Crime of Passion (HBIA: Case Files Book 1)

by A. M. Halford

  Raising his arms to wash his hair, Dragos hissed at the searing pain in his shoulder. Reaching for the spot, he frowned when he thought he felt scar tissue. But that couldn’t be right. He’d never been injured on his shoulder before.

  Getting out of the shower, Dragos wiped off the mirror and looked at his left shoulder more closely. His face went white as he recognized the mark for what it was. He was going to kill Neculai. Screw forming some kind of relationship with the guy or turning him down, he was dead! How dare he fucking claim Dragos last night!

  * * * *

  Neculai was still in a bit of a fog about what happened last night. He remembered going at it with Dragos until they both blacked out. When he’d woken up to his phone ringing they were curled together, Dragos tucked up under his chin and looking completely vulnerable. It was adorable.

  Yeah, he realized he was probably sick in the head for finding such a large and strong man adorable, but who cared. Dragos was cute, especially when he was sleeping or crying out for Neculai to make him come. Just the memory of it had him hardening.

  “Hey, so what did you find?” a lawyer asked. Nathan Ember was a pureblood dragon and was working to exonerate a man convicted of killing his step-father. Both Nathan and the prosecutor were in his lab along with the original detectives for the case.

  Remembering he was at work, Neculai forced the image of Dragos below him from his mind and pulled out his report on the evidence collected during that case and what he’d been able to find. “This is everything, including the new evidence brought in by Detective Stark this morning.”

  “Shit,” Nathan swore as he flipped each page over. “Damn it.”

  “Well, what are you going to do, Counselor?” the prosecutor grinned.

  Nathan shot him a withering glare but didn’t get the chance to respond. “You!” Dragos’ enraged voice filled Neculai’s lab before Nathan could say anything.

  All eyes turned to see Dragos and Rozalia coming toward him. Neculai wasn’t sure who he was more afraid of, Dragos or Rozalia. The half werewolf looked ready to tear his throat out while Dragos looked lost.

  He did not like that look in his dragon’s eyes.

  Wait, why was he considering Dragos his? They’d slept together once. A one-night stand didn’t mean anything. It certainly didn’t mean Dragos was his.

  “You son of a bitch!” Rozalia snarled, her arm pulling back as she reached him. Neculai didn’t have time to blink, let alone think, before the woman punched him square on the jaw. Dragos growled at her and she growled back. “He deserved it! And you,” She turned back on Neculai, “How fucking dare you take such liberties with my partner! I should skin you alive right now.”

  “Rozalia!” Dragos snapped, there was an edge of warning in his voice.

  “Dragos?” Nathan spoke up, sounding both surprised and pleased to see Dragos. That had Neculai’s demon rising and snarling, despite the pain in his jaw. “What’s going on?”

  “Nathan? What are you doing here?” Dragos gaped, horror now entering his golden eyes.

  He and Rozalia both looked around the room as if seeing the other occupants for the first time. Apparently whatever it was that Neculai had done it was enough for them both to be in a blind rage and ignoring their surroundings. Whatever the fuck that could’ve been.

  “Work,” Nathan answered. “Neculai is the forensic alchemist in charge of my client’s case.”

  “Just fucking great,” Rozalia cursed, “Witnesses.”

  “What is going on?” Neculai asked, stepping around everyone and advancing on Dragos. He didn’t like how vulnerable he looked right now. He wasn’t sure what kind of past Dragos and Nathan had, but it didn’t really matter either. He certainly didn’t like Rozalia’s reference to witnesses. “Dragos, what’s wrong?” he asked gently, cupping the side of his face.

  Dragos’ eyes swam with so many emotions Neculai couldn’t get a peg on them, until they hardened and filled with rage.

  Dragos smacked Neculai’s hand away and snarled at him. “This,” he yanked his shirt collar to the side, exposing a rather large and obvious claiming bite. “How fucking dare you claim me!”

  Neculai’s head swam and not just from the blow to his face, as he looked at the scar marking Dragos as his, for life. He knew he’d been out of it last night, but shit, he didn’t think he was that out of it!

  “You’d better start explaining yourself,” Rozalia growled low. “Before I have you arrested. Or worse.”

  “Stop threatening him,” Dragos warned her. “Besides, it was consensual.” Neculai couldn’t get a peg on Dragos’ emotional state right now. Was he mad at him or defending him? He couldn’t really tell.

  “The sex maybe,” Rozalia waved that part away. She’d obviously already considered that. “But the claiming sure as shit wasn’t. There are laws against claiming a mate without their knowledge.”

  Neculai couldn’t focus. He’d claimed Dragos as his mate? Fuck. He couldn’t remember doing it.

  “Dragos, honey, what’s going on?” Nathan asked stepping forward.

  The sweet voice the lawyer used to address Dragos had Neculai snarling and pulling the half-dragon into his arms. “Mine!”

  “The fuck I am,” Dragos pulled away. Anger back in his eyes. “It was one fucking night!”

  “Hey, what the hell is going on here? Rozalia, Dragos, you’ve got another body. District 12, sector 3. Alley behind the Naked Blonde,” their captain shouted into the lab, a pissed off look on his aged face. How much had he’d seen? Neculai felt a cold sweat covering his body as he met the captain’s eyes. “Get on it!”

  “Yes, sir,” Rozalia and Dragos said in tandem.

  Dragos shot Neculai one last scathing and soul wrenching look before leaving the lab. Rozalia’s parting gaze was far less mixed. She meant him harm if she didn’t get an explanation soon.

  Neculai had to stop himself from reaching out for his mate and pulling him back into his arms. This was so messed up. He didn’t remember claiming Dragos last night, but he sure as shit felt the jealousy and protective urges that came with mating.

  Chapter Four

  Dragos wanted to hit Neculai and run back into his arms all at the same time. This was so fucked up! How the hell had a one-night stand turned into them being mated? He’d never heard of something so ridiculous. Supernatural creatures and their mixed breed descendants took great care in selecting their life partners. Some never did. It was a choice to be extremely careful with, as it couldn’t be undone. Not only had Dragos not gotten a say in it, but he was stuck with Neculai whether he liked it or not.

  Of course, Dragos knew he had to have agreed to it last night, or else it would never have worked. What had happened that made him loose so much control over himself? Sure, Neculai was a god in bed, but he wasn’t that good. Was he?

  “She was found an hour ago,” Rozalia said as they walked behind the Naked Blonde, a strip club in the heart of District 12’s entertainment strip. “Her name’s Jewels, a stage name I’m guessing, as it seems she was a dancer here.”

  She fit the same profile as all the other women.

  Shit, the guy was getting bolder and killing more frequently. They needed to find him before any more women lost their lives for just looking like themselves.

  “Sorry I’m late.” That whiskey rich voice had Dragos’ insides doing funny things as he straightened and glared at the alchemist. “I had to finish going through the final findings with Officer Stark, Mr. Ember, and Mr. Sawyer.”

  “No problem,” Rozalia obviously had forgotten her foul mood with Neculai, either that or she was just playing it nice while they were in public.

  Dragos hoped she was just playing nice because he wasn’t ready to be friendly with the geek quite yet. He was so mixed up inside he wasn’t sure whether to defend Neculai from Rozalia’s wrath or join in with his own. For the moment, Dragos was going to go with just ignoring him.

  Neculai avoided Dragos’ gaze as he reached into his bag and pu
lled out a vial with the same green liquid in it he had used the last time he was at a scene. They were working, so Dragos knew he shouldn’t be upset over Neculai avoiding eye contact with him, especially after he’d just made the decision to ignore the man, and yet he wasn’t just upset about it. Dragos was furious that the half-demon hadn’t said hello to him. He actually wanted Neculai to wrap his arms around him and reassure him that everything was going to be okay.

  Shaking his head roughly, Dragos banished the pathetic thought from his mind. Neculai had done something wrong, this was not the time to be letting the connection between them pull him into forgiving the man. He was mad, and he needed to remain such for a long time.

  “Yeah, definitely the same guy,” Neculai said, holding up the now amber colored vial. “And, judging by the strong reaction, I’d say she was killed no less than three hours ago. Of course, the ME will be able to give you a closer time of death.”

  That meant she had been killed just after sunrise. The killer was getting more confident. The previous four women were all killed at night. Jewels, though, wasn’t. What made this kill different? Why break his pattern now?

  “She isn’t human,” Neculai’s sudden announcement had both Dragos and Rozalia spinning on him.

  “What?” They both demanded.

  Neculai held up his hands to ward them off. “I said, she isn’t human. She’s a mixed breed. I’d reckon she’s got at least two supernatural relatives in her family tree.”

  Shit, this was getting more complicated. “I need to speak with the manager of this club,” Dragos snapped at one of the local cops before moving to allow the ME, Denis Viper, in. He confirmed everything Neculai had said, adding that she was most likely a mix of angel, human, and more recently, elven. The amount of point on her ear said she was easily half elf.

  Dragos thanked both men for their work and followed after the street cop and entered the club to find the manager on the phone. From the sounds of things, he was talking with his lawyer.

  “No, I don’t know why they’re keeping me here. Just get over here, will you?”

  Dragos waited patiently for the man to be done before motioning for him to take a seat at one of the booths. At night this place was probably a great setting for straight men to hang out and ogle naked women. During the day, though, it looked like someone had tried to fit a night club into an abandoned warehouse.

  “I’m Detective Iliescu,” Dragos introduced himself.

  “Max Othello,” the manager nodded.

  “Jewels, is that her real name?” Dragos asked as he sat down and leaned back in the chair. He’d learned a long time ago that people were relaxed if the person talking to them was also relaxed.

  “No,” Max shook his head. Dragos narrowed his eyes slightly, watching as the manager fiddled with a piece of an old napkin still sitting on the table. “Jessica Silver. Jewels is the name we gave her for her performances.”

  Just as Rozalia guessed. Then again, it wasn’t much of a stretch. Most women didn’t use their real names when dancing or working at places like this. “How often did Jessica dance here?”

  “Three nights a week, two shows a night. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday,” he answered, looking at something behind Drago’ right shoulder. Dragos knew there was nothing behind him, so Max was just avoiding eye contact. “She was going to school to get her teaching degree. Used this job to pay her tuition and other bills.”

  It wasn’t an uncommon story. Many young women found themselves doing less than savory jobs to pay for a better education and further their lives. Too bad this one had most likely gotten her killed.

  “Do you know of anyone that was bothering Jessica?” Dragos asked.

  Again Max shook his head, this time meeting Dragos’ eyes directly. “If so, she never mentioned it. I’m just her boss. We didn’t talk much outside of work.”

  Something told Dragos this guy was keeping a card up his sleeve. He was fidgeting far too much for a man being upfront and honest, plus there was his little habit of not looking him in the eye. Dragos just needed to figure out how to make him put those cards on the table.

  “Don’t answer any more questions, Max,” a man in a shiny, expensive, navy blue suit said as he walked into the club. “I’m Kris Sheen, Mr. Othello’s lawyer.”

  “Hello,” Dragos tilted his head in acknowledgement of the man. “As for Max answering my questions he’s not under arrest. I just need to know if anyone was bothering Jessica.”

  “If you have any questions regarding the club, it’s employees, or the relationships between them you come to me,” Kris stated firmly, standing beside Max. Dragos was pretty sure Kris meant for the stance to look intimidating. He’d failed miserably.

  Holding back his retort to tell the guy to fuck off, Dragos nodded as he stood. “Thank you for your help, Max. Good day, Mr. Sheen.”

  Leaving the club, Dragos leaned against the brick wall and looked up to the black sky, storm clouds had rolled in.

  Those two were hiding something. He could feel it. Unfortunately, aside from dragging Max Othello into the precinct to be questioned, Dragos couldn’t think of anything to do. And if he did do that, Mr. Kris Sheen would raise a fit.

  * * * *

  The ME’s report was almost identical to the last one, with the exception of how the body was found, time discovered, and, of course, the fact this was the first non-human victim. Neculai was trying to figure out what made her fall onto the man’s radar. She fit the same physical description that all the other victims did, but again, they were human. Why would he suddenly change his MO?

  Neculai was hitting a roadblock with the evidence. There was nothing at the scene that was helping in answering that question. For all he could tell the killer had just done it without stopping to see if she was human. And if that was the case, then things could get a lot messier. If the previous four women were just human by coincidence, then this was bad.

  A timer went off and Neculai walked over to his burner, removing a small beaker from the blue flame and turning it off. Stirring the contents of the murky liquid, Neculai leaned against the counter and watched as the liquid turned red. That couldn’t be right. If the spell had been angelic in nature, then the liquid should’ve turned blue or gold. Red coloration was a sign of demonic origin.

  Frowning, Neculai set the beaker down, took a picture of it, and made a note in his report. So, if this was accurate—and he was going to perform a second test to verify—then the killer was of angelic descent, but was using demonic magic? How the hell was that even possible?

  Going to his computer, Neculai pulled up several texts he had stored on his digital drive and started looking through them for anything that would explain this anomaly. Before he reported to Dragos and Rozalia he wanted to make sure that he had accurate information to give them.

  The thought of reporting to Dragos reminded Neculai of his less than stable situation with the half-dragon. He’d tried time and time again to remember when he’d claimed Dragos last night, but he couldn’t. He knew he bit him during their first round, but that was just to hold him down because Dragos had asked for it rough. Was it then? Had they somehow initiated the claiming at that time?

  Neculai pulled up another text, one on mating, to read on the side as he started getting another sample ready to be tested.

  From the first documents he’d pulled up, he found there was a way to use demon spells with angel magic, it was only possible if the caster had both bloodlines and knew how to control each energy separately. Now Neculai just needed to verify what was going on using the method reported in the article. He was so happy he never deleted anything. One never knew when something could be of use.

  After mixing the elements he needed, Neculai put the beaker back over the burner and let it sit on a slow boil for five minutes. In that time, he read through everything he could on mating. He narrowed his search to accidental matings, and if it could be undone in such a situation.

  He frowned when he saw there wa
s no way in existence to unbind two souls once they were already twined together. Everything said the claiming was permanent, no going back.

  As for accidental matings, there were recorded incidents and each time was during a moment of passionate or “excessive” sex when one partner or both were half breeds, and one had bitten the other. Of course, each case also came with a ridiculous story about how the couples found a way to live with the situation and were happy. All this did was confirm Neculai’s fears. Last night, due to some weird ass loop hole to do with the fact they were half breeds and how into it they were, Dragos and Neculai were now mated.

  “Fuck,” Neculai slouched in his seat. He did not want to explain this to Dragos.

  Of course, it didn’t help that every time he got close to the sexy dragon he wanted to press up against him and mark him with his scent. Ignoring him at the scene today had been the hardest thing he’d ever had to do. Yet, he’d done it because he got the distinct impression that neither Dragos, nor Rozalia, would’ve been too accepting of him bringing up such a private issue on the job.

  His timer dinged, and Neculai continued with his tests. After adding two drops of a reagent he smiled. It was positive. Now, with this he could explain the situation to Dragos and Rozalia. It would also help them narrow down the suspects by a lot. There weren’t too many demon and angel mixes, and even rarer were the ones who could use each energy signature separately.

  Furthermore, there were signs they could look for in any suspects they did manage to find. Using this kind of technique carried with it its own set of consequences. Their killer had to be suffering at least on some level.

  Grabbing his notes, and printouts, Neculai headed upstairs to the detective offices on the eighth floor.

  * * * *

  Dragos finished pinning up the last victim’s information to the board he and Rozalia had set up. They’d been digging into Jessica’s daily life all morning, trying to find any kind of connection between her and the other four women. Even going off where they had found the bodies it seemed entirely random.