by Nova Archer
“Eve, I wanted to apologize.”
“No need,” she said as she scooped up the papers and shoved them back into the case file folder.
His hand covered hers on the table. “There is a need.”
Looking up she met and kept his gaze. The air seemed to sizzle between them. A warm sensation flowed over her skin from where he touched her. Despite her anger toward him, she desperately wanted that feeling to spread over her entire body. It felt too damn good. He felt too damn good.
“I was completely out of line last night. You have earned your place in this lab. And I appreciate all that you’ve contributed to the case.”
“Thank you,” she smiled. Elation filled her. He did care about her. She could see it in his eyes. Maybe they could somehow make something work between them. A night, a week. She didn’t care. Was it so impossible?
“I just wanted you to know that before you went back to your own lab. I’ll make sure to tell your captain.”
Her elation faded and ended up as a hard lump in the pit of her stomach. She’d been wrong. All the man wanted was to get rid of her.
Pulling her hand out from his, she pushed to her feet, and handed him the case file. “Right. Then let’s get it over with shall we? Maybe I can be back home before the sun rises.”
Brushing past him and out the door, she hurried down the corridor before he could see how upset she was. She could feel Caine walking behind her but she never turned around. She refused to let him know how he had hurt her again. It was humiliating as it was that he had seen her cry and felt the need to apologize to her. He had told her before that he wasn’t used to someone with so many emotions. He had been so right.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Caine stood beside Mahina, his adrenaline racing through his system as she pressed the doorbell of Mel Howard’s quaint little bungalow at three o’clock Sunday morning. Eve and Lyra stood huddled together on the sidewalk, both with their kits, in front of the house while Jace and Ren were at the back.
He worried a little about Eve being on the scene. Hadn’t he left her defenseless one too many times before? Fighting back his urge to run back down the sidewalk and stand with Eve, Caine told himself to keep calm. She was with Lyra. She was safe. The whole team was here.
He felt they deserved to be present when they seized the perp. Or the supposed perp in the eyes of the law. But in Caine’s mind, Mel was guilty as hell. After going over all the evidence, he was one hundred percent sure the vampire was their serial murderer. Not only did he have the means, they also discovered that Mel Howard had a .38 registered to him. Therefore, the whole team was wearing Kevlar vests.
Mahina pressed the buzzer again. Putting his ear to the door, Caine could hear the doorbell echo inside, but he didn’t hear anything else. Maybe Mel wasn’t home. He wasn’t working. Caine had already called to see if he was on shift.
Mahina picked up her radio and pressed the button. “We’re going in. On five.”
As she picked up the battering ram, she nodded to Caine and counted. “One, two, three, four, five.”
On five, she swung the thick black metal cylinder at the door. The wood on the frame splintered and the door slammed open. With her gun drawn, Mahina rushed in, Caine following close behind.
“Police!”
Caine heard the back door crash open, and Ren’s twin announcement of arrival. “Police!”
Caine did a quick survey of the living room. A lamp in the corner was still on. A half full glass of blood sat on the glass coffee table. And Caine could detect the odor of fear in the air.
Sidling up next to Mahina, he whispered in her ear, “He’s here.”
Nodding, she spoke quietly into her radio. “Be on alert. Suspect is still in the house.” She glared at Caine. “And you, get behind me. Your head isn’t bulletproof, you know?”
He motioned to her to continue the search. As she moved from the living room into the kitchen, he got behind her. She was right, his head wasn’t bulletproof and he wasn’t about to lose it. Not now, anyway.
The rest of the house was dark, but neither one of them needed a flashlight as they both possessed superior night vision. But so did their suspect.
A quick perusal of the kitchen, showed dirty dishes in the sink, a leaky drip in the faucet, but nothing else. As they crept down the hall toward the bedrooms, the stink of panic invaded Caine’s nostrils. Either Mel was in one of the bedrooms waiting for them, or he had recently just run down the corridor, thoughts of escape racing in his mind.
Mahina and Ren went down the hall first, their backs to the wall. Caine and Jace lagged a little behind. On Mahina’s right, a door was ajar. Silently, she crept to it, and peered in, gun pointed confidently. Glancing behind her, she shook her head indicating that it was clear.
Coming back into the hall, they continued inching their way along the wall. There were two bedrooms ahead, one on the left, and one on the right. Both doors were closed.
Taking in a deep whiff, Caine tried to determine what direction the odor was coming from. The smell was so cloying, seemingly coming from the walls themselves, he couldn’t tell.
Mahina and Ren looked at each other, just as they neared the closed doors. A nod was all that was needed between them to know exactly what to do. They had been on a few busts together before.
On the count of three, Mahina and Ren kicked open the doors and charged into the bedrooms. Caine held back, holding his breath, as they searched the rooms. Any minute, he expected to hear shouting or shooting. However, he heard nothing but Jace’s ragged breathing as he pushed up behind him, eager to get in on the action.
After a few more minutes, Ren wandered out of the bedroom, empty-handed, and shrugged. “He ain’t up here.”
“There’s a basement—maybe he’s hiding there,” Jace offered.
Caine shook his head. “He came this way. I’m positive.”
Mahina poked her head out of the other room. “There’s an open window.”
“He escaped out the window,” Jace said. “Which way do you think he’d run?”
A scream perforated the silence of the night, giving them their answer.
Eve!
Caine swung around and ran back down the hall toward the front door, his heart hammering in his chest. Thoughts of bloodshed already flashed in his mind. Please God, don’t take her from me now!
Eve didn’t see him come around the corner until it was too late.
Before she could react, the suspect had knocked Lyra unconscious from behind with a blow to the head and was quickly approaching her, lips pulled back in a feral grin. Instincts kicking in, Eve held her ALS flashlight in her hand like a club, the light source on. If he was going to come at her, he was going to get an eye full of ultraviolet and a knock in the face.
With every step back Eve took, he matched her. She knew he was mocking her, taunting her with the fact that he was so much stronger than she was. That at any time he could end this and kill her with a sweep of his hand and the bite of his teeth.
His contempt toward her made Eve angry. She was tired of being afraid. Wasn’t she exactly as everyone saw her? A scared human woman thinking she could play with the creatures of the night. Well, she was damn tired of being afraid. She was just damn tired.
“You’re going down for the murders, Mel. We have enough evidence to convict you and lock you up for life.”
His steps faltered a little as she spoke. Eve thought he likely wasn’t expecting her to talk to him, stand up to him. He expected her to cower and shrink. A fly to his deadly spider.
“Keep talking, human. I like to play with my food.”
“Maybe if you give yourself up, they’ll go easier on you.”
Mel laughed. “Honey, I’m never going to see the inside of a prison cell. He won’t let that happen.”
He? Who was he? Was there someone else involved with the murders? Eve didn’t have time to process that information. Mel leaped forward and pushed on her shoulders, shoving her to t
he ground. He loomed over her, his open mouth baring his fangs.
“Play time is over. Time for the main course.”
As he pressed down on her, one of his hands on her head slowly turning it to bare her neck, she swatted at him with her flashlight. She connected twice with the bridge of his nose before he grabbed her hand and pushed it up over her head. With tears running down his cheeks from the impact on his nose, he closed in on her neck, in no obvious pain.
Eve struggled and wriggled, trying to break his firm hold on her. She refused to be this guy’s snack. She would not be a victim like Lillian Crawford had been.
“I bet you’re going to taste better than the girl. I wish I could screw you first.”
“Not before I screw you,” Eve grunted as she brought her knee up right between the suspect's legs.
He may be a vampire but the guy still had the usual equipment. By the tortured look on his face, Eve landed a direct hit.
Grunting, Mel released his hold on her head and brought his hand up to his crotch. While he was preoccupied thinking about the pain in his balls, Eve kneed him again and twisted her body to push him off. The move worked and she was able to roll away from him. However, as she pushed to her knees, he was on her again, grabbing her by the hair and pressing her into the cement face first.
Her cheek scraped against the asphalt as he pushed on her head. She clamped her eyes shut when she felt hot air on the side of her neck. Holding her breath, she waited for the sharp pinch of his teeth on her flesh.
As random thoughts crossed her mind in the moment of panic, images of Caine dominated her vision. Where was he? Hadn’t he heard her scream? She didn’t want to die without telling him how she felt. How she wanted him. How she’d never met someone she respected and admired as much as she did him. That she saw past the vampire and glimpsed the real man inside. A man she wanted to know and possibly love.
The first pinch of pain seared through her as he sliced her skin with his fangs. A warm rivulet of blood ran down her neck to drip on the pavement beneath her. She sucked in a ragged breath expecting the next onslaught of agony.
But it didn’t come. Not for her anyway.
Before she could blink, Mel tumbled off her body. Shuddering from the rush of adrenaline, Eve managed to lift her head to see what was happening.
A few feet away, Caine and Mel wrestled on the ground. It proved to be a short battle with Caine on top. He sat on the other vampire’s chest and punched him in the face several times fast. So quick, Eve barely saw his arm move. But glancing at Mel’s bloodied nose and lips, there was no doubt that Caine had landed several solid blows. The blood staining Caine’s shirt proved that Mel had inflicted his own injuries too.
Caine raised his arm again, but Mahina was there restraining him.
“That’s enough, Caine. You made your point.”
Shrugging off Mahina’s hold, Caine stood and took a step away from Mel’s writhing form. He turned toward Eve and she gasped in shock. His face was contorted in rage. Even in the dark, she could feel the menace of his gaze. It was like looking into the dark pit of something she didn’t want to name. She knew the menacing look wasn’t meant for her, that he had saved her life, but she couldn’t stop the shivers of dread from wracking her body.
Taking in a ragged breath, she tried to push up. Detective Calder was next to her, grabbing her arm and helping Eve to her feet.
“Are you okay? Anything broken?” Ren asked as he searched Eve’s face and body for serious wounds.
Lifting her hand, Eve touched the side of her neck. Her fingers came away tacky with blood. But it didn’t feel like she was bleeding any longer.
Ren must have noticed the look of horror on her face. “He didn’t pierce your artery. Just nicked the skin. Don’t worry, you won’t be growing fangs anytime soon.”
Sirens pierced the early morning air. An ambulance and a police cruiser raced up the road toward the scene. Ren held Eve’s arm and directed her toward the approaching ambulance.
“Let’s get you looked at.”
“What about Lyra?” Eve asked, suddenly remembering Lyra’s knock to the head.
“She’s fine. Being looked after too.”
As they shuffled across the pavement, Eve glanced over at Caine. He was watching her, his hands still clenched into tight fists. Jace was at his side, talking rapidly to him. But Caine never took his eyes away from her, as if Jace was not there. The dark look on his face was replaced with one of anguish and despair. Eve thought he looked so sad, tortured even, as if he had done something terrible, instead of saving her life.
Reaching to his side, she held her hand out to him as she passed. He lifted his arm toward her. Their fingers brushed against each other.
Eve felt the electricity sparking between them. The air suddenly filled with current and it all but sizzled over her flesh as the tips of their fingers touched. She wanted the sensation to last. Wanted to hold onto the way it tingled over her whole body.
But it soon passed as they were both ushered in separate directions to take care of their respective injuries.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
“What you have on my client is tentative at best, Captain Garner.” The hawk-like lawyer rattled off as he fidgeted in his seat next to Mel Howard in the interrogation room.
Caine watched through the two-way glass as Mahina smiled her I-got-you-by-the-balls smile and slid a piece of paper across the table toward the lawyer. It was the lab results on Mel’s DNA. It had matched what they had found on Lillian Crawford. Mel had had sex with her and had bitten her on the neck.
While the lawyer looked over the results, Mel stared straight ahead toward the mirror. He had a little smirk on his beat-up face. As Caine eyed Mel’s injuries, his only regret was that he didn’t finish the job. For the first time in a long time, he had felt the urge to destroy another being. Remembering what Mel had done to Eve made him shudder with fury all over again.
Caine risked a glance to the side at Eve. She stood on the other side of Lyra, her hand clasped tightly together, watching the interrogation. He wondered how she was feeling, if seeing the suspect made her afraid or angry. He had a desperate urge to soothe her. To walk over to her, wrap her in his arms and never let go. However, as the case was nearly closed, the thought was futile. She’d be going home by dinnertime.
He turned back to the room and watched as Mel’s lawyer fidgeting even more in his seat. “This just proves that my client had sex with the victim and took blood. Neither is illegal. It doesn’t prove he killed her.”
With a lift of her brow, Mahina slid a sealed evidence bag across the table. Inside was the knife Caine had found in the suspect’s bedroom in the closet when they did a thorough search of his residence after Mel had been handcuffed and taken away.
“This is the knife we found in your client’s bedroom, with the victim’s blood on it.” She pointed to another sealed evidence bag with a .38 Smith & Wesson inside. A gun Jace had found in the garage, in the suspect’s vehicle. “This is the gun that killed Jamie Duncan. Ballistics matched the bullet pulled from Jamie Duncan’s head. Your client’s buddy and co-accomplice in the Lillian Crawford murder.” Pausing, she cocked her head. “Should I go on, Counselor?”
The lawyer glanced sideways at his client. Mel hadn’t as much as flinched since being in the room. It was almost as if he was in some sort of trance.
Looking back down at his briefcase, the lawyer grabbed the handle and stood. “I guess there’s nothing left to talk about. We’ll see you in court.”
“Yes, you will,” Mahina said as she gathered the evidence together.
“You can’t stop it.”
Everyone in the room flinched away from the window when Mel spoke, the sound so deep, so menacing, that to Caine it didn’t seem like his voice at all.
Mahina instinctively raised her hand to her belt, very near to where her gun was holstered. “What’s that, Mel?”
Mel smiled and sprang forward in his chair as if on a wire
coil. “It’s already begun. He’s coming.”
Lyra glanced at Caine, a look of horror on the witch’s face. “He’s talking about Balam.”
Caine shook his head. “It’s just a ploy, Lyra. The guy’s trying to rattle some cages. He knows he’s going down for a long time.”
“Who’s coming?” Mahina asked.
Mel stood and leaned over the table, leering at the mirrored window. “He’s coming for you, sweet thing. He’s already gotten a taste of your blood, and he likes it.”
Gasping, Eve turned from the window with her hand on her bandaged neck. Caine sensed the room filling with fear. Eve’s fear.
Mahina motioned to the guard in the room. “Get him out of here.”
The guard made a grab for Mel, but he danced out of the way and ran at the window. He smashed into it, opening up fresh wounds on his face. Blood splattered across the glass and ran down in thin lines.
“I can smell you, sweet thing! I can feel your fear!”
Caine crossed the room in two strides, gathering Eve in his arms. She didn’t resist, but grabbed onto him in desperation.
“We got him, Eve. He can’t hurt you.”
While he stroked her hair, and rocked her gently, two guards dragged Mel out of the room. Mahina followed them out. Jace and Lyra huddled together in the corner and remained in respectful silence as Caine comforted Eve.
She didn’t cry, but he could feel her whole body vibrate with trepidation. He wished he could take it away from her. Take away the attack. But he couldn’t. It was his fault she’d been attacked. He shouldn’t have left her with Lyra. He should've stayed with her, or kept her with him. But he had been afraid of seeing her hurt. And in the end, she had been injured, regardless.
He had failed to keep her safe.
The door to the small room opened and Mahina ambled in. She peered around at their faces. “Why so grim? We got the bastard on two counts of murder one. The Crimson boys are all facing charges of federal trespassing. We’ve done one hell of a job.”
