by Gaja J. Kos
Suppressing a smile, I walked over to him to take his mug. Our fingers touched—something I didn’t even bother to deny might have been on purpose—and I stilled before him, allowing myself to truly drink him in. He’d braided his hair while we talked, the prominent lines of his features even more handsome—and so, so damn revealing.
Every fine nuance of my growing desire found its twin on Afanasiy’s face.
I reached out with my free hand, bad idea or not. The heat emanating from his skin caressed my fingertips, but right as I was about to close that last, pitiful distance, Afanasiy stiffened.
I froze, then quickly jerked my hand back. “Gods, I’m sorr—”
“Someone’s approaching.” Afanasiy twisted to look at the gate leading to the tunnels. “Fast.”
I slid the mug onto the counter behind me and called a touch of demon fire to my fingertips. The ventilation system stirred the air, but the current was all wrong as I tried to catch a scent of our visitor.
If it wasn’t Isa…
Afanasiy shot me a questioning look. As soon as I nodded, he blasted himself into particle form and manifested on the other side of the gate. A faint tap-tap-tap of feet fluttered to my ears. I bent my knees a little, steeling myself.
The gate swung up, revealing a pale, slender hand.
I sighed in relief, but by the time Isa’s head popped out of the hole, the only emotion left on display was my anger.
“What the fuck were you thinking!” I marched over and yanked her out.
Her teeth revealed a hint of fangs that quickly disappeared as she scanned my face. The tension coiling in my frame.
“I didn’t think you were coming until tomorrow.”
“That’s an excuse, not an apology, Isa.”
She opened her mouth, then swirled around in a blur, putting her body in front of mine, and hissed. I wrapped my arms around her before she could do something I’d have to smack her for.
“Afanasiy’s with me, Isa.” I yanked her back just a little to make sure my words sank in. “He’s going to help.”
It wasn’t until she relaxed in my arms and her scent became non-threatening that I released her. She glared at Afanasiy for a moment longer, then turned to me—though it didn’t escape my notice that she positioned herself in a way that allowed her to keep an eye on the demon.
In a display of utter casualness, she tugged down the shirt that had ridden up her flat stomach. “I found Kauer’s men.”
Any intentions I had of scolding her flew out the window.
“You what?”
Isa’s green eyes gained a predatory glint, and a triumphant, terrifying smile shaped her lips. She walked past me and threw herself down on the loveseat, a damn epitome of lethal elegance despite the dust and grime staining her dark clothes.
“I didn’t come to Frankfurt just to lure you out, Lotte. I was already here when I learned you were assigned to the case.”
I moved closer, Afanasiy shadowing me but keeping his distance by claiming the space by the kitchenette.
“Go on,” I prompted.
Isa raked a hand through her black hair, thrusting it back with a kind of carelessness I didn’t associate with her but suspected had everything to do with the progress she’d just made. The longer I stared at her, the more I realized she was…gloating. I shook my head and gave her a pointed look, though silencing the snort that wanted to escape didn’t come without effort.
Afanasiy, to my surprise, fared a lot worse. I shot him a glare over my shoulder as his rumbling laughter rolled through the room. Oh, come on. The last thing Isa needed was a damn warrior demon patting her on the back for her solo stint.
I didn’t think the small space could contain the sheer magnitudes of ego floating around and getting stronger by the second.
“You can start explaining any time now,” I said dryly as I parked my ass on the free end of the loveseat.
Isa exchanged one last look with Afanasiy, then turned to me, one elbow braced on the armrest and her body tilted gently back. “What ICRA told you about the symbols carved in the victims’ flesh was right. Unlike mine, the variations used are intended for dark magic only—to feed on the death of the person.”
“Feed?” My eyebrows shot up.
“Where mine had been an apology, a request for forgiveness, these”—she waved a hand, lips momentarily pursed—“are more akin to triumph. No, that’s not the proper word. Righteousness. They are tied to the belief that the killer has done nothing wrong by taking a life. That it’s in their right to take on the role of…well, of Morana herself.”
“Please.” I snorted. “As if Morana would ever condone such vile murder.”
The goddess of death didn’t support shortening the lives of innocents. Yes, she could take a life prematurely, but that was something she did only under dire circumstances. And only ever to those who would bring darkness to the world.
“As with all fuckheads,” Isa said, surprising me a bit with her choice of words, “what the actual deity represents means little. But I digress.” She stood in a ripple of elegant motion and marched over to the kitchenette. “What matters is the use of dark magic.”
I pivoted, propping one elbow against the backrest. “Why?”
“The symbols are old, Lotte. Ancient even.” She slid her gaze to Afanasiy, who dipped his chin in acknowledgment, then opened the minifridge and pulled out a bottle of blood. “Which means the dark magic they invoke isn’t quite the same one as what most unsavory practitioners turn to today.”
“They need a shrine.” Afanasiy’s face lit up with understanding.
Unfortunately, the same couldn’t be said for mine.
“Sorry for not being as old as you people,” I grumbled. “Care to explain?”
Isa poured hot water in a pot then slid the bottle inside. “A shrine is their place for channeling magic. It’s almost a kind of power vault built on sacrifices, and it works a bit like a car battery. Once it’s charged up, regular use is what recharges it. The thing is, its strength fades if the practitioner doesn’t cast spells or weaves curses often, making it impossible to pick up on even in a less secure setting. If Kauer’s men were wise, they would have created a series of mini shrines throughout Germany preceding the murders, then let them fade.”
“But the power they gained from the killings, from carving those symbols into their victims, wasn’t something they want to let go,” I concluded, catching up at long last. “Which means they require a fixed base.”
“Precisely.” Isa touched the bottle and, apparently deeming it too cold still, shook the droplets of water from her hand and leaned against the counter. “Narrowing down locations secure enough for the sheer amount of magic they were generating not to leak out wasn’t an easy thing. But a contact of mine tipped me off that she sensed something off with one of Frankfurt’s ley lines. Nothing dangerous per se, more of a damper in a specific area. All I had to do was comb through the area.”
I shook my head even as admiration for the vampire coursed through me. I might have been pissed at Isa for taking off like she had, for not asking me to come along, but at the same time, I couldn’t help but understand the reasons behind her actions. Kauer’s men wanted her to go down. Went to some bloody extreme measures to assure none of this could be traced back to them.
And if it weren’t for Isa’s persistence, I had a suspicion they would have succeeded, too.
“You tracked down the shrine?” Afanasiy asked just as Isa plucked the bottle from the pan.
“I did.” She unscrewed the cap. “I also found more dark magic practitioners and other supe scum guarding the place than I’d hoped I would. I didn’t do anything,” she said to me, no doubt sensing my spike of alarm, “only scouted out the perimeter. But”—a wisp of a smile touched her lips—“I did find the magic wielder responsible for the killings. His vampire friend, too.”
It took me a couple moments to process everything.
Had Isa really cracked the entire damn ca
se?
Unable to just sit there any longer, I joined her by the counter. Her already alluring scent became a mesmerizing, mind-blowing thing filled with satisfaction as we stood there with barely any room to spare. If Afanasiy noticed the new level of comfort between us, he revealed nothing, his presence there, but as low-key as it got.
I searched Isa’s face. “How can you be sure?”
Though I hated myself for questioning her conviction, the agent in me refused to accept anything without covering all bases. Isa didn’t strike me as the kind of person to shape reality into what she wanted it to be, but if we were to take these men down, if we wanted to clear her name, there couldn’t be any doubts about the men’s guilt.
“Dark magic leaves a signature on its user. As well as the individuals working with them.” She cocked her head to the side, letting the predator out. “The cleanse they performed might have fooled most supes.” Her smile was absolutely terrifying—and all the more wonderful for it. “But not someone with my past.”
“How well protected is this lair?” Afanasiy crossed the room. “Could someone in particle form get through?”
Isa took a long sip of her blood and ran her tongue over her teeth before answering. “There was a demon on-site. I suspect they made sure everything is airtight.”
“What if I lead ICRA to them?” I thought out loud, then said to Isa, “With the information you just delivered, they couldn’t turn down a raid.”
“No, they couldn’t. Unless someone in the Agency is, indeed, working with Kauer. They could blow off your evidence or make sure the lair emptied out before the team arrived. Maybe even plant something pointing even more firmly in my direction.”
Fuck. I raked a hand through my hair. Isa was right.
“Okay, so ICRA’s definitely out.” I paced the room. “We need to pull together some people to break through their defenses.” I turned to Isa. “You’re certain they didn’t know you were there?”
“Positive.”
“All right, that means we have time—”
“We don’t.” Afanasiy’s voice was as chilling as the surge of power that pulsed from him. His gaze fell on the gate leading into the tunnels. “We’re about to have company.”
I rushed to his side, demon fire skittering across my fingertips. Barely any scents drifted to me, but what my other-sight revealed confirmed my worst fear.
I looked at Isa over my shoulder. “It’s ICRA.”
20
Before I could give Afanasiy the command to get Isa out of here, the agents poured from the gate like bloody rats from a sewer.
The task force.
Thode had lied. That sonovabitch had fucking lied.
My two days weren’t up yet. A snarl ripped free from my throat, and I threw myself at the nearest agent. Not that it made a damn difference now.
Someone had to have spotted Isa when she went after the killers. There was no fucking way they could have found this place on their own, task force or not.
I ducked under the werewolf’s swipe and twisted around him, landing a punch in his lower back. His artificially toned-down scent spiked with the first hint of a shift.
“Oh no, you don’t,” I barked out, though my words were lost in the commotion as the loveseat soared past us, narrowly missing the were’s shoulder, and crashed against the wall.
I had no idea who’d thrown it, but I wasn’t about to waste the opportunity.
Before the agent could sniff out my intent, I kicked the backs of his knees and rode him to the ground. His growl cut off as I delivered a mean, but not lethal, blow to his head.
I could only hope Isa and Afanasiy had picked up on my intentions.
As soon as I was certain the were was out for good, I blasted a geared-up vamp with a controlled burst of demon fire. Isa was on him the second he stumbled, but with more and more people crowding the too-small space, I couldn’t wait to see how she’d wrapped up the job. I threw myself back into the fray.
The persistent absence of death curving through the air, though, gave me hope things still had the chance to turn out the way I needed them to.
If we wanted to clear Isa’s name, we couldn’t afford to leave ICRA bodies behind.
That was a path there’d be no coming back from.
I swerved away from a fist, slammed my own in the agent’s stomach, and sent her hurtling towards Afanasiy, who’d just overpowered a witch. Her magic winked out along with her consciousness, and the scents she’d been suppressing flooded the room.
Another agent came at me, a gun in his hand. I shot a compact marble of potent demon fire at the weapon, heating the damn thing up until it became useless. It clattered onto the ground, the metal too hot to hold. But just as I worked up an attack, a flash of red between two agents’ heads stopped me in my tracks.
Fangs sank into my shoulder from behind.
I swore and elbowed the vamp hard in his chest, then nearly stumbled when the scent spreading through the space hit me and erased any doubts I might have had. Fuck. What was she doing here?
Three massive bodies created a damn wall up ahead, but my determination was a driving force that sent me barreling through the barricade and straight into the werewolf behind them.
I tackled Greta onto the floor and brought my mouth to her ear as we grappled, her surprise at finding me atop her insufficient to overpower her instinct.
“Isa is innocent,” I whispered.
The change in my sister’s scent was immediate.
“Play along,” I added and, as understanding lit in her eyes, faked a blow to her head.
Greta stayed down.
And not a second too soon.
A damn massive hand grabbed me by the scruff of my neck and picked me up like I was a damn kitten instead of a wolf. I let my demon fire envelop my body.
The fucking boulder of a man promptly released me, but countered my following blow with such force I was pretty sure it fractured some of my bones. I snarled and fought the impulse to shift, turning instead to my demonic traits. His eyes widened when I vanished into thin air.
Taking a cue from Afanasiy, who had almost cleared his entire sector, I retook corporeal form above the man and rode him down to the ground. He struggled, but I slammed his head against the linoleum.
A shot rang through the room.
I barely had time to look at the werewolf aiming straight at me when a blur blocked my line of sight. The smell of blood erupted through the space as Isa staggered sideways, one hand pressed against her abdomen.
Blood permeated the air.
Fuck.
Isa—she’d taken a bullet for me.
My vision flashed red. I launched myself at the werewolf, but a firm arm swept me aside. I tumbled onto the floor and rolled, only to see it was Afanasiy who’d hit me. He dropped the werewolf like yesterday’s trash, then blocked my path to the asshole’s unconscious body.
“Isa will be fine, Lotte.”
A part of me wanted to snap and growl at his damn calm tone, but the more the red haze receded, the more the anger gave way to guilt.
I’d almost ruined everything.
I was so damn ready to rip the werewolf to pieces for shooting Isa that I’d lost sight of the mission.
A very pissed-off Isa hobbled over, though one look at me—one look at the remorse on my face I had no doubt spoke clearly of what I’d been prepared to do—softened her features. “I just need some blood, and I truly will be fine.”
I acknowledged her words with a nod, then swept my gaze across the room.
We’d taken down nearly thirty agents.
Greta continued to lay motionless where I’d left her. Good. This was a talk we needed to have alone.
I turned to Afanasiy. “Take Isa someplace safe. Your lair, if you have to. I have some things to take care of.”
“Lotte.” He reached out and touched my shoulder, but I shook my head.
“Please do this for me.” I covered his hand with mine. “Just keep her safe u
ntil I call you.”
When his gaze dipped to the currently invisible mark on my forearm, I nodded.
I’d never thought I’d use the bond tying us together again, but this was no time for personal grievances.
Afanasiy slipped his hand from beneath mine and cupped my cheek. “You have my word.”
When he approached Isa, she didn’t hesitate to vanish into thin air with him. I knew running had to irritate the fuck out of her, but even she knew when the best course of action was to retreat. Map out a plan of attack.
And as I carefully walked over the fallen agents to Greta, I knew what I had to do, too.
“We don’t have much time.” I crouched beside her. “Isa is being framed, and I can prove it.”
Greta propped herself on her elbows. “I tried calling you, after you blew me off with your text.”
Ah, shit. That was what it’d been about. And my phone waited back at the hotel room, still in the bag I threw away before confronting Afanasiy.
“I didn’t believe them when they told me who we were supposed to round up,” Greta went on. “Isa’s a bitch, but she’s no killer.”
“They made you part of the special task force?”
“Flew me in earlier today.” She shifted into a seated position and took my hand. “What do you need me to do?”
And therein lay the rub.
I had the head of the Violent Crimes division before me, willing to clear Isa’s name.
All I needed to do was ask.
“Nothing.” I squeezed her fingers. “Just play your part. We knocked you out. And you have no idea where we went.”
“Where will you go?” she asked, though the lack of anything substantial in her voice hinted she already knew the answer.
“Love you, sis.” I squeezed her hand one last time and rose.
Greta’s “I love you, too” was the last thing I heard before I broke myself into atoms and left Frankfurt behind.
With no phone and no money on me, I had little choice but to remain in particle form even when exhaustion began to weigh heavily on my atoms. Misplaced amusement swirled through the sum of me. No time like the present to test my abilities.