“How badly was the body damaged? Tell me about the circumstances,” Natalie said.
“Only ashes remained,” I explained. “Mostly. A few more minutes and we wouldn’t have been able to determine the ashes were human without a sensitive. Not even enough was left of the teeth to be certain it was a human being.” I took a deep breath. “But it was enough to get the paranormal unit out there. Our sensitive verified the ashes were human remains, or an otherworlder. There is definite energy on the body that is OW in nature, but she can’t say for sure if it’s from the victim or the person who burned the body. And there’s not enough of it left for Astrid to identify what kind of otherworlder was involved.”
“Astrid Holmes?” Natalie asked, voice sharp.
“Yes,” I said.
“Guess she didn’t want to come with you to talk to me.”
“She’s working other leads in the case,” I lied.
“Humph. Sure she is.” Natalie pursed her lips. “Well, I probably can’t tell you who the victim was, not off a little ash. You might do better with a psychometrist. But I can tell you what could have destroyed the body.” She held up a finger. “A witch, for one. A not-so-strong one with an affinity for fire could have done it, perhaps. Especially if intense emotion was involved. A powerful one with no affinity for fire could have done it as well—although that would have required a lot of time and trouble.” She held up another finger. “A salamander. But it would have to be a strong one.” And another finger. “A firebird—but again, it would have to be an especially strong one. Was there damage to the surrounding area?”
“No, the damage was concentrated on the body itself.”
“Probably not a firebird, then. They aren’t all that accurate.”
“What about a phoenix?”
Natalie waved her hand in the air. “That’s just another word for firebird—they’re the same species, really. They just won’t admit it. I guess it could also be some sort of elemental shaman. They’re similar to witches, but their magic is far more…primitive.”
“Anything else?”
“Not that I can think of offhand.”
“What can you tell me about salamanders?” I asked, keeping my tone light. I was only curious because of the case—not because of Costa. And if I told myself that enough times, maybe I’d believe it.
She shrugged. “Like all species of otherworlders, they vary in strength, but they are more accurate than a firebird.
Most commonly they are fire resistant—maybe closer to immune. Their eyes turn black like a true salamander’s when they are feeling intense emotion. Most are like a lighter, in that they can start a small flame. They can drive some energy into a fire.” She shrugged. “But melting fillings...how long did this person burn?” I frowned. “It’s hard to say, but it couldn’t have been more than an hour or so. He or she was found in an alley at night, but the bar that used the Dumpsters closed at 2:00
a.m., and they took their trash out after closing. A bakery on the other side of the alley had workers in by four. They found the body at four thirty, and it was already reduced to smoldering ash.”
“Sounds like you definitely have something, then.” Natalie’s face scrunched, a cute expression on her, and oddly it reminded me of Astrid’s expression back in the alley when she had been concentrating on using her sensitive powers on the pile of ash. “If I had to hazard a guess, I would put my money on an amateur witch with very strong fire acumen.”
“Why not the others?” I asked. “Seems like a Covenant witch would be just as likely.”
Natalie laughed, a light musical sound. “Oh, I won’t argue with you that a Covenant witch would be more likely to have that kind of juice, but our numbers are limited.
Besides, Viktor has been in town all week. No way would one of ours try to pull something like that with a council member in town. That would be...suicide. Professional suicide, of course.”
Professional suicide. Yeah, right. More like physical homicide when the councilman got ahold of the witch.
Like the vampires, the Covenant tended to take care of their own problems.
“And,” Natalie added, “a very powerful salamander could have done it.”
Her points were valid, but they didn’t really eliminate any of the species she’d named, just made some more likely than others. Hell, Mac had found that out only months before. Incubi, cousins to my species, were supposed to be extinct. Mac had discovered not one, but two of them on that case. One of which was a deranged killer, and the other she was currently living with. The fact that powerful ones were somewhat rare sure as heck didn’t take them off the potentials list if extinct didn’t.
My thoughts briefly flitted to Costa. He was a salamander, after all. I didn’t think it likely he’d come into town early to burn some poor person behind La Maison, but I’d have Vasquez check his whereabouts to be sure.
“Can you get us any information from the ashes?” I pulled a small, white plastic container from my purse that Astrid had given me in the parking lot. It was enclosed in a Ziploc bag and sealed. It only looked like it would hold half a cup or so of the ash, but probably a big enough sample for Natalie.
Natalie sighed. “I can try. Not sure what I can get will be worth the amount of money it’ll cost your department.” I grimaced but my voice was steady. “No amount of money is worth a life, Ms. Leigh. If what you find can help us, it’ll be worth the whole of the department’s budget.” Oh boy. Vasquez was going to love that.
My phone rang and I glanced at the unfamiliar number before touching the screen to answer it.
I turned away from Natalie. “Whitman.” I knew it almost definitely wasn’t Elaine, but my voice still caught with fear and hope.
“This is Costa. The security cameras are a no-go.”
“What about her car? I saw it in the parking lot.”
“We got it. But it doesn’t look like the girls made it that far. It was locked up tight. The CSIs are going to go over it anyway, but I don’t think it’s likely they’ll find anything.” I cursed under my breath. “This is what you called to tell me?” I winced. I was directing my worry for Elaine into anger at Costa. I knew that, but I couldn’t seem to help myself. He’d been kind of a jerk earlier, though, so that soothed my guilt a bit.
He hesitated. “There’s something else, but I think we’re better off talking in person.” I stifled a sigh. “Fine. Where are you?”
“I’m at the Hampton, off Illinois Street.”
“I know where that is.” I glanced at Natalie. “Not sure how long I’ll be, but I’ll be there.” I tossed my phone back into my bag.
“Was there anything else, Detective?” Natalie turned to head back into her office as she spoke.
“How much for a locator spell?”
The witch turned back to me and smiled, and I’d swear I saw dollar signs flash across her eyes.
Costa’s hotel was on the north side of Chicago. It was probably the closest to the police department within the OWEA’s budget.
A quick call with Vasquez from my car confirmed Costa’s whereabouts when our alley victim was incinerated.
He had an ironclad alibi—it was hard to beat the word of a dozen cops and a DA. I trudged to his room and knocked briskly on the door. It swung open and I took a quick breath. A light sheen of moisture reflected off Costa’s naked chest and he rubbed his wet hair with a towel. He stepped back, and I caught the door automatically before it could close behind him.
I followed him into the room and kept my eyes firmly affixed to his muscular back. It was tempting, but not as tempting as the tight butt I could see the outline of in his jeans.
“Just a minute,” he said. He reached the bed and tossed the towel onto a desk situated across from it. As he grabbed a T-shirt out of the suitcase sitting on top of the bed, I swallowed. I did my best not to reach out and run my fingers down his hard chest while he pulled the material over his head.
As he straightened his T-shirt, I licked my lips
and met his intense gaze. I knew that the heat I felt was plain to see on my face, but his expression didn’t harden, it smoldered.
His nostrils flared, like he was an animal who’d caught my scent, and I blinked in surprise.
I took an involuntary step back and dropped my eyes.
“Sorry,” I mumbled. I wasn’t entirely sure what I was apologizing for, but it seemed like the right thing to say. It was the only thing I could think of, anyway.
“I, um...” He cleared his throat. “Just needed to get in a quick shower. You were longer than I expected.
I took a deep breath, air through my nose, slowly out my mouth. “I tried a locator spell with Natalie. She’s the Covenant witch the department uses.”
“And?”
Business. Focus on business. Focus on working the case.
Focus on finding Elaine. “No dice. She’s either blocked by magic, out of Natalie’s range, or…” The thought that Elaine might be dead stomped out the last bit of my lust.
“What’s this information you couldn’t give me over the phone?”
Finding bravery in my resolve, I looked back to his face. His expression had hardened to its normal cold calculation. None of the fire remained, and I suddenly wondered if I’d imagined it. No. I was a lot of things, but sexually unobservant was not one of them. As a succubus I had an inhuman grip on my sexuality, and that of those around me. It was my natural gift, my natural weapon.
My natural curse.
I didn’t think about it much, anymore. But standing in front of him, I wondered if my aura of sexuality affected him. Well, it almost certainly did on some level—the aura wasn’t something I could turn off—but he might be able to ignore it, for the most part. After all, it didn’t make me that much more noticeable than your average attractive woman, just a smidgeon more—just enough to make me a bit more distracting than most.
“I owe you an apology.”
My eyes widened, and red crept up his neck.
“I made a bad assumption, about you flirting with the security man. That wasn’t fair of me. I know that you have to use what you’ve got to get information from people in this business.” He shook his head and a bit of damp hair clung to his forehead, and I made a fist to avoid reaching out to brush it away. “It makes sense, your approach. I just…reacted.”
I nodded, unable to speak for a moment, and a strange feeling spread through my chest. “Do you have something against succubi, Costa? Or do you just react that strongly to all the people you work with?”
He flinched. “That’s none of your business.”
“I think it is. If we’re going to work together on this, I need to know that I can trust you to have my back.” His face reddened. “You can trust me, but I’m not going to get into my fucking personal business with you.” Oh yes. Valerio Costa had some personal issues with my species and me. I frowned at him but didn’t push. The likelihood of him confiding in me now was somewhere between zero and none.
“Look, I’m sorry for how I reacted earlier.” He cleared his throat and gestured toward the desk. “Maybe you should sit down.”
“Come on, whatever you tell me can’t be any more shocking than that apology.” I gave him a small smile, but he didn’t return it. Instead, he ran his fingers through his hair and looked down. I shoved my chin farther up. “I’m fine. Just spit it out, please.”
“It’s Wendy.” He reached forward and grasped my shoulder, and for a brief moment I wanted to lean into that grip, into his body. Let someone comfort me for once.
But I couldn’t do that. For one, he’d almost definitely push me away. For another, it was too dangerous. Comfort too easily led to other things. So I tried to focus on what he was saying, clinging to Wendy’s name like a life raft.
“Wendy?”
“I’m sorry, Marisol. She’s dead.”
Chapter Six
“She’s—” My voice caught in my throat, and I tried to swallow around the lump that had formed. A deluge of feelings crushed me, and I couldn’t breathe. Wendy was dead. Gone. The brave girl who’d defied her parents and culture to attend college. The smiling friend who’d helped bring Elaine out of her shell. The understanding siren who’d helped make my sister whole.
Costa pulled me close and wrapped his arms around me in an inescapable hug. I struggled to breathe evenly. I couldn’t lose it, not now.
“Elaine?” I gasped out.
“No sign of her yet. I’m sorry, but that’s a good thing.
Really. She’s out there and we’re going to find her.” I didn’t move for a few moments. For those brief seconds I leaned against his hardness and took in his clean scent. I hadn’t known Wendy all that well, but she had been a regular visitor to our house lately. She’d always been kind to me and as far as I could tell, to Elaine. And by helping Elaine, by becoming her friend, she helped me more than the sweet siren could have known. She alleviated the pressure of being the only one to care for Elaine, the only one who tried to bring her out of her shell.
And for that, I loved her.
I pressed my hands against Costa’s chest and pushed myself back. I could feel the heat of his skin beneath his shirt, and it struck me that for once, he wasn’t cold. I steeled myself and met his gaze with as level a look as I could summon, ignoring the wetness I could feel on my cheeks that now marred his otherwise dry shirt.
“How do you know she’s dead?” I asked.
“That’s complicated.”
“Complicated? You haven’t told me everything,” I said. It wasn’t a question. “You’re going to tell me what you know. Now.”
“Look, there are things I can’t—”
“Now, Costa!” My voice cracked and he took a step toward me. I waved him off.
He sat down heavily on the bed and rubbed his face.
“Fine. Sit down,” he said.
I pulled the office chair from the desk and turned it to face him. I sat, keeping my posture straight, careful not to lean toward him. I had to concentrate, keep my mind on finding Elaine.
“We’ve recovered one succubus out of who knows how many that he’s taken.”
I took a deep breath. “He?”
“Yes, she confirmed the kidnapper was a man, but she couldn’t recall what he looked like. A spell, we suspect. But if he used a spell, it was clever enough that our Covenant witch couldn’t undo it.”
“Not surprising,” I said, relieved that my voice sounded far stronger than I felt.
He blinked at me. “What do you mean?”
“Magic’s a helluva lot easier to do than undo. I mean, if her memory were wiped, it would be like cleaning a car.
Even though you knew the mud was there, could find it in the drain it washed down, you still couldn’t paint it back onto the car and make it exactly how it was before you cleaned it.”
He pressed his elbows against his knees and leaned forward. “That’s what our witch told us. But it took him two hours and a fucking whiteboard to explain it.” I shrugged, uncomfortable. “I studied witchcraft, amateur stuff mostly.”
“Why?”
I shook my head. “Elaine had some bad history. I just...I tried to find a way to undo it.” He gave me a quick nod. “I read the file.” My eyes were suddenly moist again, and so I examined the wall to his left.
“Anyway. The girl we rescued had been sold to a man—a human. We recovered her because his private plane was randomly searched as he was leaving the country.”
I snapped my head back to him. “What? A human couldn’t control a succubus—even a weak one—for long.
I mean, it might take her a few times but eventually she’d drain him if he touched her. That doesn’t make any sense.” He rocked back on the bed, stretched, and resumed sitting. I tried not to notice the muscles moving under his shirt. That was more difficult—now that I knew what they felt like under my hands.
“She’d been altered.”
“Excuse me?”
“Magically.” He took a deep breath. “Ba
sically, someone figured out how to reverse the normal succubus process. Instead of being able to pull power into herself from the person she was sleeping with, she was able to give it. And—”
“And?” There was more? Wasn’t this bad enough? I could barely get my mind around the implications.
“They removed the…baggage that usually comes along with bonding with a succubus.”
“Baggage? You mean the emotional connection, the feelings.” My shock twisted, and suddenly I could barely breathe, I was so angry. “They made them into fucking human batteries, that’s what you’re saying? Human batteries to be raped and used and sucked dry?” The sympathy that flashed in his eyes was too much. “And you knew this. You knew this and didn’t tell me. What the hell, Costa?”
“I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I didn’t think it would help, and I didn’t want to distract you from the case. We still have time to find her. We will find Elaine before they do this to her.”
I opened my mouth, to yell or to cry, I wasn’t sure which. But his words stopped me. “What do you mean?” My voice was thick with emotion, and I couldn’t seem to get a grip on it. I had to. Had to force it down, keep focused. Had to find Elaine.
“The process—the change, it takes weeks. Weeks where the succubus can’t be moved and is held in the same city she was taken from. I think she’s still here, Marisol.”
“You found this out from the succubus you saved?”
“Yes. She recognized the area she was held in, an old warehouse in her hometown—St. Louis. She knew she hadn’t been moved because it sounded like her home, smelled like it. She grew up not far from where they held her.”
“You were able to track down the warehouse?” I shifted in my seat. Yes. This was good. Evidence I could concentrate on, use it to focus.
“Yes, we found it.” He frowned. “But it didn’t actually lead us anywhere. The warehouse was owned by a large company and just rented out under the table for cash.” I pressed on my temples. Something wasn’t right about this. Companies didn’t do that, did they? “Was there anything fishy about the company?”
“Only that it was owned by your very own local Magister.”
Succubus Lost (Files from the Otherworlder Enforcement Agency, #2) Page 5
