by Olivia Black
When the door closed, Reyes snapped out of his thoughts. The agent dropped a folder onto the table before pulling out the chair across from Reyes.
“Thank you for coming in today, Reyes Caliar. My name is Jeremy Myde.”
“No problem.” Reyes’s voice shook slightly and he cleared his throat, trying to focus on the agent in front of him instead of the sweet scent that lingered in the air, tickling his nose.
“Are you okay?”
Reyes nodded. He placed both hands on the table, intertwining his fingers together. “Sorry.”
“There’s no reason to be scared. You aren’t a suspect. You haven’t done anything wrong. We’re just trying to figure out who is hurting members of your coven.”
“No, it’s not that.” He wasn’t scared, not anymore. It was that damn smell. It wouldn’t go away. “I just…I thought I smelled my True Match.” He was probably wrong, but still there was a feeling inside his stomach that he couldn’t ignore.
Could his True Match be inside this building? Was it possible that the man meant for him was an agent?
“It’s not me,” the shifter automatically said, shaking his head rapidly. “You’re not mine.”
“No kidding.” Reyes rolled his eyes heavenward. He hadn’t been talking about the shifter, but the rejection stung a little bit. What the hell was wrong with him? “I wasn’t talking about you.”
“I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that I’ve already found my Destined One.”
“Destined One?” Reyes brows shot up in surprise. He’d never heard that particular term before. Most shifters referred to their one and only as their mate.
“Never mind.” Jeremy grinned. “I was just trying it out. Ignore me. If you want to hang around after the interviews, I’ll introduce you to the other agents. Maybe one of them is your True Match.”
Reyes’s heart tripped. Just the idea that the man made for him, his True Match, was close by made his head spin. It was overwhelming and exciting. “Yeah.” He nodded. “Thank you.”
“Okay.” Jeremy nodded. “Let’s get down to business.”
“There was an incident last night,” Reyes volunteered. He was planning on telling the agency and figured the interview might move along quicker if he shared information he knew.
“What incident? Was someone in the coven attacked?”
“No.” Reyes shook his head. “The alarms went off. I saw someone running toward the gate and leap over. Whoever he was, he got close to the coven, but didn’t hurt anyone. Instead, he wrote on the side of the mansion in blood.”
“What did he write?”
Reyes cleared his throat before saying, “Retribution is mine.”
Jeremy leaned forward, placing his forearms on the table. “Do you have any idea why someone would want seek retribution against your coven?”
“No.” Reyes shook his head.
It was the truth. Reyes wasn’t that close to the members of the coven. There was no familial bond. The group had taken him in when he was a child, but Reyes had only ever been close to his brother, Devin. For the most part, Reyes distanced himself from all the drama that came with living with others. He preferred to be alone.
“Someone is hunting and killing vampires from your coven. This crime is escalating quickly. There have been a total of ten vampires killed and the amount of violence being used on each victim is growing. This is personal. The person responsible isn’t going to stop until he’s gotten revenge. For some reason, this killer wanted the FPA involved. We’re just trying to figure out why. If we can answer that question, we can solve this case.”
“If I knew something, I would tell you. I don’t share the same beliefs as the rest of the coven. I don’t think we should keep everything to ourselves. I haven’t lived at the mansion for a long time. As soon as I hit adulthood and stopped aging, I left the safety of the coven. When vampires started being killed, I was ordered back. I didn’t want to go.” Reyes sighed. “But I didn’t want to be hunted down and killed either.”
Jeremy reached a hand into his pocket. He pulled out a business card and slid it across the table. “If you can think of anything that might help, please don’t hesitate to call. Evan Vexen is the lead agent on this case. But we all work together, so anyone can answer questions or take a statement.”
“Is that it?” Reyes picked up the card, running his finger over the embossed FPA badge. “You don’t have any other questions for me?”
“We’re done, unless there’s something else you want to share.”
Reyes shook his head, disappointed. “I’m sorry. I wish I could’ve been more helpful.”
“It’s okay.” Jeremy stood, picking up the folder from the table. “If you think of anything at all, give us a call. We’re here to help.”
“Thank you.” Reyes pushed out his chair and stood.
Jeremy opened the interview room door. He stood to the side and Reyes walked out into the hallway. Now that the short interview was over, Reyes’s mind was consumed with thoughts of his True Match.
“Would you like to wait in the conference room until all the interviews are complete?”
“Yes.” Reyes’s heart hammered in his chest.
“If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you there.”
Reyes fell into line behind Jeremy. He stared at the back of the man’s head. Excitement and nervous energy ran through his system, putting Reyes on edge. If his True Match was truly inside this building, Reyes’s life would change forever.
Chapter Four
Nothing. Nothing. Nothing. At the end of each interview, Evan wanted to bang his head into the nearest wall. None of the vampires were helpful. None of the coven members gave him a pertinent piece of information. If anything, Evan felt as if the answers to solving this case were moving further from his reach. Hours and hours of conversations that went absolutely nowhere. If he didn’t find some answers soon, Evan was sure more coven members would be killed.
“How’s it going?” Jeremy asked. He gripped Evan’s shoulder in a friendly gesture, offering his unspoken support.
Evan sighed, shaking his head. “I don’t have any answers, only more questions.”
“Did anyone share information regarding an attack on the coven last night?”
Evan stiffened. He turned, facing Jeremy. “What kind of an attack?”
“Reyes Caliar shared a little piece of information with me during the interview. It turns out that the killer got close to the coven. He used blood to write, Retribution is mine.”
At least now, Evan’s suspicions were confirmed. He would never understand why vampires kept to themselves. They wanted to handle all issues internally, but there was no way they would be able to stop a killer. Evan wanted to see the message, but he was sure they washed it away.
“Reyes is still here. I asked him to wait in the conference room. I thought you might want a word since you’re the lead on this case.”
“Thanks.” Evan was exhausted, but he knew it was a good lead and he needed to follow-up. Reyes might have seen the killer.
“No problem.” Jeremy handed off the folder in his hand. “I’m going to head home. Roman’s waiting for me.”
“Have a nice evening with your mate.”
“I’m not referring to Roman as my mate. I’m trying to find another term that won’t scare him. After everything he’s been through, I don’t want to call him my mate. I don’t want him to think of me as being someone like Morenov.”
Evan could hear the emotion in Jeremy’s voice. It was obvious the Komodo dragon shifter was already in love with the man meant to be his. Roman had been rescued from a human sex-trafficker that had abused the young human terribly. Morenov kept Roman for himself, biting and beating him. The rouge wolf shifter had referred to Roman as his ‘mate’ even though it was untrue. Jeremy’s need to separate himself from Morenov was understandable.
“You can use our terminology,” Evan said, referring to vampires. “He can be your True Match.”
/> Jeremy grinned. “Thanks.”
“Go spend some time with Roman. I’ll see you later.”
“Have a good night.” Jeremy wiggled his brows, a big smile planted on his lips. It was a look that Evan wasn’t familiar with, but he was glad to see Jeremy happy.
Evan watched Jeremy walk away. Part of him envied the fact that the shifter had found his mate. He’d been without his True Match for what seemed like many lifetimes. Evan dedicated his life to the FPA and to protecting innocent paranormals. He wasn’t lonely. He had the other agents and they were a family, celebrating holidays and spending time together. But still, he wanted to spend his life with someone and even have that special person waiting for him when he returned home after a long day.
“Maybe one day.” He sighed quietly.
Evan pushed a hand through his hair and headed toward the conference room. He needed to stay focused on this case. Maybe when it was over he’d finally be able to get some sleep.
“Evan!” Ian shouted his name and he spun around. “We’ve got another body.”
“Damn it!” Evan cursed.
He took off, running toward the other agent. When he reached Ian’s side, the owl shifter handed him his leather jacket. Evan shoved his arms through the sleeves as he followed Ian toward the elevators.
“How could this happen?” Evan asked. The coven members were escorted back to the mansion by agents in small groups until all the interviews were complete. “Was there an ambush?”
“No. There was only one victim reported. I don’t know the details. We’ll just have to wait until we get to the scene.”
Evan could only shake his head. Eleven victims. What was it going to take to get through to this coven?
They took the elevator down to the parking garage. Shoving a hand into his pocket, Evan pulled out his keys and hit the unlock button. He climbed into the driver’s seat and Ian jumped into the passenger seat.
“Where are we headed?” Evan asked as he pulled out of his parking spot and drove toward the exit.
“The coven.” Evan glanced over at Ian, his brow raised in question. “The body was dumped right outside the gate on the sidewalk.”
Evan tightened his fingers around the steering wheel until his knuckles turned white. He took the same roads he’d taken the night before. This time he didn’t stay calm through the city traffic. Evan drove aggressively, cutting other drivers off in an attempt to get to the crime scene. He kept his foot firmly pressed against the gas pedal and managed to get to Central Park West in record time.
Yellow tape surrounded the scene and a few New York City police cars were there, lights flashing. Evan was relieved that the human cops had protected his crime scene. He’d been worried that the coven might dispose of his evidence before he arrived.
He pulled his SUV in front of the closed wrought iron gate and parked. Shutting off the engine, Evan climbed out and pocketed his keys.
“FPA?” One of the cops asked, his eyes jumping from Evan to Ian.
“Yes.”
“As soon as we were notified of a murder, we arrived at the scene and secured it. The medical examiner met us here to take the body, but after his initial exam he told us to call you. The scene hasn’t been disturbed.”
Evan appreciated the fact that the FPA had a good working relationship with the human agencies. They’d worked together in the past on quite a few sting operations. He leaned down, stepping underneath the yellow tape. “Thank you.”
There was blood everywhere. Kneeling down, Evan stared at the lifeless form of another coven member. The face looked familiar, one of the vampire’s he’d interviewed earlier in the day. From all the crimson blood, Evan knew this victim had suffered more than the others. Slash wounds covered his entire body including his face. Evan studied the entire scene. That was when he noticed, a short distance away, words written in blood on the sidewalk. Retribution is mine.
“Is there anything we can do to help?” The police officer asked as he hovered on the other side of the tape.
Evan looked up toward Ian and the shifter stepped in, talking to the police officers that were standing around, waiting for orders. When the flashing lights shut off and the police cruisers pulled away, Evan stood up.
“Can you call Max and Reed?”
“Already done,” Ian said.
The two shifters were the best cleaners the agency had. They were able to collect all the relevant evidence while washing everything else away without leaving a trace behind. When they were done, nobody would even know what happened on this sidewalk. Being a cleaner wasn’t an easy job, though, and Evan was sure the two shifters would demand replacements soon.
Looking toward the mansion, Evan said, “I need to have another talk with Garrett.”
“Let’s go. Max and Reed will be here any moment.”
Stepping underneath the tape, Evan looked up at the camera and the gate automatically swung open. With Ian by his side, the two of them walked down the driveway toward the front door. He tried to keep his anger in check, he was sick of playing games with the members of this coven. If they didn’t start cooperating, the entire coven could be wiped out.
Was the secrecy really worth so many deaths? Why weren’t they talking? What the hell had they done to bring this to their front door?
“All we can do is investigate. We can’t force the coven members to cooperate with us.”
“I know.” Evan blew out a frustrated breath.
The front door opened and the coven leader’s assistant, Dennis Boone, stood in the threshold. “Is it Reyes?”
“I’m sorry, what?” Evan shook his head, not understanding the question.
“The victim…” He looked toward the street, looking slightly ill and incredibly worried. “Is it Reyes Caliar? It has to be him or Teddy. Those are the only two that are unaccounted for.”
The name Reyes triggered a conversation that he’d had with Jeremy before he left the agency headquarters. The man shared some important information and he was still waiting inside the conference room to meet with Evan, which meant that the victim was Teddy. So why was Teddy outside the mansion?
When Evan didn’t answer right away, Dennis continued talking. “There was so much blood. His face…I couldn’t…I just…I don’t…” he stumbled over the words.
“Reyes Caliar is at our headquarters.” Evan said. Relief crossed Dennis’s face quickly followed by regret and sadness. “He was being interviewed when I was called away. I need to see Garrett. Where is he?”
“He’s in his office.” Dennis stepped aside and Evan stepped inside the house followed by Ian. “I’ll take you there. Please follow me.”
This time when Evan walked through the mansion, the living room was practically empty. The house was silent. The atmosphere was completely different. Fear, uncertainty, and anxious energy hung in the air so thick that taking a breath was difficult. It seemed that the coven was taking these killings seriously.
Garrett’s office door was wide open. He looked rattled, pacing around the room. The calm, careless attitude was gone. Now, he appeared ruffled, his long hair free of the ponytail. When Evan and Ian stepped inside the office, Garrett came to an abrupt stop.
“I swear.” He lifted his hands, palms up, as if he were surrendering. “I’m not hiding anything from you. The whole coven is on edge. We’re all worried. Everyone has agreed to stay inside the mansion. We aren’t going anywhere. I have no idea what happened…I don’t know who is doing this to us. If I did, I would tell you.”
Evan could sense the truth in Garrett’s words. He didn’t want to believe the coven leader, but Garrett was being honest, which meant he wasn’t involved. Garrett really didn’t know who was hunting down the coven members and killing them.
“You came to New York to become the coven leader after the former leader was killed.”
“I realize now that something tragic happened here way before I arrived in New York. I’ve asked all the coven members what happened. None of them se
em to know anything.”
“Why was Todd not inside?”
“I don’t know.” He shook his head, dropping down into his chair. “I ordered everyone to stay inside the mansion.”
“I need you to keep asking questions. We have to find out why this is happening. Push them. Do whatever it take to get some answers.”
“I will. I swear. I want this guy caught as much as you do. I want this to stop. There’s been too much death.”
Evan knew he wasn’t going to get any answers, but Garrett would. The coven leader would definitely have more luck than anyone at the FPA.
“Reyes Caliar is at our building. I’ll make sure he gets a safe escort home.”
“Thank you.”
“No problem.” Turning on his heel, Evan walked out of Garrett’s office.
His first stop was going to be the conference room. Hopefully Reyes was still there waiting. If the man left, there was a good possibility that he might be the next victim. This perpetrator was hunting and killing, attacking eleven vampires so far. He was getting closer to the coven, becoming more aggressive. He wasn’t scared. If anything, he was showing off. Evan just hoped that he left some evidence behind this time. This guy was getting sloppy. It was a good possibility he was in their system somewhere.
Chapter Five
Reyes hadn’t been in the conference room long before Jeremy Myde started bringing in other FPA agents to meet him. It was awkward and slightly embarrassing, but with each agent, he’d been left a bit disappointed. Jeremy didn’t say a word, just gave him a pointed look and Reyes shook his head slightly, signaling that the man wasn’t his True Match. It was really kind of Jeremy to want to help him out, but Reyes was starting to doubt his nose. Perhaps it was wishful thinking. Paranormals as a whole looked forward to meeting the person meant for them, especially since they were practically immortal. Multiple human lifetimes alone could become incredibly lonely.
Looking at the clock on the wall, Reyes sighed. He’d been inside the conference room for a while. He wasn’t sure if Jeremy had forgotten about him or if the shifter was looking for other agents to introduce him to. Either way, he was getting tired. Pacing around the room, Reyes went to stand in front of the giant white board that stretched across one of the walls. He’d been purposefully avoiding it since entering the room. Now though, he stared at the board, looking at the photographs of all the vampires that had been killed.