“How is he?” Dex asked, finally breaking the silence between us.
“They’ve stabilised him, but he went into cardiac arrest on the operating table,” I said, keeping my gaze firmly pinned on the moving landscape beyond the window.
“Shit,” Dex said, pushing his free hand back through his blond curls, causing them to stand on end. “If I’d known this was going to happen….”
I shook my head and dropped my gaze to where my hands were knotted in my lap. “This isn’t your fault, Dex, not really. Sure, you should have listened; contrary to popular belief, I don’t do what I do to get ahead in the media. Looking good isn’t really my aim.”
“And that makes you one of the unusual ones, Amber. Everyone else is always out for themselves, looking for that big case that will send their career into the stratosphere….”
I smiled, but it wasn’t a happy look, and I continued picking at my bloodied nails. “I know, and this is the price, but I can’t hold you responsible—not when Graham knew the risks of this line of work.”
“So what the hell happened out there today? Because from the look on your face when that thing split wide open … I’m guessing you were as much in the dark as I was,” he said, hitting far closer to the truth than I was particularly comfortable with.
“I have no idea; all I do know is that it was strong enough to try and rip Graham apart.”
Dex swallowed hard and turned the wheel, taking us down another side street and bringing the car to a halt in front of a late night coffee shop. One of those little places that usually saw hipsters as its normal clientele. Just the type of place I normally avoided like the plague.
Dex glanced over at me and smiled apologetically. “You looked like you could do with a cup of something hot and, well, this is the only place I know in the area that’ll work.”
“I could have gone for something a little stronger,” I said, jerking my thumb in the direction of the dive bar across the street.
Dex gave me a surprised look before his face broke into a wide grin. “A woman after my own heart, then,” he said, not waiting for me to get out of the car as he hopped out.
Suppressing a shudder, I pushed the thought of having to sit in the hipster coffee shop aside and grabbed onto the idea of getting a double whiskey. I wasn’t much of a drinker, and I certainly didn’t fit the usual Irish stereotype where my life revolved around my next binge session, but after the day I’d had, a drink was exactly what I needed—something to settle my nerves. The tremors that had started in my knees and were slowly working their way up my body.
I climbed from the car and started to cross the street as Dex locked the car and caught up, his stride long and easy as he fell into step next to me.
I didn’t look at him, but I could feel his gaze on me. He was obviously holding back, but I could sense his questions bubbling behind his lips like a shaken bottle of cola. Once he started, there would be no stopping him, and I wasn’t ready for that until I had something dark and strong in my hands.
Pushing into the bar, a large, meaty hand planted into the centre of my chest, halting my progress. There was a spark of power to his touch—not much, but it was there, and my own magic instantly responded, flaring along my skin without having to be called forth.
“No teeny boppers. ID, now!”
I glanced up. The voice was gruff and the owner of the voice matched it perfectly; there was a long, ragged scar that ran from the corner of his left eye and disappeared into his bushy ginger beard.
“Get your hand off me and I’ll show you my ID,” I said, the magic flaring across my skin, making me edgier than I should have been.
Gruff grinned at me and lifted his hand before sliding it beneath my chin and tilting my head back so he could see my face under the yellow light in the doorway.
“And what are you?” he asked. The sudden interest in his voice made me uneasy and I knew he’d felt my magic respond to whatever in Hell he was.
“Get your hands off her,” Dex said, suddenly stepping forward as he thrust his police badge into the face of the bouncer.
The bouncer didn’t seem to care that Dex was a cop—he swung his meaty fist up, the blow connecting with Dex’s face before he had the chance to duck out of the way.
With a groan, I moved into the fray, ducking beneath the bouncer’s oncoming second punch and driving my hand up beneath his chin. He grunted, the sound of his jaw snapping shut and the telltale crunch of teeth crumbling beneath the force of the blow had him sprawling back against the door.
“Stay down or I’ll arrest your sorry ass,” I said, grabbing Dex and swinging him back out onto the street.
“That’s police brutality,” Gruff shouted after me, and I shot him the coldest smile I could muster over my shoulder.
“Lucky, then, that I’m an Elite and not a cop,” I said.
The mere mention of what I was had the bouncer instantly rethink his position. He swallowed hard, his Adam’s apple bobbing so hard that his beard ruffled with the motion.
“What are you doing?” Dex asked, rubbing his hand across his jaw. It was already beginning to swell and if he didn’t put ice on it soon, it was going to be out like a balloon before the night was over.
“Getting you out of there before that guy beats the snot out of you….”
“I’m a cop, Amber, he can’t do that. I need to arrest him.” Dex struggled against my grip but it was merely a half-hearted attempt.
“Don’t be more of an idiot than you already are—you barging in there like that, you were lucky he didn’t knock your head completely off.”
“I was looking out for you, he had his hands….”
I cut Dex off with a hard stare. “Thanks and all, but I’m not some damsel in distress. If there’s any saving of my ass to be done, then I’m more than capable of doing it myself.”
He seemed to struggle with the notion as I helped him cross the street towards the one place I really didn’t want to go to. But he needed ice and we weren’t going to get it from the dive bar.
The light from the hipster coffee shop spilled out onto the street and a couple that could barely keep their hands off each other stumbled into us as they pushed out through the glass front door of cafe. Gritting my teeth, I ignored their strange stares as we stepped inside and Dex slowly pulled out of my grip.
“What the heck happened to you!” A loud female voice cut across the quiet babble and I jerked my head up in time to see a willowy teenager launch herself between two tables and straight into Dex’s arms.
“Sara, this is Amber, one of my colleagues,” Dex said, shooting me an apologetic grin as the young woman grabbed his face and jerked it up into the light.
“Dex, what happened to your face? It looks like you lost a fight with the back of a bus….”
I liked her already and I tried to hide my smile behind my hand as she continued to pull and tug at him.
“Amber, this is Sara, my little but extremely annoying sister,” he said, with a long-suffering sigh that spoke of an affection that only an older brother could have.
She gave me an accessing stare before nodding curtly. “You’re so predictable, Dex. You’re not even finished with Izzy two minutes when you pick yourself up another bed warmer.”
Her words had me raising my eyebrows. A bed warmer was definitely not something I would describe myself as, and if the thought had ever occurred to Dex that we might mutually console each other, then I would be only too happy to tell him the truth.
“Sara, zip it, it’s not like that. She works for the Elite; we’re working together on a case and, well, today was a crappy day.” There was something in Dex’s tone of voice that made me soften.
The tension I’d felt after hearing Sara’s statement drifted out of my shoulders once more and I sucked in a deep breath as she gave me a second curious glance.
“Now, please, can you just bring us two coffees?” Dex said, giving his sister his most winning smile. It was slightly lopsided, the swelli
ng in his face already beginning to throw his features off in an almost comical way.
“Uh, what sort of coffee?” she asked. “We’ve got espresso, Hawaiian Kona, Boca Sunrise, Peruvian Java, Columbian Dark Roast….”
“What about just ordinary coffee?” Dex said, his confusion evident.
“Those are just ordinary coffees?”
“Then you pick one,” he said, starting towards a table near the back corner.
Sara started to shake her head, her long, blonde hair whipping around her shoulders. “But how will I know which one you’ll like?”
“Take a guess,” he said.
“And you?” she asked, turning to me with a bright smile.
The thought of picking one of the crazy coffees she’d named out left my head reeling. When had coffee stopped being just coffee?
“Do you do tea?”
Her smile widened, and I instantly regretted my words.
“We’ve got, lotus, chamomile, honey dew….”
“Water, I’ll have a water,” I said, cutting her off before she could completely twist my head.
She grinned at me and leaned in a little closer. “I take it this isn’t really your scene?”
I shook my head and gave her an apologetic smile in return. “Not really, I’m a pretty simple soul really.”
“I’ll sort you out with something, you just sit and if that brother of mine tries to pull any funny business, you have my complete permission to kick his ass.”
Grinning, I turned away as she sauntered back up to the counter and started on the drinks. Making my way down through the close-fitting tables and chairs, I dropped onto one of the small armchairs next to Dex. I might not have been a fan of all the different drink choices, but I was definitely glad to get off my feet.
“Sorry about that,” Dex said, cutting through my thoughts.
“About what?”
“Sara. She’s pretty nosey—means well, but a complete pain in my ass,” he said, but I could hear the smile in his voice and it made me open my eyes.
“Is she living at home?” I asked.
“No, she’s going to college here in the city, so she’s staying in the dorms on campus. Got herself the job here so she could have some extra money.”
“Very enterprising,” I said, dropping my voice as I spotted Sara weaving her way back down through the tables, a small tray balanced on one hand.
“Right, one Columbian dark roast, and an Irish Coffee,” she said with a smile as she set them down on the table.
I could already smell the telltale sweet scent of the whiskey in the Irish Coffee and I shot her a questioning glance.
“You don’t need to worry, we’ve got a liquor licence and Tim the barista makes the drinks and he’s over twenty-one,” she said without me needing to even open my mouth.
“Wait, what was that about a liquor licence?” Dex said, his gaze darting back and forth between us.
I grabbed the Irish coffee with a smile and took a deep sip before Dex even had the chance to register what was happening. The creamy coffee and whiskey mix slipped down the back of my throat like silk and I relaxed back into the chair as though someone had wrapped me in a warm hug.
I wasn’t much of a drinker, but that didn’t mean I couldn’t enjoy one when I really needed it.
“Oh come on, Sara,” Dex said, screwing his face up as he took the first gulp of his drink. “This is beyond bitter, how does anyone drink this crap? It’s worse than the sludge I can get down at the station.”
“Well, if you like it so much, get your coffee from there,” she said with a wicked grin.
Sara didn’t hang around at the table, pushing the tray under her arm she moved onto the next table and started cleaning away the empty cups and shredded sugar packets.
“What did she give you?” Dex asked, leaning forward in his seat.
“Something you’re not getting your hands on,” I said, gripping the cup a little tighter.
“Typical, you women always stick together,” he grumbled, sniffing at his own cup.
He looked young, far younger than he had earlier in the day, and I wanted to ask him how old he actually was. Graham had said he was the youngest cop to ever earn detective, and watching him over the rim of my cup, I could suddenly understand exactly what he meant.
“What happened after I left with Graham?” I asked, finally breaking the comfortable silence between us.
He sighed, and the happy-go-lucky glow of youth I’d seen in his eyes vanished, replaced with a world weariness reserved only for those who had seen the very worst of what humanity had to offer.
“The scene is a mess; they, removed the bodies of the dead, three other men ended up in the hospital. None as serious as Graham, luckily.” He swallowed hard and hid his gaze from mine.
I didn’t bother reprimanding him. What was the point? I already knew the guilt he carried over the situation. Laying even more of it on him would just be cruel. And that wasn’t something I wanted to be; he’d made a mistake, a costly one, but as long as Graham pulled through, his mistake could always be fixed.
“More of the smoke escaped?” I asked, sipping at my coffee carefully, and Dex nodded.
It seemed like such an inadequate description for it, but I didn’t know what else I was supposed to call it. It wasn’t demonic, I was convinced of that. But it was something along that line, and the faster I could figure it out, the better for everyone involved.
The voice in the back of my head had gone quiet, but it chose that moment to suddenly throw up a name.
Lily.
After everything she’d already done, it made sense that she could be behind the bodies in the River Gardens. Had she summoned something to this world to do her dirty work for her? She’d already proven she was into using lesser creatures as her minions.
“You just thought of something. What was it?”
I jerked, the liquid in the cup sloshing against the sides. Getting lost in my own thoughts while sitting next to an already-suspicious cop was not a smart move. If Graham believed him to be clever, then I needed to watch myself around him. Letting my guard down and getting caught with my magic hanging out for the world to see … well, it was a one-way ticket to the executioner’s block and I didn’t fancy dying just yet.
“Just contemplating what it could be,” I said. Staying as honest as possible was the only way I could throw him off. The second he thought I was lying, well, it would be the moment he decided to start digging a little deeper into my background. “It’s not demonic, but I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Yeah, well, you’re pretty new at the Elite,” he said with a grin, “so I don’t suppose you’re going to know everything.”
I smiled back at him, but I could feel the tension curling in my stomach. He’d already checked me out.
“New, but I did the same training as everyone else.”
“I know that, but there’s no substituting experience.” There was something in the way he said the word “experience” that had the hairs on the back of my neck standing on end.
Was I being paranoid? He couldn’t possibly know anything about me, smart cookie or not. I’d given him no reason, as far as I was aware, to make him think I was anything more than I appeared to be.
Unless he’d seen what I’d done to the forensic guy….
I studied him a little closer as I finished my drink and pushed to my feet.
“Thanks for the coffee, and the ride out of the media circus,” I said, zipping my leather jacket up the front of myself.
“You’re leaving? I can give you a ride home,” he said, eyeing his practically untouched coffee with disgust.
“No, the walk will do me good, and I need a chance to clear my head,” I said, dropping a ten-dollar note on the table.
“You sure?”
I smiled and nodded again. “Yeah, plus, I think your sister needs a ride more than I do,” I said, gesturing to Sara who seemed to be politely attempting to fend off two over
ly-friendly customers.
Dex glanced back at her and his expression instantly changed.
“I’ll drop by the Elite office tomorrow, so,” he said, but his voice said he was preoccupied as he pushed onto his feet and started across the room.
I watched him walk away, the set of his shoulders suggesting he was about to hulk out on the two idiots pushing their luck. Sara spotted him and I watched her expression change from one of polite irritation to outright panic as she shook her head.
Smiling I headed for the door, and pushed out into the night air.
“We weren’t doing anything wrong, dude, butt out….” The voice of one of the jerks carried across the coffee shop and out through the swinging door.
Laughter bubbled up the back of my throat as the door closed behind me and blotted out whatever Dex said to them. He might have been an issue for me, his curiosity and investigative abilities a little too sharp for my predicament, but he was a good guy and Sara was lucky to have an older brother that doted on her the way he seemed to. At least someone had a sibling that genuinely cared.
Chapter 9
The air was warm. August was apparently going to live up to its usual promise in King City. There would be no sleeping beneath the duvet, that was, even if I could get to sleep after everything that had happened.
Cutting down a side street off the main thoroughfare, I picked my pace up. All I wanted was to get home and shower; I hadn’t really thought of anything else beyond scrubbing the blood out from underneath my nails and putting on fresh clothes. When the morning had started, spending the day in blood-soaked clothes hadn’t exactly been on my radar.
A glass bottle skittered across the tarmac and my pace faltered as I glanced behind me. I couldn’t see anything; the streetlights were dull, causing shadows to stretch out across the seemingly empty road.
But as I searched the area, what I couldn’t see with my eyes, I could instead feel. Magic made the air heavier and I could feel it pressing on my skin like an oppressive hand.
Blood Craft: The Shadow Sorceress Book Two Page 5
