deep breaths.
“You did good, Dubois.” She squatted down so she was eye level with the other woman. “I wasn’t getting anything out of him. Thank you.”
Delta glanced at her out of the corner of her eye. “He may not have done these ones, but it makes me nauseous how often he wiggles out of any responsibility for the things he has done.”
“I know.”
“Jesus. I never thought I’d see him again.” A shudder ran through her. “It was worse than I ever imagined.”
Selina sighed, sympathy winding through her. Yeah, she knew what it was like to be confronted with her worst nightmare. She was there now. “I’m sorry.”
The vampire just shook her head, pulled herself upright, and sucked in a deep breath. “I’ll be okay. I need to get back to work. I owe y’all the rundown on your profile. Which Gregor doesn’t fit.”
“We can’t keep Gregor much longer—since we have no hard evidence and I’m guessing he really will alibi out—but Jack and I will want to lean on him a little longer.” Selina rose to her feet. “Take an hour and we’ll meet you in Jack’s office.”
“I’ll be there.” The blonde’s tone was almost a threat as she strode away.
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