by Dannika Dark
Maybe we were expecting Glass to make a grand statement, or perhaps a great escape, but what happened next shocked everyone.
Including me.
Chapter 28
Detective Glass exploded into action and wrapped his arms around me like a vise. His thick canines—all four—pierced my neck with one savage bite.
My body stilled the way prey does when caught by a predator. Just as suddenly as the attack occurred, he let go and vanished.
Stunned, I crumpled to the ground, unused energy buzzing at my fingertips. Christian slid onto his knees beside me.
“Go after him,” I croaked, feeling the slow caress of my warm blood dripping down my neck. Had he torn my throat out?
Christian’s eyes widened when he looked at my neck. “Viktor!”
“I’ll follow Glass,” Blue said, shifting into her falcon and flying away. Instead of leaving behind a glass slipper like Cinderella, she left behind a pile of clothes.
“Jaysus,” Christian whispered, cradling my head. Then he did something that startled me more than Glass’s attack. He latched his mouth around my neck and began to drink.
“This isn’t a banquet!” I protested, trying to shove him away.
He spat in the grass. “I’m drawing out the venom. You’ll die.”
I pushed myself up on my elbows and touched my neck. “Quit trying to slurp on innocent victims while the killer is getting away.”
He rose to his feet, staring at me in disbelief. I wasn’t sure what exactly happened to a Mage when bitten by a Chitah, but I supposed by the confusion stamped on his face that he was expecting to see me writhing in pain or frothing at the mouth.
“Chitah venom doesn’t have an effect on me.”
He pointed his finger at my nose. “We’ll talk about this later.”
I sprang to my feet and flashed in the direction Glass had gone. My phone suddenly vibrated in the pocket of my skirt. “Of all times,” I muttered, slowing my pace.
Christian’s message alerted me to head east. He could hear Blue’s falcon crying in that direction. I reached a dark patch of woods, which allowed Christian to shadow walk and catch up with me.
Out of breath, I stopped and looked all around.
Christian cocked his head to the side. “He stopped running.”
I followed him to a tree line that surrounded an open meadow. We treaded quietly, but since I was barefoot, the soles of my feet were getting pricked and prodded.
A falcon cried from the treetops.
My pulse raced, each heartbeat forcing more blood to trickle from the puncture holes on my neck. I cupped my hand over the wound while Christian glided through the shadows like a phantom.
When I focused on the clearing, Christian walked steadily toward Glass. Moonlight lit up the glade like an arena—its two champions in the center, facing each other like warriors. Glass wielded a big stick, and that was all the weapon he needed against a Vampire. Chitahs were fast, and one strike could render Christian paralyzed.
Glass thrust his arm, driving the stick at Christian’s chest.
Christian moved fast and snapped the wood in two. “You repugnant bastard. Murdering all those women and then having the audacity to pin it on a Vampire. Men who live in glass houses shouldn’t throw stones. What the feck is wrong with you?”
“His woman left him for a Vamp,” I shouted, strolling into the open. “Between that and his mother—”
“Shut up about my mother!” Glass roared, flashing his fangs, which were still tinged with my blood. He backed away from Christian, flicking his eyes between us.
“Did you lure them all back to your spiderweb?” I continued. “Did you dress them up and play house or kill them straight away? That was pretty smart of you, being the first on the scene of the crime. We automatically ruled out your scent.”
Glass wasn’t talking. In my years of stalking criminals, I’d learned how to provoke men into gloating about their kills. Sometimes all it took was a few insults or pointing out their mistakes. Glass was too smart for that. He wasn’t confessing anything just yet.
But his mother was his hot button.
“Was your mother ashamed of her black-haired son?” I asked. “Is that why there aren’t any pictures of you in the house?”
His jaw clenched, and he gave me a baneful look. Christian lunged to grip his wrist, and Glass raced out of reach, making sure to keep us both in his line of vision.
I kept advancing. “Was the Vampire your kindred chose a blond? I bet that was a slap in the face. You could have done anything with your life, but you’re nothing but a spider—luring your prey in a web of lies, paralyzing and killing them. Did you really want someone to love you, or were you just punishing anyone who wouldn’t love you back? Scumbags like you make me sick. How many were there, Glass? Twenty? Two hundred?”
“You can’t prove anything,” he growled.
I gave him an exaggerated smile. “Maybe we’ll just count the shoes, Willard.”
When I distracted Glass with my remark, Christian rushed at him and got ahold of his arm. With a quick motion, he snapped the detective’s wrist. Glass bellowed, but he was smart enough not to fight Christian. Instead, he turned his injured arm in a way that made Christian lose his grip, and at Chitah speed, he ran to the edge of the clearing just twenty feet away. A moment passed as he looked between us. He wasn’t a man who ever lost control or fled, so I could see he was working out a way to take us down so we wouldn’t be alive to testify against him.
Suddenly I felt invigorated. Light danced from my fingertips, and I sang the chorus of “Nowhere to Run.”
“Think you can catch him?” Christian asked in a quiet voice.
“He’s already caught. He just doesn’t know it yet.”
Glass stared daggers at me, no doubt wondering why his venom was inferior against a Mage. I wasn’t about to ease his worries by telling him the truth.
Twigs snapped from the edge of the trees. Shepherd came out of nowhere, charging at Glass like a tank, a knife in each hand. He raised his arm, the motion so quick that by the time he threw the blade, it was already in Glass’s chest. Shepherd tackled him, but Glass savagely bit his arm and escaped.
“Don’t let him go in the house!” Christian shouted. “He’s looking for cover!”
I flashed ahead of the men, moving like liquid through the woods until I neared the mansion. Luckily, most of the land had soft grass, but it hardly mattered. Something switched on inside me, and I became the huntress. Maybe Glass was hoping to hide under the umbrella of a crowd, believing we wouldn’t cause a scene with so many important people around us. If so, he’d underestimated his enemies.
I glimpsed him entering the mansion through the back door. Slowing my pace, I lifted up my dress and used it to wipe the blood away from my neck. As I neared my fallen mask, I put it on and sharpened my light.
Once inside, I jogged down a long hall and searched for a face without a mask. I bumped into a number of people who gave me pointed stares as I scanned the room. He had to be here somewhere, so I put myself in his shoes and guessed he would have gone upstairs where the crowd was thinner and less challenging to maneuver through.
“Where did you go,” I whispered.
Gem guarded the front door, eyes alert. Did she know what his costume looked like? I didn’t have time to stop.
Glass was more dangerous now than ever. With his career finished, he’d never give himself up. The death penalty was swift and certain with the higher authority.
Masks or not, I saw a few horrified glances from women who noticed my bare feet covered in dirt. Christian emerged from the back hall. He stopped and tugged on his earlobe, sifting through all the chatter in an attempt to locate Glass’s whereabouts. It took me a second to realize that Christian could find him easily; Glass would be the only one panting as heavily as I was.
The second my partner’s gaze swung up to the stairs, I took off. My wound had begun to bleed again, and the blood dribbled down my
chest.
“Vampire attack!” a voice boomed.
The conversations in the house snuffed out, the violins screeched to a halt, and a flutter of energy made my hair stand on end.
“My name is Detective Glass, and I’ve been commissioned by the higher authority to capture a serial killer. That Vampire in the kilt has murdered hundreds of innocent women. I just witnessed him biting that woman’s neck and trying to end her life.”
“He lies!” I shouted. “He’s the killer.”
Glass shook his head. “He charmed her to cover his tracks. Are there any honorable men here who will help me subdue this madman?”
Christian’s expression strained, as if he was either going to burst out laughing or fling a silver tray at Glass’s head.
I was kind of voting for both.
A few men advanced toward Christian but hesitated. Someone yelled, “Who has an impalement stake?”
Oh, this was going to get ugly real fast.
Christian’s voice rose above all others. “The first man who puts a stake in me will get fed to the sharks.”
“Seize him!” Glass commanded. “Dead or alive.”
I powered up the left-hand stairs, holding the hem of my dress. People scattered out of the way, more entertained by the spectacle than shocked. I pulled out my push dagger—gripping the T-shaped handle.
I palmed my dagger, holding the three-inch blade close to my side.
Glass eyed it and retreated back a few steps. “You’ve been charmed,” he said. “You don’t know what you’re doing. Attacking me is an act of treason against the higher authority, whether you’re under his influence or not.”
I glanced downstairs and observed Christian shoving men out of the way as he headed up the opposite staircase, his kilt lifting with each step.
Once I reached the top, I squared my shoulders. “We’ve got you. Even if you have us killed on the spot, we have a record of all your online transactions. You were at every crime scene, which is why our Chitah never picked up another scent. You’re clever, but not that clever. Your biggest mistake was using me for information and inviting me to your house. Did you think I wouldn’t snoop through your rooms?”
His lip curled. “Liar.”
“You didn’t get rid of the shoes, did you? Does it make you feel like a better man, you worthless piece of shit?”
I lunged, and he swiped his arm to block my attack. Our moves were too fast, and I couldn’t tell if I’d cut him. He struck me with a hard fist. I stumbled backward and dropped my blade, hearing it tumble down the stairs.
People stood aside, watching as if this were all a production.
Energy crackled between my fingertips, but it wasn’t enough to subdue him. All the flashing had drained my power.
When Christian made it to the top of the stairs, Glass pivoted around and suddenly scooped up a child.
It was Patrick’s little boy, and he wailed out a scream that had everyone stirring with fright.
“Put him down!” Patrick thundered from below. “You put down that child or—”
“Or what?” Glass roared. “You’re looking at a man with nothing to lose. Back off.” Glass held the child with one arm and gripped the top of his head, making it clear it would be frighteningly easy for him to snap the boy’s neck.
“No one’s stopping you from leaving,” I said. “Put the boy down and go.”
The look of desperation in his eyes unnerved me. Men backed into a corner will do anything, and I knew we’d catch up with him eventually. It wasn’t worth a life, especially a child’s life. That was when something behind him caught my attention. It was Niko, pushing his way through the crowd.
Glass turned and recognized him. Now we had him trapped from all directions.
My heart pounded against my chest, my palms sweaty. I reined in my emotions to keep the excess energy from turning on me. The child made loud, gut-wrenching sobs—his tears rolling down the black mask tied around his head. He reached out, tiny fingers splayed in search of someone to save him.
Christian held up his hands. “Go. Don’t hurt the boy.”
Glass cautiously stepped toward Christian and hesitated before glancing over his shoulder at Niko. His lips peeled back in a sneer. “You want the kid? Then go get him!”
Everything happened in slow motion.
Glass flung his arms forward. The boy’s mouth was agape as he flew into the air, right over the banister. I saw wisps of his dark hair, his cape fluttering in the back, his arms wide, but when a scream pealed out of him, it became all too shockingly real.
Christian and I rocketed toward the railing at the same time, but the child was already past our fingertips. A collective gasp sounded in the room, and I might have screamed. Christian leaned over the handrail, reaching farther than I could, and a sliver of hope nestled in my heart when he caught the boy’s foot.
Until the shoe came off in his hand.
I flashed down the stairs, but too many people were blocking my way. When my bare feet touched the marble floor, a hush fell over the crowd.
My heart raced in my chest like a team of wild horses, and I pushed my way through the foyer to the spot beneath the landing. Guests backed away, and when Shepherd turned around, I stopped dead in my tracks.
Of all the men in that room who could have played hero, it was the one covered in scars and tattoos who cradled the weeping child.
“Oh, thank God,” I whispered.
Shepherd’s face was flushed, sweat crowning his head. He must have run the whole way back to the mansion.
“Move out of the way!” Patrick walked swiftly toward Shepherd and took the boy into his arms, his expression filled with rage and relief.
Shepherd’s empty hands closed into fists.
“Boy, how many times have I told you not to wander away?” Patrick hissed.
Glass had thrown the boy as a distraction to escape. When I looked up, I was startled to see him still standing there.
It took a second to register the two shiny blades protruding from his chest. Niko stood behind him, still wearing his mask and holding the other end of his katanas. When he withdrew his swords, Glass tumbled halfway down the right-hand staircase.
Gem flung her mask off and ran toward Shepherd. He wasn’t an affectionate guy in the least, but stopping Gem from her expressive ways was like stopping a tsunami. She wrapped her arms around him and held on tight.
That was how we all felt.
Wyatt blocked the rear exit, so I guessed Claude was outside in case our suspect had fled. The crowd dispersed.
Viktor placed his hands on my shoulders. “You did well.”
“I didn’t catch him.”
“But you tried. Split-second decisions reveal our true character. Saving an innocent life is always more important.” He tossed his mask onto a table of champagne. “This case is officially closed. I will speak with Patrick. Once the Regulators arrive, they’ll want our testimony, so no one leaves.”
We both whipped our heads to the side when someone gasped.
Gem was lying on her back like a fallen butterfly—her colorful hair haloing her head. Shepherd stared down at her with a look of guilt.
He held up his hands. “She just fainted.”
Niko stopped halfway down the stairs and leaned over the banister. “What’s going on?”
Confused, I hurried toward them. “It’s Gem!”
Niko gripped the railing with one arm and vaulted over it, his coat and kilt fluttering around him until he landed on the marble floor in a crouched position. He quickly rose to his feet and strode toward her with one arm outstretched.
Shepherd crouched down and touched her arm. “I don’t feel anything. She’s unconscious.”
Niko knelt by her side. “What about right before?” He gently ran his thumb across her closed eyelids.
“Fear.” Shepherd shook his head. “Shit. I think I accidentally transferred some of the boy’s fear into her. Fuck, I didn’t mean to. I wasn’t expectin
g her to accost me, and my hands were soaked in his energy.”
The guests had seen enough drama for one evening and were funneling out the door. Patrick’s guards redirected some of them to the back to prevent a bottleneck.
Niko cradled Gem in his arms. “I’ll stay with her until she wakes. Can someone get my weapons?”
“Already taken care of,” Christian said from the staircase above. He had Niko’s swords in one hand and Glass’s shirt collar in the other.
“Leave him there,” Shepherd barked out. “You’re tampering with the scene of the crime.”
“I’ll tamper with you,” Christian retorted. “He’s still breathing. I’m just going to finish what we started.”
I walked toward the stairs to join him. “I’d like to get in on that action.”
“Neither of you do anything foolish,” Niko said. “If he doesn’t die tonight, he’ll die by the hand of a Regulator at his time of execution.”
Christian tossed Glass down the stairs. “Always taking the fun out of it, Niko.”
“What happened?” Claude said, rushing through the front door. “Gem!”
“Here we go,” Christian sang as he reached the bottom of the stairs and put his boot heel on Glass’s head. “More chivalrous men rushing to the rescue of a woman.”
I arched my brow. “Don’t act like you weren’t doing the same thing when Glass bit me.”
“Aye. And would you care to explain why you didn’t convulse and die from a lethal dose of Chitah venom?”
“Answer the question,” Viktor chimed in.
I touched the holes in my neck. Luckily two of them were mostly out of sight, so at least the scars wouldn’t look as bad. “I thought you were smoothing things over with Patrick?”
“Mr. Bane is busy contacting the Regulators of the Security Force. Now, what happened to your neck?”
“Chitah bite.”
“And you are immune?” He gave Christian a scolding glance. “You did not mention this to me.”
Christian stroked his beard. “You can stab her with a stunner, stake her, and serve her at the dinner table to a family of Chitahs, and she’ll still find something else to surprise us with.”