by Rose O'Brien
She pressed closer, her breath brushing his throat. Her hands moved over him, skimming gently. The sensation of cold water flowed over the burn on his arm, his cuts. His breath was coming faster now and his eyes slid shut as relief shivered through him.
He had no idea how long they stayed entwined like that, but eventually Alayna stirred and he let her go, reluctantly.
They each opened their eyes, like waking up from a dream, and she met his gaze for a long, breathless moment. It would be so easy to reach for her, slip his fingers into her hair and kiss her, first her mouth, then her pale throat. He swallowed hard and looked away, air finally entering his lungs again.
He looked down at his shoulder. The scratches were gone.
“You did it,” he said, a smile tugging one corner of his mouth. “I thought you said magick didn’t work on me anymore.”
“It seems to change, depending on your mood,” she said softly. “When your adrenaline is up, nothing can touch you. But when you’re relaxed or distracted, it seems like I can slip past your defenses. With little spells at least. Even so, that took ten times the energy and concentration it usually does.”
“It seems you’re good at that,” he said, keeping his voice low. “Slipping past my defenses.”
He looked down at her hand resting on his thigh.
Her eyes widened and she snatched her hand back. A small chuckle escaped him. Maybe she wasn’t the only one who could slip past defenses.
She stood abruptly and straightened her shirt. It was suddenly cold without the heat of her pressed against him, like ice water splashed in his face.
“I’ll see you upstairs,” she said over her shoulder, her voice tight, as she headed for the locker room door.
Alex wasn’t sure what had just passed between them. His first instinct was to stop her from leaving, but he held himself back. It was dangerous to get involved with women he worked with. Particularly when they faced a potential combat situation. It was Kelly all over again.
Fiery fingers of panic tried to claw through his chest at the thought of her and for a moment, he couldn’t breathe. Images, memories, assailed him, flowing like a raging river before his eyes. Red hair. His hands slick with blood. Blue eyes staring sightlessly.
His heart pounding hard enough to bruise his ribs, he forced his eyes open. His breath sawed loudly in the silent room. He focused on the lockers in front of him. He was here now. He was not there. That was the past. This was the present.
Swallowing hard, he pulled air into his lungs.
In. Out.
In. Out.
It was over. He was safe.
In. Out.
Gradually, his heart slowed and he could breathe normally again. Unfortunately, he would never be normal again.
Chapter 10
“What have you got for me, Ellie?” Alayna said as she entered the office, trying desperately to shake off the nervous energy in her blood. Touching Alex like that was a bad idea.
“Good news, Commander. My facial recognition software turned up a hit off one of your sketches,” the gnome said. She swiveled her flat screen monitor around to show Alayna the scan of her sketch alongside the photo of a man.
“That’s him,” Alayna said, recognizing the sandy haired vampire from the vision La Llorona had shown her. “Who is he?”
“I got this from a Homeland Security file. Border Patrol flagged his ID and started a file on him. Name is James Davis. Nothing but a couple of speeding tickets in counties near the border, but he makes a lot of trips across the river. File says he works for Samuels Trucking, which, by the way, is one of Medina Trucking’s subsidiaries, but he doesn’t have a commercial license.” Ellie scanned down the file she was compiling on their mysterious vampire and continued, “He’s never been tagged by any of Corps agents. I could send this to a representative for the Families.”
Alayna shook her head. The Families were the closest thing the vampires had to a government. They were representatives from the strongest family lines. They maintained the birth and death records for their kind. Every vampire, natural born or turned, could trace their lineage back to one of the seven original families.
When a vampire sought to turn a sapien, they had to get permission from the Families to do it, and they rarely gave permission.
While the Families might have information on their mystery vamp, without knowing which family he belonged to, inquiries were more likely to tip someone off than they were to produce usable information. The political situation among the magickal races could be described as delicate on the best of days. Right now it approached the consistency of spun sugar. Best to go through her own channels.
Alayna had to walk this line every day, and it made her job so much harder. Busting bad guys would be so much easier if she didn’t have to put up with the political bullshit.
Ellie turned the monitor back around and began pulling up pages.
“Do we have an address on him?” Alayna asked.
“It’s an empty lot in East Austin,” Ellie said.
“I’m guessing James Davis isn’t his real name either,” Alayna said.
“Looks like a ghost in the system to me.”
“I think we’re looking at one of Jimmy Medina’s fixers,” she said. “Any luck tracking Medina, hacking his phone, anything?”
“He’s been silent, Commander,” she said. “It’s only been a few weeks since Blanca Rodriquez’s body turned up. He’s gone completely to ground, and we probably won’t see him for a while.”
“Well, we’ve got a photo at least. Even if it is a fake name and a fake address. And we’ve got a connection to Medina.”
“What’s our next move?” Ellie asked.
“We’ve got to track this guy down. He’s our best bet to find out where Medina is and who is behind all of these murders,” Alayna said.
“How do you want to do that? He’s obviously no slouch when it comes to fake IDs if he can fool Homeland Security.”
“I need to go see the one vampire in town who’s still talking to us,” she said.
***
Alayna tried to push her nervousness away as she pulled up outside of Revelations, taking a deep breath as she shut off the Mustang’s rumbling engine.
The late afternoon sun was starting to warm what had been a chilly day, at least by Austin standards, and Sixth Street was nearly deserted, with just a few people wandering between Ropollo’s Pizza and the scattering of tourist shops.
She punched the button on her alarm system as she hit the front door, fully aware that anyone watching the building would know exactly who she was here to talk to. At this point she didn’t care. There had been so little movement on this case; she was ready for someone to make a move. It would be so much better if they just came at her.
As she pulled open the black lacquered doors, Camille was already waiting in the bouncers’ area, a fake smile plastered on her face.
“Camille,” Alayna said simply, as she turned and headed down the hall to Dominic’s office.
“Commander Blackwell,” she returned in a grating saccharine voice that followed Alayna down the hallway. “He’s expecting you.”
Another deep breath and she pushed open the door to Dominic’s tastefully old world-style office. The darkly handsome vampire looked up from his computer monitor, his midnight eyes met hers, and a warm smile lit his features. Her old friend rose with his usual casual grace and came around the desk to greet her.
He looked thinner than when she’d seen him a few days before and she wondered if he was getting enough to eat. His carefully tailored three-piece suit hid it well, but she could see it in his face. As he pulled her into a hug and brushed her cheek with a feather-soft kiss, she felt some tension uncoil within her. She’d been nervous about how he’d react to her visit.
“I’ve been worried about you, Lane,” he said in a low voice. “We never did get to finish that conversation about those unfortunate events.”
She stepped back and took one
of the two seats opposite his desk.
“It’s been a little busy around the office,” she said.
He laughed. “Isn’t it always?”
Rather than going back behind his desk, as she’d expected, he took the seat next to her, putting him within easy arms reach. Before she could find the voice to tell him why she was here, he spoke up.
“I’ve been dying to know what’s up with that FBI agent from the other day?”
“Oh, that’s a long story,” she said, trying to deflect.
“For you, I have all day.” He sat back and laced his fingers on one knee. She filled him in with as few details as possible. Failed memory wipe, lìthseach, yada yada, working together until the case is solved.
That caused one of his dark brows to rise in surprise.
“A sapien law enforcement agent in the middle of a Council investigation. The brass must be in fits.”
“The brass doesn’t know,” she said, shaking her head. “And they aren’t going to find out. I’ve managed to keep it mostly to the lower levels.”
She hadn’t filed any formal reports on Alex’s involvement in the investigation. His transfer had been done through her own channels, and she’d marked it strictly need-to-know. She silently thanked the gods again that she had the level of autonomy that she did as a team commander.
Dominic laughed and said, “Well, they certainly won’t find out from me. I’m not exactly in regular communication these days.”
And that was partially her fault.
Dominic hadn’t always been a nightclub owner. When she’d joined the Austin team out of the Academy, he’d been the team’s reconnaissance expert. A vampire as a member of the Mage Corps had been pretty unusual at the time, but not unheard of.
Dominic had never marched to anyone else’s beat, and as the young scion of a powerful family, he was allowed a certain amount of latitude. It was normal for young, natural-born vamps to live a mainstream life in their first century.
Still, Dominic’s decision to join the Mage Corps had been met with a lot of resistance from the Spino family, Alayna knew. He’d been essentially disowned for the ten years he’d served. Even after his rather abrupt exit two years ago, his relationship with his family was still strained.
Even when he was in the Corps, he’d never had much use for Council politics, even though his father had done rotations as the vampire representative on the Council.
Dominic was a rebel, through and through.
It was one of the reasons they’d gotten along so well when he’d been a part of the team. He’d welcomed her, dismissing the other mages’ concerns that her being a Whisperer would be a liability in combat.
They’d been joined at the hip for years, always cracking each other up with jokes. Dominic had been the first man in her life who hadn’t kept her at arm’s length because of her abilities, and they’d been close.
A little too close, it turned out.
She shook that thought away and pushed the rising guilt back down in her gut.
His voice brought her back to the present. “You’re taking some big risks for this sapien.”
There was curiosity in his narrowed eyes and a small smile tugged at the corner of his mouth.
“I know,” she said, looking down at her hands. “I just have a feeling about this one.”
He was silent a moment before his eyes suddenly went wide. “You like him!” Surprise and a note of teasing threaded through his voice.
“Shut up,” she said defensively. “No, I don’t.”
Dominic’s rich laughter filled the room.
“I can smell it when you lie,” he said. The teasing tone was still there, but there was dark note just under the surface.
“This is beyond awkward.”
“Come on,” he said, waving a hand dismissively. “That stuff between us is ancient history. We’re friends again.”
He was right. They’d worked hard to get back to this point after their falling out, and she didn’t want to lose one of her oldest friends again.
“It doesn’t matter if I like him, nothing can happen. We work together.”
“Still sticking to that rule, huh?” He turned the assessing gaze on her that had made him a formidable battle tactician once upon a time.
“Listen,” she said, desperate to change the subject. “I need your help, Dom.”
“Anything,” he said, letting the line of questioning drop.
“Let’s start with that night at Revelations,” she said. “When Blanca Rodriguez died.”
“I wish I had more for you, Lane,” Dominic said, again calling her by the nickname he’d picked for her. “Like I told you before, the cameras aren’t much use. We’ve been over the video footage from the night she disappeared. The footage from the dance floor is too hard to make out. The camera over the front door doesn’t pick her up coming in, but there are other entrances that aren’t covered. And we don’t have cameras in the VIP rooms.”
He paused and gave her a steady look.
“So far, the only connection to Blanca Rodriguez that anyone can turn up is that she had a napkin from the club in her pocket. That doesn’t mean she was here that night.”
Alayna took a deep breath.
“Was Jimmy Medina here that night?”
“The Snake?” Dominic looked slightly worried at that, his dark brows drawing together. “I don’t know, but let me pull up the VIP reservations for that night.”
He moved around the desk and bent over his monitor, not bothering to sit down.
“It looks like he was on the guest list for one of the VIP rooms that night, but that doesn’t mean he showed up,” Dominic said.
“I have it on good authority that he did,” Alayna said, watching his reaction carefully.
He looked up from the screen as if waiting for her to say more. She met his gaze and stayed silent.
“Does Medina have some connection to the murder?” he asked, his expression grave.
“I’m not sure. Right now I just need to find him, but he’s gone to ground,” she said. She pulled out her phone and brought up the image of the mysterious James Davis and showed it to Dominic.
“You familiar with this vampire?” she asked him.
Dominic took the phone from her and studied the picture.
“He looks familiar, but I couldn’t tell you his name,” he said, handing the phone back.
“James Davis is the name on file with the feds, but we both know that’s a fake,” she said.
Vampires never gave their real names to the sapien government. They might have a few dozen names and identities over the course of a lifetime, but they never put their real one on paper.
“You think he’s one of Medina’s boys,” Dominic said and didn’t wait for Alayna to confirm it. “If I were you, I’d ask around Hellraisers. That’s where that crowd hangs out.”
Alayna tossed her head back and laughed.
“I like my skin where it is, thanks,” she said.
“I’m serious,” Dominic said. “That’s your best bet to find some answers.”
“Fair enough,” she said. “Can you check your tapes again and see if Jimmy Medina shows up?”
“I’ll go one further and put out my feelers, see if I can turn up his whereabouts,” he said, flashing her a smile.
“I’d appreciate it,” she said as he came back around the desk and assumed his seat beside her. There was a tension in his movements she’d missed before. That, coupled with his weight loss, made her ask, “You look different. Is something wrong?”
He looked down, a small wistful smile curving his lips. “I’m seeing someone.”
Relief flooded through her and she smiled.
“Anyone I know?”
“It’s Camille. It’s been going on a few months.”
His general manager and bodyguard? She didn’t really seem like his type, but people changed. If he was happy, she was happy.
“That’s great. Mazel tov,” she said, touching hi
s arm.
“Thanks,” he said, meeting her eyes.
She saw warmth there. As happy as she was for him, she needed to get back to the office.
“Hey, listen. Thanks for everything you’re doing to help with the investigation.”
“Like I said, anything for you, Lane,” he said, leaning forward and tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Just be careful. Medina is young, rich and dangerous. Thinks he owns this town and that the rules don’t apply to him.”
He paused as he leaned back in his chair.
“I could come with you to Hellraisers. I’m not so out of shape that I can’t suit up and kick some ass for old times sake.”
That made her smile. As she rose to her feet, she said, “I have no doubt that you could, but I think we can handle this.”
As she turned to go, his voice stopped her. “Are you taking the lìthseach?”
She turned to look back at him. His expression was neutral, but something hard glittered in his eyes and his mouth had tightened to thin line.
“Yeah,” she said, her shoulders going tense. “I think so.”
His easy smile returned.
“Just stay safe out there. I don’t know what I’d do if something happened to you.”
***
As Alayna climbed the steps to the office, nervous energy was crawling under her skin. That conversation with Dominic had left her so discombobulated that she would be better off going ten rounds with a punching bag. But she and the team would be heading to Hellraisers. Possibly tonight.
As she strode through the door and headed for her desk, Alex caught her attention. His dark eyes narrowed as he focused on her and his head came up. That powerful body uncoiled, and he was around his desk, concern bringing out the little crease between his brows.