Midnight Sins

by Lauren DeStefano

Page 31

 

  Cara stilled.

  Todd’s gaze met Gyth’s. “A man—an incubus…if they were fighting and she was using her knife on him—” Todd broke off, shaking his head. “Shit. She had to be hitting close to his upper chest. You saw the spray—”

  Gyth whistled softly. “You’re right. Damn it. She attacked him, got too close, and he couldn’t risk draining her. He had to kill her fast, to save his own life. ”

  “Uh, th-that seems likely,” Cara agreed quietly, her mind whirling. They thought an incubus had been working with the murdered woman?

  She’d been the lure.

  Her lips parted. Of course! A temptation to pull in the men. It made sense. They hadn’t been bound for kinky fun, they’d been tied so they wouldn’t fight when the incubus appeared.

  No wonder she hadn’t felt the draw of another succubus in the city—there wasn’t another one around!

  The killer was an incubus…

  Oh, hell.

  Cara took a deep breath. The men were still talking about the woman—Susan—and her death. “If she was working with an incubus, she might have known how to kill him, or maybe—maybe she just got lucky. ”

  Either way, she’d wound up dead and her killer had gotten away.

  Todd and Gyth glanced toward her in surprise. Okay, so “lucky” hadn’t been the best word choice. She licked her lips then said,

  “Look, just remember what I’ve said, okay?. My kind—we aren’t vulnerable often, so if you have the chance to strike at the killer, well, you’d better take it. ”

  There. She’d done it. Given a human and a shifter the most prized secret of her kind. A secret they’d need in order to survive.

  Todd’s fingers reached out and snagged her hand. Held tight. “What happened to the man who killed your sister, Cara?”

  Ah, now this was the part she’d dreaded from the beginning. Todd had just started to look at her as a woman, and now he’d see the killer lurking inside of her pretty shell.

  But perhaps it was time. She’d carried this secret for too long. Seven years.

  “I went to him in his dreams. ”

  Todd’s expression didn’t alter. Those brown eyes of his were steady on her.

  “I made him weak. Made him want. ” It had been so easy. And she’d been so furious. He’d never met her, didn’t know that she and Nina had a bond beyond death.

  Her sister had wanted vengeance.

  Cara had given it to her.

  “Did you know…” It was hard to say the words when he was so close, touching her. “That some can become addicted to the touch of a succubus?” Like a drug addict, needing a fix. If the magic was strong enough, the human was helpless.

  She’d made Lance helpless. He’d come to her, eyes desperate, hands sweating. He’d tracked her to her home, screaming at her.

  Wanting her.

  And she’d been ready for him. “I lured him to me. ” So easy. “When he found me, I touched him. ” She’d nearly drained the bastard dry. His skin had paled. His body had trembled. Tears rained from his eyes.

  The rush of power from his body had been so strong. And so dark. Tainted. Twisted.

  Lance had been evil. A monster beneath the flesh of a man.

  He’d realized what was happening to him— too late.

  His heart had lurched beneath her hand. So close to death. To the hell he deserved.

  She’d held him there, suspended between the world of the living and the wisps of the eternal, and asked, “Why?”

  He’d known what she meant. Knowledge had been in his eyes. He’d smiled at her. “B-be…cause the f-fucking…b-bitch wouldn’t…give…m-me…p-power…” Then, he’d managed to gather his strength—she still wasn’t sure how the asshole had done that—and he’d jerked a knife out of his back pocket. One of those stupid, small, Swiss Army knives that men always carried, and he’d plunged the blade right into her chest.

  He’d missed her heart, but the attack had thrown her off guard and the bastard had gotten away.

  For a time.

  “Did you kill him?” It was Gyth who asked the question.

  “Don’t—” Todd snapped, shaking his head. “You don’t have to say—”

  She tugged her hand from his. “He got away from me. ” True. She’d regretted that, hated her failure for years.

  “So the bastard’s still out there?” Todd asked, mouth hard. “Tell me his damn name and I’ll—”

  “He’s dead now. ” And that should really have made things easier for her. “The next day, his body was found in his apartment.

  Lance killed himself. ” That was the story that had been in the papers, anyway.

  More silence. The thick, uncomfortable kind that made her want to squirm.

  “Is that the whole story?” Gyth asked. She slanted him a look, saw the suspicion in his eyes.

  No, it wasn’t the whole story, but she’d told all of her part. She’d confessed to the Monster Doctor about her attack on Lance before.

  And if Lance hadn’t pulled that knife—

  Well, she wouldn’t have regretted his death. Did that make her evil? She really didn’t know.

  I’m a killer. Yeah, that’s what she’d told the Monster Doctor. Because even though she hadn’t been the one to take the last breath from Lance’s miserable body and soul, she’d still been responsible for his death.

  “Check the Miami papers . They ran the stories on him for a few days. ” She’d been living in Miami back then. The Other always liked the big cities. So easy to blend in with the throngs of people. “The article said that Lance Danvers slit his wrists and bled to death. ” Too messy for her taste.

  But not for the demon who’d killed Lance.

  Suicide. Not damn likely. Not for a man like him.

  “Why did you tell me this?” Todd asked.

  “Because I wanted you to know there’s a point for humans and paranormals. We can all be pushed too far, and we can all become monsters. ” Because she’d truly been a monster that long-ago night. One without pity. Remorse. She would have killed him, and she would have loved every minute of his death.

  Her chin lifted as she faced them. She’d just admitted to two cops that she’d attempted murder. “What are you going to do now?”

  Cara asked, voice soft.

  Todd brought his mouth down on hers, hungrily taking her lips. Her hands wrapped around his arms, held on with all her strength.

  Behind him, Gyth coughed.

  Todd’s dark head rose. “I’m going to thank God that bastard didn’t kill you. ”

  She pressed her lips together. Caught his taste. “And what about what I did?”

  Todd turned slowly to face Gyth. “She didn’t do anything. ” A challenge. Cara could feel the tension pumping through his body.

  “Isn’t that right, Gyth?”

  The shifter’s gaze met hers. Held. Finally, he said, “No crime that I see. ” A pause. “And I would have done the same. ”

  His head inclined toward her slightly.

  One predator to another.

  The breath she’d been holding expelled in a sharp rush.

  “You should have told me sooner,” Todd muttered, bending so that his words whispered into her ear.

  Yes, she should have, but the guy had already been dealing with the fact that she was a demon. She hadn’t wanted him to completely freak on her.

  But Todd wasn’t showing any signs of freaking. Or running. Or, well, hell, the guy was actually holding pretty tightly to her.

  A stab of hope shot through her heart. Maybe, just maybe, Todd would be different.

  More footsteps sounded in the hallway. Hard. Determined steps. The shifter tilted his head to the right, said, “McNeal,” about five seconds before the police captain shoved open the door and stalked inside.

  He pointed his finger at Cara. “You. ”

/>   Her brows lifted. She’d seen the captain a few times, but never actually spoken with the guy.

  “You just put on one hell of a show in my precinct, demon. ”

  Not human. Not completely, anyway. The understanding dawned instantly. As she’d told Todd, the human males would have all forgotten.

  Hmm. So just what was the tough captain? She took a step away from Todd, more than ready to defend herself. “What I did,” she said, voice fierce, “was save lives and fix the screw-up one of your officers caused!”

  A grunt. Then his hands flew up. “Don’t come any closer!” She saw his nostrils twitch. “I’m taken. ”

  “Since when?” The words were a bare thread of sound as they slipped past Gyth’s lips.

  “So is she,” Todd said.

  Gunmetal eyes widened. “Ah, you poor bastard. ” McNeal sighed. “Don’t you know demons can’t be trusted?”

  Now the guy was pissing her off. The air began to thicken around her.

  “She can be. ” Her lover’s voice sounded absolutely confident.

  The captain’s eyes weighed him. Her. “You willing to risk your life on that assumption?”

  “Yes. ” No hesitation.

  “Then bring your demon into my office. It’s time to clear the air and catch this damn killer before I have another stiff on my hands. ”

  McNeal’s office was too quiet. The old phrase as silent as a tomb whispered through Cara’s mind as she waited in the cramped quarters.

  Cara stood near the captain’s obviously fake plant, arms crossed over her chest. Todd was beside her. Gyth leaned against the edge of McNeal’s desk. And McNeal, well, he was sitting behind his desk, glowering at the ME.

  After what had to be at least five minutes, Smith finally cleared her throat and shifted a bit in the rather uncomfortable-looking leather chair she occupied. “Are you, um, sure I can talk about the case in front of her?”

  Her. The ME hadn’t made eye contact with Cara the entire time they’d been trapped in the silence of the office.

  “This is off the record, Smith. ”

  The ME opened her mouth to protest.

  “Off the record. ” McNeal ran a hand over his face. Exhaled hard enough to shake the room, then said, “We need her help, okay?

  She’s got to know the facts of the case because she’s the only damn one who can really tell us what the killer is like. ”

  Because I’m just like the killer.

  Smith’s back was ramrod straight. Her shoulders far too stiff.

  McNeal stabbed his finger toward Gyth. “All right—let’s start with the knife. Forensics said—”

  “No prints were on the knife,” Gyth finished. “But the hair we found belonged to Susan Dobbs. ”

  Todd glanced at her. “You sure you didn’t know the woman?”

  He’d shown her Susan’s picture, and yeah, the woman looked freakily like her, but—“I don’t know her. ”

  “Yeah, but you didn’t know Walters, either,” Gyth pointed out, “and that guy had been going to Paradise for the last month to watch you. ”

  She saw Todd stiffen. “I think we need to take a step back here. ” He motioned toward the captain. “Susan Dobbs was human.

  How’d she hook up with a demon?”

  “Demons are everywhere,” McNeal said. “Shouldn’t have been too hard—”

  “It would have been a hell of a lot easier for her if she’d been inside Demon Central. ”

  Gyth began to nod, obviously understanding where Todd was going.

  “Niol’s place is a meeting point for the Other, and Cara told me once that some humans like to play in Paradise. ”

  McNeal’s head cocked to the right. “And you think Susan was the playing kind?”

  The woman had been the killing kind, so, yeah, Cara thought she was definitely the type of human who would have enjoyed playing with the Other.

  “Niol will know. ” Todd gave a quick nod. “No one gets in that place without his knowledge. ”

  “And you think the guy will be in the mood to cooperate with the cops?” Gyth asked, looking damn doubtful.

  “He’ll cooperate,” Cara said, voice clear. He would do it, for her.

  “Who is this…Nee-ole?” Smith asked slowly, pronouncing the demon’s name with care.

  McNeal’s fingers splayed over the desk. “You really don’t want to know about him. ”

  “Yes, I do. ” The ME’s voice hardened. “I’m in this game now, and I want to know everything. ”

  “Niol is the most powerful demon I know,” Cara said, and Smith’s head jerked toward her. Her eyes were wide, stark.

  “And he’s a serious ass,” Gyth added.

  Smith didn’t glance back at him. Her gaze stayed on Cara. “Is he evil?”

  Hard question. “I’ve never known him to hurt an innocent. ” The not-so-innocent, well, that was a different story.

  “Niol knows every damn thing that happens in this town,” McNeal rumbled. “With the humans and with the supernaturals. ”

  “He can tell us if there are any incubi hunting on the streets. ” Gyth’s features were tense with predatory anticipation. “He was the one who originally tipped me off about the Night Butcher. ”

  Cara bit her lip. She knew of a few incubi in the area. One of the guys—well, she’d known him for years, and the thought of him killing—of any of them killing— no, she just couldn’t see it.

  But she couldn’t lie to Todd about the men. Not with so much at stake. “You really think the killer is an incubus, don’t you?”