“It looks like he’s not reacting to my power,” I admit to Hunter.
He shakes his head. “I can’t read his mind either—it’s completely clouded over. He’s human but connected to a vampire. I think the vampire is protecting his mind and made him semi-immune to glamour.”
“That doesn’t help us at all. What are the possibilities that he’s responsible or involved in things?” I ask.
Hunter once again shakes his head. “I honestly have no idea. I’ve only talked to him once before. Let’s move on with the questioning to see if we find someone else who’s suspicious.”
“I didn’t realize vampires could do that,” I say with a frown.
“His vampire is the coven leader, so maybe he’s more powerful,” Hunter suggests.
I nod, knowing that the coven leader is much like a pack leader.
“Vincent is probably older than he looks.”
He looks at me questioningly. “How so?”
“Vampire companions tend to live longer than humans. If they’re connected to their vampire from the sharing of blood, they can have an extended life,” I explain.
“I wasn’t aware.”
“They’re annoyingly private. Not really a ton of fun unless you find a loner who doesn’t act all secret society.” I shrug. “Who’s next?”
“Werewolves are in a group on their own, visiting the outdoor pool,” Hunter says after consulting his papers.
I grimace. “Yum, wet dog. Lead the way.”
We end up trekking all the way to the other side of the hotel, Hunter stopping every once in a while and perking up at imaginary noises.
“Stay here, and I’ll bring them over two at a time,” Hunter says with narrowed eyes, watching the werewolves swimming around from behind the pool house.
“Sure thing.” I wave him away.
He comes back in a moment with two dopey-looking wolves. They really do look dumb; half-dressed, oversized, and with glazed-over expressions when I hit them with my über hotness. Werewolves are some of the easiest for me to glamour. They love to help me in all ways possible.
“Hey there, sweeties,” I begin and quickly have them eating out of my hand and doing tricks.
Hunter rolls his eyes when I’m done questioning. “They’re clean. I’ll be back with more victims.”
When he says “victims,” it sounds so offensive. We’re the good guys! Of course, I forget all about that when he comes back with two more wolves. One of them is a pretty little girl, and then there’s Olly. Man, if he doesn’t look like a god with his washboard abs.
I lick my lips subtly and say to Olly, “Having a good swim?”
“Would be better if you were there.”
I giggle like a school goddess. “You flatter me! I know you don’t have anything to do with the murder business, but I have to ask anyway. Have you been abducting or murdering lately? Maybe some light torture? Bought someone on the black market?”
Olly gives a little snort. “I don’t have to pay for it.”
“Oh, honey, I believe that,” I purr seductively, watching water drip from his oh-so delicious body.
Hunter growls, “That’s enough. Send him away.”
I snap at him for making me get rid of my eye candy, but dutifully turn to the task at hand. I smile like a friend to the woman, since I know she isn’t instinctively interested in girls. My powers don’t just work on people who are attracted to me. They work on women and men who admire me in platonic ways as well. You can admire beauty without being sexually attracted to someone.
“Hello, who are you?”
She turns to me as if my voice is sunshine and she wants to bask in it. “I’m Beth.”
“What a pretty name for a pretty woman. I have some questions for you, is that okay?”
“Ask me anything,” she says.
“Excellent!” I grin. “Do you know anything about the abductions or the murders going on here at the convention?”
“Cammy was a witness,” Beth says.
I frown. “Is Cammy a friend of yours?”
Beth shakes her head. “I was going to marry her brother, but he died from lung cancer. They knew about me and my family. Cammy doesn’t have any family left besides us. She’s angry at me because I didn’t bite her brother.”
I give a confused blink. “That wouldn’t have done anything. You can’t pass on being a were like a virus.”
“I tried to explain that to her, but she didn’t understand,” Beth says.
“Cammy was there when the second body was found?”
“No, she was at the dance when the three women were taken. She said they were meeting up with some men, but she couldn’t remember what they looked like,” Beth says.
Hunter shrugs at me when I look at him, not understanding where this is leading either. “Beth, do you think Cammy had anything to do with it?”
Her eyes suddenly start to tear up. “I don’t know why she couldn’t remember the men they were meeting. She didn’t drink anything when she was with me, but suddenly acted drunk.”
Hunter and I share a glance.
“Thank you for talking about this with me, Beth. Why don’t you go back to your friends at the pool?” I suggest.
Before she can walk away, Hunter says, “Wait. Has she been spending time with someone new recently?”
Beth turns to him, her eyes seeming a little more aware. I get her attention quickly and make eye contact, pulsing power over to her until she’s once again firmly unaware. After that, I repeat the question that Hunter had asked her.
“A werewolf. Brody, or something like that. They met online at a werewolf grief counseling chat room. I didn’t know he’d be here,” Beth says, her face appearing troubled again.
“It’s all right, I’m sure everything is fine. You couldn’t have done anything more for her or her brother. Go relax and have fun while you’re here. You deserve it,” I tell her. My powers over her will quickly fade as she leaves my presence.
Hunter looks troubled when I turn to him. “When I saw Vincent at the bowling night, he was with a werewolf named Brandon.”
“It’s not a Brody, but they’re similar,” I say.
“I suppose,” he says, but doesn’t sound very convinced. Hunter shakes his head. “I’m not sure about Vincent. When he left Julian and me that night, he was going to go talk to a tiger shifter.”
“Hinky,” I agree.
“Not sounding too great, but questioning him more when he’s immune to our powers won’t help,” Hunter says. “I’ll go get the last three werewolves.”
The next three wolves check out with clean bills. None of them know anything at all, even though one of them is the guy who spoke callously at the assembly to the wild dogs. Guess he’s just an ass and not a full-out sociopath. We’ve lucked out with the schedule, and the group with the tiger shifters is outside too, taking a nature walk and learning about herbs. Won’t be difficult to lead them off the path of righteousness.
“What’s up with the tiger shifters?” I ask him as we go all around the hotel again.
“One of them used to be involved in a carjacking ring. The other one has a lot of unpaid parking tickets and was arrested for public nudity,” Hunter says after checking his papers.
I snort. “You wrote him down for having unpaid parking tickets? No assault charges or anything? Sounds more like a tame little kitten.”
“It’s a girl, actually, and there were a lot of them,” Hunter says defensively.
“Plus public nudity.” I chuckle. “Every self-respecting shifter has been caught out without their clothes on.”
“I’m guessing that rule applies for goddesses too,” Hunter says dryly. “Hush, there they are.”
“Go play fetch, and I’ll wait here,” I say, shooing him away and ignoring his glare.
When he comes back he has a handsome tiger and an exotic female with him. They both move too gracefully, eyes watching me with a predatory air, even after I’ve hit them with my power. It�
�s the kind of predatory gleam in their eyes that makes their prey want to get caught, badly, I’m sure.
“Hey there, pretty kitties, would you mind answering a few questions for me?” I ask. They both flash me sharp, wicked teeth. I take that as a yes. “Have either of you been naughty and stalked after women so you could steal them away in the night?”
The female tilts her head at me. “No.”
The man grins. “Yes.”
I clarify, “So you can torture and murder them?”
He shakes his head vehemently. “No. To mate.”
“Good boy! Spread around that rare tiger seed and give us some pretty little kittens. You’ve both been very helpful, but you can go back to your nature walk now.” I grin, patting the pretty boy’s head until he rubs against my hand and starts to purr.
“Do I have to?” he asks with obvious reluctance.
I giggle and take my hand away. “Yes, you do. Thank you very much, though.”
I watch them walk away with a little grin.
“You do realize that questioning doesn’t always mean sexually harassing people too, right?” Hunter asks me with some annoyance.
I turn to him with a frown. “I was just being friendly, and it helps them feel more comfortable when I’m friendly. If that includes a little flirting, what’s the harm?”
“That I don’t like it?” he asks.
“Come on, big guy. I’m going home with you, so what’s the big deal?” I ask with a teasing smile.
Hunter gives me a dark look, pretty green eyes narrowed. “That might be more comforting if I knew you came home with me by choice.”
“Details, details.” I wave his protests away. “What do we think? Should we question people further? Go back and make a new list of suspects? Narrow the pool down? Huh, whatcha thinking?”
Hunter’s face turns less pissy and more serious. “I don’t get a good vibe off of Vincent, and I’m not sure what’s going on with the Cammy girl. I don’t know if she really was drunk, or quickly became drunk when she was away from Beth. Either way, not being able to remember who her friends were last seen with doesn’t look good.”
“I can make a few calls to my contacts. I didn’t want to if it wasn’t necessary, but I can.” I sigh.
Hunter gives me a look. “What kind of contacts do you have that would be helpful in this instance?”
“I kind of know someone in the underground. You know, totally living off the books,” I say. “He’s like the gossip queen of the underground. Or black market. Whatever you’re more comfortable with.”
“How do you know him?”
I shrug. “Oh, this and that.”
“Peitho,” he says, his voice a warning.
“It’s kind of Dolos, that guy you saw me with on karaoke night? The god of trickery and such. He’s a lot like Apate, that’s why we’re pretty good friends.”
“You mean that guy you made out with? Right in front of me?” Hunter asks.
I heave a disgusted sigh. “See, this is exactly why I didn’t want to mention it. I knew you’d get your panties in a twist. At this point, getting a bit of info on anything new going on in the underground would be good. Could give us some information so we know more about what’s going on.”
“How so? We have two human suspects,” Hunter says stubbornly.
“One we can’t question, and one who might have lied about being drunk. That’s not a ton to go off of, hate to tell you,” I tell him.
“What exactly could this Dolos know?” Hunter asks.
Frustrated, I reply, “I don’t know that yet, since I haven’t called him! I suggest we go back home, call him, then regroup.”
Hunter suddenly grins his smug dragon grin. “You called my cave home.”
“It’s a figure of speech,” I try to backtrack.
“Sure.” He doesn’t sound like he believes me. At all. Stupid dragon ego. “Let’s get away from the hotel, and I’ll change shape. I’ll consult my list of werewolves to see if we can find anyone who matches the description of who was with Vincent. I’ll try to dig up some more information on Cammy as well.”
“Good idea,” I agree.
“I was thinking of steak for dinner, that good with you?”
I decide to forgive him a little. “I’m in the mood for apple pie.”
“We can pick one of those up too.” He grins, and I know he’s happy because we sound almost like a couple. Or family. Or something dumb like that. Even if we both know it’s a façade.
Chapter 13
I take a nice relaxing bath in the natural spring running through the cave. It’s nice and toasty warm, plus big enough to actually swim around in.
“Peitho?” Hunter walks into the chamber.
I swim over to where he’s standing, arms crossed and not even looking turned on to see me wet and naked. “What is it?”
“I couldn’t find more information about Cammy or Vincent on the computer,” he says with annoyance. “I thought maybe you could call that guy and get some information.”
I smile a little. “You mean you want me to call Dolos? After you told me we wouldn’t need to, and hid the phone?”
He has the decency to look a little embarrassed. “I may have overreacted. Now, can you call him or what? We’re wasting time here.”
I sigh in annoyance. It’s not that he came in here to get a peek at me, or join me, or do anything fun like that. No, he came here and interrupted my lovely bath in order to ask a favor and nag. After he specifically told me—nay, demanded—that I not call Dolos. The nerve of this man!
“Yes, I’ll call him.”
He continues to stand there. “Now a bad time?”
I glare at him. “Lucky for you I’ve already washed and rinsed, or I’d make you wait. Get me a towel.”
Hunter gets the black towel from where I’d flung it across a rock. He holds it out while I get out of the water. Hunter wraps the towel around me, not even copping a feel or anything. Almost makes a girl feel unappreciated, though I see some heat in his eyes. That, at least, is something.
“Can I get dressed?” I ask sarcastically.
“You’ll only get whatever you put on wet. Might as well call while you’re drying off.”
“You want me to call Dolos while naked?” I arch a brow at him.
He quickly frowns at me and retrieves the large black T-shirt I’d set on the rock with the towel. I towel dry my hair and slip on the T-shirt. I allow him to lead me to the main room of the cave, where he pulls out a phone, the one I’m assuming he hid when we first got here, so I couldn’t slip away and make a secret call. The one he’s asking me to make now.
“That’s your phone? It’s, like, ancient,” I say, looking down with distaste at the regrettably old-fashioned phone Hunter’s currently holding out to me.
He looks down in surprise at the spin dial. “Don’t tell me you don’t remember how to use this kind.”
I snatch the phone out of his hands. Honestly, to suggest that sort of thing to me. I’m the one who’s older than him, not the other way around. Hell, I remember when we talked in a series of grunts, not across the country to one another. Just because I’ve gone modern and haven’t stuck to the old ways that were shit to begin with, I’m suddenly a child?
“Of course I know,” I huff.
“Call your ex-boyfriend already,” Hunter tells me, crossing his arms.
“He’s not my ex,” I mutter, starting to dial.
“Well, he’s sure as hell not your current.”
I groan aloud. “Dolos and I have never dated. We’re just friends, as I’ve told you before. I don’t just fuck people if I’m their girlfriend. That would mean I’ve been in—”
“Don’t! I don’t want to know how many,” he says loudly.
“Fine. Just shut up, and don’t embarrass me while I’m on the phone.”
It takes three rings for Dolos to pick up.
“Hey, Dan The Man speaking,” he says cheerfully.
“Cut the s
hit, it’s Peitho.”
Suddenly his voice becomes deeper and seductive, “Peitho, my little golden goddess, what can I do for you? Or what can we do for each other?”
I feel Hunter rumble beside me, easily able to hear the conversation. I give him a warning glare. “I’m looking for some information, and I was hoping you could help me with it.”
“What are you looking for?”
“No artifacts or anything this time. I was wondering if there’s any word on the streets about shifters. Anything new going on there?”
He’s silent for a moment. “I know you’re at the shifter convention because you were assigned as representatives. Maybe you shouldn’t stick your nose into things that aren’t really your business. I don’t think it’s something you’ll want to deal with. Why don’t you find a nice little werewolf to keep you entertained instead?”
My teeth start to ache from clenching them. “Let me worry about what I want to deal with. Tell me what’s going on.”
Dolos sighs. “You won’t like it. There’s been movement on the human trafficking market. It’s been a pretty small organization so far, but they’re getting more exotic people. I’ve traced things back to England, near the convention, but no specific location.”
“What are they being sold as?”
“Sex slaves. There’s … something else. I guess the leader of the ring isn’t too right in the head. He thinks he’s a vampire or something, though I’m not sure what he is. He tries to drink their blood. He can get a bit rough. Some of the slaves are being sold—” Dolos stops suddenly.
When he doesn’t say anything else, I prompt him with, “Yes?”
“Dead.”
“What do you mean?” I ask, feeling sick, since I’m fairly certain I already know.
“Peitho,” Dolos hesitates but dutifully says, “I guess when he’s had his turn or tried to break them, they haven’t survived it. Some of them have been sold as corpses. I know we all like to think there isn’t a market for that sort of thing, but looks like there is. The ones taken from the convention aren’t the start of this. There are others. It just helps that they’re all there for the picking. Every type.”
Skin of a Goddess (Goddess Ascension Book 1) Page 18