“Okay, what is his next step?”
“He needs more energy. My guess is that he is using the Shouting Lychee Pub to find his victims. Lieutenant Curly frequented there after work, and Harold, the shifter, was there last night.”
“We will head there tonight. Have you heard anything about Georgina?”
Mike shook his head. “I’ll head over to Sasha’s apartment later and spend time with her.” He didn’t say anything else before he headed out the door.
I flipped through the old book. The brown leather binding barely held the book together. The yellowing pages were hard to read in parts.
Over the past week, Wrath had stopped in from time to time. Getting to know my sister was great. She was a little on the crazy side and really wanted to kill Atieno. He told me he would tell me the story someday. I could tell he didn’t want to talk about it, and I hadn’t pushed him. When the time was right, he would tell me.
I snapped a picture with my phone of the crazy goddess and warlock in the book. I clicked on Atieno’s name and attached the picture. I typed out, Mike thinks this is who we are after. Then I sent it with a shrugging emoji. The text needed something to lighten the mood.
Tapping my fingers on the desk, I waited for the three dots on my phone to appear. His response felt like it took forever.
Atieno: Does that look like the person you saw in your vision?
I racked my brain, trying to remember every aspect. I stared at the photo for a couple more seconds.
Pandora: I’m 86% sure.
Atieno: Harold woke up a few minutes ago. I’ll ask if he remembers seeing anyone who looked like that. Let’s hope not. Synth is powerful.
Pandora: Mike thinks we should go to Shouting Lychee Pub. He thinks that is where he’s figuring out which shifter to target. He might have already taken others we don’t know about.
Atieno: I’ll meet you at your apartment at 6. Text me before you leave work.
Pandora: I’ll. Miss you.
I hit Send and bit my lip. I watched as the three little dots formed, letting me know he was replying.
Atieno: Miss you too. Be safe.
My cheeks hurt from the smile on my face. I placed my phone on the desk and went back to looking at the crime scene photos. Maybe if the Richerson family’s bodies were still downstairs, I could get another reading.
I waved at Mike as I walked out of the detectives’ area. He gave me a questioning look but didn’t follow. Mike seemed to listen to Atieno more than me. According to Atieno, I had more powers. I just needed to tap into them. Wrath told me about Paldon and her powers. When she couldn’t control them, she ended up killing a few people. I didn’t need that added to the load I already carried. My best friend was a ghost because of me.
The door to the back stairwell creaked when I opened it. I took the stairs two at a time. I swiped my card, and the lock connecting our building to the medical examiner’s clicked open. My heels echoed in the empty halls. I pushed the doors to the examiner’s area open. Empty. Dr. Racket wasn’t here. I quickly locked the door so nobody would come in. On the wall, Dr. Racket had a list of the current dead bodies. I scanned it until I found Tiffany Richerson’s name. Her body was in row three, in the first chest. Her two sons’ bodies were in the same row. Row four was Lieutenant Curly’s body. They hadn’t taken him away yet either.
I took a deep breath as I tugged the lever to Tiffany’s door open. My fingers gripped the silver bar on her metal bed. It glided out. I took a deep breath before pulling the zipper down to her nose. Lucifer said I didn’t need to touch the body for my powers to work. I hadn’t practiced yet, and I didn’t know if that would take more energy. Instead, I laid my hand across her forehead.
Tiffany’s son looked up from the book in his hands. “I love you, Mommy.” Tiffany didn’t have time to reply. A purple portal appeared in the living room. Grabbing her two sons, she rushed toward Frank Richerson. When a demon grabbed her son, she let out a blood-curdling scream.
The fight went on for ten minutes. Each family member tried to fight off the demons. The demons didn’t stop until the boys and mother were dead. The father was frozen in place, crying for his family. The robed figure walked over to the dad and pressed his fingers to the dad’s forehead and when he released his touch the father crumbled to the floor. The masked person’s eyes flashed blue before he let go and touched one of the children.
Each second, the vision faded a little more. Unable to hold on any longer, I lifted my fingers from Tiffany’s forehead and sat on the cold floor. The robed figure was taking something from the dead bodies. Mike couldn’t sense Curly’s animal when he arrived. Maybe the Richerson family were shifters as well. Synth or not, we needed to stop this evil person from killing anyone else.
I got up, zipped the body bag closed, pushed the bed back into the case, and closed the door. I unlocked the door to the morgue and stepped out. “Fuck!” I yelled.
Mike stood with his arms crossed on the other side.
“That shit’s creepy. What are you doing down here?”
He chuckled. “I came to see what kind of trouble you were getting into. Atieno told me to watch out for you.”
I huffed. “I’ve watched out for myself my whole life. I don’t need a babysitter. Did you forget who your boss is?”
“I know you’re my boss in the human world, but I can’t disobey Atieno.”
“Fine. I’ll take care of him. You were right. Synth took something from the dead bodies. Are we sure the family wasn’t shifters?”
Mike looked at me, and his eyes widened. “Shit. You could be right. I never thought about it because I didn’t smell any sign of shifters. But I didn’t smell anything at Curly’s house either.”
“Can you contact the supernatural council and see if the family is registered?”
“Yes.” He turned to leave and stopped. “Do you want me to follow you home?”
“If you want a bullet through your head.”
Mike’s lip twitched. “Better make sure it’s silver,” he shouted before he turned and jogged down the hall.
The door at the end of the hall closed behind him with a click. I turned and closed the medical examiner’s door. Halfway down the hall, a purple portal appeared.
Three demons stepped out. Each one had black eyes, and drool ran down their faces. The bodies of the demons looked weak. They walked with limps. One’s foot dragged behind him.
Lucifer’s words bounced around my head. Picture the fires of hell. I closed my eyes and visualized what I thought they would look like. Warmth ran through my body. When I opened my eyes, purple sparks flew from my fingers. I aimed for the portal and sent my magic. It missed the portal and blew a hole in the wall. I winced at the damage.
Taking a step back, I pictured hell’s fire again and built up more magic before sending another bolt toward the portal. This time I hit it dead on as another demon tried to come through. His body split in half and dropped to the ground.
Three demons. I could handle this. Adrenaline coursed through my body. I pulled my knife from its scabbard and flung it, taking out the first demon. The other two growled when their leader dropped to the ground.
I took a running leap, using the wall to push off, and jumped over the two three-foot creatures, landing in a superhero pose on the other side. I yanked the knife out of the demon on the ground and lunged forward. The demon I was aiming for dodged my knife and scraped his nails along my arm. The skin burned where he cut me. Blood trickled down my arm. Anger over missing the creature bubbled inside me as I lunged again, this time taking him out.
One left. Shooting him with a bullet would be the easiest but also the loudest, so instead, I punched him in the nose. With a quick turn, I back kicked his chest, and he flew to the ground. I picked up my knife and pushed it through his heart.
I slumped down to the ground and pulled my phone from my pocket.
Pandora: Hey, can you come clean up some demons?
Mike: On my way. Are
you okay?
Pandora: Yes, but I need to go home and change.
Atieno and I were going undercover to a bar, and I planned to knock his socks off.
10
“Red or black?” I held up two dresses for Sasha to see.
“Red. You’ll knock Atieno on his ass.”
I chuckled. “I need to lure the warlock trying to kill magical beings.”
“I’ve spent over a week as a ghost, and I still can’t believe it. Mike shifted into his tiger form last night. His hair was so soft.”
I tilted my head and looked at my friend. She had a dreamy look in her eyes. “Wait, you could touch Mike?”
Her cheeks turned pink. “We don’t know why, but yes, I can touch him. Nothing else. The TV was stuck on a news channel yesterday. I wanted to pull my hair out after an hour.”
“You glossed over that you can touch Mike.”
“Don’t worry about me. You have a man to impress and a date to go on.” She was right. I had to get ready, but I wanted to talk to my friend and find out what was going on. I felt bad that we were working on the other case more than hers. Hell, we hadn’t done anything to help her since we found out Georgina was gone.
I grabbed the red dress and headed toward Sasha’s bathroom. The door clicked behind me, I stripped down and tugged the skintight red dress over my head. The dress left no room to hide my gun so I would need to carry a purse.
My long white locks covered my shoulders. A bright-red lipstick on Sasha’s counter caught my eye. I put on the lipstick. I looked good.
When I entered the bedroom, Sasha let out a whistle. “Damn, girl, you are going to kill it tonight at the pub.”
Mike had sent me a text letting me know that four more shifters were missing and nobody had heard from them. I figured if the warlock was gaining power, his minions would be stronger, but the demons earlier today had been weak and falling apart.
I glanced down at my watch. Atieno would be here soon. “I’m going to head over to my apartment. Do you need anything?”
Sasha shook her head. “No. Mike is stopping by before he meets you guys at the pub tonight.”
Taking the one thing my friend was looking forward to away wasn’t going to happen. Her eyes lit up when she talked about Mike. But what will happen when we find out what’s keeping her here? It was only a matter of time before she passed on to the other side.
“Okay.” I replied, as I headed for my apartment.
I was finishing applying the last of my makeup in my bathroom when a loud knock sounded on the door. I wiped my sweaty palms on my dress and went to answer it.
Atieno stood on the other side. His blue eyes flashed green. I had learned that it was part of his lion form. He promised to show me his other form soon. The fangs were sexy, but I wanted to see his lion side. Something told me he would be beautiful.
He stepped into my apartment and swung the door shut. His hands was on me a second later, backing me up against the wall. Fire coursed through my body, and my fingers flickered purple for a second. Once he had me caged against the wall, he lowered his lips to mine. I expected the kiss to be hard and demanding, but it was soft. He traced my lips with his tongue until I opened them. His tongue played with mine. With each retreating lick of his tongue, my body pressed closer to him. I wanted him to lose it and press deeper.
When a moan escaped my throat, he moved his hand to the back of my neck and deepened the kiss as if tomorrow would never come. He wasn’t gentle anymore. I loved this side. He needed me as much as I needed him.
Atieno ran his other hand down my arm, and I winced when he touched the claw marks from earlier. He pulled back, looking down at the offending marks trailing down my otherwise unmarred skin. “What happened?” he demanded.
I shifted my feet. “I had a little run-in with some demons. It was nothing.”
He searched my eyes. “Why didn’t you call me?” Atieno blinked hurt from his eyes.
“I took care of it, and Mike cleaned up the mess. You were with Harold. I didn’t want to bother you, and I knew I would see you in a few hours. I didn’t think it was that big of a deal.”
“Everything is a big deal when it comes to you. Next time you’re hurt or in danger, call me. I don’t care what I’m doing. My life won’t matter unless you are a part of it.” He rested his forehead against mine. “Promise you’ll call me next time.”
No point in arguing. I would want the same thing. “Deal, but you have to tell me when you are hurt or in trouble as well.”
I felt the smile against my forehead. “Deal. Have I told you how hot you’re?”
“Nope.” I smiled.
“You look hot. Let’s leave before I drag you to the bedroom and slowly peel this dress off your body. Please tell me you have granny panties on.”
I swatted his arm. “Underwear shows in this dress. I’m not wearing any,” I said as I ducked under his arm and was out of reach before the words sank in.
“My dick is going to be hard all night. I was already hard, seeing you in that dress, but now that I know you’re naked underneath, I want to look for myself.”
Atieno used his speed to wrap me back in his arms. He slowly dragged his finger up my inner thigh and across my shaved pussy. I rested my head on his shoulder and let out a moan, then he stepped back. My eyes shot open, and he smirked. “Now we will both be frustrated.”
* * *
He held the passenger-side door open. I settled into the seat, and he closed the door after making sure I was inside. Atieno moved so quickly to his side, I couldn’t even see him.
His vampire speed amazed me and turned me on. I wondered if it was the mating pull that made me so comfortable around him. Over the years, I had dated, but nothing seemed to click until I met Atieno. I loved how tall he was. Being on the taller side myself, I had a hard time finding men my height or taller. Height was one of my deal breakers. Atieno’s dangerous vibe added to his appeal. He made me want to climb him like a tree and have my way with him.
Two nights ago, he went with me to Grandma’s, and we all had dinner. Wrath and Paxdon were there. I had been surprised at first. When we walked in, a tall, handsome man with blue eyes and blond hair stood in the entry. Ken doll popped into my head. He wasn’t skinny like Ken. He was buff, with muscles in all the right places. His presence lit up the room until Atieno walked in behind me and yelled for him to cut his shit.
Paxdon was a shifter. The thought of kidnapping the pandacorn was less appealing after knowing what he was part human. Paxdon complained through dinner about having to be in human form. Grandma grumbled that he shed too much and she was sick of cleaning up panda hair. I smiled as the two bickered with each other.
Wrath sat quietly at the table with one eye on Atieno at all times. Before we left, she stopped me and asked if I really wanted to be with Atieno and said that, if I did, she would stop offering to kill him. One of the two was going to have to tell me their story soon.
Atieno settled into the driver’s seat and placed his hand on the stick shift. “Ready?”
“Yes,” I told him.
Gripping the steering wheel, Atieno backed out of the parking space. He took a right turn down Iberville Street. The Shouting Lychee Pub was on the outskirts of New Orleans. It wasn’t long before Atieno pulled onto the interstate.
“Can I ask you something?”
“Anything,” Atieno replied.
“Why does Wrath hate you?”
Atieno rolled his neck. His knuckles turned white as he gripped the steering wheel. “Aetius was my son. My first and only son. And not the way you think. I was his maker. Wrath and I had known each other over the years. Every so often, I would head to hell and play poker with Lucifer. One night she called in a panic and asked me to turn Aetius. He wasn’t a shifter or an immortal, but she begged, and I did it.”
“She shouldn’t be mad at you for turning him.”
Atieno took ahold of my hand. “She wasn’t. They lived together for another two hundr
ed years. Every so often, I would check on them. I could sense when he was in danger. About three hundred years ago, I went through a dark time. I spent my time drinking in pubs in London and not doing my duties for the council. What I didn’t know was that some corrupt warlocks got on the chair and started experimenting with shifters and other supernaturals.” Atieno paused. “The council gave Aetius tainted blood. The blood made him go mad, and he killed a village. He was so far gone with bloodlust, we couldn’t bring him back, and I had to kill him.”
I wiped a tear from my face. Killing his friend and son would have to have been awful. “Was there anything you could have done?”
Atieno banged on the steering wheel. “If I’d been paying attention, it never would’ve happened, and Wrath and Atieno would still be together.
“Bullshit,” I said, squeezing his hand. “Wrath should’ve come to you the second she noticed something was off. She needs someone to blame, and she’s taking it out on you. Three hundred years is a long time to hold a grudge, too long. Maybe you two need to sit down and talk it out. You can’t let her keep blaming you.”
He was alternating between looking at the road ahead and me. “One day, I’ll need to sit down with Wrath. Especially since she’s your sister and I don’t plan to leave you alone. I feel guilty for finding you, when she lost her mate.”
“We can help her find another.”
His lips twitched for a second. “You are so kind, Pandora, but we only have one mate. When we lose that person, we lose a part of ourselves as well.”
“Well, I didn’t believe in ghosts until I found Sasha. If I need to, I’ll visit every witch and read every book until we figure out a way to fix Wrath. The universe can’t be so cruel as to give an immortal one mate and let him die.” I glanced out the window for a second. “I’ll sign her up for some dating apps. She might not find her perfect match again, but she will find someone.”
“I would love to see what you write on her dating profile. Three-thousand-year-old warrior, one of the deadly sins, looking for love and companionship. Must know how to kill someone six different ways.”
Fated Mates of the Underworld, Books 1-3 Page 21
