Hotter After Midnight tmt-1

by Синтия Иден

  "Coming!" Muffled, feminine. Shuffling footsteps followed the call. The door opened with a faint squeak.

  A small, dark-haired woman in her early fifties blinked. "Emily?"

  "Hi, Mom." Deliberately, she kept her voice light, her body relaxed. "Mind if I come in?"

  Her mother’s knuckles whitened around the door frame, but after a moment, she stepped back, and Emily walked slowly into the home she hadn’t seen in years.

  "So, the doctor’s your girlfriend now, huh?" Brooks asked as they approached Paradise Found. Two hulking guys were leaning against the outside of the building, their eyes scanning the streets.

  "I’m not talking about her, Brooks." His partner was like a dog with a bone. A damn annoying dog.

  "Well, it looked like she was your girlfriend. I mean, I hope you don’t get that friendly in the Crypt with just every woman you meet."

  The two men finally caught sight of them. They stiffened. One pulled out a radio and spoke quickly.

  Good. Let the bastard know we’re here.

  "Damn. I think our boys are carrying." Finally, the guy was talking about something other than Emily. Brooks reached for his weapon. "You didn’t tell me this Niol guy had muscle."

  "Yeah, he’s got muscle." Money. Muscle. And a serious attitude problem. Not the ideal candidate for an impromptu interrogation.

  Colin flashed his badge to the guys at the door. Wondered if they were human or demon. For a moment, he wished he’d brought the doc with him. But he hadn’t been able to find her at the precinct.

  The woman had run from him. Not a good sign.

  But he’d track her. Apologize for jumping on her like a starving asshole. He’d just been desperate for a taste of her, and he’d given in to the driving hunger.

  A woman like her, a classy lady used to fancy restaurants and shows, she wouldn’t like being pushed up against a dirty wall and stripped. Oh no, she wouldn’t like that a damn bit.

  He was prepared to apologize. And he was also prepared to get her naked beneath him. At the earliest opportunity.

  The men grunted as they looked at his ID. "Whaddya want?" The bigger guy asked the question. The fellow had to be six foot seven, maybe eight, and his body was covered with brightly colored tattoos.

  "We want to see Niol."

  "Do you now?" The other guy stepped forward, the radio gripped in his hands. "You got a warrant?"

  Ah, definitely not new to the game. Colin glanced toward Brooks, saw from his partner’s lifted brow that he was thinking the same thing.

  "We’re not here to search the bar," Brooks told him, flashing his I’m-harmless-and-want-to-be-your-friend smile. "We just need to ask your boss a few questions."

  "Well, maybe he don’t wanna answer yer questions." Tattooed crossed his beefy arms over his chest and glowered at them.

  The radio crackled to life. The smaller guy pushed a button. "Yeah?"

  "Let ’em through."

  Tattooed swore.

  The smaller guy glared at them as he jerked his thumb toward the door. "Go on."

  "Thanks," Colin muttered, and lifted his hand to his holster as he went inside. No telling what kind of reception Niol could have waiting for them…

  The interior of Paradise Found was lit only by a few weak lights. Niol sat at a table near the bar, a pair of dark sunglasses over his eyes. He didn’t rise when they approached, just inclined his head and said, "Detective, back so soon, eh?" A taunting smile curved his lips. "That’s the way it is for most folks. They find my place a bit…addictive."

  Yeah, he just bet they did.

  "Drink?"

  Colin shook his head.

  "And what about you, Detective Brooks, can I get you a…whiskey, isn’t it? That is your drink of choice, right?"

  "I’m not thirsty." Brooks didn’t appear the least bit surprised that Niol knew who he was or even his favorite drink. The guy had always been able to bluff his way through anything.

  The chair squeaked as Niol leaned back. "I take it this isn’t a social call?"

  Colin reached into his jacket pocket. Pulled out the photos Smith had given him and tossed them onto the table. "Recognize these men?" They were head shots, but it was clear the guys were dead.

  Niol touched one of the photos. "What happened to them?" Something that could have been anger hardened his words.

  "Don’t you know?" Colin stared back at him and kept his body loose, ready.

  Very slowly, Niol took off his glasses. Colin heard a faint gasp of surprise come from Brooks.

  "You think I did this?" Eyes as black as night stared back at him. A table to the left began to tremble.

  Colin wasn’t impressed. "Did you?"

  "Not my style." Niol shoved the pictures away. "If I’d attacked them, there wouldn’t have been enough left for a picture."

  His words had the ring of truth.

  "You know them, don’t you?" Brooks asked as he stepped to the edge of the table.

  Niol nodded. "I’ve seen them around Paradise." A vague admission, nothing more, but Colin had seen the tightening of the man’s lips. The flaring of his nostrils. Hell, yeah, he knew the guys.

  "You sent them to jump me and Dr. Drake the other night, didn’t you?" Colin leaned over the table, getting right in Niol’s face. He wasn’t scared of the demon, didn’t give a shit what level he was. If the guy had tried to have Emily killed, he was going to fucking rip him apart.

  The demon didn’t so much as blink. "I don’t know what you’re talking about."

  "Bullshit!" Now Brooks was the one crowding him. He’d stalked around the table. Come right to Niol’s side. "You know who these guys are and you hired them to rough up my partner and the doctor!"

  Niol sighed softly and pushed away from the table. "I can see this isn’t going to be a productive little talk." He began to stand, but Brooks caught him by the shoulder, holding him in place.

  "We’re not finished."

  Colin felt the push of power then, felt the stir in the air-

  Brooks was shoved across the room. Shoved a good ten feet. But Niol never touched him. His partner crashed into a table, fell to the floor.

  Brooks jumped to his feet. "You sonofabitch!" He ran forward, arms outstretched.

  Colin stepped in front of him. "Easy." The air seemed to be pushing against him, vibrating with malevolent force.

  The doc would definitely have come in handy then.

  "Keep your partner under control, Gyth." Niol lifted his chin, stared at him with those creepy-as-hell eyes. "Or I will."

  "He assaulted me!" Brooks snapped, jerking his jacket back into place. "We can arrest the bastard."

  Niol shrugged. "I never touched you. Ask your partner, he’ll tell you."

  Colin’s jaw clenched. Brooks was no match for this guy. But Colin sure as hell would like to get two minutes alone with him. "Don’t fuck with my partner again, Niol. You won’t like the consequences."

  A flash of amusement lightened his face. "You think you could actually take me on?"

  A powerful shifter is the only Other that can match a demon’s strength. Emily had told him that. And the doc knew her supernaturals. "No, I know I could."

  The amusement vanished.

  "Now cut the crap, Niol, and tell us what you know."

  The demon’s eyes narrowed. "The kids have been in the bar a few times. That’s all I know."

  "Were they working for you?" Brooks had regained some of his control, but anger still tinged his words.

  "No." Niol picked up his glass, took a long swallow. "I told you, not my method."

  "Look me in the eye," Colin demanded, "and tell me that you didn’t send them to attack me and the doc."

  Niol met his stare. "I wouldn’t send someone to hurt Dr. Drake."

  "But you’d send someone after my partner?" Brooks pounced on the words Niol hadn’t spoken.

  "No." Niol never looked away from him. "I’d do that myself."

  He believed him. Shit. Colin finally lifted hi
s right hand off his holster. "If you didn’t send them, who did?"

  "I don’t know." Niol picked up his sunglasses, slid them back into place. "But I intend to find out." His face hardened. "No one uses my boys like this. No one."

  They were wasting their time. Niol wasn’t going to tell them anything else, and Colin actually believed the demon might not know much else.

  "We’ll be in touch again, Niol," Colin told him.

  "Oh, I don’t doubt that."

  "Come on," he muttered to Brooks. Time to get out of the devil’s den. Bringing Brooks had been a mistake, but there hadn’t seemed an easy way of ditching his partner. Not without raising too many questions.

  Brooks shot a long, hard look at Niol. "I’m gonna be watching you from now on."

  Niol didn’t look particularly impressed.

  "You fuck up, you do anything that suggests you were lying to us, I’ll be back."

  "Then I’ll look forward to your visit. But until then, get out of my bar, Detective Brooks."

  "Gladly."

  Definitely a mistake bringing Brooks. He would never be able to handle a war with Niol. He didn’t know who he was messing with.

  Colin followed Brooks to the exit, trying to keep his body between Niol and his partner, just in case Niol was in the mood for any more of his little magical routines.

  "Gyth…"

  Niol’s call stopped him just feet from the door. Colin glanced back.

  "A word if you will." A pause. "Alone."

  "Oh, hell, no, that’s not gonna-"

  "It’s all right, Brooks. You can wait outside. We’ve got some…Other business to discuss." That would be the only reason Niol would ask him to stay.

  "Fine." Brooks looked seriously pissed. "But if you need me, all you have to do is call out, and I’ll be at your side."

  He didn’t doubt it for a minute. "Thanks, man." He waited until Brooks pushed open the door and stepped out into the light.

  Then he crossed the room in two seconds. "What didn’t you tell me, Niol?"

  "You know the boys were demons."

  No news there.

  "When you and the doctor were attacked, I felt the stir of power in the air."

  So he’d known about the attack. Renewed suspicion filled him.

  "It wasn’t me. You have my word on that."

  But how much was the word of a demon worth? "You felt the attack, but you didn’t try to stop it? I thought you said you wouldn’t hurt Emily."

  Niol stroked the top of his glass. Looked vaguely amused. "Who do you think called the cops? I mean, your brothers in blue have to be good for something, right?"

  Colin wasn’t amused. "If it wasn’t you, then who the fuck was it?"

  "Another level ten." He took a long swallow of the blood red drink. "And believe me, Gyth, we’re pretty damn rare." He sat the glass down with a soft thud. "Just ask the pretty little monster doctor about that."

  Another level ten. Shit. The day had not been good for him. And it had started so well, with Emily naked in bed with him.

  "What do you know about hybrids?"

  What? He’d heard the term hybrid before, but usually it’d been when he was watching TV and he’d flipped past the Discovery Channel. Hybrids were blends, mixes, like a flower produced from combining two different-

  "Hmmm. Guess Emily didn’t mention hybrids to you." Niol’s lips curved. "Now I wonder why she wouldn’t tell you about them."

  Colin had the feeling he was missing a significant point in the conversation, and he didn’t like that feeling. Not one damn bit.

  He was around the table in a flash. He jerked the demon to his feet. "I’m not one of the humans you can screw around with." And he let the beast show in his eyes. His nails lengthened, his teeth sharpened.

  "Shifter." Niol smiled. "Figured that’s what you were."

  "Tell me about the hybrids." Before he gave into the urges of the beast and threw the bastard across the room. It’s what the demon had done to Brooks. It was what he deserved.

  "Some Other don’t mate with their own kind." He laughed, a grating, harsh sound. "But you’ve already figured that out, haven’t you?"

  His claws dug into Niol’s shoulders. Not enough to tear, not yet. "Spit it out, demon."

  "Rarely, very, very rarely, a child is born from those matings. A special child."

  Colin lifted his claws. "And?"

  "And he’s a hybrid. A being of two magical lines, with the powers of both."

  Why the hell were they even having this conversation? "I should care about these fucking hybrids, why?"

  Niol laughed again. A long, dry laugh. "Oh, you should definitely care, shifter. You and Emily should care."

  Ten more seconds. If the demon taunted him just a little longer, Niol would be flying across the room.

  It’d be payback for his little trick on Brooks, and it’d make Colin feel damn good.

  "My patience is running thin." His claws dug deeper. Niol flinched and finally stopped laughing.

  "I’ve heard rumors…"

  Now they were getting somewhere. Colin eased his grip. "What kind of rumors?"

  "There’s talk of a hybrid demon in town. A strong demon, a nine or ten."

  Strong enough to cause the surge of power Emily had felt in the alley. "Half demon, huh? What else is the bastard?"

  Niol pursed his lips. Glanced down at Colin’s claws. "Shifter."

  Oh, fuck.

  "You gonna tell me what was going on back there?" Brooks demanded as they marched back to Colin’s Jeep.

  "We were interrogating a suspect." Colin glanced up at the sky. The sun was setting, throwing blood red streaks across the sky.

  He needed to find Emily. Needed to ask her about hybrids. Damn. Could the guy they were looking for be some uber-combination of demon and shifter? If so, then the case had just taken a very dangerous turn.

  Fighting and tracking another shifter was hard enough. But with a demon’s magical powers…

  The city could be screwed.

  "Dammit, Colin! You know what I’m talking about!" Brooks grabbed him, shoved him against the back of the Jeep.

  The beast howled, but Colin hung on to his control.

  "You’re holding out on me." Brooks glared at him. "You know more about the case than you’ve said."

  Yeah, he did. And he’d have to keep holding out on his partner. Because Brooks wasn’t ready for the truth.

  "You didn’t even have my back in there when that bastard threw me across the room!"

  "He didn’t throw you." Colin pushed away from the Jeep, crossed his arms over his chest, and met Brooks’s angry stare.

  "The hell he didn’t, I-"

  "I watched his hands. He never touched you." True. The demon had used his powers to push Brooks. But how did he explain that?

  "I should have arrested him." Brooks rolled his left shoulder. "A night in the pen would have made him talk."

  Doubtful. A night in the pen more likely would have resulted in Niol driving the guards insane. Literally.

  "And what the hell was up with his eyes?" He shuddered. "Who’d want to wear contacts like that? Everything was pitch black."

  He wanted to tell Brooks the truth.

  But the last time he’d told his partner the truth about the Other, Colin had wound up with a bullet in him.

  "I expect more from you, man." Brooks shook his head. "We’ve been teamed up for two years now. I expect more."

  He wanted to give more. Wished that he could tell Brooks everything.

  But he couldn’t guarantee his partner’s reaction. And he didn’t want to have to fight off another friend.

  And the captain had said the case data he and the doc had collected was confidential. Too confidential for even Brooks.

  At least for now.

  Colin sighed. He had to offer Brooks something. The guy deserved that much. "You’re right, there is more going on than I’ve told you."

  A muscle flexed along his partner’s jaw. "Why
the hell are you keeping me out of the loop? We’re partners."

  "I have to. What’s going on has been deemed classified."

  "What?"

  Damn. This wasn’t going well. "There’s stuff going on here-it’s too dangerous for you to know."

  "Too dangerous for me?" His eyes narrowed to slits. "But let me guess. Dr. Drake knows, doesn’t she? Why isn’t it too dangerous for her?"

  It was. But the doc was already in too deep to pull out.

  "Shit! I don’t like this." Brooks jabbed a finger in the air near Colin’s chest. "Not a fucking bit."

  Neither did he.

  Brooks stalked around the Jeep. Jumped inside.

  Colin sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He’d have to tell the captain that Brooks was getting suspicious.

  Maybe McNeal would say he should confide in him.

  Or maybe not.

  Colin climbed inside. Started the engine.

  "I know he didn’t touch me." Brooks wasn’t looking at him. He was gazing straight through the windshield. "I saw his hands too. I know Niol didn’t touch me."

  "Brooks-"

  "But I felt his hands on me, I felt him throw me across the room." He clenched his fingers into fists. "How is that possible?"

  "Look, man, I-"

  "Hell." Brooks sighed. "Maybe I’m the one who needs to be seeing the doctor. If I’m starting to imagine-"

  "You didn’t imagine it." He spun out of the lot. He couldn’t risk telling Brooks much, but he’d be damned if he’d let his friend think he was going crazy. "I can’t tell you what’s happening, but believe me, you didn’t imagine a damn thing."

  No, his partner had just stepped into the world where monsters were real, and he didn’t even realize it.

  "We can’t tell him the truth, Gyth. It’s too risky."

  "Yeah, I know that." But it didn’t mean he had to like it. Colin paced around McNeal’s office, tension tight in his body.

  "The case is too big. I can’t risk having one of my detectives losing his cool because he’s suddenly aware that monsters are all around him."

  "He might not," Colin muttered, gazing out the window into the darkness. Night had fallen over the city. It was a cloudy, starless night. The kind of night that hid secrets.

  He had a bad feeling about the night. Niol’s words about a hybrid had thrown him.