When Wolves Howl: A Mayhem of Magic World Story (Bedlam in Bethlehem Book 2)

by Nicole Zoltack

  But the eyes light in his eyes goes out. “You’re the hero, not me,” he mumbles.

  “Me? What have I done to achieve hero status?”

  “You’re a police officer.” He blinks as if I should’ve realized what he meant.

  “A police officer who almost got put on suspension. Who witnessed a crime and couldn’t stop it. Who then got beaten up in her house by another… criminal.”

  Damn almost slipped and said vamp.

  Double damn. I should not be unloading all of this on him.

  Especially because this isn’t the first time that I’ve gotten the feeling that he’s hiding something. We first met when I went to the hospital about the vamp attack here in my house. He got really weird when I didn’t want to tell him details about my “abuser.”

  “That’s insane,” he says.

  “That’s my life. You sure you want to stick around?”

  “I just said I gotta go…” He jerks his thumb to the door.

  I wince inwardly. “I meant Friday. Dating.”

  Triple damn. I really need to stop babbling.

  At least his smile makes a reappearance. “Great. Now you’re gonna think I’m stupid.”

  “Never,” I assure you. “I think hot doc is hot. And amazing. And a workaholic, but so am I so…”

  “I think you’re hot, too.” He leans toward me. “And amazing, too. Us workaholics—”

  I go for it and press my lips to his. For some reason, I immediately think of Diego. Of course, I push him out of my mind, only for me to start thinking about vamps and their fangs. How can they kiss other vamps? Do they even kiss? By the time I’m ready to focus on actually kissing Dean, the kiss is over.

  “Friday night then? I’ll pick you at eight.”

  “Sounds great.”

  I don’t really have to walk him to the door. It’s five steps away from the couch. Doesn’t matter. I stand and walk him over anyhow.

  He pecks my forehead, waves when he reaches his car, honks when he drives past my house, and he’s gone.

  A strange animal sound goes off in the distance. Strange. That almost sounded like a wolf, but wolves aren’t native to Bethlehem, PA. Weird.

  I close the door and touch my forehead to it, eyes closed. Have the vamps changed my world so completely that I’ll never be able to live a normal life again? Why can’t I just forget about them and move on? I mean, yeah, I desperately want to be the head of the new department, which will mean worrying about vamps all day every day, but… Okay, so maybe I don’t really want to move on. I just need to… I need to accept that vamps are real and all that it entails. Sure, I believe in their existence, but there’s more to it than just believing.

  Man, does it seem like I need a shrink, but can you imagine how that would go? I can’t stop thinking about vamps and how they want to drain everyone’s blood.

  Okay… let’s get a straitjacket ready for one Clarissa Tempest.

  Yeah, no. The worst part about all of this? Keeping the vamps a secret from my friends. The best I can do is to protect Bethlehem from all threats—the ones they know about and the ones they don’t.

  Chapter 2

  The rest of Sunday I spend moping around the house. Bright and early Monday, seven in the morning sharp, I enter the station. The station isn’t awake yet, and only a few of us are here.

  I make a beeline for Lieutenant Reynolds’s office. He motions me inside. “Tempest. Glad you’re here.”

  “You shouldn’t be,” I say disapprovingly.

  “I’m the one who gives lectures.” He narrows his beady gray eyes at me, his brows low over them. “Why are you in so early?” he asks, confused and skeptical.

  “The new unit.” I beam. “I would like to put my name forward to be the head. I’m more than qualified. I’ve spent the most time with the vamps and—”

  “You think I don’t know all of that already?” he grumbles.

  Uh oh. He’s not in a good mood.

  An awkward silence descends, and I clear my throat, tempering back my sudden desire to bounce on my toes. I’m anxious and dismayed. What if the lieutenant doesn’t even assign me to the unit? The thought never occurred to me until now.

  He starts to work on his computer and then glances up. “What are you doing standing around doing nothing? Get to work!”

  “I… I just thought…”

  “The new unit will be formed. Today. On my say so. Now finish writing up your report about the vampires’ deaths.”

  “Murders,” I correct.

  He wipes a beefy hand across his sweating forehead. He crosses his burly arms, leans back in his chair, and glowers at me. His thin lips are almost hidden by his facial hair. The lieutenant has stopped shaving lately, and it’s kinda freaking me out. He doesn’t have enough growth yet to hide his red face.

  “Get out of my office, Tempest!” His anger slices through every word.

  I do my best not to glower, but I do have a ton of paperwork to do. Annoyed, I back out of there and start to work. Even with a new unit being formed, it still feels strange to write down that the victims had been vamps.

  A grueling hour later, Diego coughs slightly.

  “Are you sick? I know a doc who might be able to help you.”

  He mock-glowers at me, and I grin. It’s so fun to tease the giant flirt. I can’t ever tell if he’s being serious or not. Maybe his interest is purely because I’m not devoted to him right from the get-go. I guess it’s possible he really does like me. I’m sure he’s fun and all, but I don’t think I could ever date another cop. There’s too much baggage that comes with the job.

  “If you need some doctoring,” he starts.

  “Who says I didn’t get plenty of doctoring last night?” I ask to provoke him.

  His scowl appears genuine. “The lieutenant wants to see you.” And he stomps away.

  Confused, I stand. “What? Can’t take some teasing?”

  He throws me a playful grin over his shoulder. “I can take teasing. I can take anything you throw my way. Believe me.”

  “Green isn’t your—”

  “Every color is my color.” His grin grows, and he wiggles his eyebrows suggestively. “Including—”

  “Can’t make the lieutenant wait,” I cut in, feeling a little insecure for some reason.

  His eyebrows lower over his smoldering dark eyes. “Sometimes the wait is worth it.”

  My traitorous stomach does a funny little flip.

  Head down, I scamper to the lieutenant’s office. I’m not the only one there. Rex Hunter. Another name that sounds fake to me, just like that vamp hunter’s. Rex is in homicide. Early thirties. Light brown hair. Blue eyes. Strong but on the thin side. I haven’t spoken five words to him, and I don’t add one now, opting to just nod to him. He doesn’t acknowledge me, just stares at the lieutenant, who does a little more work on his computer before looking up.

  Lieutenant Reynolds leans back in his chair. “Time to start up that new unit,” he says critically.

  I side-eye Rex. Is he going to be my new partner? Travis Hoffman has been, but we’re in narcotics, and I doubt Travis will wanna take this leap with me. I knew that eventually, I would have a new partner, but this is happening so fast my head is spinning.

  “You have both been kept abreast of the vampire… issue,” he continues.

  My eyebrows lift. Really? I had no idea Rex was involved at all.

  “The new unit will be called Special Investigative Unit.”

  “Special?” I can’t keep quiet any longer. “More like Supernatural.”

  The lieutenant’s nostrils flare with disapproval. “Are you questioning me?”

  “Of course not,” I say smoothly, respectfully, cursing myself for opening my big mouth. “We can’t let the public know yet, so Special makes perfect sense.”

  The lieutenant doesn’t blink. “Hunter, you’ll take the head position—”

  My heart feels like it’s being squeezed in a vise. How can this be happening? I
’m the one who discovered the vamps in the first place. If it hadn’t been for me, the vamps never would’ve been caught! I deserve that position! I worked my ass for it!

  “Tempest, you can ask around and see who will want to be your partner…”

  The lieutenant drones on and on, clearly too distant or inferior to realize how angry I am. I’m so dismayed and disillusioned I can’t focus on his words.

  Eventually, Rex departs. The lieutenant is back to typing on his computer. When he glances up and sees me still there, he sighs.

  “Look.” He rubs a hand down his face. “I know you’re upset. I get that. But the thing is, you’ve screwed up a lot lately. That kid. The purse snatcher. Your judgment calls have been questionable lately. Hunter is more polished, more smooth. He looks before he leaps. He’s about protection, first.”

  “And I’m not?” It stings so badly to hear this, but it’s the truth. I am impulsive. I’m reckless and wild, but I’m driven. I’ll do anything to get to the truth.

  I’ll do anything. Would I stoop to breaking the law to apprehend a criminal? A human, no, but a vamp? I don’t think vamps are humans, and if they aren’t humans, they don’t have rights, and if they don’t have rights…

  Is it fair to think they aren’t human? I wonder how far off their DNA is to ours. Chimpanzee DNA is only slightly different, at less than one and a half percent, but we’re completely different species-wise. I have to figure that the differences between human DNA and vamp DNA are substantial enough to warrant us as different species. There’s no way I’m anything like those blood-sucking goons.

  “I get the job done,” I add before the lieutenant can respond.

  “Yes, you get the job done, but your methods…”

  I shrug. “I have a way of seeking out goons.”

  “And a knack for being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Look, Tempest, I’m not saying you can’t be head of SIV eventually. I’m just saying that now isn’t the time for you. By the way, have you spoken with Dr. Harris lately?”

  “No,” I admit. “You really want her privy to the whole vamp epidemic?”

  “It’s not an epidemic.” A muscle in his jaw jumps. “You need to work through your issues. Find yourself a partner, the two of you report to Hunter, and he’ll take it from there.”

  “Yes, sir,” I say formally.

  He’s right. I do have issues. I witnessed a strange attack that had me wondering if the perp was a vamp wannabe. After that, my mind wasn’t in the best of places, and I screwed up in a major way. A teen grabbed my gun and killed himself with it. Dr. Harris is a shrink. She loves the sound of her voice. She’s never been able to help me. Considering she can’t be privy to all the details, she won’t be able to help me now, either.

  I turn on the balls of my feet and stalk out of there. A new partner to serve under Rex. Great. Just great.

  Instead of trying to find that partner, I head back to my station. There, I sit and rest my head on my crossed arms on the desk, eyes closed.

  Someone comes over and massages my shoulders.

  “Thanks, Diego,” I mumble.

  “Diego?” Travis laughs.

  I straighten in my seat as my old partner claims his seat across from me. “Guess this is where we part ways.”

  A pang hits my chest. I’m thrilled Travis has finally tied the knot with his gal Ali. Still, it’s hard to realize that he’s married now and continuing in narcotics while I’m moving on. It’s stupid and unreasonable, but I miss him already. It doesn’t help that he’s only just got back from his honeymoon, so I’ve been missing for him a bit now.

  “You moving to that new unit, huh.” Travis picks a pen out of the mug on his desk that holds about fifty of them. He places the end in his mouth.

  “Yep. Gotta break in a new partner.”

  “Who?” Travis smirks around the pen. “Diego?”

  “My ears are burning.” Diego wanders over. “What’s going on?”

  “Clarissa wants you to be her new partner.”

  “Aw, you want me to be your new work husband? I’ll be your work and your play husband if you want.” He winks, his grin lopsided, reckless.

  I snort. “In your dreams.”

  “Every night,” he shoots back.

  Travis just smiles.

  “I already asked the lieutenant about being your partner,” Diego puts in.

  “Wait. What? He told me I could pick!”

  “Yeah, well, after you, I’ve had the most experience with them. If it weren’t for me…”

  “I had it under control,” I mumble.

  “Lieutenant Reynolds told me to talk to you before talking to Hunter. Look, if you don’t want me as your partner, fine, but I want in on the unit regardless.” His hand rests on his hip, near his gun.

  Oh, man, now what? Diego is a great cop, but he used to save his flirting ways for other girls. It really wasn’t until the whole vamp thing and his being assigned to protect me that he started to shower me with his charm. For the most part, I don’t mind it. If Doctor Dean, I mean Dean. Man, why is it so hard for me to think of him by his name instead of his title? If Dean and I become something serious, I don’t want things to get weird between Diego and me. Not that I’m even sure that Diego is serious with his teasing and flirting.

  Way too complicated for me.

  I don’t do complicated.

  “I think the more people in the unit, the better,” I say.

  Diego smirks. “You don’t wanna have the hots for your partner. I respect that.”

  “Yes, that’s exactly what it is.”

  “Hey, are you saying I’m not hot,” Travis cuts in.

  I shrug a shoulder, keeping my face blank. “I’m sorry. I just don’t see what Ali sees in ya.”

  Travis flicks his pen at me, as we all burst out laughing. God, does it feel good to laugh again.

  In the end, Rex and Diego are partners, and Rex assigns me to Angelo Colombo. He’s another flirt, but at least he’s married. Another guy from homicide. Actually, I think he might’ve been Rex’s old partner. He’s not a bad guy, all in all, and I hope we can be a good team.

  That is until Rex pulls me aside and says that he sees a lot of desk hours for me. It takes everything in me to not slug him right in the kisser. I would love to shove the paperwork up his nose or to give him enough back talk that it’s next week already. Somehow, I control myself.

  Desk hours. Oh, hell no. I’m going out on the streets, and he better accept that or else I’m just gonna do it anyhow. Angelo better not rat on me. What the heck? What if Rex assigned him as my partner specifically because he trusts Angelo to keep me in line? Or worse, to tattle on me?

  I hate conspiracy theories, but right now, I’m chasing down every last one.

  I so need to get started on another case before I lose my mind.

  Chapter 3

  That night, I go back and forth, wondering if I should call Doctor Dean… Dean… or not. Finally, I figure that since I’m thinking about him, I might as well give him a ring. I refuse to overanalyze if it’s too early for a follow-up call. He doesn’t answer, so I just leave a brief message about the Eagles, kinda ramble, and then just hang up. I hate talking on the phone, but that’s nothing compared to leaving a message. I shudder.

  Some ice cream, some yoga, and I’m off to bed. Even though today hadn’t been too stressful, I’m beat.

  The moment my eyes close, I swear I hear another howl. What in the world?

  I’m tempted to get out of bed and peek out my window, but I snuggle deeper under my covers. It’s early November, but it’s been cold lately, and I hate the cold. Given me hot summer days and nights. Snow and I, we don’t mix. Shoveling is brutal. I can’t tell you how many shovels I’ve broken over the years. I don’t even know how I break ‘em most of the time. It’s not like all of them are the crappy, cheap kind. I’ve been buying heavy-duty ones in the hopes they won’t break. Maybe I step too hard down on them to get beneath the snow mounds. Whateve
r. Just another thing that goes wrong all the time.

  I roll over onto my stomach. I’m usually a back sleeper, but I can’t get comfortable. Finally, sleep does come for me.

  The window bursts open. A huge gust of a bitterly cold wind has me scrambling out of bed to shut it. My curtains billow and bluster, and I shove them aside to be able to close and lock the window. The latch won’t close right, and I fiddle and jimmy it to no avail. Stupid, cheap windows that let all the cold air in during the winter and all of the heat in the summer.

  I’m ready to concede defeat to the window when I realize two things.

  One, it’s snowing.

  And two, a pair of red eyes are staring at me.

  A vamp!

  My gun is in the living room. Crap. I glance around wildly and grab the lamp from my nightstand so hard I yank the cord out of the wall. Desperate, I hold the lamp up like a bat.

  The vamp touches the glass. Shockingly, it shatters.

  A rolling fog moves in, swirling around me, smelling like death and decay. A coughing fit overwhelms me, forcing me into submission on my knees.

  Furious and frustrated, I coerce my legs to straighten so I can stand again. With blind anger, I swing the “bat,” trying to hit the vamp that is in mist form. Suddenly, the lamp connects with something solid.

  Not the vamp.

  A wolf.

  With yellow intelligent eyes.

  The eyes are the last thing I see before the wolf leaps up, mouth open wide. It knocks me down, and its teeth bite deep into my neck.

  Chapter 4

  With a start, I sit up, gasping, sweating. The blanket is tangled up all around me, even around my neck. The window is open, but it’s not snowing.

  Best of all, there’s no sign of a vamp or a wolf anywhere.

  “Thank God,” I mutter to myself.

  I disentangle from the blanket, rush over to the window, and slam it shut.

  Well, there’s not gonna be any more sleep this night. I get changed as fast as I can and am off and driving to Fairview Cemetery five minutes later. Staring down at my parents’ names… it always makes me feel so weak, so mortal. I swear I can almost hear a clock counting down the last years or minutes of my life. Morbid? Yeah, but that’s the cop lifestyle for ya. You never know which job might be your final one or if your work will be the end of you.